Volume
Ten
Newsletter
19
The first semester report cards were distributed to
the students this afternoon. Report cards are one of most important tools which
teachers use, along with Parent-Teacher Conferences, to convey a statement of
the students’ progress to the parents of those students. The reports present an
assessment of your child’s achievement during the course of the semester along
with suggestions by the teachers for future improvement.
The
The Middle/High School reports are different from the
Elementary School reports and have an achievement key paralleling that of the
IB. Additionally, the teachers’ comments
are put down largely in narrative form so that each
teacher has the opportunity to highlight an individual child’s successes, and
make suggestions for improvement.
An additional feature of the Middle School Report, the
Personal Development Report, is a self evaluation done by each of the Middle
School students. The Middle School teachers wish to help the students become
more accountable for their own learning by completing the self evaluation and
setting goals for themselves for the second semester. The goals which the
students have set for themselves will be monitored by the teachers during the
course of the upcoming semester.
Included with the report cards is a note from the
school, asking parents to confirm receipt of the reports. Parents,
please complete the form and return it to your child’s homeroom teacher on Wednesday,
February 6. The report card itself does not have to be returned to the
school.
Any parents who have questions regarding our reporting
system, the achievement scores or comments for any particular subject should
feel free to contact the appropriate teacher(s) to set up a conference.
Excused / Unexcused Absences: The
Unexcused absences are ones
in which the family takes their child(ren) out of
school to either extend a vacation or take a separate vacation, resulting in
one or more school days being missed. In
From our
High School Principal, Mr. Liam Browne:
With the distribution of report cards, I would like to
take the opportunity to discuss with high school parents ways of considering
assessment. A lot of confusion and angst
can come about as a result of report cards.
Report cards, and the dreaded grades they bring, can reveal a lot about
the character of an individual. If a
student is disappointed with the semester results do they wallow in self pity
and develop a sense of apathy or, on the other hand, do they set out an action
plan to change the situation, establish clear goals and frequently measure
their progress towards achieving that goal.
There are two ways to evaluate student performance:
1.
We can compare the performance of a student to another or to the average
of a group of students, or
2.
We can compare the performance of the student to an objective standard.
If we accept the first approach we care not whether a
student has achieved a result, but only whether the student being evaluated is
better or worse that his/her classmates.
In some instances such a comparative process makes sense. For example, we can assert that the World Cup
must produce only one winner. This contest determines excellence on a
comparative basis. Victory connotes competence.
Would this be the case if we changed the venue from the soccer pitch to
the cockpit of a plane? We get scant
comfort from a pilot who announces, “I’m proud to announce that my score on the
aviation exam was better than my competitors, though I’m not quite sure how to
land this plane”. In matters of safety
we compare pilots not to one another, but to objective standards. We require
equal numbers of take offs and landings. On matters that are serious, we use
standards. In matters of games we use
comparative measurements.
So it is with education and the programs on offer at
the
Despite the literature put out by the IGCSE and the
IB, standards are hardly new to education. Kindergarten teachers do not expect
students to know a few more letters of the alphabet that their classmates but
to know every letter. With criterion
referenced systems that are precise and clear, they can tell parents and
students which letters, colors and shapes students know and thus provide clear
guidance on what students must do in order to be prepared for the next level of
learning. Music teachers would be quite confident about the difference between
the A and the A flat, with the former corresponding to about 440 cycles per
second (thank you Mr. Thorpe). They
never say, “Your performance of that note was better than any A we have heard today-go to the head of the class!” Rather, they help the student to work,
adjust, listen, and adjust again until they achieve the standard; hitting the A
with precision.
However, it is not always easy to be so clear
cut. The best explanation is that the
examples I have provided illustrate matters of easy consensus and clear
differentiation between the attainment of a standard and the failure to meet
it. But if the context is changed from
Kindergarten to Kafka, from music to Macbeth, then objectivity is supplanted by
subjectivity. In matters of literature,
language, philosophy or history, proficiency is no longer clear, and the
definition of an acceptable student must rest with the judgment of experts . .
. teachers! If students did not know how a judgment is made but have faith in
the judge, then infallibility is ensured.
Call it the “Oz effect”. The
great and powerful Oz retains power as long as there is no Dorothy and Toto to
look behind the curtain.
At the
I would like to congratulate all students who have had
a successful semester. To those who wish to improve (which I hope would be all)
I would like to offer the following words of advice: Before setting goals for next semester and
means to measure your progress please ensure that you are clear on the
standards. Avoid the “Oz effect” and
take a look behind the curtain!
Upcoming Important High School Information:
·
5-9 May: G10 Study leave:
·
30 May:
G9
·
12 May-12 June
(IGCSE
provisional exam timetable)
·
2-6 June: G9 and G11 End of year exams:
·
16-20 June: High School Fieldtrips:
o
Grade 9 & 10 -
o
Grade 11-
2008-2009
Fee Schedule: The new
fee schedule for the upcoming 2008-2009 school year was sent home with the
students today. Please feel free to
contact the school should you have any questions regarding this.
Rosenmontag & Faschingsdienstag: The
Welcome: To Claudia Kampmann and Mayu
Tsubata who both joined the FIS last Monday, January
21. Claudia joined our Grade 7m class
and is coming to us from
Wanted: Bicycle for an 8 year old boy. Please call:
09132/ 83 64 93.
Student Cell
Phone Use During School Day: FIS students who are allowed
by their parents to bring a cell phone to school should note that these phones
must be either stored in their lockers (MS/HS) or in their book bags and should
be switched off during the school day. Active cell phones are not allowed
in the classroom and will be confiscated by the class teacher should the phone
disturb instruction or the class in any way. Parents who need to leave a message for their
children should do so via the school office.
Kindergarten Parents: When picking up your children before the end
of the school day, we kindly ask that you do not linger in the foyer area. This causes disruption to classes still
taking place and causes the foyer area to become overcrowded during the end of
day dismissal time. If you need to wait
for someone we ask that you please wait outside. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sick Students: To
avoid contagious illnesses from being spread throughout the school, we kindly
ask that if your child is showing symptoms of being ill (i.e. coughing,
sneezing, vomiting, etc.) that you do not send them to school. In this way we can reduce the amount of
viruses which the students are subjected to, and in effect keep all the
students (and teachers) healthier during the course of the winter season.
PTO Voice: The new FIS PTO newsletter, ‘The PTO Voice’,
was sent home with the students today.
Please look for your family’s copy of in your (youngest) child’s schoolbag.
PTO Ski Weekend:
Congratulations to Gerda Schütz, Christiane Dimaczek and Cornelia Eismann for
organizing a wonderful ski weekend in
NEXT WEEK AT THE
|
Monday Feb 4 |
Rosenmontag
– No School |
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Tuesday Feb 5 |
Faschingsdienstag
– No School |
|
Wednesday Feb 6 |
|
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Thursday Feb 7 |
|
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Friday Feb 8 |
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Newsletter on web page: Our newsletter, and other important school
information, can also be found on the school’s web page.