Newsletter
23rd
November 2007
Headlines
For This Week
News
From Principal
-
Security
-
Car
Jacking
-
School
Car Park
News
From Secondary
-
Year 11 – IGCSE: Coursework,
Exams and Preparing For Them
-
The
OBS Experience
-
Year 10 Camp
-
International
Week Cultural Concert
-
Cultural
Kaleidoscope/Face-2-Face
News
From Primary
-
Helping
Your Child with Reading Workshops
-
Literacy
Resource Making Workshop
-
Year
3 Inter-House Competition
Co-Curricular
Activities
-
Year 5 & Year 6
Sports Day
-
GIS U13’s Basketball
Tournament
Parent,
Teachers and Friends of GIS
-
International Culture Show
-
Christmas Bazaar
-
Chinese New Year
-
Parent, Teachers and
Friends Committee Members
NEWS FROM PRINCIPAL
I have had the
opportunity to spend time in the primary this week and seen the wonderful work
going on in the classrooms, the IPC is really making
the classrooms vibrant fun centres of learning. Focusing on the international
side of GIS at secondary level, we presently have a group of students
representing us at the Model United Nations in
SECURITY
Entry
To School
Please be advised
that adults will not be permitted to enter the school without either:
This will support
school security and the safety of our school community.
CAR
JACKING INCIDENT IN OCTOBER
I was informed
this week that there was a carjacking incident on Jalan
Kiara 3 in late October. At around 4.00pm, a mother
had her car stolen with her children still in the vehicle, fortunately due to
the quick intervention of a parent from GIS, the children were able to exit the
car. While the thief was only interested in the car, he did not seem concerned
that there were children still in the vehicle. Although this incident did not
involve students from GIS, it is very disturbing. Please be very aware of the
following:
·
These carjackers are targeting female drivers
·
Generally the thieves will
bump into your car and then wait for you to get out – please
do not exit your car
·
These operators are generally targeting expensive top
of the range vehicles
SCHOOL
CAR PARK
Please be reminded:
Families who
employ drivers to drop and collect students from school, please relay this
information to your drivers.
Simon Mann
Principal
NEWS FROM
SECONDARY
YEAR
11 – IGCSE: COURSEWORK, EXAMS AND PREPARING FOR THEM
Following
on from the points mentioned in last weeks Year 11 evening, I have included
below the important dates for Year 11 students this year. There are 3
more handouts available for students and parents to download entitled – Parents
Revision Guide, Internet Revision Sites and Brain Tips. Use the following link:
http://www.gardenschool.edu.my/download/
YEAR
11 PROGRAMME
|
10 December 07 |
Reports |
|
7 - 23 January
08 |
Mock
Examinations (Exam Leave) |
|
31 January 08 |
Exam Grade
Reports |
|
14 February 08 |
Y11
Parent-Teachers Meeting |
|
15 February 08 |
Examination
Entries Completed |
|
Start of Term 3
3 April 08 |
ICT
Examinations Practical Exams
Art, Drama, Music, PE, IT, Language Orals (Exam Leave) |
|
6 May – 6 June
08 |
IGCSE Written
Exams (Exam Leave, includes the mid-term holiday) |
|
13 June 08 |
Celebration –
“Graduation Ball” |
|
17- 26 June 08 |
Work Experience |
|
27 June 08 |
Awards Evening |
|
Mid August |
Results! |
IGCSE
COURSEWORK DEADLINES
|
30
November 07 |
English
Literature |
|
13
December 07 |
Business
Studies |
|
18
January 08 |
Art
& Design |
|
29
February 08 |
Design
& Technology |
|
5
March 08 |
Music
– compositions |
|
19
March 08 |
Computer
Studies |
IGCSE COURSEWORK
Coursework
and projects which are assessed as part of the IGCSE accreditation are subject
to strict criteria imposed by the examination board.
The
work must be the student’s own unaided work. All sources must be
acknowledged. GIS teachers have been trained in the coursework requirements and
know exactly how much and when help can be given to students.
