Dear Parents,
A lot has been happening around our campuses this week.
Congratulations to the ASD U19 girls volleyball team on bringing home the championship! The tournament was hosted at American International School Kuwait this year. The team played against seven teams from Saudi, Kuwait, UAE and Lebanon over three days. They brought home a beautiful plaque with the girls' names that will hang in the halls of ASD. Well done Scorpions!
Nineteen students from ASD traveled to Cairo from November 9-12 to compete in a three-day volleyball tournament vs five other schools in the Middle East region. The students performed well in the vibrant environment provided by AIS school. The girls won three of their group games and narrowly missed out on 3rd place. The boys won all of their group games without dropping a set going into the finals. They lost to Amman Baccalaureate School in the final but gave all they had. Students also went on a Nile cruise with the other teams and made lots of connections. Overall, they had a wonderful experience.
Last Saturday, our team of teachers and staff attended ISG Learns, a bi-annual event where all our teachers participate in a day of learning. Sessions are offered by our teachers, staff and guest speakers. It's a day when we are all committed to learning from each other, improving our craft and reflecting on our practices.
During the event we heard from five of our ISG teachers on the topic of Promoting Learner Agency. Here are the highlights of what they shared:
- How do we promote learner agency and make critical thinking part of the classroom culture.
- How using the socratic method can aid in promoting learner agency.
- The importance of giving students a voice, choice, ownership and autonomy in their learning.
- Promoting learner agency through empathy.
- Promoting learner agency through assessment and self reflection.
You can see a short recap of the event here. You can also see an excerpt from Coach Kern Cruddas's presentation on how our ISG Jubail students practice Learner Agency below. You'll hear them speak about having an active start to the class, their choice of student led games and the flexible frameworks they have for progression. I would like to thank all our teachers and staff for their dedication to their students. You inspire us all to do better each day.
I would like to remind you of the vacant seats available for the Board of Trustees. Please refer to this letter from Board Chair, Mr. Chris Boyett, for more information. If you have any queries, or would like to make a nomination to join the board, please contact Laura Morris (morri.l.08@isg.edu.sa).
ISG Dammam will host an Open House on December 10, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Please save the date and share it with friends and family. More details will be shared as we get closer to the date.
A reminder that ASD will soon be sharing a link to a Virtual Open House on November 26, 2022. Please share this information with your friends and family outside the Kingdom who might be interested in joining ASD. An in person Open House will be scheduled on January 21, 2023.
Best wishes,
Michael P. Mack