Intro-Photo

“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.” – Arthur O’Shaughnessy,

We ended last week with hip-shaking performances from our High School bands and inspiring students’ art presentation at the Evening of the Arts. This week Grade 3 is studying about ecosystems, learning how different species can help the ecosystem to stay in equilibrium; while the Middle School delves into “quality of life” and how it is defined in different cultures. Read more of the student activities on our Classroom blogs. Remember, there will be NO SCHOOL Friday as we welcome the Year of the Horse in the Chinese lunar year. And there is no school on Monday, as we have a designated staff professional development day. We hope that your weekend will be filled with lanterns and fireworks festivities: Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone!

In this issue:

Green School News

Upcoming Events.

Ongoing Events

Media & Links.

Also in the Green School Community

Green School News

Parent Information and Events Calendar

Parent-Information

January:
Jan 31: No School, Chinese New Year

February:
Feb 3 : No School, Professional Development Day
Feb 7-9 : Green School Educator Course: Click here for more details
Feb 12 : Parent Education Offering with Robert Lonsdorf 9:00am at the Meranggi Bale: A Presentation on Bali’s Unique Nature, Culture and Spirituality
Feb 14 : Valentine’s Day Assembly, 02:15pm in the Mepantigan
Feb 15 & 16 : Green School Family Day to Munduk Mountains & Bali Treetop
Feb 21,22, 24 : No School, Professional Development Days
Feb 27 : Parent Meeting with Principal, Head of School & General Manager, 08.30am in the Mepantigan

March
March 8    : Saraswati ‐ required attendance for staff & students
March 10    : No School, Saraswati Day
March 15     : Green School Family Day – Hike Mount Batur

Parent Reminders:
Enrollment Commitment: It is the last week before enrollment deadline, please respond to secure positions for next year. Deadline for response is January 31st, 2014. (click here for detailed info)

Make sure to check our Lost and Found for missing hats, water bottles, etc..

Here’s an important link to our school calendars: http://www.greenschool.org/calendar/

From the Head of School

john My children are enjoying Green School. That is a great statement for any parent and any educator. It also offers praise to our teachers, and our school – and my children’s cohort (which reflects well on their parents!).

The importance of having students ‘wanting’ to learn, feeling successful as learners – not just going through the motion – has long been recognized for its importance. The Menzies Research Institute in Tasmania, Australia, last year, released a paper (June 2013) that tracked the success of workers over nearly 30 years from their schooling back in 1985. The longitudinal study found “liking” school was more important than the grades achieved at school.

Engagement is the key. A school could offer the best teachers, the best resources, and the best cohort – but if the student is not engaged, or doesn’t believe they can learn, learning will not happen. We want to empower and engage students.

As I witnessed last Friday with the Arts spectacular, the standard presented was spell-binding. I witnessed amazing and creative art, I watched incredible photography, and I appreciated a plethora of excellent stage productions – very modern, very innovative and very engaging. What I also noticed, was the support the students offered to each other. There was authentic pride. For adolescents, this is a great attitude to foster and celebrate.

So what does ‘engaging’ a student mean?

In a study, relayed by Dr Schmoker, it was found that of 1,500 classrooms visited, 85 percent of them had engaged less than 50 percent of the students. In other words, only 15 percent of the classrooms had more than half of the class at least paying attention to the lesson.

It is quite simple: students need to be participants in the process not products. This is what it means to be student-centred and to differentiate.

I fear teachers often get caught by content – not process. And I blame the outcomes model. It would be interesting to correlate the subjects that disengage with how many specific outcomes are defined. In such situations, educators start to feel pressured or think they are teaching well because they can tick off what they have covered. This leads to didactic – chalk and talk – or copious notes being taken from the board, handed out or dictated. John Medina, in his book Brain Rules uses neuroscience to highlight the brain switches off after only ten minutes of ‘lecture’ if not carefully crafted.

Just because a teacher’s program says it has been covered, does not mean it has been learnt. Robert Marzano in one of his studies discovered it would take Kindergarten to Grade 22 (not 12!) in order to teach all the outcomes expected in a US curriculum.

So, let’s look at the Green School Arts evening, and consider why it was so successful.