Please
be aware that any additional help given by private tutors, parents, older
siblings or others may lead to disqualification from the examination. Equally,
disqualification will result from “plagiarism” – copying material from other
students (past or present), websites or books. All sources of material
must be fully acknowledged.
THE EXAMS
It
is the students’ responsibility to know where and when each exam takes place
and to be there on time. Extra time is not given for late arrivals.
Lateness of more than a few minutes can lead to disqualification.
1) No handphones
are allowed in the examination hall – leave them at home.
2) Full school uniform.
3) Examination leave only on the times determined by the
school, full attendance at all other times.
The
first opportunity to experience these challenges will be in January during the
mock exams. Please make sure you are all well prepared.
Head of Secondary
THE
OBS EXPERIENCE
A
total of 135 students accompanied by 10 members of staff attended this year’s
camp at the
K H Mah
Head of Year 9
YEAR 10 CAMP
Wednesday -
October 24th 2007, most of the Year 10 students assembled on the
Astroturf, the excitement of this last camp greeted by the grey, dreary
atmosphere and drizzle. On waiting for the Year 8s to leave, the anticipation
for the last trip we would be having as a year was obvious.
Arriving at the
resort, we were greeted by a troupe of enthusiastic staff who delegated each
group rooms before announcing a ‘meeting’ later on. The rooms were a huge
surprise, with soft, clean beds, showers that released sufficient sprays of hot
water, air conditioning and wonderful working toilets with -gasp- toilet
paper. Lunch was held in the gazebo before everyone assembled in the hall where
we were greeted by our instructors. We were split into 7 groups and given
activities to do but before that there was a short seminar about charisma
before the groups parted for their activities. For some, it was rappelling from
a 10 storey building, something many of the previous Year 10s had gleefully
spread around and for others, it was the much more subtle
raft building.
The next day, many
had a hard time waking up at 6.00am for morning exercises and a surprise 2.6km
jog to the lighthouse before breaking up into our groups for the activities.
Raft building was something like chaos with cries of “More string! More
string!”, “Streamlined! It needs to be ‘aerodynamic’!” and the extremely common
“What’s that doing there?!!?”. We were then called
back for another seminar, this time about careers, before swapping activities.
Problem solving was a challenge for many. Some of them including picking up
small balls while in a line of people held precariously together with extremely
volatile balloons, lifting a bucket from the centre of a circle with only
lengths of rope and the dreaded island crossing. Soon after, there was the raft
race, trying to get all your group’s markers from buoys in the sea with your
‘home made’ rafts. Groups shouted and screamed their group’s number in the race
against each other. Each cry getting increasingly desperate as paddlers fought
to keep their raft from drifting off course. After dinner, every group came
into the hall for the final battle, the ‘musical intelligence quiz’. Each
performance was equally ‘interesting’, from extremely enthusiastic dance
troupes to solemn slow dances.
On the last day,
there was the morning exercise as usual before we met again for the final
seminar. More enthusiastic speakers greeted us with a huge array of different
activities planned, all in the theme of the amazing race. After the activities,
everyone rushed back to their rooms for a shower and to hastily pack their over
stuffed bags for the assembly in the meeting hall. There was a certificate
presentation before we retreated to our buses for the journey back home. The
last camp for many, the memories and good times we got from our adventure will
stay with us forever.
Samantha Siow, 10P
INTERNATIONAL WEEK CULTURAL CONCERT
We are looking for
interested parents to help choreograph a traditional
Thank you!
