School Guide

Shaping students with innovative and inclusive education

Published by SchoolAdvisor | Nov 25, 2020

With a vision of “providing an innovative international education that inspires learners to make a positive impact on the world” and a mission of “providing an inclusive learning community, embracing diversity by offering a challenging IB education which empowers its members to be caring, global citizens”, IGB International School (IGBIS) seeks to break the norm of merely producing ordinary students for ordinary futures.

Innovative international education

In today’s global economy, one has to be able to deal with changes quickly and effectively. The IB curriculum encourages IGBIS students to always expect change. Students are often faced with situations that exercise their ability to think critically and prepare for the future. When an action is taken, students need to follow up with the outcome of the results. They are taught to reflect on their findings and make conclusions about how the outcome affects the people around them.

So what happens when hit with situations such as a global pandemic? When Malaysia implemented the Movement Control Order (MCO) in March 2020, IGBIS was one step ahead in implementing the “Distance Learning” module, where students would attend school online, a day before the announcement was made. The students embraced this module with little to no hesitation and used the technological advancements available to them to their advantage.

Besides training students’ ability to adapt, IGBIS has conducted various activities and events to inspire students to make a positive impact in the world and to encourage creativity and critical thinking. The most recent is the “Makers’ Space” initiative where students come up with activities, games and all sorts of equipment or toys using recyclable materials. Students would utilise cardboards, empty plastic bottles, scrap paper, etc.

Building upon “Makers’ Space”, the “Week of Play” event was held where families were invited to come into school to paint, build and focus on playing with their children. There would be workshops on making marble runs, crafts making and many other activities to encourage children and their families to play with recyclable items. All the families needed to do was to come with open minds. While this activity encourages students to be as creative as they can, it also helps for families to bond.

Another noteworthy event the school conducted took place last year, where a group of young teenagers who were passionate about the preservation of mangroves organised a field trip for anyone interested to participate. More than 20 interested students attended this field trip titled “Mangroves Among Us”. Students were exposed to the habitat of these mangroves, the impact it had on the environment, and even learnt to plant mangroves.

Towards the end of students’ secondary school education, they are required to come up with a self-directed project and showcase a particular topic of their choice. In the past, students would come up with video productions, code their own computer games, and even design products, to name a few.

Inclusive learning community

One of the strengths of the IGBIS community is its inclusive learning environment. Students come from diverse cultural, linguistic and religious backgrounds, along with varying abilities, interests and needs.

Besides Malaysian students, the school sharpens the minds of students from 35 other countries including South Korea, China, Japan and India. Ninety per cent of our teaching staff are expatriates, bringing with them an international view to teaching.

To inculcate an appreciation and understanding for the entire community, IGBIS boasts an Inclusion Committee, run by parents and academic staff. This committee conducts activities such as workshops, event booths and webinars to educate everyone about the importance of inclusion in a diverse and vibrant community.

During the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Inclusion Committee conducted a webinar to educate the staff and ran online activities for our students and teachers to create awareness about autism entitled #LightItUpBlue.

IGBIS students are taught from young to be aware of their surroundings and the people around them. The school culture revolves around being caring and to help each other as much as possible.

One beautiful example personally witnessed by the Admissions Manager was when a child in a class was having difficulty understanding what was being taught. Another child saw this happening, decided to uproot himself from his table, move over to the struggling child and helped explain the concepts without much disturbance to the class.

To learn more about IGBIS, visit IGBIS website or call +603-61454688. SchoolAdvisor.my provides information on private and international schools, extra-curricular activities as well as other education-related topics in Malaysia.