Newsletter

13^th JUNE 2008

Headlines For This Week

News From Principal

-          FOBISSEA Games 

News From Secondary

-          Important Dates

-          Year 11 Work Experience – 16^th June till 27^th June

News From Primary

-          FOBISSEA Games

-          Reorganizing classes for next year

-          All The Best - Mrs Arielle Foss-Ellis

Co-Curricular Activities

-         The 1^st International Schools Taekwondo Championships

Parent, Teacher and Friends Of GIS

-          Thank You To Filipino Parents

-          Diary Dates

-          World Cafe

-          Quiz Nights

-          Parents’ Forum

-          Mum & Tots Group

NEWS FROM PRINCIPAL

I am presently in a sunny and hot Jakarta at the Primary FOBISSEA Games. The opening ceremony was wonderful and our students are excited, full of energy and representing the school wonderfully. By this time next week, we will be able to update you on how well they performed. However, this weekend is about the taking part and I am sure all will benefit from the experience. 

Simon Mann

Principal

NEWS FROM SECONDARY

As we start this last half term of the academic year, I would like to highlight some important dates from the calendar.

· External exams have finished this week as our Year 7 to 10 all start their internal exams.

· Year 11 will start their Work Experience next week after the Graduation Ball this Friday.

· There will be a Secondary Musical Evening on Tuesday, 24^th June at 7.30pm.

· The Year 11 and 13 Awards Evening will be taking place on Friday, 27^thJune; parents will be receiving their invitations for two seats only as room will be tight in the Grand Hall.

· Year 10 Prefects Camp also starts on this day.

· Sports Awards evening will be on Tuesday, 1^stJuly for KS4 and 5.

· We will have our last PTC meeting of the year for Year 10 parents on Monday, 14^th July at 2.45pm in the Grand Hall.

Graham Wilson

Head of Secondary

Year 11 Work Experience – 16^th June till 27^th June

Our Year 11 students, having finished their IGCSE’s, will soon be discovering the importance of qualifications and learning new skills as they undertake a work experience placement. At GIS, we feel that the work experience programme is a valuable learning tool which enables students to develop many important skills. As students have to find and secure their placements themselves, they experience at first hand the whole “job application” process. They are given the opportunity to develop their initiative, to take full self-responsibility, to make choices, to interact in a real working environment with professionals, they discover what it is like to work on a daily basis and whether this chosen job is what they would like to do in the future.

This year sees 143 Year 11 students going off to various placements within wide ranging fields of work. Our students have not confined themselves to staying within Malaysia. We have a number of students going overseas, to Singapore, Indonesia, Turkey, Hong Kong and Thailand. Chosen fields of work include, engineering, architecture, fashion design, photography, sales, medical, IT, advertising, marketing, accounting, law, journalism, veterinary science, teaching, real estate, dentistry, Chinese medicine and acting.

I would like to wish all Year 11 students well for their first encounter with the world of work. I look forward to hearing all about their experiences on the 27^th of June during our post work experience de-briefing session.

I would also like to personally thank all the organizations who have kindly taken on our students for their 2 week placements. If your organization would like to take on our Year 11 students with next year’s programme, then please do let me know.

A reminder to all Year 11 students, you must come into school for a pre work experience briefing session on the 16^th of June at 8am. Please wear smart work type clothes. The sessions will take place in the following classrooms:

11G       502                                          11 I        503

11 S       505                                          11 K       509

11 L       508                                          11 M      507

Ms V Sharma

Careers Advisor

NEWS FROM PRIMARY

First and foremost, good luck to the 36 children and accompanying staff who left for Jakarta and FOBISSEA Games tournament on Wednesday. We look forward to hearing how they got on. For the record, we will be hosting the FOBISSEA Games in 2009 here at GIS.

May I remind parents and guardians that the school is going through a process of reorganizing classes for next year. Sadly, a number of parents have made approaches to the school to have their children in specific classes, or with specific teachers. As mentioned in a newsletter, this puts our staff in an awkward and embarrassing situation. We are proud of the staff at the school and are confident that whichever teacher your child gets, they will receive a good education. We will of course inform you before the end of the term which class your child will be in. 

