September 1, 2024

Welcome (or welcome back) to the only authorized International Baccalaureate(IB)  Middle Years Programme (MYP) School in all of Manitoba (and Saskatchewan)!

You may have heard about or attended an International Baccalaureate (IB) school. Currently there are a couple other schools working within the IB framework in Manitoba but they are high schools. The high school program is called the Diploma Programme (DP) while the Middle Years is called the Middle Years Programme (MYP). There is also a Primary Years Programme (PYP) for elementary schools.

The goal of the IB MYP is to engage students in inquiry through a variety of  issues and ideas that can be significant locally, nationally, and globally. The ultimate result is to develop students who are creative, critical, and reflective thinkers. 

We use the MYP as a framework in which we teach Manitoba Provincial curricula. Our students are learning the same material as other students around the province; the difference is in the way they are learning it and how they are assessed. Students take an active role in assessment as they can best learn when they see what areas they need to improve on and set goals on how to get there. We use an eight-point rubric to assist the students in seeing where they are at in their educational journey as well as helping them see where they need to go to improve their ability to demonstrate understanding of content. In upcoming weeks, we will share more on assessment in this newsletter to ensure that families understand it as well as the students do.

Each week through this section, information will be shared with the École River Heights School community. 

You should have also received an invite from Toddle, our IB Learning Management System. Here you will be able to access your child’s assignments and keep up with any announcements, use of the calendar and review information about units. More information to follow about how to access and use Toddle. 

Should you have any questions, feel free to contact the IB Coordinator, Amanda Tetrault (atetrault@wsd1.org) for more information, however, each week there will be new and exciting information about this programme provided through this newsletter about the Middle Years Programme and how it is being implemented in your child's classroom. You can also learn more about IB by checking out the IB webpage connected to our school webpage

September 18, 2024

A significant aspect that distinguishes the International Baccalaureate from other middle school programs is how we evaluate students' work. In the IB Middle Years Programme, we promote the use of various ongoing assessments to help both students and teachers gauge the students' progress in a particular subject or topic. These assessments are geared towards guiding students in achieving their set goals and providing valuable insights for teachers. This is called assessment FOR learning and we use formative assessment for these common learning experiences to help the student grow as a learner.

For instance, if a teacher is reviewing a rough draft of a written assignment and notices that students are struggling with citing their sources correctly, even after prior classroom instruction on this topic, the teacher may decide to provide additional lessons to ensure that all students have a solid grasp of the necessary information. This type of assessment also enables teachers to offer specific and timely feedback to students, helping them enhance their ability to showcase what they've learned in any format, whether it's a simple checklist or detailed written feedback.

On the other hand, summative assessments, which reflect a student's performance against curriculum expectations at a given point in time, are also a crucial part of our approach. What sets IB apart is our consistent use of rubrics for all summative assessments (or assessment OF learning). This rubric employs a scale of 0-8, with corresponding percentages for reporting on provincial report cards. If a student falls short of meeting the minimum expectations, they receive a score of "0," which is similar to the traditional "F" grade. In such cases, students are expected to revisit and resubmit the summative assessment to demonstrate their learning progress.

Scores ranging from 1/2 to 7/8 on the rubric represent the spectrum of understanding a student has of the content. A student who earns a 1/2 has met some of the criteria but can pinpoint areas where they need improvement based on the specific rubric. Achieving a score of 7/8 signifies that a student has demonstrated a transfer of knowledge, a topic we'll delve into in a future newsletter.

September 15, 2024

Toddle - parents, by now you should have all received the invite to Toddle (www.toddleapp.com) to explore the app and learn more about how we are instituting the International Baccalaureate Programme into our daily learning experiences.

If you have not received an invitation, please check your junk mail and then reach out to Ms Tetrault at atetrault@wsd1.org for further help.

The International Baccalaureate Programme inspires students to inquire about the world around them. In Ms Condo’s science class, the students are using growing as a way to learn about the scientific method. In science class, they are doing some real world science experiments using our Tower Gardens. They have planted seeds of their choice in the rock wool and will be doing some comparisons with “regular” planting. They will learn about the benefits or drawbacks of the use of aeroponics versus traditional planting and then determine which can grow the healthiest vegetables.

