A big thank you to the students, parents and teachers who attended the IB graduation at the Regent Hotel on Friday, May 29th. The IB graduation ceremony proved to be a great success with students entering the graduation hall to the music of Verdi’s Aida. Graduation speeches by Dr. Kennard, Prof. Deborah Eyre, guest of honour and Dr. Latkowski emphasized the importance of this very special evening and reflected on students’ successes and their plans for the future. The speech by the students’ representatives Linda Phan and George Porter focused on describing IB experience and on thanking the teachers for their hard work in helping the graduates to reach this point of their lives. All students received the graduation certificate and the prize in form of a personalized pen which should prove very useful in their future studies. In addition, four students received the Best Achievement Award for the excellent work throughout the two years of the programme. A short slide show after the graduation ceremony brought back some fond memories. Congratulations to all the students who will now be eagerly awaiting the release of IB results on July 5th.
Year 12 students have completed their end of the year examinations and by doing so they have come to the end of their first year of the IB Diploma Programme. Most of the students have done well in their exams but there are a few students who have not been working to their potential and/or who have fallen behind with their subjects. The summer holidays should be a good time to catch up in the areas in need of revision. The students should also use their summer break in order to complete the first and only draft of the Extended Essay which is due on September 11, 2015.
Next week, Year 12 students will receive a letter explaining all the important things happening next year: deadlines, registration process and the information about the actual exams in 2016.
On June 9th, an IB induction week for Year 11 students and students new to our IB programme took place at the school. Students had a chance to experience a sample of various subject’s lessons and special sessions on Extended Essays, CAS and Academic Honesty demonstrated to the students the importance of all elements of the IB programme. Students also had a chance to discuss and examine their subject selections for the next academic year.
Dr. J. Latkowski
Deputy Principal/IB DP Coordinator