MS HS NEWS

WELCOME TO INFOBYTE #13!
Written by Mr. Alex Nenes
 

Welcome to Infobyte #13 and to the month of February, which is the month of love and we hope this Infobyte finds you all filled with positivity and love. This month, we would like to focus on the importance of spreading kindness and love in our community. As we start a new month, let us remember the importance of being kind and respectful to each other. A simple act of kindness can make someone's day, and can go a long way in creating a positive and welcoming atmosphere at our school.

We had great achievements in the past two weeks and some that could not go without mention: the participation of our Mighty Macan volleyball team in a friendly match and a tournament as well as the Chinese New Year Celebrations. This week both teams (boys and girls) represented SWA in the Laurensia Cup 2023 greatly and had the chance to improve their skills. Last Week, the boys team played a friendly game at National High. Our boys won the match by 3 sets to 2. The Chinese New Year Assembly was a great success and I’d like to thank and at the same time congratulate the Chinese and Music Departments for the amazing performances. Another highlight of the week was the whole school photo shoot for the upcoming yearbook. The highlight of the day for the MSHS Department was to see the seniors wearing their graduation gowns for the first time.

We would also like to remind parents and students of our upcoming events, including the STUCO Valentine’s Day & Candygram on February 14th, Personal Project Exhibition on February 17th, Spirit Week from February 20th to the 24th, and TEDxYouth@SWA on Saturday, February 25th. These events provide an excellent opportunity for students to showcase their hard work and for parents to develop a better understanding of their child's progress.

Finally, we would like to remind everyone that our school is a place where everyone is valued and respected, regardless of differences. Let's continue to create a warm and welcoming environment for all students, staff, and families.

CAREER DAY
Written by Mr. Stan Sousek

Career Day at SWA is an annual event that provides our high school students with presentations from speakers who work in a wide variety of careers. Students get to see that there is a world of possibilities out there and that there are many different paths that they can take.

This year, Career Day was held on Friday, January 27, 2023 from 8:00 am to 11:30 am. Students had the possibility of hearing from many different guest speakers from a wide range of careers, including Business, Entrepreneurs, Diplomats, IT Developers, Programmers, Film makers and Biotech Researchers. Students were inspired and motivated by the different speakers and now have more information to further develop their career paths based on their passions and abilities.

This year’s speakers were:

• Mr. Tahir Hashmi - Senior Vice-President Tokopedia

• Ms. Elly Tan - Director at Microsoft Indonesia

• Mr. David Kurniawan - Head of Product at Delman Data Lab

• Mr. Kelvin Sng - Film Maker

• Mr. Alexandre Missiaggia - R&D Genetic Manager Asia Pulp and Paper

• Ms. Dwi Nurul Amalia - Regional Manager Sinarmas Bank

• Ms. Reno Dwi Hapsari  - Embassy of Indonesia in Malaysia

As a tradition in SWA’s Career Day, we also counted on our Students Ambassadors who helped in the event by guiding the speakers and greeting them as well as providing them assistance and help while at SWA.

STUCO SPIRIT WEEK
By Mr. Alex Nenes

Spirit Week is SWA's yearly tradition, where different themed activities take place for five days of a school week. The purpose of Spirit Week is to increase the School’s spirit and get students to be more enthusiastic about school, especially in this new learning environment when we are back on campus and interacting with each other daily. Through this event, we hope that students can express their individuality and creativity through their choice of clothing and embrace their school spirit. The events are arranged so that students get various chances to express themselves and do class bonding simultaneously. 

Students can enjoy fun activities throughout the week like dressing up, bringing something instead of their backpacks, and playing class vs class games. Throughout this event, we aim to create fun and memorable memories for the SWA MSHS Community. We hope that this will be a wonderful learning experience for all the students. 

Below is the dress code schedule during Spirit Week which can be worn from home until dismissal time:

MYP UPDATE
Written by Mr. Haoken

Please see the notices and reminders for the coming few weeks of Term 3: 

1. Interdisciplinary Unit (IDU) Presentation: 26 January 2023 @Trini Dewi Theatre

Interdisciplinary Unit (IDU) presentation took place on Thursday 26 January 2023. Grades 6 - 10 completed their interdisciplinary units during the first three weeks of Term 3 (4 - 26 January 2023). Below are the unit titles by grade level:

Our MYP teachers plan and reflect collaboratively to consider connections and relationships between different areas, and reinforce shared concepts, content and skills. 

2. Personal Project (PP) Exhibition:  Friday, 17 February 2023 @Art Building

The Grade 10 personal project provides an opportunity for students to undertake an independent and age-appropriate exploration into an area of personal interest. Through the process of inquiry, action, and reflection, students are encouraged to demonstrate and strengthen their approaches to learning (ATL) skills. The Grade 10 MYP Personal Project exhibition tool place on Friday, 17th Feb 2023 being open to the public from 1:00 - 3:00 PM. All members of the SWA community and beyond are welcome to attend the exhibition in the Dance Room area of the Arts Lobby.