CULTURAL KALEIDOSCOPE / FACE-2-FACE
PARIS ‘08
This is your last
opportunity to sign up your child for a once in a lifetime experience next
year. We have 2 places left. The total cost for week-long activities during
International Week in KL and a 12 day homestay trip
to
International
Coordinator
NEWS FROM PRIMARY
Reminders for your
diary :
|
Year 5/6 Parents |
27th
November 2007 |
Year 5 & 6
Sports Day |
|
All Parents |
30th
November 2007 |
Literacy
Resource Making Workshop |
Advance Warning
for your diary :
|
Year 5 & 6
Parents |
27th
November 2007 |
Year 5 &
Year 6 Sports Day |
|
EYD Parents |
3rd
– 7th December 2007 |
EYD Christmas
Assemblies |
|
All Parents |
3rd
– 7th December 2007 |
Last Week of CCAs |
|
Year 1 Parents |
7th
December 2007 |
Year 1
Christmas Assembly |
With
just over three weeks of the term remaining,
It
was an absolute joy to watch our youngest children in
the Nursery class (many of whom are still only 3 years old) perform a Deepavali assembly last Friday. Given the age of the
children, and the relatively short time, they had to prepare for the assembly,
it was quite a spectacle. I am quite sure I saw some future stars in the
making! Thank you to the entire Nursery staff for an excellent job, and to all
the parents and friends who came along to watch.
This
week, I had the pleasure of attending the Year 5 camp meeting which was
attended by a large number of parents and some pupils from Year 5. The
residential camp will take place in late January, yet it was extremely encouraging
to see how much time and effort has been spent in ensuring the camp will be a
huge success. The residential camp programme is an
exciting, highly important aspect of the curriculum here at GIS. I do hope that
any parents who have yet to register their children will realize the importance
of the camp, in their child’s development, and sign up before it is too late.
This
week, we will have the Mufti day and I am looking forward to seeing what our
students in Secondary have in store. It is great to see the two sections of GIS
supporting each other and I understand that a huge amount of money will be
raised for charity through this event. Good Luck one and all!
Have
a great week ahead.
Neil Smith
Head of Primary
HELPING
YOUR CHILD WITH READING WORKSHOPS
Many thanks to all the parents who
attended the workshops “Helping your Child with
The
home readers are either selected by teachers or the child. These books are
within the child’s reading ability. The children should be able to read these
books fairly confidently, however, there will be new or unfamiliar words and
decoding these words is very much part of the reading process. In order for
teachers to be able to monitor what is been read at home we need your feedback.
Each child’s communication book should be signed or initialed which lets the
teacher know the book has been read. A short comment is also appreciated to
help us know how the child performed.
Short
comments can be;
Similar
comments can be applied to all primary school children.
Lastly,
many thanks to Ms
LITERACY RESOURCE MAKING WORKSHOP
Thank you to those parents who have volunteered their help with
the workshop. The date, time and venue are as follows:
Friday 30th November
8am-10.30am
Learning Resource centre (Library)
Please bring along a pair of scissors!
If anyone else is interested in helping out to make resources
please email me : boden.j@gardenschool.edu.my . We
look forward to seeing you on Friday.
Primary Literacy Co-ordinator
YEAR
3 INTER-HOUSE COMPETITION
This
term’s Year 3 Interhouse competition is an art and
craft activity. We would like your help in collecting any paper, card, wrapping
paper or material based on the four house colours. If
you have anything that you think might be suitable, please take it to your
child’s Head of House or to Mrs Wellington’s classroom. We need it by Wednesday, 28th November at the latest.
Thank
you.
Mr A. Briggs (Chancellor) LS Room
Mr O. Teg Jeu (Crest) 3/4M
Mr S. Zammit(
Queen) 6I
Mr J. Whittaker (Sultan) KS2 ICT Room
CO-CURRICULAR
ACTIVITIES
YEAR 5 & YEAR 6 SPORTS DAY
The Year 5 and
Year 6 Sports Day will take place on Tuesday, 27th November. Each
child will take part in 9 different activities which will be 3 running
events, 3 jumping events and 3 throwing events.
