TENBY SCHOOLS IPOHNewsletter #100 - February 2016

Highlights in this newsletter:

Message from Campus Principal

Chinese New Year Special Assembly

Parents' Forum Dates

School Activities

Year 11 Intervention Timetable

From the Campus Principal Jane Kuok

Dear Parents & Tenby Community,

The sounds of drums drumming nearly every day this past week had been a constant reminder that our students were busy with preparations for the Chinese New Year (CNY) Assembly. It was great to see the children put in so much effort and their reward was an entertaining student led Assembly. The theme for this year’s CNY decorations at the Foyer is “The Year of the Monkey”. Special thanks to the Art Department, the Art & Craft CCA Club and also the Facilities team for making it come alive.

We started the special Assemblies with the CNY Assembly at TEYCI yesterday morning. The children were beautiful in their CNY costumes! Much to their excitement, the Tenby Lion Dance Troupe entertained TEYCI with their agile routine. The Meru Campus held two separate assem-blies, one each for Primary and Secondary. The students enjoyed all the performances and I would like to thank Mr Lee Soo Mee and his committee for their hard work. Not forgetting the student performers who have been practising relentlessly for the past month, especially the Tenby Lion Dance Troupe. Well done everyone!

Dual Language Programme (DLP) for Sekolah TenbyWe are pleased to announce that Sekolah Tenby has been given approval by Ministry of Educa-tion to deliver Mathematics and Science in English at three entry points; Standard 1, Standard 4 and Form 1. All other classes will join these entry points after 2016 and by 2018 every year group will be in DLP.

This programme is newly introduced by the government to uphold Bahasa Malaysia and strengthen the usage of English in schools. Only 300 schools in Malaysia have been selected to participate in this programme and we are proud to be one of them. Coincidently, Sekolah Tenby started using the bi-lingual approach in delivering the national curriculum in past years and DLP clearly supports and reiterates our ethos of providing national education with international approaches at Tenby Schools.

School FeesThe final reminder letters for payment of school fees went out to students this week. We hope that parents will settle any outstanding fees before the start of school on Monday 15th February to avoid their child(ren) being suspended from school (when they return after the holiday) until payment has been made.

Parents’ Association (PA) Meeting – Key Points from Tuesday’s Meeting• Upcoming key events were shared where parents could help out.• The PA would like to donate part of their funds to recognise students’ achievements. We agreed that we would share this with the Student Council for their input on what sort of reward/award they would value. • There was some discussion on the organisation of Date Night.• The School would monitor the Canteen in line with their original tender.• The next Coffee Morning will be on Tuesday 15th March. Topic: Questioning assumptions about play and creativity by Queenie, a Child/Parenting expert.

PA Date NightThe Parents Association (PA) is organising their annual Date Night and this year it will be held on Friday 15th April at the Weil Hotel. Last year’s Date Night was very successful and we hope that with the continued support from parents and Tenby community - this year’s will be another roaring success.

Alumni2016 marks Tenby Schools Ipoh’s 56th year. To celebrate our long history and existence in Ipoh, the School will be starting a Tenby Schools Ipoh Alumni. Therefore, if you know of anyone who attended Tenby, please could you email Ms. Siew Peng (siewpeng.lee@tenby.edu.my) with their name and contact details so that we can begin to build our Alumni.

Reminder: Parents’ Forums After Chinese New Year

Meru CampusDate Year Group TimeTuesday 16.02.16 KSSR 1 – 3 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrsWednesday 17.02.16 KSSR 4 – 6 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrsThursday 18.02.16 KBSM 1 – 3 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrsFriday 19.02.16 KBSM 4 – 5 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrsMonday 22.02.16 Nursery & Reception 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrs Tuesday 23.02.16 Years 1 – 2 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrsWednesday 24.02.16 Years 3 – 4 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrsThursday 25.02.16 Years 5 – 6 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrsFriday 26.02.16 Years 7 - 9 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrsMonday 29.02.16 Years 10 & 11 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrsTuesday 01.03.16 Sixth Form 08:15 hrs to 09:15hrs