September 23, 2024

The International Baccalaureate Programme promotes a set of 10 attributes known as the Learner Profile. These attributes play a crucial role in promoting and empowering students, inspiring them to act upon these qualities as dedicated learners and global citizens. The attributes are Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced, and Reflective. These 10 attributes of the Learner Profile serve as a source of inspiration and motivation for both students and schools, breaking down the concept of "international-mindedness".

Ms Thanisch introduced her students in “Locial” (she combines English Language Arts and Social Studies - or Language and Literature and Individuals & Societies in IB language) to the Learner Profile. The students reviewed the definition of each learner profile, put it in more student friendly terminology and created designs to demonstrate their understanding of each attribute.

September 30, 2024

Toddle Information

We are so excited that we have 334 families connected to Toddle and hope that we can get the rest of the school onto the app/website to see what the students are working on. 

Just to clarity:

We have found that sometimes students/families are having a hard time getting into Toddle the first time due to cookies or permissions so using the sign in code alleviates that. There are 3 different Toddle apps but you can also access it via web browser at www.toddleapp.com

Toddle Family - that is for families to access materials and see student work, but not add anything (as you are not the student). The code was sent to all families at the end of August. If you need the code resent, please reach out to Ms Tetrault.

Toddle Student - Students can submit work - voice memos, videos,etc, look at assignments and view assessments. 

Toddle Educator - for the teachers

Worldview - Grade 8 Individuals & Societies

Everyone has a worldview, or a distinctive way of seeing and understanding the world. Worldviews are shaped by time, place, and culture in which people live. Ms.Ledo’s Individuals and Societies Class created Youcubes so that students could become familiar with their values and how they could impact their view of the people who lived before us. These cubes (and the students are also doing geometry at the same time in math) present five (5) of each student’s worldview values statements and one (1) image of themself. The students choose values that they are comfortable sharing with their peers. Each side of the cube will have an image or a symbol for your statement. Some may be drawn and others printed. In addition to the images on the cubes, students are including a written piece to explain their images. 

For this summative assessment, the students will be evaluated on three strands in the year 3 (grade 8) Individuals & Societies objectives. 

Year 3 Objectives

Objective A: Knowing and understanding

ii. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of subject-specific content and concepts, through descriptions, explanations and examples.

Objective C: Communicating

i. communicate information and ideas in a way that is appropriate for the audience and purpose

ii. structure information and ideas according to the task instructions

October 5, 2024

 In Mme Abra and Mme Lloyd’s Individuals and Societies Class (science humaines), the students have been learning about primary sources and how they are used in a historical context. The students explored a variety of vehicles in the staff parking lot and then had to use evidence they collected from observations to decide on which vehicle belonged to which teacher. Using a critical eye, recording the make, model and other descriptors, the students wrote down their hypothesis as well as provide a justification.

October 13, 2024

October 20, 2024

The International Baccalaureate Programme wants to see students use their learning in creative and real world applications. In Mme Lloyd’s French Language Acquisition class, the students are using their French language to create a recipe calendar. This is based on the French novel study they are currently reading, “Plus Grosse Poutine”, and this learning experience will be assessed formatively. This type of assessment allows for the teacher to see where the student is at and to adjust how/what specifics they are teaching, or what they may need to review. It also provides students with information as to their own progress and how they can improve before the summative assessment. 

In Mme Lloyd's French classes, students worked together to create a calendar of poutines! Their task? Create and name a poutine recipe that reflects the flavour or vibe of their given month and present it to the class, Dragons' Den-style. All in French, of course!

Dans les classes de français de Mme Lloyd, les élèves ont travaillé ensemble pour créer un calendreir de poutines! Leur tache? Créer et nommer une recette de poutine qui reflète le goût ou le 'vibe' du mois et la présenter à la classe, à la manière de Drangons' Den. Tout en français, bien sûr!

October 27, 2024

Experiential Opportunities provided by Staff

The Middle Years Programme of the International Baccalaureate aims to give students exposure and opportunities. Our dedicated staff not only offers an excellent inquiry-based curriculum but also provides a wide range of experiences that keep students engaged and coming back to school. We organize numerous activities beyond the classroom and school hours, including sports, clubs, and arts programs. This means thousands of hours of enriching activities each semester that makes our school extra sticky for students (and staff!).

