TENBY SCHOOLS IPOHNewsletter #125 - October 2016

Highlights in this newsletter:

Message from Campus Principal

CCA Update

School Activities

Canteen Weekly Menu

From the Campus Principal Jane Kuok

Dear Parents & Tenby Community,

This afternoon, 42 secondary students attended an “Effective Public Speaking Workshop” conducted by Mr. K.T. Pillai, a well-known professional emcee and public speaker. The response was terrific and we would like to thank our student leaders who initiated this to develop their own public speaking skills. These sorts of initiatives from our student leaders are what we want to encourage more of – in line with Mission Point 1 ‘To enable students to achieve their full potential for academic excellence and acheivements in sports and the arts’ and our Core Value of ‘Lifelong Learning’.

Deepavali Assembly & Dress-UpWe will be celebrating Deepavali on Friday 21st October at 08:00hrs in the Multi-Purpose Hall. We welcome parents to join us and for everyone in the community to dress in traditional indian costume. It would be great if all the children could embrace this and make the effort to dress up. Children should not take the opportunity to dress in mufti if they are not in theme.

Fright Night & Parent VolunteersThis is another initiative led by the Student Council that will take place on Thurs-day 3rd November. The event will take place from 18:00hrs – 22:00hrs for secondary students and some lunch time activities will be led by the Student Council for Upper Primary students. More information will be sent home next week.

We would also welcome parent volunteers to help with face painting and make up. If you can assist, please e-mail Doug Foo (Head of Student Affairs): doug.foo@tenby.edu.my.

Lost & FoundAfter displaying the lost and found items today, some were claimed but many items were still unclaimed. Please, remember to label your child’s belongings with their name and class so that we can return misplaced/lost items. It is such a shame to see such wastage.

Canteen UpdateThis week, we met with the management of the Canteen with student representatives from primary school and secondary school, parents and staff. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the feedback received from the school community and how we would move forward. The outcome of the meeting is summarised as follows:• The school will conduct a survey of the Canteen’s current menu to help gauge what are the students’ preferred food choices. • We will publish the Canteen’s weekly menu the Friday before, to help students and parents plan the week’s meals.• The Canteen will look into having a western and local food choice every day.• The Canteen reported that children were still throwing cutlery into the dustbins and the school will work on trying to curb this. We ask that parents help to educate children about their civic duty too.

Tomorrow is the School’s Open Day at Meru Campus and TEYCI from 09:00hrs – 14:00hrs. Please come along with your friends if you like.

Please remember that School will resume after the Deepavali break on Monday 31st October.

Have a good weekend.

CCA Update

Red Crescent CCA has been cancelled for this term. A Letter will be sent home next week to the students who have enrolled for this CCA.

Choir CCA will take place in the music room in Block A every Wednesday.

Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs) for Next Term (Featured in last week’s Campus Principal's Message)We are looking into broadening the CCA programmes for next term and would like to invite you to share your ideas. Here are some of the ideas that we have.

First of all, we are looking at the possibility of offering morning practice sessions for school teams. There will also be Lunch Time Clubs next term which include compulsory physical training and team training for children in the school teams. Some examples of Lunch Time Club activities are art, music, board games. Any CCA that involves physical training will start at the beginning of lunch time so that students work out first then eat. For students who join other clubs they can eat first then proceed to their Lunch Time Club.

Besides this, there will be changes to after school CCAs next term. New games like volleyball, rugby, handball, gymnastics, cheerleading and non-contact Muay Thai are some of the sports that we are looking into adding to our current CCAs programme. We aim to develop more school teams in future.

The Track & Field CCA will be split into two days owing to the large number of students we have at the moment. Yoga/pilates, aerobics or Zumba could also be added into the programme. Further to this, we would introduce a variety of games into the primary PE curriculum and hopefully it will encourage more primary students to join the games in CCA.

Student have also indicated their interest in foreign language CCAs such as Japanese, Korean, German and Spanish. In addition, we would also like to expand the variety of cultural, community service or self-exploration related CCAs. Parents who are able and willing to support these CCAs are welcome to discuss with us.

Textiles / cookery CCA may be an option in future when we have the facility in place as health and safety of students are always on top of our priority.

Last but not the least, E-sports has also been quite popular with students but we must ensure the content is appro-priate for all before we decide on its provision.