TEYCIDate Year Group TimeTuesday 23.02.16 Toddler to Year 1 08:30 hrs to 09:30hrs

Please note that the next newsletter will come out on Friday 19th February. We would like to wish our Chinese students, parents and Tenby Community a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year, for those who are travelling this holiday season, safe travels and happy holidays. School will resume on Monday 15th February. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

CHINESE NEW YEAR ASSEMBLY 2016

The school choir singing during the Assembly

Ballet dance performance

Opening ceremony Gong Xi - Gong Xi song by primary students

Tenby’s 24 Seasons’ Drummers giving a powerful performance

Our very own Tenby 24 Seasons’ Drummersand Lion Dancers

The Lions also graced the main office

NEWS FROM SEKOLAH TENBY

Standard 1 – Art in Action

Class : Standard 1

Subject : ART

Date : 1st February 2016

Pn. Nantinni is helping students to cut celery leaves and

okras (ladies fingers)

Students using celery leaves and okras to print on pictures, forming interesting patterns.

Students applying water colors onto celery leaves and okras.

Pn. Nantinni monitoring students’ work.

Students’ final product.

News from Tenby Early Years Centre

Chinese New Year Assembly A lovely start to our Chinese New Year Assembly with a performance by our Year 1 children putting up a play on the story of Nian. The Toddlers, Nursery and Reception classes rendered Chinese New Year songs and poem followed by a percussion performance. Chinese New Year has been celebrated for more than 4000 years. It originated in China and today is celebrated all over the world in areas where there is a large Chinese population. The origins of this celebration can be traced to the story of Nian, a wild beast who attacked a village on New Year's Eve. The monster would hurt people. The villagers discovered that Nian did not like the colour red, loud noises, or bright lights. The villages set off firecrackers and painted their doors red to keep the beast away. Today, Chinese New Year is a way for families and friends to get together to share wishes for luck and prosperity for the coming year. It is the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar. The colour red is used to symbolise luck.

The Early Years Team wishes all parents and children “A Very Happy & Prosperous Chinese New Year”.

Have a safe and pleasant journey to wherever you are heading too.

Ms. Jane Kuok and Mrs. Puvanes receiving Mandarins as a symbol of luck.

Classroom News

Toddler - Little Dolphins

Toddlers - Little Nemos & Little Penguins

Children getting hands-on experience during the “Sink and Float” activity.

Exploring sound with glasses filled with different levels of water.

Nursery - Little Tulips

Reception - Little Einstein’s

Reception - Little Da Vinci’s

We are making a kennel for our pet dog.

Little Einstein’s mastering the counting concept in set of 2’s and 5’s.

Casandra Chan became runner up for Recycling Poster Competition.

Year 1

Based on the IPC topic “A Day in the Life”, our Year 1 students learned about the things people do in school. Therefore, to appreciate them, the students made

appreciation cards for each of the staff for the work they do.

In the final week of our Treasure topic, we learnt a little bit about the Vikings and their treasure.

The Dragonflies

concentrating on making

their wonderful treasure

chests for their precious

treasure.

Hansveer painting his treasure gold. Dila showing her beautiful earring.

We also learnt how to add two single digit numbers together. We did this by playing

a“plant shopping” game. Here Sanjhanaa and Hiyori are counting out pennies for the

shopkeeper.

Some of us learnt how to add two numbers together using Lego, and some through playing

“Snakes and Ladders”.

The Reception classes learnt

about number bonds and

symmetry this week!

Here are the Busy Bees

showing all their wonderful

work!

We folded our papers in half,

squeezed paint on them and

we made beautiful butterflies.

Thureshan, Abhelasha and Xue Fang are painting the sea for our class island.

We wish you all a happy and enjoyable Chinese New Year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Hau Yahn colouring a card for Chinese

New Year

Zhen Yu – is sorting out the animals according to its body covering such as animals with shells, smooth skin, scales, fur and feathers after cutting them in the IPC book.