This term we have offered or are going to offer so many wonderful opportunities for our students. We have a variety of sports opportunities such as cross country running, volleyball, water polo, and Ultimate Frisbee, while basketball is coming up soon. All students are welcome to participate up to their own abilities, as we follow a "no cuts" policy- we just expect commitment if you sign up. We have a sporty space for everyone!

Our clubs cater to diverse interests, including Team 17 (focused on sustainable development), GSA, and upcoming Dungeons and Dragons and Reach for the Top (a competitive trivia team). We have 3 new clubs that have been started this year including Crochet Club, Bracelet Making Club and Marvel Card Trading Club. Also new this year is the opportunity to be a “Library Helper” who volunteer to help keep our library organized and plan for cool themes throughout the year! We even have a fun one-time activity painting mini pumpkins! These clubs usually happen at lunch and promote new friendships and both academic and fun.

In the arts, we extend learning beyond the classroom through initiatives like open art. There will also be a chance for students to apply to be a part of the sets and props team for the upcoming musical. For dance enthusiasts, there are jazz dance troupes, a hip hop troupe, and open dance studio sessions. Music lovers can join our jazz band, which practices year-round, along with open band sessions at lunch.

Our drama and musical theatre productions are top-notch, offering students opportunities to audition for our musical production biennially (this year the auditions are happening right away!), participate in Canadian Thespian Troupe activities, and compete in events like Destination Imagination, Manitoba Youth Drama Festival, and StarFest at regional and national levels.

November 3, 2024

Content knowledge is essential, but in today’s information-rich environment, mastering how to learn and discern reputable sources is crucial. With a wealth of information readily available at our fingertips, it's not just about accessing facts—it's about evaluating their accuracy and knowing how to apply them effectively. These Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills are vital now and will remain important in the future.

ATL skills are organized into five developmentally appropriate clusters, providing a framework that helps schools tailor their ATL planning to align with MYP units, student needs, and local contexts. These skills are often interconnected, with individual skills and clusters overlapping and applicable across multiple categories. The five key areas are:

• Thinking

• Communication

• Self-management

• Social

• Research

The students in Mme Plummer’s math class were working on collaboration as part of their communication skills in math class. The students had a variety of Hallowe’en themed puzzles that required teamwork to complete.

November 17, 2024

Science In Action

Students in Mr Holfeld’s grade 8 science classes worked in partners or individually to create a hydraulic or pneumatic system for their summative assessment. They used the design cycle as a guide and some of the requirements included: designing and drawing a blueprint, following specific guidelines such as a minimum of one moving part, that is a toy that is appropriate for a child, and to build it using materials easily accessible. After presenting their project to their classmates, the students took time to reflect on the process and recorded improvements they could make. The IB specific criterion that the students were evaluated on were:

Criterion B - Inquiring and Designing 

At the end of year 3, students should be able to 

i. outline a problem or question to be tested by a scientific investigation 

iii. describe how to manipulate the variables, and describe how data will be collected 

Criterion C - Processing and Evaluating 

At the end of year 3, students should be able to 

v. describe improvements or extensions to the method.

The students were provided with a rubric that not only provided these criteria but also the task specific criteria that helps guide them with this particular summative assessment.

See the Instagram post for these projects in action!

November 24, 2024

Community Project

All Grade 8 students participate in a Community Project as individuals, or groups of 2 or 3. Please click on the image below to watch a video explaining the project and showing some examples of past projects. Ms Ledo’s classes have started their projects, with other grade 8 classes coming up in the next few months. Ask your child when they will be doing their community project! .

December 1, 2024

Community Project

In addition to the video from last week, please take a moment to review these attached infographics about the upcoming Community Project for grade 8 students. You will find the information in both English and French.

December 15, 2024

Global Contexts

One way that the International Baccalaureate promotes international mindedness is through the use of Global Contexts.These are part of the building blocks the teachers use to design units.  These Global Contexts drive the unit and assists in posing the inquiry questions in a more global nature. In the infographic attached, see what the 6 Global Contexts are and how we can answer inquiry questions with them as a focus to our units. 

January 5, 2025

Museum in our School!

How many times have we traveled to a museum to see and learn? Mme Lloyd’s students created a space to learn - share - learn from each other! The International Baccalaureate promotes real world opportunities and different ways to show learning beyond just a test.

