Teaching- The Conflation of Art and Science
Teachers are so much more than content-deliverers. The work of an effective teacher requires immense creativity. Designing engaging lessons and having the ability to constantly adapt planning and craft a space or setting for others to flourish are among the job descriptors of a teacher.
However, there is a lot of science underpinning the complex act of teaching. Here below, author Alex Quigley explains the science in the straightest of terms:
Pupils knowing stuff helps them to learn more stuff (background knowledge).
It is effective and efficient to explicitly teach pupils the stuff (explicit instruction).
Pupils cannot learn lots of new stuff at any one time (working memory limitations).
We need to teach with pupils’ limited working memory in mind (cognitive load theory).
We need to make helpful connections between the complex stuff (schema building).
Plan to revisit the stuff with careful timing to secure remembering (spacing and retrieval).
Reading strategically is also vital to understanding complex stuff (reading comprehension strategies).
Pupils need to build confidence in their ability to learn and know stuff (self-efficacy).
Pupils need to exercise their attention and control their emotions to learn stuff (self-regulation).
Pupils need to pick the right strategies to learn the stuff successfully (metacognition).
At ISB, we together create an environment where every member of staff has the opportunity to engage in meaningful educational research and has the opportunity and capacity to implement it. We ensure an ethos of shared best practice in which all members of the team become an expert in their field. We love learning. We hope to run workshops in the future to share our learning with you.
Y5 and Y7 Trips: Temburong and Miri
Both our Y5 and Y7 students have had the opportunity to team up with ISB Bandar students to enjoy enrichment focused adventure trips with Bandar to Temburong and Miri respectively. These have been highly successful collaborations. Trips liberate insularity and allow children the opportunity to dream. At ISB we always dream big.
Diwali Celebration
We strive to facilitate an environment of inquiry for our students as they explore the interconnectedness of global and local communities and culture. On Friday the 3rd of November our Campus united in the celebration of color and light- yet another manifestation of the world being one family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam). This year we will continue to develop students’ understanding of Brunei History and Culture- it’s a vital element of our broad and balanced curriculum.
International Day
On Friday, 24th November 2023 we will celebrate our world. The celebration will see a host of internationally themed activities led by our Primary and Secondary students. The event is opened to the ISB Parent community only. Among the highlights at the event will be a Parade of Nations, food, songs, dances and much more! More detailed information will be released nearer the event. We would love for every nationality, home and host country to be celebrated on our campus. If you would like to support this event please let us know! More information will be shared on SeeSaw shortly.
Reminders/Special Mentions
Thank you Y5 and Y7 for leading our assembly on 10th Nov.
On the 17th Nov it will be Y6’s time to shine at assembly.
Should parents opt, we will provide Bruneian Muslim students provision/activities through till 3pm Monday-Thursday until further announcement. Other students will continue to partake in ECA and leave at 2:30pm.
EYFS Parent Workshop & Play – Wednesday 15th November starting at 08:00.
Next leadership-parental coffee morning – 17th November 09:00-10:00.
Trips: Reception had a wonderful trip to the beach in week 11. Upcoming trips: Kindy & Y1 to visit the Bomba and Y6 will be joining ISB Bandar in Berakas.
ISB FOBISIA trials will be hosted by Bandar Campus on the 27th Nov. More details to follow by Coach Russel.
BJSL Teeball Competition will be hosted by ISB Seria on the 28th November. More details to follow by Coach Russel.
We are planning our ECA’s for Term 2. More information to follow. ECA’s will start in Term 2 on the 15th January 2024.
Last Week of Term Week 14 (27th November –1st December) there will be no Swimming class or ECA.
Last Day of Term 1 = 1st December 2023.
First Day of Term 2 = Wednesday 3rd January 2024.
You can always message our teachers on Seesaw!
Follow us on Insta https://www.instagram.com/isb_seria/
EYFS – by Teacher Julia, Chio & Mrs Davies
Our EYFS provides a wealth of large and small open-ended resources, which allow children to be the directors and pilots in their own play. An open-ended resource is something that can be used in a multitude of ways- it has no fixed purpose. Only through the availability of thoughtfully well maintained and presented natural resources will children be curious to come and play. Curiosity is the spark that ignites all learning. We hope to see you this Wednesday 15th November at school for our Parent Workshop and Play.
Year 1 - by Ms MJ
Year 1 children had a busy week learning to retell and sequence the story of Beegu by Alexis Deacon. They have successfully attempted to write few sentences about Beegu using various adjectives. In Maths, they have continued to practice making addition number sentences and solved addition word problems. They are becoming confident problem solvers day by day!
Year 2 – by Ms Lisa
Year 2 had a good week continuing their learning about robots and the different jobs they are designed and built for. They designed their own robots and wrote sentences describing what they did and how they worked. There were so great creations with robots that cleaned, played music, helped with homework, flew people around. It was awesome their creative minds in action. In Math they finished their addition and subtraction Topic. They continued using number lines, base 10 blocks, and number bonds to find different ways to subtract.
Year 3 – by Mrs McCready
This week Kingfishers have enjoyed learning all about King Tutinkhamun to write his biography. Did you know he became Pharaoh at only 9 years old? In maths they have continued using their times tables to solve grouping and sharing problems.Whilst in topic Ancient Egypt continues to interest us all, we are all learning new things about the River Nile, hieroglyphs and the beliefs and way of life.
Year 4 – by Mr Davies
Year 4 have had another great week. We started a multiplication unit by going over the 3 and 6 times table. We began a new science topic on states of matter by comparing solids, liquids and gases. We started our diorama by creating a base and a background for our villages. We wrote a set of instructions on how to get an ice cream from a van using all the features we highlighted earlier in the week.
Year 5 – by Mr Russel
Year 5 have had a busy week, interviewed about their time at the camp it was interesting to discover what they enjoyed and tips for future campers. In Maths, students have solved calculations involving prime numbers and square numbers. Year 5 students also presented an assembly looking at International Remembrance Days and how reconciliation, cooperation and mutual respect help to promote peace.
Year 6 – by Mr Ramsden
Y6 have been busy, as ever! In maths they moved from long division to tackling the challenge of multi-step problem solving and order of operations. In English they produced some really writing using the ' Show Me Don't Tell Me' structure to keep their writing varied. In topic they continue to look at the physical geography of Brunei and Brazil, focusing on climate and natural resources.
Year 7 – By Ms Rebekah
In Art this week we were inspired by Paul Nash, a British abstract war artist, and created our own abstract war landscapes by focusing on the colours and features to portray a particular mood and emotion. In Humanities we completed our big group project of our model Yalta conference which we all had such fun performing. In English we related our Carrie's war reading to our own lives, learning about putting ourselves in others' shoes and empathising. The highlight of our week was our inspiring guest talk to help us think about the subject knowledge we are learning now being used in our future careers.
Dariush Saheli Head of Seria Campus