The teachers were inspirational. They were not trying to tell but they did purposefully plan, select, define, offer exemplars, assess, mentor and encourage. As a result, they created trusting relationships. The students knew the teachers were all committed – they were there on a Friday evening!
Students owned their learning – or their performances. They were taught skills, given excellent material and opportunities, but then there was room for them to develop their own narrative. Narratives are powerful.
There was a performance factor – when they would be critiqued by peers and parents. The students were working towards a specific goal.
Students were collaborators – so the power of not letting down a friend or group was motivating, even for some students who had to battle illness, be this on the stage or as part of an exhibition.
The teachers revealed expertise – be it by selecting the best plays from up-and-coming playwrights in the US via subscriptions, by sharing their passion (the photography was clearly a love), or by encouraging different media.
The students – at the conclusion – felt a sense of pride because they had gone beyond their prior expectations and were acknowledged. Nothing succeeds like success.

John Hattie in his work on Visible Learning cites the following top factors for quality teaching:

Student expectations – finding out the expectations of students and pushing them to exceed them.
Focus on the thinking processes not the outcomes.
Teacher credibility – based on trust, competence, dynamism and immediacy (or relationships).
Early Intervention and Measurement – supporting learning needs and monitoring progress.
Formative assessment – evaluation of progress during the learning process. This also involves feedback to the teacher from the students (in upper grades).

It is easy to see how these are married to the points raised regarding the Arts evening. This is evidence all teachers must heed because it is based on real research. Every minute we have with children in school is vital. Consider the following statistics put forward by Michael Gross:

Time spent sleeping – 52%
Time spent at school – 15%
Time spent at home – 33%

Have a great Chinese New Year with your families.

Re-enrolment deadline, January 31st

Enrollment Thank you to all parents who have completed the re-enrolment commitment form. We are happy to see a growing list of returning Green School families for the 2014-2015 school year. Please note that this Friday, January 31st is the deadline for re-enrolment before we open up enrolment to the general public. We have been seeing a lot of interest with inquiries and applications coming in every day, so we are expecting classes to fill over the coming months. It is always our hope that currently enrolled Green School families will return, so we encourage you to let us know as soon as possible if you have not yet made your commitment for the 2014-2015 school year.

Please contact me at tim.fijal@greenschool.org should you have any questions or require clarification concerning the re-enrolment commitment.

If you haven’t already completed it, here is the link to the quick and simple online re-enrolment commitment form: http://goo.gl/EC4kz

Thank you,
Tim Fijal,
Head of Admissions, Green School.

Student End of Day Pick Up Procedure

Preamble:
As Green School is a large site and families live around the island, it is important our Duty of Care in supervision is focused on safety for pickup of our younger children. As a minus-K to Year 12 school, this means there needs to be a scale of care, as a focus is to develop responsibility and independence.

Significant issues:

Students visiting the Warungs near the campus
Students leaving with other drivers without parent permission
Students being on campus unsupervised and whose whereabouts are not known
Late collection of students, which places additional pressure on our busy teachers

Early Years Program
At this stage of a child’s development, it is imperative routines are established. Our children’s sense of the world is driven by ‘ownership’ and they need to know the parameters are routines so good habits and attitudes are formed. Unforeseen changes without proper communication does lead to distress for many young children. Green School offers a long day for young minds. Parents need to support our procedures – for they are based on sound research and professional care.

All children are collected from the learning precinct in a hand-over by teachers and assistants. No child is permitted to leave the learning area without their parent/carer or designated driver.

Drop off – 8.15am. Children to be brought to class by their adult. We encourage the children to develop independence and organise their own belongings e.g putting their snack and water bottles in the right place.
Pick up – 3.00pm from class. The designated adult who is picking up your child must let the teachers know they are taking their child with direct communication. Please do not just take your child without informing the teacher on duty.
Teaching staff in the Early Years have planning, meeting and prep time before 8.15am and after 3.00pm, so your support of our procedures is polite and supportive.
It is important that your child is picked up on time after school. For young children, being left to wait can often be very distressing.
Parents/Adults need to have left the Early Years area by 8.45am unless otherwise arranged with the class teachers for special consideration, e.g when settling in a new child.