We made our own museum! In Mme Lloyd's Individuals and Societies class, students had the opportunity to research and to create their own museum display on a biome of their choice. Afterwards, students circulated to learn about the world's incredible biodiversity from their peers' creativity, research, and hard work. 

Nous avons fait notre propre musée ! Dans la classe d'Individus et Sociétés de Mme Lloyd, les élèves ont eu l'occasion de rechercher et de créer leur propre exposition sur un biome de leur choix. Par après, ils ont circulé pour apprendre au sujet de la biodiversité incroyable de notre monde par le biais de la créativité, la recherche, et le travail de leurs pairs.

January 12, 2025

Ms. Ledo’s classes wrapped up their impressive Community Projects just before winter break. We were thrilled to see that Rooms 8-21 and 8-27 contributed to 5 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with many projects focusing on Goal 1 - No Poverty, Goal 2 - Zero Hunger, and Goal 3 - Good Health and Well-Being.

The students’ initiatives were diverse, ranging from volunteering at Agape Table, to researching and raising awareness about Dyslexia, to organizing food and winter clothing drives for local agencies. They also hosted a variety of fundraisers both inside and outside the school to support numerous non-profit organizations serving the Winnipeg community. Altogether, these two classes raised over $2,300 and volunteered more than 88 hours to help these important causes.

We would like to shine a spotlight on a couple of standout projects. Bruce and Brooklyn collected food and hygiene products for Agape Table, and their commitment didn’t stop there. In addition to delivering the donations, they wanted to make a hands-on impact. Over several days—one of which was a day off school—they volunteered at Agape Table, helping by chopping vegetables, assembling food packages, and serving meals to those in need.

Meanwhile, Josh and Junhong came up with a creative fundraising idea: they spent hours folding origami models and then sold them to raise money for the non-profit Ball to All. Their hard work didn’t end with the folding; they also took their creations to a Farmer’s Market, a craft sale, and sold them at our school, all to support their cause.

These inspiring projects reflect the dedication and creativity of our students as they work to make a positive difference in the community. We can’t wait to see what the next group of grade 8 classes do for our community! 

January 21, 2024

Thank you for being patient with our family portal roll out with Toddle. By now you should have received an updated invitation in English and have been able to log into the portal. Here is a video under 2 minutes to quickly guide you through some of the features of the portal.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Amanda Tetrault atetrault@wsd1.org 

CLICK HERE 

January 28, 2024

Thank you to Mme Wright for sharing this great project with us!

The Grade 7 Design students have been busy discussing all things Mars for the past couple of months.  They have been asked to imagine that they are engineers who would like to be selected by NASA to design the first habitat on Mars. After much discussion, research, brainstorming, and writing of cover letters to NASA, the students are now in a position to successfully create a 2-D model of a habitat that will meet NASA's specifications. They will practice the application of scale and legend, among many other technical competencies.

Each student's ideas are so unique and interesting, and Mme Wright is continuously impressed at the level of maturity, creativity, and excitement with which they approach this project. The students are currently designing Revision 0 of their models and will go on to create Revisions 1 and 2. Revisions 0 and 1 will go through a peer-review, mimicking the quality control processes that are found in real-life technical environments. The process will also introduce them to the idea of "red line markups", which require technical thinking as the reviewer, and the ability to accept constructive criticism as the designer. 

The pictures provided serve as samples of the students' early work - some of it is the brainstorming portion (blue sheets) and some of it is the beginnings of their Revision 0 documents (on graph paper). Stay tuned for more as the projects progress, and in the meantime, high five the grade 7's for their amazing work!

Mme Wright

February 4, 2024

The International Baccalaureate Programme expects teachers to participate in IB training on a regular basis. Our amazing teachers are dedicated to constantly improving their knowledge and skills in all areas of teaching and learning. 

Mme. Wiebe and Ms. Condo attended an IB conference in Vancouver  learning about Global Contexts. One thing they took away from the conference was the importance of considering both classroom context and global contexts to enhance student engagement and achievement, and to promote deeper empathy for the perspectives of others. In Canada, this must include a lens on reconciliation, while also acknowledging additional social and cultural factors that impact our learning community. They also started development of units related to one of the sustainable development goals.