Finally, I would like to wish Mrs Arielle Foss-Ellis the very best as she takes a temporary leave of absence from the school. Mrs Foss-Ellis, the Head of English as a Second Language, will be absent from the school as she undergoes serious medical treatment. She has worked tirelessly with a large number of children, staff and parents and will be missed in her absence. Her last day at GIS will be on Monday, 16^th June and we hope to see her back fit and healthy at GIS in January 2009. 

Have a good weekend.

Neil Smith

Head of Primary

CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

The 1^st International Schools Taekwondo Championships

Where were you at 7am on 1^st June – the first Sunday of the mid-term break? Many of you were asleep in your beach villas, happily holidaying. Others, particularly older students, were asleep at home, having nightmares about the impending exams. But there was something going on in school.

Two hundred and fifty students scattered across the Sports Hall, Grand Hall and Covered Court were already warming up for the 1^st International Schools Taekwondo Championships. Fifteen schools took part: Garden International School (the hosts), ELC, the International School Kuala Lumpur, Mont’ Kiara International School, the Russian School, Alice Smith, the International Islamic School, Highlands International School, the Korean School, Sekolah Sri Garden, and five local schools were invited so as to foster better local-international school relationships.

The Championships were divided into two categories, namely Poomsae (pattern) and Free Sparring. Poomsae included both team and individual events, judged for uniformity and execution. GIS triumphed and emerged as overall Poomsae winners, with silver medals from both male and female team events and individual events. Sparring was full contact knock-out, which Sri Garden won overall. During the opening ceremony, the GIS demo team treated everyone to a fantastic 30-minute performance, executing incredible flying kicks and breaking wooden planks like twigs which drew ‘ooh’s and ‘ah’s of amazement from the audience.

The Guests of Honour included YBhg Dato’ Siah Kok Chi, Secretary-General of the Olympic Council of Malaysia; Mr Ryu, President of the Korean Sports Council in Malaysia; Master Moi, Malaysian National Taekwondo Team Coach; and Mr Simon Mann, Principal of GIS. Appreciation and gratitude go to the organising committee, sponsors, donors, supporters, referees, participants, Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM), the taekwondo students of GIS, Mr. Andrew Ling & Co. and Master Tan Eng Sin, championship advisor and Chief Instructor of the GIS taekwondo club. Without their support, assistance, cooperation and generous donations, the Championships would not have been possible. Here’s to another successful Championship next year!

Yan Teh, 10G

PARENT, TEACHER AND FRIENDS OF GIS 

Thank-you to our Filipino parents for a lovely coffee morning. Special thanks to the Filipino ambassador’s wife for sharing an enlightening presentation on the various costumes of such a diverse country. Did you know they have 1,071 islands?

Diary Dates

1^st July, Tuesday – World Café, 8.30am-10am

4^th July, Friday – Quiz night, evening

Every Wednesday – mums & tots group, 9.40am -10.55am

World Café

TUESDAY, 1^st July : 8.30am - 10am  

Three elements will be covered in this final World Café. Final feedback on the draft Student Vision will be given with an explanation of what it entails. We’ll get a look at the whole school improvement plan. Time will also be given for parents to raise issues of concern.

Quiz Night      

Friday, 4^th July 08

Work has begun in earnest for this social event. Over the past few years, the night has been thoroughly enjoyed by teachers & parents. More details will be available soon. You’d better start brushing up on your trivia and get a team together in preparation for a great night. Word is out that some of the teachers are already organized with their teams.

Parents’ Forum

Email address is gisptf_forum@gardenschool.edu.my

Mum & Tots Group

This group is for all mums with children under school going age. They meet every Wednesday from 9.40am - 10.55am in the EYD hall. Call Marie on 012-610 3431 or 017-2763524 for any queries or e-mail her at

carolinalubienska.r@gardenschool.edu.my

Karen Ho

PTF communications sub-committee