ShowTime + BTW: Real experiences is what builds confidence and communication!

Through the Window I C5-6 Learning Lab

BTW I United Nations

This week four of our G8 learners went Beyond the Walls to the Corporate Sustainability and Environment Rights in Asia Conference hosted by the United Nations in Bangkok. They attended the "Youth, Business, and Climate Action: Bridging the Gap" session in order to improve their advocacy skills that they developed during their Explore Project. The session focused on the role young people play in Climate Action and Consumption, while sharing how youth can advocate for sustainable production and responsible consumption.

The session evaluated how businesses, government, and the United Nations are related to giving youth a voice and opinions on climate action agenda items. The learners were able to develop an increased understanding of the role of youth in promoting environmentally friendly consumption and production and ways that young people can take action and use platforms to promote climate action alongside businesses.

 By Maya, G8

BTW I Bang Saen

As a key part of his environmental advocacy Explore project, our Grade 7-8 learner, Summer, researched, completed a reconnaissance mission, organized, and then led his classmates and Learning Designers to Bang Saen beach to complete an environmental impact assessment that included taking water and soil samples along with a good old-fashioned trash pick-up. The samples are being analyzed in the Science Lab with results to be published as part of his final presentation.

 By Jonathan Campbell

BTW I IKEA & Thai Watsadu

For Explore 4E, the Light Blue team is creating a new Makerspace for the C7-8 Wing. Having ideated, decided, planned and designed the spaces needed, the group needed materials, supplies, extension cords, and nice finishings for the space to make it inviting and encourage its use. They decided a BTW trip to IKEA and Thai Watsadu Bangna was required as they wanted to get a feel for design elements in situ in the IKEA showroom.

VERSO is luckily positioned so close to Mega Bangna IKEA, so a quick ride on the bus and the team were into shops looking for inspiration, going through the wish list, and keeping the budget calculator updated to stay on track with their time and spending.

Having visited the two superstores, and loaded up with the necessary provisions, and a quick visit to the IKEA ice cream shop for a cone on Mr Dan, the team were back at VERSO before lunch.

They have been spending the last week putting together the space, with all the extra purchases, to reveal to the Loop in an unveiling ceremony after the October break! The space will be amazing, and will be shared in a later Muster update so stay tuned!

By Dan Hyman

Visual Arts

In G5 Visual Arts class, learners began to develop a stronger foundation of visual expression. They explored the seven fundamental elements of art: line, shape, form, color, texture, space, and value, and learned how each of the elements can be used to create a visual representation of their thoughts and emotions. The objective of this lesson is for each learner to not only grasp these core concepts but to transform them into tangible works of art that reflect their comprehension. Together, they discussed the characteristics of each element of art and shared pre-existing knowledge on how to use them to communicate with the audience. 

Learners had the opportunity to put what they know and what they have learned to creative use by working together as a team to design a prototype paper structure and working individually to create their own unique collage art that can be described as “elements of art smoothies,” a blending of knowledge building blocks and artistic creativity.

By Amy Premo

Design Lab

D-Lab (Design Lab) has started with some great Design Thinking! Grade 6 (GG) learners have been working through the Design Thinking cycle, with the Driving Question “How can we design an entertaining, mechanical device that serves no purpose?” This is a nod to their Carnival-based Explore Lab, Rube Goldberg machines, and The Useless Box!

As a group, G6 learners have been ideating and practicing communication through activities relating to the project, including pitching their ideas to each other, conveying constructive feedback, and using fair voting to choose a final design.

The next part of the process will be to enhance collaboration skills as the project evolves from the ideation phase into the early prototype phase. This will ensure that all members of the team are involved in this phase of development, and learners will get to craft and create their designs with varying materials.

Learners have also been prototyping via physical and digital media, working on Tinkercad to produce digital designs, and in the Low Fidelity Maker Space to craft physical prototypes. Working through both of these processes allows the ideas to be visualized, and discussed and to give each other feedback and discuss iteration. This is a key Design Thinking step and ideally will allow learners to improve their initial concepts before final creation.

By Dan Hyman

C7-8 ShowTime Artistic Flair

                            How Do Countries Use Media to Influence Their Political Outcomes?
 
Thank you to our parents and VERSO community in joining us at our C7-8 ShowTime. The atmosphere was electric as the adults were bidding (and out-bidding) each other so they could hang their favorite artwork in their homes or offices. We had a great turnout and really value opportunities such as these to bring us all together to celebrate learning and achievements.

Project Overview: In our first Learning Lab project of the year, we are focused on our Communication & Humanism competencies through the lenses of Social Studies, Literacy & Art. We first explored the ways humans & political systems influence each other by diving deep into the different styles of political structuring and what types of factors influence the developments of these different structures, such as religion and geographical factors. By looking at how media has been historically used for political influence, as well as how marginalized peoples are often under-represented in political decision-making, we then used our understanding to create a modern day social media campaign designed for political influence. To communicate the empathy and emotions brought up inside of us during this work, we created individual paintings, using different art elements to translate our abstract ideas into a tangible piece that our audience can understand. Our visual research as well as an information text that accompanied our art pieces, explained our learning around this complex topic. The ultimate goal of this Learning Lab was to auction our art items off in order to fund our C7-8 Microfinance Legacy Project, where this year, the funds will be used towards marginalized people adversely affected by political outcomes in their country.   
 
By Ashley Durdle

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Summer Camps 2024

At VERSO, our commitment to enhancing our students' learning experiences extends beyond the traditional school year. We are thrilled to explore the possibility of introducing a summer camp program facilitated by our talented Learning Designers. This innovative program aims to immerse students in engaging, hands-on learning activities within a fun and collaborative environment, fostering their growth and curiosity.

To better understand the level of interest and specific preferences within our community, we kindly request your input. Your insights are invaluable in shaping this summer camp opportunity to align with your child's interests and needs, ensuring a fulfilling summer experience.  Please take a moment to complete this quick survey regarding your child's potential participation in the summer camp.

Curriculum Quarterly Feedback 

We would greatly appreciate your feedback on the first Curriculum Quarterly that was sent out by our Director of Curriculum and Learning, Suzanne Kitto. This will help us to improve on further iterations. Please take a moment to fill out this brief survey.

Slow Down Please

That's the ML Muster for now -  we wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable weekend!  Hope to see you around campus!

Best regards,

Middle Loop Team

Save the Dates

12-23 October: October Break
24-27 October: Focus Week (reading and Math Assessments)
1 November: UniVERSOtea Morning on "Applying to North America"
3 November: Q1 VERSO 360 Progress Report sent to families
15 November: UniVERSOtea online session on UCAS Walkthrough (details in poster below)
24 November: Loy Krathong Event @VERSO

Important Links

• VERSO Family Handbook
• School Calendar
• Student Absence Form
• Student Late Arrival Form
• Student Early Leave Notification Form