Grade 11 April Newsletter
Dear Grade 11 Students and Parents,
While the school year quickly coming to a close, I wanted to provide you with a few reminders and updates in the Diploma Programme. Please review the information below and do reach out if you have any questions.
- Brian Hull
From: The Head of Grade 11
The class of 2025 continues to "elevate their excellence" and work diligently in the second half of the school year. In student advisory, the focus has been on working towards a lasting legacy project, our Grade 11 Spotlight: Elevate and Celebrate event on April 30th, promising to be an evening of great performances and student showcases. Where possible, we also have been providing some freedom of choice between some healthy active living opportunities in the gym with pick up sports or mental health time in classrooms for studying.
Looking ahead, our final sessions together will be advisory sessions which provide more free choice, togetherness and a chance to show some gratitude to the teachers. Finally, we will be having our Learner Profile Celebrations on our final Student Advisory session together which will be a great opportunity to come together one final time before the exam session begins.
As we approach those final exams, I hope our Grade 11 students celebrate the progress they have made so far in their first year of the DP. I also hope they hold themselves accountable as effective communicators and critical thinkers as the pressures build, ensuring to reach out for support when needed and update teachers ahead of due dates when work is piling up so we can best support them.
As always, cheering on the class of 2025 and looking forward to what is in store for the remainder of the year!
- Mr. Jeremy Power
Grade 11 Final Exams
While this has already been shared with students, Grade 11 exams are coming up in just a little over a month so I thought I would share it here as well.
Time Management
Earlier this school year, I explored with all of the Grade 11 students different approaches they can take to better managing their time. As the intensity of the programme increases in the coming months, I'd encourage students and parents alike to work together to consider how students might best manage their time. See the presentation from my assembly below.
The Retreat
While it was divided up into two parts we did have a lovely mid-December version of the retreat. Students continued their exploration of International Mindedness and we even had a visit from Santa!
Core Days and Predicted Grade Meetings - June 5-7
Each year we dedicate the last three days of the school year for our Grade 11 students to work, off timetable, on the Core components of their programme. These include:
The Theory of Knowledge course: students will work on finalizing their TOK portfolios
The Extended Essay: students will meet with their supervisors to discuss their progress on their Extended Essay and areas they need to focus on as they complete their first draft during the summer. At this point students will have written close to 2000 words. In addition, students will finalize their second required reflection alongside their EE supervisor.
Creativity, Activity and Service Programme (CAS): students will work on updating their reflections based on the seven learning outcomes, uploading evidence of CAS experiences and planning for the second half of the programme.
Predicted Grade Meetings:
In addition to finalizing the components noted above, students will meet with each of their teachers to discuss their performance on their final assessments, their current and initial predicted grade and any summer work that teachers have assigned.
In the coming weeks, parents will be provided with more information regarding the predicted grade process and will be asked to sign our school's predicted grade agreement. The agreement will need to be completed and returned to the guidance office before any predicted grade meetings can take place.
The Grade 11s are currently having their second CAS interviews. During these interviews students' CAS portfolios will be assessed and students will either be encouraged to continue their current balance of Creativity, Activity and Service or will need to come up with a plan to rebalance their portfolio. In addition, students will need to plan a CAS project if they haven't done so already.
The CAS / OSSD (GPP3O) course reports will come out in May. They will detail each student's progress in the Programme.
May 17: First 2000 words of the Extended Essay due
May 28 - June 4: Grade 11 Exams
June 5-7: Core Days and Predicted Grade Meetings
June 12: Third Reports published
Diploma Programme Coordinator - Brian Hull: brianhull@cdnis.edu.hk
CAS Coordinator - Gregg Lee: gregglee@cdnis.edu.hk
Theory of Knowledge (TOK) Coordinator - Chris Tyrrell: christophertyrrell@cdnis.edu.hk
Extended Essay (EE) Coordinator - Dave Perry: daveperry@cdnis.edu.hk