Sra. Hanly also attended the IB conference in Vancouver about Language Acquisition. While she attended this three day conference she exhibited the learner profile traits of being a risk-taker, open-minded, reflective and in the end more knowledgeable. Networking with others around the world was extremely beneficial especially in an International program. Having been trained in language acquisition with others around the world was very inspirational and an amazing experience.

Thank you to Mme Wiebe, Ms Condo and Sra. Hanly for attending this conference and sharing what they have learned.

January 15, 2023

Many of the grade 7 students completed an Identities unit earlier this year in their Language and Literature class (English Language Arts). The summative assessment task was to Create a flag that is a symbolic representation of their identity in relation to the IB Learner Profile and present it to their class.

The expectation was that the flag should contain a minimum of 4 personal symbols (wide open) and 3 symbols that represent how they embody different attributes of the learner profile.

The flag was to have colours that were chosen carefully to represent meaning.

They were to also write 2 paragraphs -one for a personal symbol and another for the learner profile symbol which explain why the symbols were chosen and what they represent.Finally, the students shared an oral presentation of their flag and ideas to their classmates.

Here are a few examples of student work from Mr Spencer’s class. 

January 23, 2023

All grade 7 students participate in a Design course two periods each cycle while in grade 8, Design is incorporated within the science curriculum. This is another unique and engaging aspect of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. The IB has specific criteria that the students need to demonstrate throughout the year, and a rubric that assesses these criteria. Inquiry is always a focus in all of our learning. In Ms Condo’s Design classes, students had the opportunity to design a new $20 bill for Canada. The students used the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to inspire the design of their new bill. The 17 SDGs are a very important part of our school focus and we strive to have them guide our inquiry and learning. Some of our students had their designs submitted to the Manitoba Council for  International Cooperation (MCIC), with an ultimate goal to present their redesign to an audience including MLAs and dignitaries at the launch event of International Development Week, being held at the Manitoba Legislature on February 7, 2023. 

In addition to the amazing designs drawn, students also identified which SDG they were highlighting, why they chose it, the design features and elements, and how they feel this new bill would impact the public if it were to be created and used in Canada. Can you tell which Sustainable Development Goal each one of these designs is focusing on?

Well done students of Ms Condo’s Design class!

January 30, 2023

The International Baccalaureate prompts teachers to use multiple types of assessments. Formative assessment informs the teachers and students as to where the students are at in their educational journey. This is not “for marks” but for providing feedback for students to improve when they are demonstrating their understanding and learning. Summative assessments show where the students are at a moment in time such as  projects and tests. As IB teachers, we strive to engage the students in their own assessments and also try to make these summative assessments connect to the real world. When students see the value in the assessment, and not just because it is curricular based, they often feel more connected. We want to congratulate Nolan, a grade 7 Design student for being one of TWO individual student winners who were selected to present their $20 bill redesign to an audience including MLAs and dignitaries at the launch event of International Development Week, being held at the Manitoba Legislature on Tuesday, February 7th, at Noon. 

Here is the text that went along with Nolan’s detailed drawing.

The sustainable development goal that I chose for my $20 bill is number 15: climate action. I chose this goal because humans are essentially burning, drowning, and starving themselves due to their environmental impact and there’s not much being done about it. 

The left symbolizes the past and present, whereas the right symbolizes the bright future all of humanity can work towards. The polar bear as well as garbage island represents the direct outcomes of the pollution we create. The single-use plastics we throw out are represented by the mound of trash. There is a polar bear floating on a small chunk of ice. This represents the melting ice caps, which affects polar bear life and directly contributes to flooding. In the translucent part of the bill, there is a factory in place of the parliament building, which represents air pollution. On the right side of the bill past the factory, there's a nice, lush landscape, which symbolizes the bright future we as  species can achieve. The design for this bill will hopefully bring awareness to the problems we as a species are causing, as well as the future we can strive to create.

I believe that to majorly help out the environment, we could stop the production and use of single use plastics, that will help out our planet’s air, water, and land.

Thanks again to Ms Condo, Design Teacher, and to Manitoba Council for International Cooperation.