Sports day is a
house-based competition where every child who participates gets points for each
event for their house. To raise the house profile and keep the maximum participation
ethos, there will be some changes this year. There will be a set of standards
(see school notice board/ classroom notice board) for each event with the
scoring as follows - participation (1 point), bronze (2 points), silver (3
points) and gold (4 points). Students have had the opportunity to practice
all events in lessons and should know at what standard they are competing for
each event. An overall certificate will be awarded to all competitors depending
on points scored – participation (9-13 points), bronze (14-22 points),
silver (23-31 points) and gold (32-36 points). Students will compete in
their classes with the top three (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
receiving a ribbon for each event.
In addition to
every pupil receiving a certificate and the top 3 in each class receiving a
ribbon for each event, there will be a trophy for the top 3 boys and girls
overall (top points scorers) in Year 5 and Year 6. Parents are encouraged to
watch safely from around the field.
To celebrate
achievements, the bronze, silver and gold certificate winners will be announced
and 6 trophies for each year will be awarded in Friday’s morning assembly on 30th
November. Again, we encourage parents to come
and celebrate student’s achievement.
Mr. Dale
Head of Primary PE
GIS U13’s BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Last
weekend, GIS hosted a very successful under 13’s Basketball tournament. Both
the GIS boys’ & girls’ teams played well with the girls eventually
finishing in second place. The boys gave lots of effort but unfortunately and
undeservedly did not win a match despite many very close results. Thank you to
the PTF for supplying the food & drinks. Good luck to the teams as they
head to
PARENT,
TEACHERS AND FRIENDS OF GIS
INTERNATIONAL
CULTURE SHOW
Calling
all Japanese Boys & Girls (All Ages).
If you would like
to learn a traditional Japanese dance to perform at the culture show, please
call Masumi (019 2820966) by 7th
December latest.
CHRISTMAS
BAZAAR
Friday, 7th
December 2008: 9am - 2pm
Just 2 more weeks to the Christmas bazaar. This year, we will be holding a LUCKY RAFFLE DRAW (Tombola)
and we need donations of small raffle prizes – New and Unused items such as
toiletries, sweets and biscuits, toys, trinkets, ornaments etc. These can be
brought to school and left in a specially provided box in the main reception
area – last collection day 5th December. Also don’t forget we need
donations of cakes and pastries for our Christmas Bazaar cake stall. And looking forward to next term.
CHINESE
NEW YEAR
Tuesday, 22nd
January 2008
We are planning a
coffee morning for the Chinese New Year. Anyone interested in contributing,
please call
Helen
Wilson
PTF
communications sub-committee
Parent Teacher &
Friends Committee 2007 / 2008
|
|
Parent's Name |
Contact Number |
Email Address |
|
1 |
Mr (Principal/Chairman) |
03 6209 6888 |
mann.s@gardenschool.edu.my |
|
2 |
Mrs (Vice-Chairman) |
016 395 2507 |
jjfiji2003@yahoo.com |
|
3 |
Mdm (Treasurer) |
016 331 4450 |
|
|
4 |
Mrs (Social/CCA) |
012 227 7688 |
|
|
5 |
Mrs
(Social) |
019 282 0966 |
|
|
6 |
Mrs (Social) |
017 257 1405 |
|
|
7 |
Mrs (Social) |
012 224 0971 |
barbar4cunningham@btinternet.com |
|
8 |
Mrs (Communication) |
012 366 1256 |
|
|
9 |
Mrs
Helen Wilson (Communication) |
012 907 0182 |
helenduxrms@aol.com |
|
10 |
Mrs (Amenities-H&S) |
012 927 2901 |
carolinebitterling@hotmail.com |
|
11 |
Dato’
(Amenities-H&S) |
012 222 7999 |
|
|
12 |
Dato’
(Amenities-Cafeteria) |
012 208 8000 |
skyeoh@ytl.com.my |
|
13 |
Mrs
Fong Su-Ming (Amenities-Cafeteria) |
012 202 4502 |
|
|
14 |
Mr
Steven Yip (Bus) |
012 227 7688 |
stevenklyip@yahoo.com |
|
15 |
Mdm Patricia Low (Bus) |
016 678 9082 |
|
|
16 |
Mrs (Parent
Forum) |