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Dear Grade 11 Parents and Students,
We are off to a great start this year. This week, we are having a fun spirit week, and in the next two weeks, we will be making final preparations for Experience Week. Below, you will find some reminders and information on what is to come.
As always, if you have any questions, please do let me know.
Brian Hull,
DP Coordinator
The course change process at CDNIS has three phases. Phase 3 starts on Monday where no course changes will be made unless circumstances are very exceptional. We do, however, permit course level changes throughout the first year of the programme as students seek to ensure they have set out the right challenge for themselves. Please see this document to familiarize yourself with our course change policy.
Last month, we held a Learner Profile assembly focused on the attribute of "principled." We used our time together to explore the notion of academic integrity and discuss what it means to have integrity. Next, we focused on how to ensure students maintain integrity when submitting work to their classroom teachers and, later in the programme, the IB. We spent a good bit of our time looking at examples provided by the IB related to appropriately using new AI language learning models like Chat GPT.
Next month, our DP assembly will introduce students to the Extended Essay, and early in the new year, our next Learner Profile assembly will focus on time management as we consider the "balanced" Learner Profile attribute. As the amount of work and assignments increases in the programme, students need to consider strategies to ensure balance in their lives and take advantage of opportunities to get their work done. Admittedly, the DP can be a stressful programme, particularly when students don't manage their time well. This assembly on time management is one of several supports we will put in place to support students in being better self-managers.
November will be the start of the Extended Essay journey for the Grade 11s. For those of you unfamiliar with this project, students will spend the next 10 months working one-on-one with a supervisor on a major work of written academic research of up to 4000 words.
Students will write their essay on a topic from one of their six courses. Though we do encourage students to choose a topic from one of their Higher Level (HL) courses, some do choose to complete the essay on a topic from one of their Standard Level (SL) courses, which is fine.
Mr. Dave Perry, our Extended Essay Coordinator, will be working with the Grade 11s throughout the school year and will be the point of contact for all things related to the Extended Essay.
Grade 11 students have completed the Ontario GPP3O Leadership Peer Support coursework and are working to maintain a balanced CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) portfolio. Parents are encouraged to review their child's CAS meeting notes and ManageBac entries to support their child’s progress. Students should be collecting regular evidence for non-school-supervised activities and must submit their first reflections on experiences from the school year. Reflective entries should be done every three months for ongoing activities.
Students should also be actively planning and implementing their CAS project, aiming to confirm their project with Mr. Lee by the end of 2024 and complete it before the end of the Grade 11 year. For more information about the CAS programme, see the CAS website for more details (https://bit.ly/cdniscas)
August 29 - 30 - The DP Retreat at the Gold Coast Hotel
September 19 - Curriculum Night
November 10-17 - Experience Week
November 19 - First Reports published
December 5 & 6 - Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences
March 4 - Second Reports published
March 20 & 21 - Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences
June 11 - Third Reports published
Diploma Programme Coordinator - Brian Hull: brianhull@cdnis.edu.hk
Head of Grade 11 - Jeremy Power: jeremypower@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
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