September Newsletter

Dear Grade 11 Parents, 

Welcome to the first year of the Diploma Programme at CDNIS. Now that we have had a few weeks to get settled into the routine of the Diploma Programme, I thought this would be a good time to send out my September DP Newsletter. During the two years of the Programme, you'll receive a newsletter from me approximately five times a year. I'll endeavour to keep them short and to the point but will also strive to give you a sense of what we are doing in the Diploma Programme and give you an idea of what to expect in the coming weeks and months.

This week you will have an opportunity to connect with all of your son or daughter's teachers on Curriculum Night; be sure to keep an eye out for links and the schedule from our Upper School administrators. 

During the first week of the school year, Mr. Power and I met with your children during their advisory class to discuss some of the items contained in this newsletter as well as a few other introductory components of the programme. I emphasized the support we have in place for them at CDNIS and the importance of beginning to learn to advocate for themselves.  

This past Friday, we aimed to highlight expectations related to Academic Integrity in the Diploma Programme. Unfortunately, the weather prevented us from doing so but we well re-schedule this session shortly. 

From Mr. Jeremy Power, the Head of Grade 11

I am energized by the start of the year and impressed by the class of 2025’s positive outlook as they are diving right into the rigorous and exciting two years that are ahead of them. Since the start of this school year, all of our Grade 11s have been told that they have “levelled up” and that their character, energy and leadership are essential to their success, alongside ensuring that we all have a great time together. With that, our mantra in grade 11 is to “elevate your excellence” and to be the class that everyone is talking about, for all of the right reasons!


Students are reminded that this year in student advisory, there will be several opportunities where we will come together to foster community as the class of 2025, building one another up and having fun along the way. If students have ideas on full Grade 11 events they would like to pilot into our busy SA schedule or simply want to help me make the Grade 11 year special, I encourage them to reach out anytime. This could potentially be part of CAS if it is something that can be sustained over time and meets the necessary requirements. 


Be sure to ask your child what they have been up to in Student Advisory as we work to involve the program and focus on character development, health and wellness, citizenship and positive relationships. Here’s to a great year ahead!

The DP Retreat

We were very excited about the Grade 11 retreat this year, but the weather impacted our time together. However, I am happy to announce that we will pick up where we left off when the typhoon hit, and we had to postpone the retreat. The remainder of our retreat will take place on December 12-13. Students will attend classes on the 12th, with buses leaving for the hotel at 3:15 PM. We will resume our schedule with the 4:45 PM handing out of room keys. Drop-offs at the end of the day on the 13th will be at or near the Admiralty, Central and Causeway Bay MTR stations. Students will return to class on the 14th. 

The course change process at CDNIS has three phases. We have just concluded phase 1, so please familiarize yourself with this document that outlines the next two phases of the course change policy. We have already explained the policy to all of the Grade 11s at our introductory assembly, but it is important that, as parents, you are also familiar with the process.

Please take some time to review the General Regulations for the Diploma Programme. I am required to share these with you at the start of the programme and ask that you review them at your convenience. 


If you would like to remind yourself of some of the aspects of the Diploma Programme at CDNIS, the presentation I provide for Grade 10 parents and students is available on the home page of the DP Communicator. As well we continue to populate the DP Communicator with relevant information related to the programme at our school. We will be updating the DP Communicator and providing even more detail on the various processes in the Programme over the course of the school year. I will highlight changes in this newsletter as the year progresses.

I will be organizing several assemblies during the school year with themes drawn from the IB's Learner Profile attributes to support your children in the Diploma Programme. If you are not familiar with the Learner Profile, it consists of ten attributes that are central to the IB's moral education priorities. They can be reviewed here and here. The topics of the sessions we will be offering are outlined below:

During the more than 10 hours of the Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) work periods we have allocated to Grade 11s at the start of our programme, students will be working on their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) Leadership and Peer Support course—the work they have been doing forms a significant part of this course that is required for graduation. Students will be completing the second half of the Leadership and Peer Support classes in the coming weeks. 

Mr. Lee will be emailing all parents information about the course and will also present at Curriculum Night. You will continue to hear from him regularly in the months ahead as he informs you about your child's progress in both the Leadership and Peer Support course and the CAS programme. In the meantime, you can visit our CAS programme website for more information.

Google Calendar & 

Late Assessments

Encouraging students to use Google Classroom and Google Calendar has become a critical component to setting our DP students up for success. All assignments, whether they be daily homework, formative or summative assessments, will be assigned through Google Classroom and, as a result, appear in your child's Google Calendar and on their "To-Do" list in Google Classroom. This also applies to their CAS and the Extended Essay components. The calendar for our Higher Level seminar courses is also available as a Google Calendar.

All of our students' summative assessments will be returned to students with their marks and, when applicable, their 1-7 grades using the gradebook in Google Classroom. You are encouraged to sit down regularly with your child and explore their Google Classrooms. OneDoor, our IT department, will be communicating with you regarding the Google Classroom parent summaries you can sign up to receive on a daily or weekly basis. These do not, however, include gradebook summaries.


The Diploma Programme can be intense and is undoubtedly rigorous. As a result, there are occasions when students are unable to meet deadlines. In order to support our students, I share with you the Diploma Programme late assessment policy. Parents partner with teachers when assessments are late, so it is important that you review the policy. 


Please encourage your son or daughter to check their Google Calendars and Classrooms regularly for their upcoming assessments and events.