Newsletter April 2019

Overseas Family SchoolMiddle School

Master Policy:To maintain a happy, safe and effective school for overseas families living in Singapore

From The Parent Association (PA) Desk

Michael LeeMiddle School Principalmichael_lee@ofs.edu.sg

Principal’s MessageWe have just ended a very busy and eventful Quarter 3, and moving into another event-filled Quarter 4 commencing with our Grade 8 MUN Activity Days, M.A.D.D. Week with a M.A.D.D. Night and a MADDhatters Day. The OFS Global Picnic was also held on Saturday, 6 April 2019, as the OFS family celebrated together. M.A.D.D. Night encapsulated some of the talents we have at Middle School for Music, Art, Drama and Dance. Thank you to Mr Oliver Ramos, Dean of Performing Arts, Ms Nora Patterson, The Arts – Subject Area Leader and her team of dedicated teachers in guiding our students for this event. The start of Quarter 4 also brings us closer to the Middle School Exam Week starting from 13 to 17 May 2019. Remember that Middle School examinations are only used to prepare you for the rigours of High School. But you must continue to do your best at all times.

Links:

Middle School Homepage – https://www.ofs.edu.sg/schools/ms/

ASSP – https://www.ofs.edu.sg/courses/sports/

Enrichment Programs – https://www.ofs.edu.sg/courses/enrichment/

Middle School Events – https://www.ofs.edu.sg/schools/ms/events/

MY-MUNOFS X – https://www.ofs.edu.sg/courses/mun/

The Parent Association (PA) would like to thank everyone for their contribution and participation in making the Global Picnic a huge success again this year. We hope that you and your family had a wonderful time and made the best of this opportunity to connect with the OFS Community.

The PA would especially like to thank the Country Coordinators for organising all OFS parents of their Country to showcase their culture, customs and traditions, making the annual OFS Global Picnic a truly fun-filled and high-energy multi-cultural extravaganza!

MYP Action Club

4-Day APRIL CAMP FEVER! 15 to 18 April 2019

(1) Space Camp & First Robotics: Planes, Trains & Automobiles for K1 and G3 students (9:00am to 12:00noon) @ S$570

(2) Junior CSI & Robotics: BattleBots! for G1 to G6 students (1:00pm to 4:00pm) @ S$570

Exposure to hands-on experiments and learning activities to better understand Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) concepts. The application form, and more information, can be obtained from the Registration Office, Kindy, ES or MS Office; and also on our website(https://www.ofs.edu.sg/events/2019/april-camp-fever/).

Overseas Family School Middle School Newsletter April 2019

Deputy Principal’s MessageStudents at OFS are encouraged to be: inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective (The IB Learner Profile). We focus on the development of each student as a whole person and ensure there are many opportunities throughout the academic year for students to develop positive attributes and enrich their learning experiences. We believe these attributes, among others, can help our students become responsible members of local, national and global communities. As we enter the final quarter of the academic year, we can reflect on the values ingrained in IB MYP. The five-year program from Grades 6 to 10 is guided by three IB MYP fundamental concepts: holistic learning, intercultural awareness and communication. It aims to develop critical thinkers and life-long learners. At this point, students should consider all the skills they have developed and knowledge they have acquired so far this year, and set some constructive goals for their final months.

(Karoline Hlawatsch – Middle School Deputy Principal)k_hlawatsch@ofs.edu.sg

Cyber Safety and Awareness The third quarter Health and Social Education Program focused on the theme of Cyber Safety and Awareness. This included delving into the topics of responsible digital citizenship, cyber bullying, social media use, balancing digital media in our lives and being aware of online dangers. Each week, Homebases were given a new focus to explore and discuss among their classmates. In this way, digital issues were brought to the surface and responsible online practices were taught. Students had an opportunity to create cyberbullying posters in a Homebase competition and to share their own ‘Cyber Stories’. Both the winning posters and cyber stories have been displayed on the Health and Social Education wall outside the Middle School Activity Room.

