South Island School

[blahblah]

I heard they take like 20-30 new students per year
for senior school .
do you think the teaching quality is good in SIS?
also how about the bullying and partying....
i've heard quite a bit about that..what do you think
my daugher may be starting IB diploma program next year
so kind of worried...

 

[georookie]

Hi,

I don't know much about South Island School, but as a graduate of West Island School, I can share with you som information about a typical ESF secondary school. My school has over 150 senior graduates per year and our senior school consists of both year 12 and 13 which makes the number of "Upper School Students" or "senior school" students reach about 300. The quality of education is decent and covers everything in the syllabus of the IB course, but it may often depend on the "willingness-to-learn" of individual students as well as how their peers face the demands of the courses.
Bullying and and partying also depends on a students own social skills and the people they hang out with (peer pressure). However, I dont think this is such a big issue for concern since this is not widespread among ESF schools. Just make sure your child gets along with the people around him/her and has control in deciding which whether or not they attend parties. More information can be provided tomorrow by a South Island School Graduate.
As for the IB Diploma, it is a course that aims to diversify the students' learning to a wide range of subjects that can be chosen from 6 groups.
The groups consist of:
-Language A1
-Second Language
-Individuals and Society
-Experimental Sciences
-Mathematics and Computer Science
-The Arts
Of these 6 areas, 3 of the subjects you chose will be "Higher Level" and the other 3 will be "Standard Level", "Ab initio" (languages) or "Studies"(Maths). If you want to do a degree in university which requires double science, a second science subject can take the place of the Group 6 Arts subject. Other than these subjects, there is CAS, TOK and EE.
CAS is Creativity, Action and Service. based around your extra-curricular activities.
TOK is Theory of Knowledge where students write an essay and do a presentation on it.
Extended Essay is like a mini-thesis which students write based on one of the Higher Level Subjects which they take.
The Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge counts for 3 marks out of the maximum of 45 in the IB Diploma. The other 42 is made up of the 6 subjects which can score a maximum of 7 each. CAS is just a compulsory element of the IB Diploma. More information can be found on the IBO website - http://www.ibo.org/diploma/

 

[geohongkong]

Hi blahblah

I have recently graduated from South Island School, after completing 2 years of the IB Diploma and am now awaiting for the final results.

Overall, the teaching quality is excellent at South Island School (SIS). SIS has recently implemented the Apple Laptop Scheme whereby all students at SIS will have a laptop to aid their learning. Whether students actually use their laptops to play games in the classroom is another issue despite there being sufficient restrictions on various websites. However ultimately it is down to the individual student themselves and their level of maturity. From my experience, laptops have been an amazing aid to my learning - something that I would recommend earnestly.

The learning atmosphere at South Island is extremely helpful with private study areas at various locations around school including a dedicated section to senior students in the library and the IB (International Baccalaureate) Centre which only senior students can use.

Furthermore, the School is well equipped with a careers centre for researching further education after South Island.

georookie has replied with a fairly extensive description of the IB Diploma program which I fully endorse.

There is a lot going around South Island that I'm sure your child will be interested to join. For example, 2 years ago an 'Innovation' Charity Fashion Show has been started to raise money for ORBIS and a 'Director's Cut' Media Showcase/Competition has been started too (which I personally founded and chaired).

Concerning partying, not dissimilar to the laptop scheme, it is down to the individual student themselves. There are people who, like in every school, party around but there are also kids who do seriously study and work hard. Overall, partying is not a big issue at South Island.

About the bullying in school, South Island has had several incidents with bullying and cyberbullying in both the Senior section and Lower Sections of the school but in all cases, teachers have intervened and appropriate sanctions have been made.

Overall, there is nothing to be worried about as South Island does have the appropriate resources to deal with any problems should they arise. Furthermore, all teachers at SIS are extremely approachable and be more than willing to help.

Please feel free to post any further questions and I'll be more than happy to answer them.

Regards.