* On Friday after scheduled assembly time, children can be collected from the Mepantigan

Years 1 – 3

At the end of the day, teachers and assistants walk their class up to the Heart of School by 3:30pm. Teachers are then able to depart at 3:30pm – leaving the children in the care of the classroom assistant.
Children going to after school activities may leave and all others have to stay.
The classroom assistant remains with the children in the Heart of School until 3:45pm
At 3:45pm, any children remaining are walked by their classroom assistant up to the library and handed over the librarian.
A roster for the week, will have one classroom assistant remaining with the librarian to assist in supervision.
All children are expected to be collected by 4:00pm.
Librarian sends a list of names to office (Novi) who contacts parents.
Parents of any children remaining after 4:00pm will have lateness discussed by Principal.

Years 4-12
At the end of the day, students are farewelled by the classroom teacher and assistants. Children make their way up to the school’s Warung area and either wait there for collection or go and join their after school activity.

Thanks from the Ford Family

Charis-and-Dulcie Well Gang, I’m happy to be passing the role of Communications Manager along to the lovely & ever so capable Irma Sitompul, who brings with her many wonderful gifts and is bound to be adored by all! Dulcie and I are not big on goodbyes so we’re just saying “Ciao for Niao”.

We’ve had an amazing experience here, made so many great friends & simply fallen in love with Bali. You just never know, we might be back! Whatever the case, we applaud Green School’s commitment to holistic education & a sustainable future and want to thank you each for your role in bringing this beautiful vision to life!

In Love & Service,
Charris, Dulcie, Kashius & Phoenix

Green School Model United Nations Club Headed to Taiwan

UN2 The Green School Model United Nations club has been invited to participate in the 12th annual Taiwan Model United Nations Conference, hosted by the Taichung American School in Taichung, Taiwan. The conference is April 10th and 11th.

Green School students will be working as United Nations delegates with students from twenty-five other international schools to address issues ranging from the regulation of harmful waste and chemical deposits in neutral territory and international waters, to promoting sustainable solutions to Africa’s malnutrition and extreme poverty.

We ended last week with hip-shaking performances from our High School bands and inspiring students’ art presentation at the Evening of the Arts. This week Grade 3 is studying about ecosystems

UN-club The Model United Nations club is unique because it is a blend of student-managed club and hands on learning. Students are the primary decision-makers and leaders for the organization. By choosing to participate in this challenging but rewarding club, students gain valuable knowledge and skills, and join a committed and highly motivated group of fellow students.

The purpose of MUN is to increase student knowledge about international issues, policy making, and the activities of the United Nations. Students also gain valuable skills in public speaking, research and writing, negotiation and powers of persuasion, leadership, organization, and interpersonal communication. Students gain these skills through country and topic research, and most importantly, by playing the role of United Nations delegates at MUN conferences.

If you would like your child to participate in next years MUN Club, please send Pak Tom an email- tom.south@gmail.com. The club is open to all high school students.

Media Studies Projects in the High School

Media-Studies

In our High School media studies department this week, students submitted their work for the module “The Gaze”. In this module, students analyzed and critiqued constructed representations in popular culture. In doing so students uncovered the ways in which gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality and class are defined through the perceptions of the dominant group in society. Grade Eleven student, Radha Baird, completed this comparison as part of her final project. She exposes the way in which images of women in advertising are manipulated and reconstructed to unrealistic extremes. The class benefited greatly from her presentation and all agreed that the untouched photograph is more appealing. *Special thanks to Becca Stine for volunteering to be the model!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday Evening in February with John Stewart

Bambu-Indah1 Green School Founder, John Hardy, has kindly offered to host a month of Wednesday evening dinners at Bamboo Indah to give the new parents at Green School an opportunity to meet and get to know the new Head of School, John Stewart.

The evenings are a way of welcoming new families into the school and will give John the chance to communicate his ideas on education and how these fit with the vision of Green School. Dinner will be provided free of charge, but it is BYO.

Parents will be able to ask John the questions that are most important to them and spend time with John and his wife, Sophie, in a relaxed, authentic and informal Balinese setting.