(Aidan Spencer – Middle School Student Advisor)

Master Policy:To maintain a happy, safe and effective school for overseas families living in Singapore

Sports News It has been a busy few weeks for Middle School sports. The invitationals we hosted for basketball and football alone attracted 34 teams from international and local schools. More news regarding these events can be found online on our OFS website (https://www.ofs.edu.sg/news/), with fantastic photos uploaded in our photo galleries. Girls’ rugby fixtures got underway. Players and spectators were excited to see new skills and confidence being put to the test against AIS as well as club teams like the Valkyries and Aonyx at home on 20 March 2019.

(Jason Lawrence – Dean of Physical Advancement)

Library News Middle School will be sending a team of keen readers to this year’s Readers Cup. This is an interschool reading festival to promote the Red Dot Book Choice Awards, which is a Singapore Book award initiated by the International Schools Library Network (ISLN). Students have been reading a number of featured books, as well as designing book covers. They will be also be participating in a day of events at the German European School Singapore on 25 April 2019. More information on this year’s recommended titles for Middle School readers can be found at the following link:https://www.reddotawards.com

(Gilpin Clare – Teacher Librarian)

Overseas Family School Middle School Newsletter April 2019

MY-MUNOFS XOver 500 students gathered at OFS late February to debate and find solutions for a wide range of global issues. The MUN conference is often perceived as an event where only experienced delegates who are confident and able to debate publicly are welcome. We interviewed two students who took the risk to join and discovered that you do not need to be an expert to attend.

(Jessica Purchase – Teacher-In-Charge MY-MUNOFS X)

Reach Assessment in Science Reach Assessment in Science will take place during the week of 8 April 2019. This is a test which replaces the ICAS test this year. Organised by the University of New South Wales, Australia, the assessment is optional but interested students have been encouraged to enter. Students from over 20 countries including Australia Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and the USA participate in ICAS in previous years. The test consists of short skills based questions focusing on analysis, data processing and interpreting and higher order thinking skills. Each student will receive feedback about their progress in each science skill which will enable students to focus their learning. No formal preparation is required although a support club has been organised to assist students and previous question papers will be available. Entry is now closed and we wish all the students good luck in this assessment.

(Stephen Foster – SAL Sciences)

“I will never regret attending the MUN conference, and think that it was a brilliant experience! I would recommend the conference to any new delegates who are interested in joining. I was late in joining the conference, which meant that there was a lot of extra work to do, and millions of speeches to write in a very short time. It was quite nerve-racking just preparing for the conference. When I realised on the conference day that there were other schools joining the conference too, immediately I felt nervous and less confident. Walking into my committee on the first day, seeing all those people with conference experience and knowing that I would have to talk in front of them, made me even more nervous. I was a bundle of nerves that first day, but things did get better. The part of that first day that I didn’t enjoy, but am glad happened, was that the Chair and Deputy Chair sent me many notes asking me to write a speech, and strongly encouraged me to talk during the conference. Obviously, I didn’t enjoy that the Chairs had recognised that I wasn’t speaking, but after the second note, I did do a speech, and felt so good about myself. I would definitely say that the first day of the conference was the scariest, because no one in the committee talked, and I didn’t see any friends in the room. However, after the lobbying and merging part, where we had to talk to each other and had a chance to get to know each other better, I realised that all those people were also nervous, just like me. In the end, we relaxed being around each other, and eventually became friends. Once again, I really enjoyed this experience, and am already thrilled and excited lookng forward to my second conference, and strongly encourage new delegates to join.”Lily Lening (6.06)

“I walked into my conference room (Environment One) on Friday, 22 February 2019 with my heart pounding. I could feel the sweat trickling down my face. The only reason I was there was to overcome my fear of public speaking. Since there were many new delegates, I could tell that I was not the only one feeling nervous. I got up to the podium like everybody else and made my opening speech which boosted my confidence. This led to me relaxing and being able to engage more confidently throughout the conference. I made amendments to my ‘for’ and ‘against’ speeches. The only apprehensive part about MUN is the feeling of nervousness on the first day, but if you can push through that, then it is one of the best (if not the best) experience our school has to offer.” Kabir Singh (7.06)