NEWS FROM INTERNATIONAL PRIMARY

International Mother Language Day (IMLD) 22nd February, 2016The International Primary School will be celebrating International Mother Tongue day on Monday 22nd February. This year we will be making a video of students saying greetings in their mother tongue language, parents will be asked if they would like to participate by reading a short poem or teaching the students a simple song in their mother tongue. We will make a table of the different Mother tongue languages in each class. This year’s theme is ‘Mother Tongue Language and Inclusive Education’, which fits in very well with our primary IPC’s International Mindedness as well as our school’s Vision, Mission and Core Values.

IMLD has been celebrated every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilin-gualism.

UNESCO highlights the importance of mother tongue as part of the right to education and encourages its member states to promote instruction and education in the mother tongue.

Why International Mother Language Day?

Linguistic and cultural diversity represent universal values that strengthen the unity and cohesion of societies. The recognition of the importance of linguistic diversity led to UNESCO’s decision to celebrate International Mother Language Day. What does it celebrate?

International Mother Language Day’s objective is to promote linguistic diversity and multilingual education, and to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue. The Importance of mother tongue educationLanguage is the instrument we use to communicate with others. But above all, language is also the instrument we use to think, analyse and relate to other people and our environment. Language is therefore the basis for self-awareness, for a sense of meaning and for intellectual development.

Each language is unique and reflect a country’s own culture, its own habits and its own individual identity. The mother tongue and mother tongue education are of major importance to an individual’s development.

Language development already starts before birth, as this is when the child will hear the first sounds and associat-ed emotions from his mother. From that moment onwards the development of emotions and thoughts will run through the mother’s language. Understanding the environment, the relationship with others, the development of thoughts, as well as concepts at a later age, all happen through the first language: the native language: the ‘mother tongue’. The child uses this language to express his thoughts and feelings.

The mother tongue is therefore an essential instrument during identity development. The child will develop his relationship with his parents, family members, extended family, friends, but also with his own past, future and own culture through the mother tongue.

The mother tongue is even more important to children growing up abroad; it will give them cultural stability and will teach them to react to changes more effectively. The mother tongue will also provide a foundation for managing other languages, as the learning of other languages will happen through the mother tongue.

Did you know:Malaysia has 140 different languages. Of the world’s 8,000 languages many will have disappeared by the end of the century. What can we do at home?Parents can talk about mother tongue language, cultures, and teach a little of their mother language to their children.

You could read poetry, tell a story or sing a song in your mother language.

Paintings and drawings with captions in mother languages could be done at home and brought to school so we can display them inside and outside class rooms.

This Week in Year 4 Blue

This week, Year 4 Blue continued on with our current IPC topic – Saving the

World. After completing all of our Geography tasks last week, where we

looked at gathering geographical information from

secondary sources, we are now starting off our

Science tasks. In Science Task 1, we looked at

animals that live in the Rainforest. Do you know that

half the world’s animals live in the rainforest? In this

task, we used our books and the Internet to find

information on one animal of our choice

to make an animal fact file. We used the

SmartBoard to access the Internet,

especially to visit the National

Geographic Kids website. Our personal

goal for this task was Enquiry, we had to carefully look around to

gain information as we are learning to be good investigators and

researchers.

In Literacy, we are

currently learning

about similes. We

use similes to

replace overused

words. If not, our

writing will be as

boring as watching

the paint dry. For the first task, we made similes to describe

the colours of the rainbow. We wrote our similes on our

rainbow which we drew on a piece of paper. Some interesting

similes we thought of were ‘as purple as a brinjal’ and ‘as

orange as a pumpkin’. Then, for task two, because we are in

the midst of our ‘Fantastic Journeys’ theme in the textbook,

we created our own “fantastical” monster and described it

using similes. We described their physical features and

characters using similes. For this task, we demonstrated using

Christyn, Jamie and Sabrina using the SmartBoard to access the Internet.

Alex and Lakshan finding information using a book.

