Dear Parents,
We are in an exciting time of the year at the school where we are seeing our school mission in action. There are many exciting activities taking place that are developing confidence in our students. In this newsletter, I would like to provide some more information on how XLIS has become a center for learning and sports in our region.
ACAMIS Volleyball
This past weekend we hosted the ACAMIS volleyball tournament. Schools from all over China came to take part and experience our open-minded culture. The highlight for our school this year was the age of our girls’ team. This was the first time that we were able to field a first team of all Grade 12 players. In fact, XLIS was the oldest girls’ team by average age. It has taken us a long time to work with our community to develop an understanding of the benefits of sports in high school, and I believe we have achieved this. Thank you so much to all the parents who support their child to keep their passions alive. I am tracking the academic progress of these students closely, and their average predicted IB score is well above the IB world average.
IB Asia Pacific Scheduled Event
The IB looks for continuum schools, that is, schools that have the three programs to host workshops for teachers. Next weekend, XLIS has been selected for the third time to host one of these events. The rumor coming out of the IB office in Singapore is that the food and logistical support at XLIS is second to none. This is thanks to our incredibly hardworking Resource team, who work weekends to make this and events like ACAMIS a success. These are the people working behind the scenes to make our school a success.
Week Without Walls
Service learning is a central part of all three IB programs and developscommunity. It begins as action in the PYP, service as action in the MYP, and then creativity, activity, and service in the DP. This month our students will go to various locations across China in order to learn outside of the classroom. I went with the M1 group to Chengdu last year. We built bee boxes to produce honey, planted bamboo, and ate the best food in China. These trips are often mentioned by our alumni as their most fond memories.
Other Events
We look forward to hosting our first IB/WASC synchronized visit as well as the famous Chang’an Cup in the coming months. The Chang’an Cup is a great opportunity for our basketball teams to experience some tough competition before they head off to Hong Kong for ACAMIS once again. Finally, we wrapped up our early years grassroots football league last Saturday. Some brilliant players have been identified who will be turning pro next year and joining competitive sports.
It takes a village to raise a child. Let us continue to work to develop confident, open-minded, global citizens through lifelong learning and a sense of community. As always, I love to hear from you. Please take the time to email me and let me know how your child is doing.
Sincerely,
Mr. Lalor
Deputy Head
Deputy Head