Please note that the proposed CCAs are subject to the availability of a facility, member of staff or parent who can run it next term. Should there be a need hire an external coach/facilitator, there will be added costs. There will be charges for clubs that required extra materials weekly for example Science or Art Club.

Once the CCA programmes are in place, we will share them with parents. If you have any ideas or would like to offer to run a programme, particularly in the areas we would like to expand, please contact Mr. Foo via e-mail for more information: doug.foo@tenby.edu.my.

SPELLING BEE COMPETITION

A spelling bee competition was held on 4th October 2016 for the Standard 6

students as a post-UPSR activity. 4 teams of students took part in this

competition with great enthusiasm.

The participants were required to spell the word, string the word and

construct a sentence using the same word. It was an exciting and

challenging competition for the participants as they had to complete the

tasks within a very short time. It really kept the participants on their toes

throughout the competition.

This competition not only enriched the students’ vocabulary but also

stimulated their minds as well. The winning team was “The Galazy

Coconut”.

Written by Muhammad Harith ( Standard 6 )

The Limbo Team The Galazy Coconut Team

The Pineapple Team The Hawaiian Coconut Team

THE WINNING TEAM was The Galazy Coconut !

Congratulations to Emily, Sarah and Harith!

News from Tenby Early Years Centre Ipoh

Extended activities during Malay lesson

Students are working in pairs to form the short “sukukata” words.

Have a wonderful weekend.

If you have any queries or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Deepavali assembly on Thursday 20th October. Children are

encouraged to dress up in traditional Deepavali clothes.

Lee Jia and Fong Xi are attempting to work out the task.

Benjamin and Glen are finding the

sukukata.

Ari and Ber Lin are working at their best to complete

the sukukata.

This group is sharing their ideas.

Yeah! We have done it.

Nicole and Natalie are thinking

together to solve the problem.

Toddlers in action

Children are learning to identify the concept of ‘big’ and ‘small’.

‘Sorting’ activity is in progress. The children succeeded in their hands-on task.

Look at my beautiful and happy family.

Reception children are occupied with classroom activities

Reception children are getting ready to observe the growth of the bean sprout.

We are learning to say and match words beginning with phoneme ‘e’ to the correct pictures.

Look! I’m pouring water onto the seeds.

The Reception Y are engrossed in their structured play session.

News from Primary

Mathematics is a subject where you learn best by tackling problems/challenges. Every week, a

new challenge will be posted here for you to pit your wits against.

We invite you to have a go at solving it. If you get stuck, keep trying, and do go away and come

back later- often, you will find that you have a better idea on your second, third or even fourth

attempt.

Solution for Maths Challenge #003_Coin Problem

Maths Challenge #004_Spaceship

Our new IPC topic, Mission to Mars has been launched! We are certainly excited to go off to

Mars but before that we thought it best to learn about our solar system. We learnt about all

the planets and how the solar system works. We also used recycled materials so as to save

the environment!

Hard at work –making a solar system is no easy task!

Supporting Reading at Home (http: //www.oxfordowl.co.uk)

Tip #3: Encouraging reading at home for boys Here are some of the really simple but great things you can do to make sure that your son really achieves the best he can. Take a look... What do we know about boys and their reading?

Boys are less likely to talk about what they are reading so try to find ways to chat informally

about a news story, magazine, book or film...

Boys choose different books to girls and tend to go more for humour, science fiction, action,

even horror!

Boys’ interest in a topic really does seem to make a difference to their understanding so it

really is worth choosing books that match their interests and hobbies.

With these facts in mind, MOTIVATION and ATTENTION-GRABBING CONTENT have to be the top priorities if you want to get your son to read – and stick with it.

Primary Parent Teacher Conferences (Primary PTCs) Please take note that the Primary PTCs will take place on Tuesday (18th October, 2016) and

Wednesday (19th October, 2016). A PTCs appointment letter has been sent out to the youngest or only

child in the family. Do read the information provided carefully before filling in the form.

If you have not sent in your appointment reply slips, please do so as soon as possible.

Making a solar system is not a job for one boy (or girl), so we decided to work in groups.

Working in groups increased our communication skills. It also taught us how to work in a

team towards achieving a common goal. Mars may be far away and hard to reach but we

learnt that when we work together, distance is not a problem!

Teamwork and communication is the key to success.