Takumi’s description of the colours of a rainbow using similes.

Ethan describing his fantastical monster using similes.

Our personal goal for Science Task 1.

similes to represent figurative descriptions. So does your “fantastical” monster have teeth as sharp as

razors?

In Numeracy, we have been working on our times tables. We have

been practicing by completing the multiplication grid on our own

within a given time limit. This will help us improve our multiplication

and division skills.

In Science, we continued looking at

animals and their habitats. We

recently learned that animals need

to adapt to their habitat. Do you

know why a penguin has a strong

chest? Yes, to help them swim!

Also, in the morning (like every

other morning), we played outside with our friends or played games in

the classroom before registration. We recently acquired a few chess

sets and we have been excitedly playing chess. Some of us are

reading books in the class or playing phonics games to help improve

our reading.

Finally, we have been practicing very hard for our Year 4

assembly. Sorry, there aren’t any pictures because we want to

surprise all of you on Friday 19th February. Please come see us

perform at our Year 4 Assembly.

Till next time, enjoy the Half Term break and Happy Chinese New

Year to those who are celebrating.

Adrian and Alex filling up their multiplication grids in class.

Di Shen, Syn Teng and Su Minn matching the animals to their habitats.

Yusuf playing the phonics game while Ethan and Rithick are playing with the new chess set.

NEWS FROM INTERNATIONAL SECONDARY

ReportsParents who did not attend the recent Parent-Teacher Conferences for Yr 7 to Yr 10, please ensure you get them from your child/(ren). They have been handed out to students today. Meanwhile Year 11 reports will be sent home to parents via post. Please look out for it.

After School Intervention Schedule for Year 11The schedule is attached in a later part of this newsletter.

Year 9 Secondary Art ClassYear 9 students had a fun time creating and challenging each other making something out of nothing, by using soda cans aluminum foil and aluminum spoons etc. The outcome was indeed excellent and showed the creativity our students possess if given the opportunity. Ms Michelle said the judges had a hard time choosing the winners because all the work was as creative as the next.

Artwork and winners from Year 9 Yellow

Artwork and winners from Year 9 Blue

Artwork and winners from Year 9 Green

Tenby Sixth Formers Bring CNY Cheer to the Kampung Simee Home

“If you open your hearts, you will see Calcutta in your midst.” Mother Teresa was in deed right. As Chinese New Year is around the corner, the Tenby Sixth Formers visited the Kg. Simee Home for the Aged, the home to the poorest of the poor in Ipoh on 30th January 2016. The elderly folks have two things in common: they are all single and almost all have no known relatives.

We chose to visit the home as it is reputed to be one of the best-organized welfare homes in Malaysia. Although the home is largely supported by the CWS, a Catholic welfare body, the heart-warming place is a home to senior citizens of multi-faith backgrounds.

About 30 Tenby Sixth Formers participated in the visit, bringing along the substantial load of donations given by our school community. Upon arrival at the home, we were given a briefing on the history and set-up of the Home by the administrative manager, Ms. Helen Lai.

The first fellowship event was chatting with the folks who were already awaiting for us excitedly in the hall. It was definitely a whole new experience for us sharing chit-chat with people we do not know but we were truly touched by their life stories. We had joyful moments with the folks’ singing songs, drawing and enjoying performances with them. There is no doubt that the essential element for happiness is hearty fellowship coming from sincere hearts.

What I learnt most strongly from the visit was the role and power of voluntarism. The Board of Management of the Home is manned by a team of voluntary professionals, businessmen and faith leaders. The Chairperson is Mr Vincent Lee, a well-known pharmacist.

The home cannot be financed solely on the RM15,000 annual allocation from the government when it actually spends almost RM30,000 monthly to properly house, feed, clothe and care for the residents here.

We learned that a Food Fair is held at the home once in two years to raise funds .Volunteers again have to play an important role in this event for maximum profit to be earned during the food fair. On our part, we at Tenby Schools Ipoh have pledged to give full support to the Home’s Food Fair 2016 which will be held on 12th June 2016.

