Arguably our global academic culture and education systems have evolved from the intellectual principles of the European enlightenment. This way of thinking has allowed us to develop as a species tremendously in the domains of science and technology for example. However, the enlightenment was predicated on the division of intellect and feeling. The architects of enlightenment polarized objectivity and intuition- which in turn kept feelings at distance from our understanding of the world. This has to an extent contributed to a schematic and mechanistic view of human beings, particularly in the so-called developed world.
We may have developed a view of the mind, which is based on a particular view of rationality. We may have come to mistake the mind with consciousness which is the broader character of our being. We can engage in the world in many other ways than are conventionally available. The dominance of Descartes ‘I think, therefore I am’ philosophy and the industrial age roots of education has perhaps driven the subject hierarchy that exists in many schools to this day. We have societally come to associate some disciplines such as Mathematics with hard knowledge and the Arts as softer. Although contentious, it has been recently argued that if you want your children to do better at math you probably want to give them a lot more access to music. Perhaps the contrary ‘I feel, therefore I am’ philosophy may be more relevant in today's fast changing 21st century world - after all as humans we are feeling interconnected organisms. We have to recognise that a shift from the homogenised historical factory compliance education model and mindset is necessary for everyone to excel. We must go from a compliance to compassion model in order to connect our children to themselves so that we all can excel today, tomorrow, together.
Recently the International Baccalaureate Director-General Olli-Pekka Heinonen spoke of the importance of rebalancing the ‘head, hand and heart’ in international education.
At International School Brunei we genuinely care how much our students know and equally how they feel. On the basis that we all have many different gifts and talents, ISB values the need to personalize education. We want students to thrive academically and succeed in life. Our goal is to make students ready to tackle challenges in life; that is why their wellbeing is so important for us. To understand how we engage and educate the feeling and knowing of students I encourage you to read the following link.
Reminders/Special Mentions
Parent Teacher Consultations will be in Week 9 on the 17th & 18th of October. Please refer to the message that was sent out by our office on SeeSaw for more information
On the 20th October we will have our Math Day Celebration- Please refer to the message that was sent out by our office on SeeSaw for more information.
Next leadership-parental coffee morning – 17th November 09:00-10:00
In the coming weeks we will be planning our ECA’s for Term 2. In response to parental request, we will be looking to identify those in our community who would like to get involved. If you are an expert with knowledge and skills and want to support our Seria – respond to the link that will be shared
You can always message our teachers on Seesaw!
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EYFS – by Teacher Julia, Chio & Mrs Davies
Young children are most engaged – and therefore learn best – when they are following their own interests. This week we have been reviewing how best to ‘plan in the moment’ and maximize the impact of our learning, generally centred around fine and gross motor skills, literacy and math. We have been reviewing our environments, looking at our resources and practices to ensure everyone flourishes and excels in a fully child-led way of working. The EYFS evidence is clear, when students are free-flowing in child-initiated play everyone’s wellbeing, safety, security and consequently engagement is very high. With a focus on the role of talking in learning, we will continue to explore and develop Interthinking: the joint engagement with one another’s ideas to think aloud together, solve problems or make mutual meaning. Early Years provision at our school is play-based and open-ended with resources available to encourage and stimulate creativity.
For more information about our Early Learning Goals please click on the following link https://www.isbprimarynewsfeed.com/post/early-learning-goals
Year 1 - by Ms MJ
Year 1 had a discussion about the sense ‘touch’ this week. They had a chance to feel different materials without looking and tried to describe objects using adjectives such as soft, smooth, hard, heavy and light. In Maths, children reviewed place value and the use of key Maths terms - less than, greater than and equal too. They are excited to learn about addition and subtraction next week!
Year 2 – by Ms Lisa
Year 2 have completed their Meerkat Mail theme this week. They looked more critically at characters and descriptions, and positive and negatives views about situations. They wrote sentences describing positive and negative views about a place they would like to visit. They made some excellent points and I am so impressed with all aspects of their writing skills and abilities. In Math they looked at adding and regrouping. They learnt basic concepts such as adding the ones first then deciding if they had more than 10 ones, if they had to regroup for 1 tens and how that looks in an addition problem. This was a little bit tricky for them as I wanted them to show each step of the problem solving process. However, I am really impressed with how they can use their knowledge to now solve 2-4 step addition problems. They also practiced their number bond facts and quick recall skills. Another great week in Year 2.
Year 3 – by Mrs McCready
This week year 3 have continued progressing in learning to subtract with exchange - keep up the wonderful efforts everyone ! In English the kingfishers have started to learn about persuasive adverts , and they have also spent some time this week learning how to infer meanings from a text. Everybody also thoroughly enjoyed the class assembly and we're so proud of everyone for getting involved.
Year 4 – by Mr Davies
Year 4 have continued the process of writing a myth by drawing a story map and planning out our five paragraphs. In maths we used estimation and checking strategies to help eliminate mistakes within our calculations. Cobra class started work on our Year 4 showcase by completing a set of auditions for parts in our class drama. They also began to work on the finale dance. In Art they worked on a plan for creating a diorama of an ancient village. In Science Year 4 had a trip to Seria park to study local plants.
Year 5 – by Mr Russel
A busy week of learning in Year 5 as the pupils produced the final draft of their Science-Fiction stories. From ‘Adorable Aliens’ to ‘Pscho Cyborgs’, their ideas were out of this world. In Maths, they have used all of their addition and subtraction skills to solve questions that have missing digits. Our Topic had pupils learn how GPS works for navigation today compared to the instruments used by explorers in times gone by.
Year 6 – by Mr Ramsden
A superb week of learning in Y6. In math's they've moved from square and cubed numbers to multiplication, and everyone has worked hard. In English they've concentrated on understanding personification and adding it to their writing. In Topic they've continued to improve their understanding of latitude and longitude, and make their own globes.
Year 7 – By Ms Rebekah
Anything that gives us new knowledge give us opportunities. Moving on from our first topics of the term in Math, English and Science, we are embarking on the discovery of elements this week. Another big and exciting science topic for us to explore. In Humanities we have marked the start of the second world war and are now investigating its impact on the world. In Art, we have finished our portraits by adding tone and texture through different methods to create a realistic 3D effect.
Dariush Saheli Head of Seria Campus