We welcome our new primary Year 5 prefects! They have been appointed as prefects to be student role

models by carrying out their respective duties in helping to maintain a high level of student discipline.

The new Year 5 Prefects were introduced to the rest of the school and they were presented with their ties by Head of

Primary, Miss Lam.

1. Darren Lim Jun Ye (5N)

2. Rithick Kumar (5N)

3. Jaiydan Raj (5T)

4. Nehemiah Thevamagan Raj (5T)

5. Ethan Lee Wai Heem (5E)

6. Takumi Endo (5E)

7. Christopher Julian Lee Yung (5E)

8. Raajeshri Chandrasegaran (5E)

My trip to Sydney

I stayed in Sydney for 9 months from December 2015 to August 2016. In this short essay, I

will discuss about the interesting places I visited when I was there. I will also share my holiday

experiences in Sydney.

There were many interesting and famous places I visited in Sydney. These places include the

Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, the ANZAC bridge, Taronga Zoo, and Symbio Zoo. I saw

fireworks at the Harbour Bridge. The Opera House is very grand and looks like seashells from

the outside. Many tourists come and visit Sydney to see the Opera House. The Taronga Zoo

and Symbio Zoo have a lot of animals. I saw Asian elephants, giraffes, koala bears, wombats,

penguins, seals, tigers, zebras, reptiles, and birds, such as cockatoos and parrots. My

favourite place is the Taronga Zoo and my favourite animal is the penguin.

My first holiday experience was to go for an event called Vivid Sydney. My second holiday

experience was the Blue Mountains which had snow. Vivid Sydney is a light show that is so

fun, so colourful and so exiting. During the event, many building near the city were lit up with

colourful lights. The Opera House was also lit up with lights and designs from aboriginal art

and nature. I took many photos. The Blue Mountains was such a great experience. That was

the first time I played in the snow. It was very cold and I was freezing like an ice block. Both

of my experiences were very fun. I wish I could do it again.

In conclusion, Sydney is an extraordinary place to live in. I wish I could go again!

Student Democracy in Action

Sixth Formers elect their Shadow Cabinet using the conclave balloting

system

On Friday 7th October 2016, the Sixth Formers of Cohort 14 held their elections to name

the so-called “Shadow Cabinet” of the Sixth Form Council. The elections are traditionally

held in the style of the papal conclave where the leaders are chosen by secret ballot

without the fanfare and adversarial nature of an election campaign. There is therefore no

nomination and campaigning for positions as we are a close-knit family of about 65 sixth

formers. Nominations and campaigning would be necessary if we had a larger population

of say a thousand students. In our Tenby Sixth Form, we have learnt to appreciate the

bonds that keep us together without the divisiveness of electioneering.

So how were our leaders elected? Let us begin with the post of president. Each voter (35

of them in Cohort 14) was given a ballot. On it they had to write the name of the person

who in their opinion was best suited to be President-designate of the Sixth Form Council.

The first round of secret voting was inconclusive as no candidate garnered more than 50

per cent of the votes. In this system, the successful candidate has to win more than 50% of

the votes cast. The names of candidates and votes cast for them are announced at the end

of each round so that the voters can realign themselves if they deem it necessary. Round 2

was also inconclusive. The victorious candidate emerged in Round 3 of the ballot.

The voting process in action “Oh dear, we have to vote again!”

“She comes from St Bernadette’s Convent, Batu Gajah. Manpreet Kaur is a worthy choice,”

comments Lim Shu Mei (Cohort 14) who completed her IGCSE at Tenby International

School Ipoh. “She has an endearing spirit and has shown herself to be a truly helpful,

generous and caring person. Yes, I think we have chosen our President-designate wisely

and well.”

The other candidates whose names figured well in the voting for President-Designate were

Muhammad Ridzuan Yahya Mat Som, Stephanie Cheah and Jyrteanna Teo.

The Elections Commission Negotiating: to break a deadlock

(L-R) Stephanie, Manpreet, Ridzuan and Jyrteanna

In like manner, Muhammad Ridzuan Yahya Mat Som was elected Senior Vice President

while Stephanie Cheah and Jyrteanna Teoh were elected Secretary and Treasurer

respectively.For these posts, the voting threshold for election is lower – 30 percent of the

votes.

The administration of the election was competently managed by the SFC Election

Commission led by Caffini Lam and her law classmates.