In my interview with Ms Alicia Yong, the Assistant Manager, I learned that volunteers can do a lot for the Home.

“We always welcome visitors who can run fellowship and good cheer activities for the residents. In addition, we are also in need of regular gardening services and food supplies.”

The visit has not only made us realize how lucky we are to have what we have, but it also has led us to the door of charity in helping the people in need. The spirit of voluntarism is a vital element for any society to develop in order to have a more dynamic society. Therefore, let us put our hands together in supporting voluntary organisations and charities in the future.

Emily (Sixth Form – Cohort 13)

SPORTS & CCA NEWS

There will be no CCAs during the school break from Monday 8th February to Saturday 13th February. Saturday CCAs will go on as normal this Saturday 6th and will resume on Saturday 20th.

TennisNyimas Ayesha from Yr 2B won Runner Up in the U8 National Junior Tennis Tournament 2016 held in Kuala Lumpur on 14th to 17th January 2016.

MSSD KINTA UTARA CROSS COUNTRY – WEDNESDAY 27TH JANUARY 2016. (By Ricky Singh)This week saw the beginning of the MSSD competitions within Perak. Tenby Schools Ipoh sent seven primary students and fifteen secondary students to SMK Pengkalan, Lahat, for the MSSD Kinta Utara Cross Country Run. There was a buzz of excitement in the build up to the first MSSD event of the year, and there was a fantastic turnout from schools across the district. Tenby Schools Ipoh was one of the 115 primary schools and 59 secondary schools that had registered participants into what was bound to be a fiercely competed event.

We had some fantastic performances from all of our students who tried their hardest and demonstrated a high level of skill and determination throughout the competition. The U12 races saw the most participants, with 345 students running the Boys’ race and 244 taking part in the Girls’ category. All of our students gave it their all in tricky condi-tions, and An Endo from Year 6, finished the race in a superb 9th place.

Like the previous category races, the U15 races were also both well represented and with 228 students taking part in the Boys’ race and 156 running the Girls’ race. There were more strong performances in both races, with all of our students finishing inside the top 100 places. But it was in the U15 girl’s race where Tenby Schools Ipoh enjoyed the most success, with Kitt Fay from Year 9 beating her 155 competi-tors and winning the U15 6km race. There was more success to follow, with Shen Hwei finishing in 6th place and in doing so has joined Kitt Fay in being selected for the MSSPK U15 girls competition which is due to be held on Thursday 4th February 2016.

Lastly, we had the U18 races with over 200 runners representing their schools across both categories. Again, our students produced more strong performances in what was a very competitive field of runners. Shing Yee from Year 10 secured a top 10 finish, coming in in 10th place.

Well done to all of our students and thank you to all of the staff that helped with organising our participation in this competition, coaching our students and the transport and supervision on the day.

MSSD KINTA UTARA CROSS COUNTRY PARTICIPANTS An (Yr 6 G) Jason (Yr 8 Y) Choe Zhen (Yr 6 G) Kitt Fay (Yr 9 Y) Jonas (Yr 6 G) Shen Hwei (Yr 9 Y) Hugo (Yr 6 G) Abbhiramy (Yr 8 G) Evelyn (Yr 6 G) Christina (Yr 8 Y) Alicia (Yr 6 G) Zul Irwan (F 3) Iman Ayesha (Yr 6 G) Mathew (F 3) Shing Yee (Yr 10 G) Rikitada (Yr 10 Y) Vikneshwaren (Yr 11 B) Corliss (Y 11 Y) Sureinder (F 5) Jason (F 5) Simranpreet (F 4) Fatin Syahirah (F 4)

Shing Yee winning 10th Place U18 Nicole winning 6th Place U15

Kitt Fay winning 1st Place U15An winning 9th Place U12

NEWS FROM INTERACT CLUB

CHINESE NEW YEAR WITH THE “OLD FOLKS” AT RUMAH SEJAHTERA, JELAPANG

With Chinese New Year in just a week’s time, members of Tenby Ipoh Interact were fortunate to share this joy with some 47 old folks both men and women in Rumah Sejahtera in Jelapang organised by the Honorary Secretary Mr. Peter Choi and a parent of our Interactor, Kar Chi.

