PARENTS’ BULLETIN Friday 26th September 2014 Issue: PBSEP/39

Whole School Dear Parents, Thank you for reading this Bulletin. Magic Dust Thank you to so many current and new parents who have made positive comments about this Term; new staff, new pupils, new parents, renovation/redecoration of School site, new initiatives. There have been very favourable comments about the upgraded catering facilities; the School is delighted that the current Catering Manager Francis & his wife Christine will continue to be responsible for both secondary and primary dining areas. The ‘magic dust’ at Tenby may have been shaken and stirred in recent times but it will not be allowed to blow away. Relay for Life: Cancer Research Congratulation to the 57 Tenby pupils and supervising staff who participated in the Charity Event last Saturday from 18:00hrs until 10:00hrs on Sunday raising funds for this very worthwhile charity. Tenby violinists Shu Shan 9B and Shu Qing 10I also contributed to the event by performing with a spectacular Violin Orchestra.

Sporting Fixtures It is becoming a busy time for the PE Department with many inter-School fixtures. Congratulations and good luck to the pupils selected to represent the School. The Saujana Hotel Sunday Coffee Concerts Thank you to the performers and the 60 supporters who created such a special ambiance in the lovely setting of The Saujana Hotel last Sunday. The next Tenby Saujana Coffee Concert will be on Sunday 19th October at 11:00hrs.

Message from the Music Department The Head of Music David Spencer will be sending out a separate letter, but please note Instrumental Lessons given at the School will commence the week beginning Monday 27th October. Normally 10 lessons will be given each term, but for this inaugural Term, 5 lessons will be timetabled. Community Choir to start in November The Principal supported by Music Department colleagues would like to start an Adult Community Choir {sopranos, altos, tenors, basses} for parents, teachers, and friends of the School. It would be the intention of the Choir to perform separately, and also on occasions together with children of the School. There will be 4 rehearsals this Term from 19:00hrs until 20:30hrs on Friday 7th November, Friday 14th November, Friday 21st November, Friday 28th November. For those interested, please come along, and sing for fun.

CCA Enquiries

cca.sep@tenby.edu.my

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Parents’ Bulletin

http://www.tenby.edu.my/setia-eco-

park/parents-bulletin

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Parents’ Newsletter

http://www.tenby.edu.my/setia-eco-

park/newsletters

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PA Blog

tenbysep-pa.blogspot.com.

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Follow us on Twitter

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Useful Links

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?

storycode=340908

A nice article about education being

a family affair - that students

should be involved in conversations

about their learning

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http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?

storycode =2651278

BLP & getting students to challenge

things more

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http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?

storycode=6167534

Flexing your learning muscles

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Seatbelts The Principal does occasionally address other School issues…………………… besides observing and trying to improve traffic into and around the School site. However, it is very evident that many parents/drivers are allowing their children to sit in both front and back seats WITHOUT wearing seatbelts. Please ensure your children are as safe as possible and insist they wear seatbelts. Sixth Form A’ Level Options Meeting next Tuesday 30th September at 16:00hrs Separate information has been circulated, but a reminder to parents and pupils of Year 11 about this important Options and Information Meeting. School Library The Library is a wonderful resource. Please understand how the Library operates by accessing the attachment from the School Librarian, Ruth Silva. Link: http://www.tenby.edu.my/photo/pdf/Library_Orientation.pdf Half Term Holiday The October Half Term holiday begins at the end of School next Friday 3rd October, and ends at the beginning of School on Monday 13th October. As previously announced, the School will observe the Hari Deepavali Holiday period and the School will be closed on Wednesday 22nd October, Thursday 23rd October, Friday 24th October. Thank you for your great support of the School. Kind regards, Andrew Auster

Upcoming Events/Reminders 12.09.14 – 27.11.14 – CCAs 30.09.14 – 6th Form Options Evening @ 16:00hrs-18:00hrs, 6th Form Centre 06.10.14 – 10.10.14 – TIS & SST Half Term Break 10.10.14 – Cambridge GCE O Level Fashion & Textile written examination.

Coincides with the School’s mid-term break. Scholastic Book Orders Orders forms have been given out to your child/ren. Kindly take advantage of this opportunity to select and orders books for them. Please remember to place Scholastic Book Orders and return the form to the class/homeroom/form teacher on 01.10.14.

Payment mode: Cheque made payable to “Grolier (Malaysia) Shd Bhd” or Credit Card

Please do not give cash.

Books will only arrive within 3-4 weeks

Orders forms submitted later than 01.10.14 will not be accepted as it delays the delivery process.