February 12, 2023

Students in grade 8 Spanish are working hard on their summative assessment, la casa de mis suenos (dream house)! They are showing their creativity through designing their very own dream house, either by building it virtually or a cardboard model. These homes are to have a minimum of six rooms, twelve pieces of furniture and then the students will write at least ten sentences to explain where the objects are located in the house. Finally the students will present their homes to their classmates in Spanish. This summative assessment will evaluate Criterion C: Speaking as well as Criterion D: Writing within the Language Acquisition Subject Group. A summative assessment is one that marks will be assigned and informs the teacher and student what the achievement level is at a certain point in the student’s education. A rubric is provided and the students see exactly what the teacher is expecting from this particular assignment and then can also self assess to see if they have achieved what their own personal goal is. i Muy bien Sra.Hanly! Stay tuned for the finished products in a later article! (click on first image for short video clips)

February 20, 2023

Every student is encouraged to find their interests through the school science fair, whether they are in the French Immersion or English program. The students can work independently or in small groups and have the choice to share their project with the school during the school fair. The school fair takes place on March 1, and up to the top 2 projects placed in each category can move on to the divisional science fair. In the past we have even had multiple students move on to nationals!

Science fair is an excellent example of a complete International Baccalaureate learning experience. Students use inquiry throughout the project and many students will follow the design cycle. 

Some examples of unique projects at the school are listed below.

Anyone wonder if the 5 second rule for food is actually true? Find out from a student’s project!
Do you know what the kiki and Bouba Effect is? Do you associate sounds with different shapes? Check out this project to learn more about this.

Does music affect what and how you draw? A project has participants listen to 4 different songs and using a variety of colours, they will draw how they feel/what they are thinking. Can’t wait to see the results of this!

February 26, 2023

  Approaches to Learning (ATL) are a key component of the International Baccalaureate. ATLs are skills designed to enable students to “learn how to learn” They promote strategies that will assist students in developing confidence and taking responsibility for their own learning. The 5 main categories are Social, Communication, Self-management, Reflective and Thinking. Opportunities such as Science Fair allow students to not only work alongside a partner (should they choose to)  but to promote self-management with deadlines, think critically and then reflect on their process. These are often listed as “Soft Skills” which are in high demand in workforces and in everyday life. See below for some images of class science fair projects. 

March 5, 2023

Global Contexts drive many of our units at École River Heights School. These Global Contexts are connected to authentic world settings and events. We were privileged to have the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation (MCIC) join us at school this past week and upcoming week to share InSight which is a super interesting set up that has 360° videos set up within a 6 metre cylinder that the students enter and watch a video. The 360° set up is a very immersive experience. 

One of the videos shares the perspective of a Syrian refugee in a camp in Jordan. See images and videos below. 

For more information on this program, click here

If you want to be able to experience this incredible opportunity yourself, please join the Parent Council meeting on March 8 at 7:00 in the school library as the presenters will be sharing it with families then.

To check out a short video on this experience, check out our Instagram post 

March 12, 2023

The International Baccalaureate Programme promotes the Arts as an integral part of education. We are incredibly lucky to have such amazing arts teachers. Our students all have the opportunity to take Drama in Grade 7 and Visual Arts in Grade 8, and have the choice between Band, Dance or Musical Theatre Production for both years at River Heights. All of our Arts programming has a performance/display aspect and all of our teachers provide enrichment opportunities in their areas of expertise. You will see students at school before 8:00 am for jazz band and dance team, working on open studio for dance, visual art and band over the lunch hour, and staying until 5:30 into the evening for Troupe, the musical or other events - our school is always bustling!

This week is one of those exciting performances. We have 5 teams from Troupe 10336 that will be competing in 2 categories at the Destination Imagination (DI) Provincial tournament. DI has students work together in teams to solve open-ended STEAM (science, technology, engineering arts and math) challenges designed to teach the creative process. You may wonder what science and technology has to do with drama? It helps kids learn vital life and career skills such as creative and critical thinking, public speaking and collaborative problem solving. This empowers students now and in the future.

On Wednesday, nearly 30 teams from around Winnipeg will be competing in the Destination Imagination Provincial Tournament. Members of the public are invited to visit and observe the incredible feats of engineers, improv, fine arts performances free of cost and see what this is all about! See advertisement below for more details.

River Heights has placed extremely well in the past 3 provincial tournaments and we look forward to this event!