Weeks before the said visit, members of the club sold assorted cookies, had breaktime-play and raised donations from teachers and students totalling RM880.00 which was used to purchase goodies and sundries from Mydin Hypermarket for the old folks.

On Monday 1st February, six Interactors accompanied by Ms. Bernie and Pn Siti, bought 10 bags of rice, Nestum, toothbrushes, body shampoo, biscuits, oil, cooking ingredients and milk powder with the money collected.

The next day 20 Interactors and our Teacher Advisors went to the home on the school bus. The gleam of happiness and joy in the old folks lifted our spirits as we sang several Chinese New Year songs with them. We enjoyed tea and cakes and everyone was given ang-pows from the parents of our Interactor, Nuraizah.A huge thank you to each and everyone teachers, students and parents who participated and contributed to our effort. We have indeed made a change in the lives of the old folks this time. Thank you to Tenby Interact Club and our Teacher Advisors for this most enjoyable and meaningful event.

Reported by, Jo-Ey, Rashwin and Kar ChiOrganising Chairpersons

SERVICE ABOVE SELF

Tenby Schools’ performance of Carl Orff’s cantata Carmina Burana at the Dewan Filharmonic Petronas, Kuala Lumpur

On Sunday, 8th May students from across the Tenby group will gather at the Dewan Filharmonic Petronas in KLCC to perform Carl Orff‘s epic cantata Carmina Burana. Carmina Burana is a setting of 24 medieval poems for large orchestra and chorus. Completed in 1936, it has enjoyed universal success since then and has been described as “one of the few box office certainties in 20th Century music”.

The 8th May concert promises to be both a gala event and a milestone for Tenby School’s performing arts. The Dewan Filharmonic Petronas is widely acknowledged to be one of the finest concert halls in the world and the premier venue for the performance of professional classical music in Southeast Asia. The performance will bring together students from all Tenby schools to form a chorus of 150 voices in combination with a professional orchestra, vocal soloists and dancers. The conductor will be Mr. Andrew Auster, Campus Principal Setia Eco Park who previously conducted the work at Haileybury Almaty and Gloucester Cathedral.

Here in Ipoh members of the Secondary Choir are already in rehearsal for the performance. Ticket prices range from RM55 – RM135 and are available from the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra by telephone (+603 2331 7007) or online at mpo.com.my.

For more information please contact Dr. Jeffrey Rowlands, Director of Music.

Intervention, Spring Term 2016

Year 11 After School Intervention Timetable Commencement: 15th February 2016

Week A Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Main Subject D&T & English Maths & Add Maths Economics Drama & Art French

Subsidiary subjects English Literature

Week B Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

Main Subject Chemistry History & Business PE English Literature

Subsidiary subjects English Language Maths & Add Maths

English Language

& Literature

Ms. Beresford / Ms.

Alexine / Ms.

Mardhiyah

Maths

Mdm Lau

Additional Maths

Ms. Serina

Drama

Ms. Stephanie

PE

Mr. Ricky

French

Mrs. Thomas

Music

Dr Rowlands

English Room 1 Maths Room 1 Maths Room 2 Drama Studio English Room 1 Library Music Room 1

Art

Mrs. Chooi

Maths

Ms. Charis

Chemistry

Pn Zalyah

Business

Ms. Mangales

History

Mr. Des

D&T

Mr. Darren

Economics

Mr. Francis

Art Room 1 Math Room 3 Lab 6 Humanities Room 2 Humanities Room 1 D&T Lab and ICT Lab Humanities Room 2

All sessions will run from 15:00 – 17:00, with the exception of French which will run from 12:30 – 13:30.

All learners must attend the main subject where requested.

Learners may only attend subsidiary subjects where they are not needed in a main subject.