3. G8 Checkpoint  Mock Examination

Grade 8 Cambridge Checkpoint Mock Examinations will take place from 13 - 15 March 2023 during the last weeks of Term 3. The official Checkpoint exam schedule will be announced. 

4. G10 IGCSE Mock Examination

Grade 10 IGCSE Mock Examinations will take place from 6 - 17  March 2023 during the last two weeks of Term 3. The official IGCSE mock exam schedule will be announced. 

5. Service as Action (SA)

Service as Action continues into Terms 3 and 4 and we are excited to see student project work that is developing. Please take a moment to review the SA Handbook for guidelines and regulations.

DP UPDATE
Written by Ms. Andrea Bozzetti

How to prepare for the IB final exam

Make a study schedule and be organised 

Students that are well-organised can see things clearly, put everything in perspective, and effectively fulfil deadlines. Making a schedule in advance might help students prioritise their studies and determine which subjects will take the most time. Making an exam timetable is strongly advised. Additionally, schedule your time wisely both before and after tests and remember to take short breaks in between study sessions. Every couple of hours, you need to take a break so that you can regain attention and recollect information because your mind cannot concentrate the entire time. Set a particular time for your break; a fifteen-minute break is helpful and sufficient after 1 hour and 30 minutes of study. Take a rest. 

Compile past paper questions, textbook content, and make a revision package compiling past paper

Use the past papers to help you become more accustomed to the format of the questions and accelerate your response time. It guarantees that you comprehend the demands and implications of the question and develops the time management abilities necessary to finish a paper inside the allotted time. You can practise utilising the many tools and response kinds that will be examined on the exam by using a study kit, which will help you develop your ability to explain yourself clearly on test day. Additionally, approach past exams like you would an external exam with time limits and the permitted materials, such as the calculator and formula book. Practising old tests familiarises you with the structure of the exam papers.

Spend two weeks before exam week and do revision

You shouldn't pretend to be studying every subject right now. Just concentrate on the subjects that you find difficult. When you have mastered the material, complete a full past paper in an exam setting to determine your scores and identify any errors you made. It is possible to determine whether you can truly finish activities within the allotted time by responding to questions under time pressure. Additionally, it highlights your areas of weakness so you may focus on the test components and question types that require more time. You will understand and assimilate knowledge more quickly using this technique. Additionally, use the question bank and make sure you finish every assignment (tip: concentrate primarily on the previous assignments from the last seven years from the current.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
Written by Ms. Andrea Bozzetti

Communication skills are crucial in education as they allow students to effectively express their ideas, thoughts, and opinions. Good communication skills also help students to better understand and retain information, collaborate with others, and build relationships. In the 21st century, these skills are even more important as technology has made communication easier, but also more complex. In the 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, digital literacy, and collaboration, are essential for students to thrive in their future careers and life. These skills help students to adapt to the rapidly changing world and to succeed in a global economy. Employers value these skills as they are necessary for success in the workplace, and they also help individuals to be more confident and successful in their personal lives. 

Students' ability to critically evaluate a literary work and apply the knowledge they have learned through various means of communication demonstrates their creativity and agency while using various digital platforms to accomplish their objectives. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is presented by DP students in a fun performance that combines music, pictures, and history to make a point. 

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
Written by Ciaran Frayne

Year 8 Digital Design

In Year 8 Digital Design lessons students are learning about Digital Circuits. The class has been learning about how current passes through a breadboard, how to construct a variety of circuits, using components such as transistors, integrated circuits, LEDs and switches, and how they can represent these circuits using truth tables.

The unit is a special element of the Digital Design programme, since it provides students an opportunity to work with their hands, rather than their laptops and software. Connecting components into a breadboard, and interpreting schematic diagrams poses unique challenges.

Upon completion of the unit, students are required to prove their understanding by constructing an electronic burglar alarm for a client of their choice. The alarm can be arduino based, but students are welcome to explore other options and areas of interest if they wish.

While students are very welcome to select parents or family members as clients, it is important that the client provides critical feedback, so that the students can objectively assess their projects.

Special thanks to Mr Firdaus and SWA IT Support for their help developing this unit, and for providing support during lessons.

Time of Watching YouTube

Keikona explores the time of the YouTube videos she had watched. She aims to establish a 90% confidence interval on the mean time of the videos, classified according to some genres. She will use this information to create her own channel on a specific genre with an average run-time based on her research.

