Dear Parents,
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to represent our school at two events. The first was the International School Services (ISS) job fair in Bangkok. After that, I attended the East Asian Regional Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS) leadership conference. During these two events, I had the opportunity to connect with other school leaders and learn from research-based best practices.
My main takeaway from the job fair was how low teacher turnover is at XLIS. For this August we have a 6.5% turnover. I cannot tell you how happy I am that our staff are choosing to stay with us. Similarly, at the EARCOS conference, I was delighted to see how some of the main themes being introduced are processes we have in place for years at XLIS. The highlight for me was attending the keynote and workshops delivered by Dr. James Stronge. We have been using his standards for teachers at XLIS since 2017.
Policies on Website
All our academic policies may now be found on our website here. In the IB Standards and Practices, it is these policies that are believed to shape the culture of the school. I would like to highlight some key points for you here.
Assessment – All teachers are expected to provide students with summative assessment criteria at the start of a unit. This helps students know exactly how to be successful in the unit. If a student has not received this, she should ask her teacher.
Language – The language of instruction in all classes except Mandarin and Korean is English. Teachers may plan carefully for the use of mother tongue but it is not to be spoken freely in classes.
Child Protection – Kriss Parker is our Child Protection Officer. Any issue should be formally reported to him by email at kriss.parker@xalis.com. The school then has a process in place to investigate support students.
Please take the time to read through the five policies on the website to understand our culture. As always I love to hear from you so please take a moment to reply if you have time. It was wonderful being with so many of you last Saturday when our MYP girls won the volleyball tournament. This Saturday I will be taking a team from our school to a cross country event in Dehong. Wish us luck!
Sincerely,
Brian Lalor
Deputy Head of School