The evenings will take place on each Wednesday in February. Numbers for each evening are limited so if you are a new parent at Green School and would like to come please contact Yuni Basrie at yuni@johnbali.com to RSVP for the date that suits best.

Another evening will be held at the end of term so that John can meet and address the whole Green School parent body at a venue and date yet to be announced.

Invitations to new families with the specific dates are in the process of being sent out.

Parents Education Offerings: A Presentation on Bali’s Unique Nature, Culture and Spirituality

good--earth-day-balinese-dancers Bali has become a world tourist destination, both for those seeking tropical beaches and luxury, and those seeking something else. What is it about Bali that has so long captivated and enchanted the imagination of foreigners?

This presentation will provide an overview of Bali’s natural and cultural history, with a focus on what is uniques about Bali, including the island’s unique approach to spirituality and its impressive spiritual technology. Robert Lonsdorf has been interested in Bali since he was a teenager, and now has been living in Bali for over three years. He is a Green School parent and operates Sacred Ubud Tours. Please join us on Feb 12th, at 9:00am at the Meranggi Bale.

Ongoing Events

Weekly Sports Update

Sports-Update

BSSA Basketball
Basketball games begin! Here are the details for Wednesday 5 February:
9/10s v CCS 1 and 2 at CCS (bemo leaves 1.15pm)
11/12 boys v AIS and SLK at AIS (bemo leaves 1.15pm)
13/14 boys v AIS at AIS (bemo leaves 2pm)
13/14 girls v CCS 1 and 2 at Green School (2.30pm start)
11/12 girls- no game

Please check that the BSSA permission forms are returned to coaches and inform coaches if you’ll be collecting your child from the match venue. A child automatically goes back to Green School with the coach on the bemo if a parent does not inform the coach of a pick up.

Please make sure the kids have green and white sports kit and proper shoes, and bring water bottles with them.

Many thanks and good luck to all our teams!

Cheers,
Pak Colin

After School Sport: Soccer is On for Mid-High School on Fridays
Good News! If you like soccer, here is your chance to improve skills and play matches, with Pak Eduardo, our brazilian football fan.

Every Friday, starting 7th of February (03:30pm – 04:45pm), boys and girls are welcome.
The fee for 10 classes is Rp. 700,000,000 (payment can be done at the front desk).
If you have any question, please e-mail Pak Eduardo at petta@agenciatie.com.br

PS: Primary School Soccer keeps going Monday and Thursday, 03:30pm.

High School Service Group Seeking Donations for Safe Childhoods

highschool-service-group Our High School service group is returning to The Centre for Street Children (a project started by The Safe Childhoods Foundation) next week. We hope to bring some new gardening supplies with us, as most of our tools broke on the last trip. (Oops!) Some of the items we need are:

shovels
trowels
rakes
gloves
watering cans
a wheelbarrow

Items can be dropped at the welcome desk. Thank you to everyone for your support and donations! Learn more about the Safe Childhoods Foundation here.

Media and Links

Green School in “Nalu Pelo Mundo” (Nalu Around the World)

Green School and Green Camp are featured in a famous Brazilian cable television show “Nalu Pelo Mundo”.

Green School on Natural Homes

Natural-Homes

Green School is featured on Natural Homes, a website about natural buildings and natural living around the world. Read the article here: http://naturalhomes.org/greenschool.htm.

Also in Green School Community

Green School Family Snapshot

Family-Snapshot Green School interviews Pak Yoga about his family and the mei (multispecies education international) Bali, Sibang Kajar, Eco-Market and Multispecies Education Center

GS: Please tell us a bit about how your family moved to Bali?
Y: Our family moved to Bali from Bogor in Java when my wife, Muria, was accepted for a teaching position in Grade One at the Green School. It was a special moment for us because we had been separated for a few months after Muria had given birth to our little girl, Amyra, in Australia. We had to wait until she was old enough to fly. I still remember meeting them both at Bali airport. It was a lovely reunion and then we travelled up to Bamboo Village. We spent our first month living in the wave house. It was amazing!

