News Updates
December Adjustments
We have made some adjustments to the last week of this first semester, Monday through Friday, 15 to 19 December.
There will now be no classes on Friday, 19 December. First semester final examinations for Upper and Middle School students will take place from Monday to Thursday, 15 to 18 December. Friday will be used for teachers to correct exams and enter first semester grades. Upper and Middle School students who have missed an exam during the four assigned examination days may also take make–up exams on that Friday.
The Early Learning Center and Lower School students will have regular schedules that week. Parents and guardians, be sure to attend the Early Learning Center’s Christmas Production on Wednesday, December 17 at 8:15am.
Again, the last day of regular classes for this semester will now be Thursday, 18 December.
Happy Holidays!
Expected School–wide Learning Results (ESLR–s)
Brent School’s philosophy is summarized in the Expected School-wide Learning Results which state that the school, in a Christian environment, prepares its students to be:
- Responsible Citizens who:
- a. exercise leadership
- b. work effectively with others in diverse settings
- c. resolve conflicts productively and peacefully
- d. demonstrate a sense of civic awareness
- e. contribute responsibly to the community
- Critical Thinkers who:
- a. distinguish between facts and opinions
- b. construct and recognize the structure of arguments
- c. define, analyze, and solve problems
- d. organize and analyze materials and data
- e. integrate information and see relationships
- f. evaluate information by drawing inferences and arriving at reasonable conclusions
- g. apply understanding and knowledge to new and different problems
- h. remain open to new information, methods, values and beliefs
- Technologically Literate Individuals who:
- a. demonstrate basic technology skill
- b. apply technology ethically and productively
- c. communicate using technology
- d. conduct research using technology
- e. use technology to enhance critical thinking
- Healthy Individuals who:
- a. understand and demonstrate physical, mental, and spiritual health
- b. develop life-long health and fitness goals
- c. understand substance abuse, its effects and consequences
- Tolerant Individuals who:
- a. respect themselves and others
- b. understand and appreciate the diversity and interdependence of all people
- c. deal effectively with conflict caused by diversity of opinions and beliefs
- d. respect the role of gender, religion, culture and ethnicity in the world
- Effective Communicators who:
- a. articulate thoughts clearly
- b. demonstrate an understanding of their audience
- c. take responsibility for their message
- d. demonstrate the ability to listen actively
- e. use a variety of communication skills
- Life-long Learners who:
- a. demonstrate intellectual curiosity
- b. are self-directed
- c. integrate and apply what they learn to improve their own lives
- d. understand the value of continuous learning
- e. reflect on and evaluate their learning for the purpose of self improvement
- f. use a range of learning strategies and time management skills to enhance learning
A Note from IBO
Brent International School Subic is a candidate school* for the Diploma Programme of the International Baccalaureate Organization. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy – a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Brent International School Subic believes is important for our students.
*Only schools authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) as IB World Schools can offer any of its three academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), or the Diploma Programme. Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.
For further information about the IBO and its programmes, visit http://www.ibo.org.
Principal’s Message
In the past month or so, I have travelled to an International Baccalaureate (IB) conference in Beijing and an East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS) conference in Malaysia with other Brent administrators from Subic, Baguio and Manila. These conferences always stimulate thought and percolate the newest trends amongst educators. The conferences are full of wonderful people who have dedicated their life’s work for children and their future. It is exciting and inspiring to learn from them. I wanted to share a few ideas that I picked up from my travels.
The IB conference wetted my appetite for the IB to come to Brent Subic. Brent Manila and Baguio have it and have been running successful programs for a number of years now. What impressed me the most was the core element of the IB curriculum – commonly referred to as CAS or Community, Action and Service. CAS is a requirement for the IB diploma. Students need to spend 50 documented hours in each section of CAS. A few students spoke to the whole 800 member IB conference about their CAS projects. One young lady began a school for migrant workers in Beijing. Another young man began a Saturday school for the poor at his school in Bangladesh. Not only were their projects brilliant but they spoke with poise and passion about changing “their world” for the better. Brent Subic, and I dare say, “our world” will become a better place with the IB.
The EARCOS conference is an opportunity to learn from the best administrators in the best schools in East-Asia. EARCOS brings in keynote speakers to begin each day’s sessions. We were captivated by Mr. Alan November’s talk about the power of the internet and technology in education. He challenged us educators to have students own the learning process. He highlighted a webpage begun by a young African woman, http://www.kiva.org that brings opportunity to Africans through micro financing. Mr. John Joseph reminded us that each student presents a different challenge and learning capacity in your classroom and that we need to remind everyone who works with children that until students feel safe, they will not learn. Finally, Mr. William Lishman, a Canadian (!), creator of the film “Fly Away Home” that many of you may remember, reminded us that like birds who fly in formation when migrating we adults need to fit into the lives of our students. Students adapt to teachers and adults all day long, a strict teacher, a fun teacher, a serious teacher…teachers need to fit into young peoples lives to make connections that are beyond the “material to be covered” and make emotional ties to their lives.
While at these conferences, my mind often feels “full”. There is so much for me to learn and that can be an overwhelming feeling for me. On the airplane trip back, I usually get over that feeling. Walking through the halls and stopping in classrooms quickly brings me back to home. I love those first few hours back in Subic. It reminds me of our challenges, but most importantly reminds me that Brent Subic is special, is exceptional. We do know our students, we teach the whole child, we have close bonds with their lives, and our students are making the world a better place.
Garth Wyncoll