March 19, 2023

There are 6 Global Contexts in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. Globalization and Sustainability is one that we have been focusing on this year with the development of a Climate Action Unit. A subsection, or exploration of Globalization and Sustainability is looking at human’s impact on the environment. This year, for the first time in several years, the students have been composting at our school. During the huge Destination Imagination event last week, we had very little waste due to the ability for us to compost the majority of the waste, including pizza boxes! We are putting out a challenge to families to try to reduce their waste in classrooms - we discussed this with the Green Action Centre when they came to do presentations and now again, we are promoting the use of reusable containers and less garbage created in our schools. Can we do better?

March 26, 2023

Why do I have to learn this? How will this help me in the future? In the past, students have asked teachers these questions often, but the International Baccalaureate Programme promotes summative assessments (final assessments) that are real world. A perfect example is what is just wrapped up in Ms Wright’s Design Class. These grade 7  students used the Design process to create a livable habitat on Mars. Sounds interesting, but Ms Wright took it a step further. In order to challenge those students who were able to meet the challenging expectations, expert assessors were invited. The students were to design their habitats to match the customer’s (NASA) expectations and apply logic and design. They had to appropriately apply scale in 2-D engineering drawings and engage in quality control and revision control.

Mme Wright invited a panel of judges right from the Aerospace Engineering industry.  A thank you goes out to Philip Ferguson - NSERC/Magellan Aerospace Industrial Research Chair in Satellite Engineering, Price Faculty of Engineering (the who’s who in Canada for Aerospace Engineering!)  and Matt Driedger - ADCS Engineering, Magellan Aerospace for spending the afternoon speaking to students and asking them critical thinking questions about their designs and ideas. 

In addition to that, the top 5 students will have the opportunity to visit the Price Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba with a specific focus on Aerospace Engineering. They will be taken into labs, giving them an opportunity to see some of the fascinating space-related projects that are being worked on. This experience will also offer them insight into the kinds of opportunities that are available to them in post-secondary. Huge congratulations to all the students involved in this project and thank you to Ms Wright for sharing her expertise in the area of Engineering.

April 2, 2023

Community Projects Are Up and Running!
A key foundational part of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program is Service as Action. IB works to develop caring members of the community who act to make a positive difference. You will notice Service As Action worked into the daily life of a River Heights Student, sometimes subtly and sometimes obviously. All of our grade 8 students participate in a Community Project. The Community project can be done alone, in partnerships or in small groups of 3. The students have 4 different types of projects they can choose from. These projects are 100% student driven.

Direct- such as going to a soup kitchen and volunteering there, 

Indirect - such as fundraising but then not necessarily seeing the benefits for their action in real time, 

Advocacy- where students promote action or share information on a cause, or 

Research - where students collect information about an issue and then report on it). 

To stagger the projects so that they are more spread out, the English grade 8 students have already begun and are partway through their projects and the Immersion students will be starting theirs soon. We have students looking at a variety of actions such as bringing attention to the situation in Iran,  a snack fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders, a raffle raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society, collecting materials for pet shelters and more! We look forward to hearing all about the student’s work and more will be showcased in this newsletter. 

April 23, 2023

Spring is a time for the performing arts! Last week the school had an incredible dance show, next week Into the Woods Jr, the school musical will happen at the Gas Station Theatre at the same time that band students are participating in the band festival prior to the school wide band concert on June 7 (whew - that was a lot!). All year long, you will always find bulletin boards full of student artwork around the school. In addition to the classes the students take during the school hours, The Arts at École River Heights has incredible extra curricular options. Those students whose passion is drama can perform in Troupe, the musical, or participate in backstage activities that help the show run. Currently we have 6 shows coming up next week with 39 cast members, over 20 behind the scenes students working on costumes, props and painting. We have at least 5 staff members contributing countless hours as well as several parents helping out. Over 1000 tickets sold!!!

Extra curricular Dance offers a multitude of options connected to different teams - often before school and at lunch, and hearing the jazz band early in the morning practicing before school is always so amazing. We can’t wait for the concert on June 7! There are many different options throughout the year for visual arts which include lunch hour and after school specific activities. Some of the incredible opportunities for students include free pottery wheel throwing workshops, fall clay club with slab and hand building techniques and monthly “Art @ Lunch” activities such as Mardi Gras mask making in February, gingerbread house building in December and outdoor pot painting in the spring!