GS: We hear that you still live in the local community that surrounds Green School. How have you settled in?
Y: Yes, we live in a small Balinese house about five minutes walk from the main entrance of Green School. We enjoy living here because we are close enough to the school that we can meet up during the day as a family. The Green School is really a community. You can always find parents sitting in the warung area chatting and we always feel welcome to come to school during the break times to meet with Muria. This is especially important to us with our young daughter. It’s nice that family is so valued here.

GS: You run a Yayasan called mei and you have an Eco-Market/Multispecies Education Center just outside the school entrance. Can you tell us more about the work you do?
Y: Sure… Our goal of our Yayasan is to support communities to live with biodiversity, using an eco-heath model. That means that we recognize that the health and welfare of animals is interconnected with the health and welfare of people and with the health of the environment. So the approach we take is a holistic one.

GS: Does your Yayasan collaborate with Green School?
Y: Yes. We have been working a lot with the Green School Middle School students and teachers. Our Yayasan believes that it is important to really get to know the community we base our Eco-Market and Education Center in, so we completed a mapping project with the GS students. Now we are collaborating again with the students on a data gathering and filming project. The Green School students are in teams with a member of the local community and they are talking with the local people about waste management, what animals are living in the community and the skill of coconut tree climbing. This is really useful to us as a yayasan, as it will shape our community development and education programs. At the end of the project the students will produce a movie about the community.

GS: Can you tell us more about the mei Eco-Market?
Y: We started the mei Eco-Market as part of our Education Center because we needed to find a way to make our Yayasan financially sustainable. We distribute eco-friendly products through the mei Eco-Market so really anyone who produces an eco-friendly product is welcome to join the market. We ask for a small commission that goes directly into funding the yayasan’s educational work. The main educational benefits of the Eco-Market is that it enables us to connect people to the products they need to use to live sustainably. We also hope that through linking the Eco-Market with our education program we can stimulate more local production of eco-friendly products and build a dialogue between consumers and producers about how they can continue to make their products even more eco-friendly. We plan to run a National competition this year to find the most eco-friendly product in Indonesia for 2014.

GS: And what is the mei Kids Club?
Y: This is almost like a scouts for sustainability. It is a club for Primary age students from Green School and the local community, where children can meet regularly and earn badges for their sustainability actions. We run meetings every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30-4:30pm.

GS: Is your Yayasan only in Bali?
Y: No. We have recently rebuilt our original Multispecies Education Center in Bogor, West Java. We began our Yayasan there in July 2009 and ran our first Multispecies Education Center in Java for almost 3 years. Our new Center is in a beautiful location near Mount Salak and we are currently building some small bamboo huts for volunteers and visitors to stay in. We would welcome anyone from the Green School community who would like to come and volunteer at our Center in Java.

GS: What are your dreams for the future?
Y: We would love to continue our Yayasan’s collaborations with the Green School and we look forward to sending our daughter to study at the Green School when she is old enough.

Mahmud Yogi Prayoga
National Manager of mei – multispecies education international
multispecieseducation@gmail.com

Special Offer from Ayusha Wellness to Green School Parents

Ayusha Ayusha Wellness is offering a 50% discount on spa therapies to Green School parents and teachers along with the bonus choice of:

Extra 30mins of treatment
Far Infrared Sauna (30 Mins)
Healing River View Bath (30 Mins)

For you to get a feel of the place and what Ayusha Wellness offer, we welcome you to visit our spa and receive a complimentary treatment on a day and time convenient for you.

Please see Ayusha Wellness Facebook page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/ayushaspa

Submitting Newsletter Items

We welcome you to submit your own news updates for our weekly newsletter. To submit, send your news update to communications@greenschool.org by 12 noon each Wednesday. Please follow the instructions below to make it easier for us to publish your news:

1. Please add “NEWSLETTER” in the title of your email.
2. Please write a concise (2 to 6 paragraphs, more or less) blurb describing your news.
3. Please attach a photo that illustrates or accompanies your news.

* We are open to publishing projects connected with Green School, however please be sure to include “Green School” in your title and or the paragraphs below.

** We cannot always guarantee that we will publish your submission and when we do, we may need to edit it a bit before publishing & sometime may need a week or two before we include your article.

Visit the Green School Website: http://www.greenschool.org

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