CHINESE DEPARTMENT
Written by Mr. Xia

《三国演义》是中国古代一部经典的长篇小说，不管在民间还是学术界都有广泛的影响，不仅给我们留下了很多精彩和经典的故事，也极大的丰富了汉语言的表达，给我们留下了很多脍炙人口的俗语或者成语，比如三顾茅庐，桃园结义，过五关斩六将，走麦城，初出茅庐，草船借箭，望梅止渴，舌战群儒，万事俱备只欠东风，身在曹营心在汉，赔了夫人又折兵，乐不思蜀等等。最近，G6 的同学学习了这本小说的一些精彩内容，同学们也自己探究分享了一些其他的关于这本小说的精彩部分，并在课堂上做了精彩的口头报告，大家通过这个活动，提高了文学审美能力，也提高了表达技巧。

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a classic novel in ancient China, which has a wide influence in both the common people and academic circles. It not only left us many wonderful and classic stories, but also greatly enriched the expression of the Chinese language, leaving us a lot of popular sayings or idioms, such as 三顾茅庐，桃园结义，过五关斩六将，走麦城，初出茅庐，草船借箭，望梅止渴，舌战群儒，万事俱备只欠东风，身在曹营心在汉，赔了夫人又折兵，乐不思蜀. Recently, G6 students learned some wonderful contents of this novel. They also explored and shared some other wonderful parts of this novel, and made wonderful presentations in class. Through this activity, they improved their literary aesthetic ability and expression skills. 

INDONESIAN/KOREAN DEPARTMENT
Written by Ms. Junita

G6 Indonesian Language Literature

Nhung (2016) states a folktale is a story, myth or legend forming part of an oral tradition, does not have a single, identifiable author or writer and is or was passed down from one generation to the next. Indonesia has many folktales which are well known and often be used by the parents to advice and educate their children in doing or not doing certain behaviour.  

According to Mungadi and Gulumba (2002), quoting Abrahim folklore is nothing but a fiction. 

This term, students learned about Fiction. They explored some Indonesian folktales, such as “Si Pitung”, “Legenda Danau Toba”, “Kancil dan Buaya” and analysed the stories using the elements of fiction. They worked together to analyse the story of “Lutung Kasarung” - Indonesian’s sage from Central Java. 

INDIVIDUALS & SOCIETIES DEPARTMENT
Written by Ms. Katherine and Mr. Alex

G10 Global Perspectives

G10 Global Perspective Students are going over the final topics of their syllabus and will soon start their preparation for the Mock Exams and later on, the IGCSE Final Exams and submission of coursework. The course work consists of two components: The Individual Report - A 1500-word report based on a topic that presents the students’ particular area of responsibility and cover themes of global relevance such as biodiversity and ecosystem loss, the digital world, sustainable living, trade and aid, and changing communities. During the months of February and March, the class will work on the Team Project, which is based on themes like human rights, tradition, culture and recreation, water, food, and agriculture, as well as poverty and inequality. The Team Project is based on creating awareness towards the theme selected. Students will create a collective piece of work and an individual 700-word reflection. 

MUSIC
Written by Mr. Freddy

All the MYP Music students from Grade 6 to Grade 8 are very happy about their successful musical performance entitled The Legend of Nian during the Chinese Spring Festival celebration last week. They worked very hard during the preparation with different specific parts as the Grade 6 students played the hulusi and percussions, the Grade 7 students played violin, hulusi, and angklung, and the Grade 8 students played the leading roles/casts and singers. It’s a collaborative performance that is assessed as their Term 3 project in demonstrating their musical skills and performing skills to promote the Chinese music festival. Besides the MYP Music students, the Timbre music club also performed Reflection from the Mulan Disney in Trio format together with Andrew as the solo violinist. Those opportunities made all the music students develop their confidence and performing skills into another level of collaborative and creative thinking skills. 

VISUAL ARTS
Written by Mr. Alan Wang

"Career Day Brings Excitement to Visual Art And SWA TV/Film Production Students."

The recent Career Day event at SWA was a huge success, with a special guest speaker, popular film director Mr. Kelvin Sng from Singapore. The online session was hosted by the Visual Art department and was well-attended by a large number of students. Mr. Sng shared his insights and experiences in the film industry with the students, and they were eager to ask questions and learn more. The students were inspired by Mr. Sng's passion for storytelling and his creative process.

During the first morning session, Mr. Sng discussed the role of visual art in film and how he uses it to bring his stories to life. He also shared tips and advice on how to break into the film industry and achieve success. The students were attentive and engaged, and it was evident that they were eager to learn from such a successful and experienced professional.

The event was a great opportunity for students to gain a deeper understanding of the visual art field and learn from a leading expert in the industry. It was a fantastic turnout, and everyone involved was very pleased with the results.

Overall, the Career Day event was a huge success and a great opportunity for students to expand their knowledge and connect with industry professionals. We look forward to hosting more events like this in the future, and we would like to thank Mr. Kelvin Sng for taking the time to speak with our students."