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news-

impact/2012/01/are-you-down-with-

or-done-with-homework/

Homework & the Cold War

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http://www.buildinglearningpower.

co.uk/blp/What_is_BLP.html

Building Learning Power

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Downloads

TIS Parents’ Handbook

http://www.tenby.edu.my/photo/pdf

/Information_for_TIS_Parents_201

3_.pdf

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TIS Curriculum Handbooks

http://www.tenby.edu.my/setia-eco-

park/downloads#

From the PE Department It has been a busy start to the year in PE. All students in secondary have completed a variety of fitness tests as a baseline result. All students have recognised their strengths and areas to develop. The PE team have asked all students to set themselves a goal to improve an area of fitness by attending a club or activity after school or simply to raise their heart rates at least twice a week outside of school. A huge focus this year will be on the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle and developing the students’ knowledge of the benefits for taking part in sport and exercise. With the huge range of sports teams, clubs and activities on offer here at Tenby participation and fitness should be easy to improve. Our before school, lunchtime and afterschool clubs and teams are in full swing. The under 18 boys’ and girls’ football and volleyball teams have been in action in the ISAC league so far. The girls’ volleyball with a winning record of three wins under Miss Warnes and Miss Belle at the division 2 tournament at ISKL. All their hard work over the last two years is paying off! The boy’s teams competed and beat Nexus and ISKL ‘B’ and narrowly lost matches in both division 1 and division 2. A new team formed for division 2, there is huge potential to develop and compete against the best teams in the division. Let’s get training hard. The schedule is busy for the remainder of this term. The PE Department and the additional staff who give up their time to train, coach and travel with the teams are always striving for our teams to get better so we can compete for the top titles in each sport. Coming up:

September 25th KLISS U15 Boys Football @ TIS

September 25th KLISS U15 Girls Football @ ELC

Saturday 4th October U18 Boys Football @ NIS

Saturday 4th October U18 Girls Football @ ISKL

Saturday 4th October U15 Boys Football @ KLASS

Saturday 4th October U15 Girls Football @ KLASS

Saturday 11th October Primary and secondary XCountry @ ISKL

Wednesday 15th October KLISS U11 Boys Basketball @ ISP

Wednesday 15th October KLISS U11 Girls Basketball @ BSKL

Thursday 16th October ISAC U18 Girls Volleyball @ TIS v NIS

Wednesday 29th October ISAC U18 Boys and Girls Volleyball @ ISKL

Thursday 30th October KLISS U15 Boys Football @ TIS

Thursday 30th October KLISS U15 GIrls Football @ELC

Reminder: Self-Study Survey Instructions - PARENTS As part of the school's work towards becoming accredited by The Council Of International Schools (CIS), we need to seek your opinions. CIS have devised a survey which schools must send to parents, as the feedback from parents forms an invaluable part of the report we need to write as part of our self-reflection process. Therefore, would greatly appreciate you taking the time to complete this survey. The survey is very detailed and will take about 15 minutes to complete. We know how much you value our school and want to support us in our journey towards excellence. Therefore, we kindly request that you take the time to rate us and help us to reach internationally recognised standards. Your son or daughter’s school is beginning a yearlong self-study process. The purpose of this process is to help your school determine its strengths and areas for improvement. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Your principal and teachers are very interested in what you think of your son or daughter’s school. Your responses will be recorded anonymously. Survey Link: http://erc.endicott.edu/surv/tenby Please refer to our emails, for access code. The survey will close on Saturday 27th September. Thank you for your help with this important work. From Tenby Schools’ Leadership Team

Sekolah Sri Tenby (SST) Upcoming Events

Date School Activity/Event

Remark

Tuesday 28th October 14:40hrs-16:00hrs (Auditorium)

PSEC Ceremony Std 6 & Form 5 Awards Day. Parents of these classes’ students are invited to attend

Monday 3rd November 08:30hrs

Primary Multi-Talent Day

Showcase of talents Parents are invited to attend

Thursday 6th November 13:30hrs

Secondary Multi-Talent Day

Showcase of talents Parents are invited to attend

Tuesday 11th November (whole day)

Primary SST Great Challenges Day

Primary children involved in a series of activities for 3 parts of the day according to physical, verbal and nonverbal

Thursday 13th November (whole day)

Secondary SST Great Challenges Day

Secondary children involved in a series of activities for 3 parts of the day according to physical, verbal and non-verbal

Friday 28th November 09:00hrs -12:00hrs (MPH)

Superstar Awards Ceremony

Awards presentation for Std 1-5, F1-4 students. Musical drama “Frost Zone” will be staged after awards presentation