The Arts is an integral part of the Middle Years Programme in the International Baccalaureate. The IB expects that all students participate in The Arts in every year that they are an IB student. At École River Heights, all students take part in the drama program in grade 7 and visual arts in grade 8. In addition to that, all students have the opportunity to choose between band, dance or musical theatre production. 

The IB knows that The Arts stimulate imagination, challenge perceptions and help students to develop both creative and analytical skills. The IB encourages teachers to promote the context and cultural histories of both the artwork the students are learning, what they are creating and how it may connect to the past. This is all a part of developing both an inquiring and empathetic attitude of their surroundings. The Arts enrich a student’s personal identity and build awareness of the aesthetic of the world around them. We thank The Arts team for all they do!

May 7, 2023

Encouraging students to branch out and help others is a key tenet of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. This happens within classes and through extra curricular activities. Students see the value of service but also can apply the learning in a positive manner. We see this currently through the Community Projects that are still happening in some grade 8 classes, and we are also seeing it in some Grade 7 Individual and Societies (Social Studies) Classes. Mr Spencer’s classes are currently doing a unit on Global Quality of Life. As the unit is coming to a close, the summative assessment asks the students to do further research and then apply their learning through a public service announcement. The students can apply the Approaches to Learning specific to research, communication and collaboration. Then once they have their information, they are creating a video to educate.  They must work together in order to create a positive message. We will look more closely at some projects in upcoming newsletters. 

Service as Action is also happening at Team 17, a club that focuses on supporting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This club that meets mainly at lunch hours, was awarded 2 grants to fulfil a huge project idea they had. The Team members wanted to write, act, film and edit a video not only explaining what the 17 goals were but to help provide ideas for students on what they could do. The Team also wanted to take their video and presentation on the road, so the students reached out to their elementary schools to offer to come by and share with grade 5 and 6 students. So far they have presented to 7 classes at 4 elementary schools and have 7 more classes booked next week at 2 more schools.

Team 17 wants to thank Learning for a Sustainable Future for the educational webinars and grants that helped get this project going. Click on the image below and please take 20 minutes to watch the video created 100% by Team 17 and share with friends and family!

May 19, 2023

Fluids is one of the 4 science units in Grade 8. In this unit, the students learn new vocabulary such as density, buoyant forces, pressure, viscosity and compressibility. Mr Hofeld asked the students to share their understanding of how buoyant factors work within fluids through a video format. To see a couple of examples of explanations, click on the images above.

May 28, 2023

The International Baccalaureate Programme has the expectation that all Year 3 (Grade 8) students engage in a community project of their choice. These projects are inspired by the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The students of Ms Thanisch’s Language and LIterature classes were encouraged to go out of the school and engage with the greater community. Students visited food banks, soup kitchens, hosted local high school talent in their basement as a wonderful afternoon concert, made and delivered food, packed hampers, walked with Bear Clan, and so much more!

Above are just 3 examples of the excellent videos produced by students to showcase their projects. 

June 3, 2023

Ms Ledo and Ms Hanly worked on a Social Media unit with students in their Language and LIterature (English Language Arts) classes that was designed by Ms Ledo. In this unit, students learn about their digital footprint, staying safe online, how social media can affect mental health and the difference between humane and addictive design. The summative assessment for this unit had the students act as an “influencer” and create a series of multimedia posts such as a meme, a “post” and a short video. All of these submissions focus on the use of social media use in teens and topics such as safety, digital footprint, social media use, social media balance, or any combination of the above. The 3 parts of the summative assessment were evaluated on organizing ideas, producing text and use of language. 

June 18, 2023

The International Baccalaureate Programme wants our students to get engaged with their local and global community. A week ago, our entire school participated in the Commuter Challenge, by asking our staff and students to find safe and active ways of getting to school. The staff participated in the “official” Commuter Challenge that is supported here in Manitoba by The Green Action Centre, while the students competed internally, class by class. Our staff biked and walked 307 kms that week and avoided adding 68 kgs of CO2 into the air!

We were very proud of our students, many who already use active transportation, and those who made a special effort to try it out during the Commuter Challenge. Our big winners this year were:

1st place - room 23

2nd place - room 3

And a tie for 3rd place - rooms 4 and 21!

Interestingly enough, all these winners were grade 8s so our grade 7 students will have to step it up next year!
Team 17 kept the classes up to date using bulletin boards to visually show the leaders.

Thanks to all who participated!