Guest Blogs
Knowitall.ch often invites local experts in their field to contribute to their own blogs on our site. This means not only you will benefit from the useful recommendations that we make on our News pages, but you can also profit from some of the great advice and tips that these experts have to make on their favorite subjects. Whilst each of these bloggers has been recommended to us at some point during the evolution of Know-it-all passport and knowitall.ch, obviously we are not able to test out all the suggestions they make on their blogs, nor do we necessarily agree with all their opinions. So if you do find one of their tips useful (or not!), do let us know!
To make these blogs more accessible to you, we have now decided to group them altogether in one section, entitled Guest Blogs, accessible from our main menu bar. We will also post the most recent blogs on the home page of our site in the right hand column.
We are still building up this area of the site, and are looking for bloggers in a number of sections, including Your Home, Travel, and Leisure, so if you feel you have a useful contribution to make in either of these areas, and have the time to submit blog entries approximately every month, then please get in touch!
English and International Curricula – leading up to secondary school
In English-speaking classrooms at international schools throughout Switzerland, students will be following the International Baccalaureate curriculum. This begins at age 5, with the IB Curriculum Primary Years Programme (PYP), designed to equip children up to the age of 11 with all they need to begin the Middle Years Programme (MYP). A large proportion of students continue studying the MYP until the age of 16, when they will have completed their secondary education. Then they will make the decision whether to go on to study the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB DP) or perhaps to switch to the English curriculum’s A Levels, depending their preferred style of learning.
Secondary school: GCSE or MYP?
Although many students and their parents are aware that there is a choice to be made between the IB DP and A-Levels following secondary school, fewer look critically at the option of MYP versus GCSE. In Switzerland in international schools, many students do continue the MYP until they are 16. However, some students, particularly those looking ahead to a place at an international university, may opt out of the MYP for the more structured iGCSEs. The choice depends not only on the offering of the school, but the future plans of the student and their ability and study habits. Knowing what kind of student you are dealing with can be the difference between success and failure in choosing which curriculum they should follow.
By Debbie Croft, Croft Coaching / Geneva Coach Alliance
I wonder how many of you have been in, or overheard conversations about New Year’s Resolutions, where some speak with great fervour and passion; whilst others say ‘I don’t believe in making resolutions’. It made me consider how a simple date can cause many people to pause and reflect, pull over to the slow lane if you like, even if for 5 minutes; when the rest of the year, we stay in the fast lane.
So, what happens when you pull over to the slow lane or even stop? What do you become aware of?
It forces me to come up above the mental to-do list and juggling hats, as if I am looking down at myself from the canopy of the trees. From this viewpoint, I can see the roles I am playing in my life with detachment, and I can ponder over what is important to me in each of those roles. I actually dedicate time to reflect on questions similar to the ones I have listed below; as opposed to wonder if I have food in the fridge for the next couple of days, work organised, commitments on my radar so I don’t miss a vital playdate, thank you cards written etc etc!
Happy New Year to one and all! I trust you are all on top form and the year has started well.
This year my blog will be dedicated to interviewing leaders and subject matter experts to help promote healthier work life balance. With any luck this will enable us to create better relationships, productivity and performance.
I am convinced that this is an idea that needs to reverberate from the top and therefore will devote this year focusing on just that …. with a little help from my friends!
This January, I have been lucky enough to interview Genpo Roshi, founder of the Big Mind Process www.bigmind.org.
I really hope you enjoy his interview as much as I did.
Best wishes,
Sunita
By Hiba Giacoletto, Healthwise
This is my go-to recipe on days when I don't feel like cooking, especially in winter.
It is a very versatile recipe that uses lentils, your choice of vegetables, tomato sauce and a mix of herbs such as rosemary, thyme and oregano. I also add in some more umami taste to enhance the flavor with some blended dried tomatoes (you can buy them without the oil) as well as a dash of red wine vinegar just before serving. In many traditional lentil recipes you will see lemon or vinegar added at the end of the preparation because it really 'lifts' the flavor while making the lentils easier to digest. Also, make sure you never salt lentil until they are cooked.
I usually use green or brown lentils as they don't become mushy, which I prefer for this stew. Lentils are a great source of protein, fiber, folate, potassium and magnesium while being quite easy and quick to prepare since they don't need soaking like beans.
By Denise Nickerson, Educational Consultant
It’s December, and for millions of high school seniors, or students in their final year of secondary school, it’s crunch time for college and university applications. Many colleges and universities (and even UCAS, the UK higher education application clearinghouse) have January deadlines for application materials. Before they take their IB, AP, Bac, or Matu exams, they are preparing the first job applications of their lives – applying to become uni students in the fall. For all students, but especially for international students, transcripts are a very important, heavily weighted part of the university application file.
What are transcripts?
Official transcripts are academic records. They are documents issued by a school or university that provide an educational record. They include dates, subjects studied, some kind of indication of how much time was spent studying each subject, and grades or evaluation received for each academic subject. On a transcript, it should be obvious if the student in question successfully completed his courses or not. Academic credit received may also be evident. Transcripts exist in almost every country, and are used by schools and universities all over the world. They cannot be created by a parent or a student, but must be issued, printed, certified or created by an educational institution (a school, college, university, or other professional institute). Report cards or grade reports can be made into transcripts if a school does not have a transcript system in place (usually with stamps and signatures obtained officially at the school).