Examination Dates

Examination Date Remark

School’s Term 3 Exams Std1-5

Monday 13th-17th October

Other times without examination will be attended to by the usual subject teachers

School’s Term 3 Exams Form 1,2 & 4

Form1-2: Monday 13th-17th October Form 4 : 2nd-3rd October, 13th-17th October,20th-21st & 27th October

Other times without examination will be attended to by the usual subject teachers

PT3 for Form 3 Psychometric Tests : Thursday 25th September Written Tests for 6 or 7 subjects : Monday 13th-16th October

This test has two components ie a)Innate ability & b)acquired ability of students The instruments are called Instrumen Kecerdasan Pelbagai(IPK) and Inventori Minat Kerjaya(IMK)

SPM for Form 5

3rd November – 2nd December 2014

Students are advised to stay in school after the morning paper when there is an afternoon paper

UPSR Examination 2014 Timetable for Science, English & Mathematics Papers The following are the dates and times for the above papers:-

Date/Time Exam. Paper

Tuesday 30th September 08:00hrs-09:30hrs

Science

Tuesday 30th September 10:15hrs-11:20hrs 12:05hrs-13:35hrs

Bahasa Inggeris Paper 1 Bahasa Inggeris Paper 2

Thursday 9th October 08:00hrs – 09:15hrs

Mathematics Paper 1

Experiential Trips These trips are essential to be participated by everyone in each year group from Primary till Secondary as they are curriculum based and objectives driven. For this year all year groups have gone for these trips and the Form 3 is the last group to go for such trip to Putrajaya on Monday 20th October. From record, it is noted that we do not have 100% participation for this kind of curriculum activity. Parents are reminded that such trips are carefully planned, risk assessments made and task sheets for the learning activities prepared for about five subjects. We hope to have greater support from parents for students to be on these trips.

CAT4 Assessments All students from Std 5, Form 1, Form 3 and Form 4 this year will be assessed in early October for CAT4 during their ICT periods. These CAT4 data will be used to improve teaching and learning in the classroom, for knowing students’ potential and to do effective target setting across abilities of students. Appreciation & Thanks Huge thanks to parents who had jointly celebrated Malaysia Day in Tenby Schools with us on Friday 19th September and who had attended our second Parents-Teachers Meeting for F3 & F5 parents on Tuesday 23rd September. We really appreciate your presence for all school events and activities. Form 4 Experiential Trip to FOREST RESERVE INSTITUE OF MALAYSIA AND ROYAL SELANGOR PEWTER (Reported by Alyssa Yeo, F4S) On Tuesday 26th August, we, the FORM 4 students went on a trip to FRIM AND ROYAL SELANGOR as part of our learning experience. We gathered at Tenby Square in the morning, waiting eagerly to embark on a journey of discovery. Upon arrival at FRIM, we were warmly greeted by the personnel in charge, who then introduced their guides and informed us of the programme for the day. We were first brought to the Genetic Laboratory and introduced to the researcher who enlightened us about DNA marker technology, functional genomics, molecular breeding, gene isolation and gene transformation. The session with the researcher has indeed opened our eyes to the complexity of research required to achieve the objective of conversation and preservation of trees and plants. Though some things shared were a little overwhelming, we deeply understood the importance of the knowledge of Science and its applications in our everyday life. After a session of facts and data of serious stuff, we were more than eager to go for the long awaited canopy walk. We were divided into two groups and each group was led by an experienced guide. The path leading to the canopy walk was very challenging as we had to cover a distance of 1km by ascending slopes of deep gradients. The canopy was 30m above the ground and 150m long. The fear of heights did not deter any of us from participating in the walk. Climbing through the winding path leading to the canopy walkway, we had to stop various times to catch our breaths. Though it was a tiresome task, we thoroughly enjoyed the climb. The whole experience had taught us the virtue of perseverance and determination. We learned to obey every instruction to ensure our safety and fun for the experience. Walking along the canopy, we were mesmerised by the beauty of nature surrounding us.

The other highlight of our trip was none other than the headquarters of Royal Selangor, a popular and prevalent manufacturer of pewter, the largest of its type in the world. The building bore a very futuristic yet simplistic exterior, even more so on the inside and the lot of us took an enlightening trip down the path of History and learnt a great many things about the man behind Malaysia's successful pewter industry. There were great life-sized replicas and models of machines hanging from the ceilings, and an impressive number of structures and statues all made exclusively of the finest pewter. What had the students captivated the most would be the small section of displays that they all had the privilege to visit, and laying their eyes upon historical relics never failed to stir a distinct fascination that they reaped solely from viewing vestiges of antiquity. It is a marvel to be able to behold items that have stood the test of time, items that have witnessed significant transitions in a different lifetime. We were given a tour around the factory after that, and watched and listened with deep enthrallment the assortment of miscellaneous noises and voices that abounded. A brief explanation as well as a demonstration as to how decorative objects and adornments were created and polished was given, giving our hungry minds that pined for knowledge a sense of accomplishment. A group picture to commemorate our beautiful trip was the ideal way of bringing closure to a pleasing and educational time outdoors. We posed next to the largest tankard in the world made entirely of pewter. The day had advanced to a late afternoon, and it was time for all to head for home. We were tired but very satisfied with the day’s outing!