“The study of the workings of democracy is important for all citizens. We are studying this

issue from various angles,” remarked Caffini who aspires to be a lawyer. “Our sixth form

cocurricular agenda includes Global Perspectives in which electoral reform is a major area

of study.”

Another comment came from sixth former Megan Ong.

“The 50 per cent threshold is something new and interesting to me. It really ensures that

only a person with a strong mandate gets to lead the body concerned. Yes, it is something

worth thinking about for smaller fraternities.”

Compiled by :

The Sixth Form Elections Commission

(Caffini , Veshamen, Zi Sheng, Sonia, Amirul, Megan)( Cohort 14) -

Tenby Si Wu Scholar attends Peninsular Malaysia Pastoral

Convention IV

at Majodi Centre, Johor Bharu

Simon Paul (Front row pic : 1st left)

Simon Paul Julianose, a Si Wu scholar in our Sixth Form, was recently chosen to attend

the Peninsular Malaysia Pastoral Convention (PMPC) IV at the Majodi Centre,Johore

Bharu.

In this interview he tells us about his experiences at this convention.

Q Who were the people at this convention and in what capacity did you attend it?

It was a gathering of 670 delegates from all sections of the Catholic Church in Peninsular

Malaysia. The gathering included bishops, clergy,religious and laity from the three different

dioceses of Peninsular Malaysia – the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur (Selangor, Negeri

Sembilan, Pahang, Terengganu), Diocese of Penang(Penang, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan,

Perlis) and Diocese of Melaka-Johor(Melaka, Johor). I was invited as one of the youth

delegates from Penang Diocese.

Q What was the purpose of this gathering?

It was a meeting of many minds and hearts to chart the future of the Catholic Church in the

Malaysian context. It focused among other things on the social responsibility of the Church

in education,politics, the care of migrant workers and problems facing youth. For me it was

more than a religious experience. The convention has really helped youths like me to get

the larger picture of the world we are living in .It also made made think of my future role in

Malaysia and beyond.

Q Was there any speaker or presenter who had a strong impact on you and your

peers?

Yes, we had a wonderful intellectual and moral experience

listening to Dr Francis Loh, one of Malaysia’s leading

educationists. He gave a paper on “The New Economy,

The New Society and No New Politics Yet”. His paper laid

the ground for new ideas and fresh thinking on how to

break through our stalemates in politics and economics. I

liked his strong faith in a multifaith and multicultural

approach to Malaysia’s future.

Q As a Tenby scholar, how do you think your

participation at the convention helps you as an

ambassador of our school’s vision “ A United World at

Peace –through education”?

The convention really stressed that all religious faiths

should be inclusive and should stress being bridge

builders. It is not enough to hold interfaith forums and talks although these are necessary

steps. What is more important than the dialogue of words is the dialogue of common action

where people of different religious faiths come together for social action.

Interviewed by Mah Xi Sheng (Cohort 14)

Simon with Rt Rev Archbishop Julian

Leow ,Metropolitan Archbishop of

Kuala Lumpur

Memory Walk in conjuction with World Alzheimer’s’ Day organized by Dementia Society of Perak and UniKL Royal College of Medicine Perak (RCMP)

On Sunday, 9th October, about 20 students from Tenby Schools Ipoh joined the Memory Walk to commemorate World Allzheimer's Day. We gathered at the college at 07:00 everyone was excited and we started with the aerobic warm up sessions to begin the morning activities. Half an hour later, the walk began. Participants walked briskly and reached 6.6km within an hour and a half. It was a thoroughly enjoyable walk for everyone involved.

After we finished the walk, we were tired but also happy as it was for a good cause. There was a booth set up for Health Screening and many signed up for it. A lucky draw ensued with many gifts lined up for the lucky winners.

Also commemorating World Alzheimer’s’ Day, we remember all those suffering from this illness. Alzheimer’s is a progressive mental deteriora-tion that can occur in middle or old age, due to degeneration of the brain.

As participants of this event, we are happy to have contributed to the Dementia Society of Perak in their fundraising efforts to help patients suffering from Alzheimer’s.

We wish to thank Mr. Vinodh and Pn. Fazila for accompanying us for thisevent. It was indeed a wonderful Sunday well spent.

Reported by,

Sangeeta and Phitchaya (11T)