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Tenby International School (TIS)

Upcoming Events – Students 02.10.14 – 07.10.14 – Art & Design Trip to Paris 01.10.14 – 03.10.14 – Y7 Camp, Selangor 01.10.14 – 03.10.14 – Y8 Camp, Taiping 01.10.14 – 03.10.14 – Y9 Camp, Gopeng 01.10.14 – 03.10.14 – Y10 Camp, Lumut 01.10.14 – 03.10.14 – Y11 Camp, Lumut 02.10.14 - Y5 Exit Point 'The Investigators'

Upcoming Events – Parents 01.10.14 & 02.10.14 - Primary PTCs "Meet The Class Teacher" 02.10.14 - Y2 Exit Point "Water World" 08:15hrs - 09:15hrs, with Parents, on campus

School Production Dates: “The Wiz That Never Was”

Evening Performances: 03.12.14. & 04.12.14. @ 19:00hrs Rehearsal Sleepover : 14.11.14. – 15.11.14., finish @ 16:00hrs Weekend Rehearsals : 22.11.14. @ 09:00hrs – 16:00hrs & 30.11.14. @

09:00hrs – 16:00hrs Lunch Time Clubs This week saw the launching of our new lunchtime clubs for Primary. All chidlren were given the opportunity to sign up for a lunchtime club of their choice. The lunchtime clubs are very popular sadly we had to restrict numbers to keep the clubs managable and enjoyable. Children relished having the opportunity to try different things in their lunchtime. We look forward to seeing the children enjoy lots more exciting clubs over the course of the year.

Education City Early Years parents will already be familiar with the award winning Education City website. It is a superb resource for learning at home. Last year, we used this resource in Early Years. This year, Education City has extended its content and now has resources for all year groups up to Year 6. Your child will be receiving a username and password and our teachers will be setting homework activities using the website.

Parent Teacher Conferences Parent Teacher Conferences (PTCs) take place next Wednesday and Thursday after school. The aim of these conferences is to allow parents and teachers to share important information about the child to develop a more complete, holistic view of the child. The teacher will give you a brief overview of how your child is doing academically, but this is not the main focus of the PTC. Happy, secure and confident children are successful children, so this is the time to ask about your child’s friends, how they work with other children, how they behave in class and in the playground, how well they participate in class, whether they have taken on any leadership roles and so on. Remember to ask your child if there is anything they would like you to discuss with their teacher at the PTC. Think about any issues at home that you might want to mention to the teacher and ask your partner and other family members what they feel should be mentioned or asked. The Student Led Conferences (SLCs) in Terms 2 and 3 will focus more closely on academic achievements. The PTC is the time to consider your child’s learning behaviours and social interactions. If home and school can work together to get these things right, academic success will surely follow.

Looking for Learning Around the School In ICT, the Year 1 children have been using Fresco Paint (as Mr. Victor explained, “A kiddy version of Paint”) to create graphics on the computer. At the same time they are also learning to use the mouse and practise their keyboard skills.

Tomorrow’s Star – Fencing On the 14th September 2014 Philippa won the Bronze in the Under 10 Girl's Individual Foil in the "Tomorrow's Star” Fencing Competition (Grand Final 2014) in Hong Kong. Philippa competed in 3 rounds against a series of fencers from all over Asia; she won all of her matches up until the semi-final where she was defeated. Philippa went on to be awarded the bronze trophy for her category. Congratulations and keep up the good work! Year 6 Exit Point – Space Explores Year 6 held a Space Convention on Wednesday 24th September. Parents were invited to wander around the Space Convention learning about our solar system. Each Year 6 class set up investigation areas for the parents to discover about space.

They also displayed models of the solar system and information they have learnt about how planets are connected. It was wonderful to watch the children ‘teach’ the parents how to conduct experiments and explain and reason with them about the things that happen in our solar system. The children showed great understand of the solar system, were able to use scientific language and answer many tricky question. Thank you to all parents who visited the Space Convention and making this a very meaningful experience for the children.