Touchbase MAr 14.indd - The International School of Penang

Carol Chng
016 440 6887
04 881 2730
Vice
Chairperson
John Bridgwood [email protected]
016 463 5627
04 229 5627
Secretary
Halimaton Balfoorth [email protected]
012 550 5498
04 8851 900
Treasurer
Janice Lee
016 453 6756
04 890 0898
Asst
Secretary
Marion Michalewski [email protected]
017 547 1707
04 885 2528
Asst
Treasurer
Cathy Burrell
012 472 6038
04 881 1160
Ordinary
Parent
Barbara Barnett [email protected]
017 681 6162
04 881 4110
Ordinary
Parent
Anne Loh
012 586 7584
Teacher
Primary
Representatives Secondary
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Mrs Ali Nicholson
Mr Steve Weatherly
We would also like to introduce a new School Coordinator, Mrs Hayati Jackson and a team of volunteers.
School shop opens :
Tue, Thur & Fri
: 7.30am to 8.30am
Mon & Wed
: 2.15pm to 3.15pm
For any comments, you could write to : [email protected]
The International School
of Penang (Uplands)
In this TouchBase:
www.uplands.org
New UPTA Executive Committee 08/09
Exchange Program
FOBISSEA
ISAKL
A FORTNIGHTLY INTERNAL NEWSLETTER
FOR THE UPLANDS SCHOOL COMMUNITY
Chairperson
TOUCHBASE
New UPTA Executive Committee
08/09
March 14th, 2008
FRIDAY TERM 2
St. Christopher’s Science Fair
So what does Uplands have to offer in terms of Science? Well, just
ask the students of St. Christopher’s International School.
The 3rd of March promised to be as exciting a day for us as it did for
them. A small group of Uplands ‘scientists’ eagerly awaited the evening when we would be able to demonstrate our “excellent” skills
to the students of St. Christopher’s at their School’s Science Fair.
Our group consisted of the physicists (Kai Sheng and Linda), the
biologists (May Li and Panit) and also the chemists
(Jasryn, Priya and Sarah S). We met at 5.45 p.m. to
assemble our apparatus and get ourselves ready
for the scientific ordeal that was to come.
It was all good, clean (well, most of it anyway) fun with people of
all ages coming back for seconds, thirds… and even fourths. Time
flew by and all too soon our ordeal was over. Though it was not
easy trying to explain the concepts of biological structures, chemical bonds and electrical charges to young children and adults at the
same time, we’d definitely do it all over again if we could.
As Franklin P. Jones once said, “You can learn many things from children… how much patience you have for instance.”
By Sarah Sulaiman Ch’ng and Jasryn Ng Sui Wei
In our own little classroom, we set up a range of experiments to cover the three main fields of science.
On the biology end, we had a digital microscope
set up to display various prepared slides. Children
eagerly gathered around to watch the microscope
zoom in on all manner of plant and animal cells
with several of them begging Panit and May Li
to let them have a go at this fascinating piece of
equipment.
For chemistry, some structural models were set up
for display (However, they oddly resembled something remotely like
fighter planes at the end) but the main attraction was the fun colour-changing milk experiment (by yours truly) which involved milk,
detergent and coloured dye. Children and adults alike watched in
fascinated contemplation as the beautiful, swirling colours formed
on the surface of the milk. This was also of course the messiest experiment, involving a multitude of coloured dyes, stained fingers…
and a white table (with most of the coloured dyes on it!).
A hair raising experience
Priya takes a break before
new guests arrive
Physics certainly held its own with the Van der Graaff generator,
which proved to be quite a crowd puller. Everybody clustered
round to watch Linda’s hair stand up on end each time she touched
the dome. Kai Sheng and Linda certainly had the crowd transfixed
by the small bolts of electricity produced between the dome and
hammer of the generator. More importantly, a lot of knowledge
was learnt about electrical charges and electrostatic theory.
Getting technical at SCIPS
You are invited to:
THE ANNUAL IB VISUAL ARTS EXAMINATION EXHIBITION & OPENING
Date:
Friday, 26 April 2008 at 3pm
Refreshments: Wine, juice and snacks
Venue:
Front lobby area
All staff, support staff, office staff and parents and friends of the
exhibitors are invited to this brief event which is conveniently
timed immediately after school on Friday so that people do not
need to go home and return to school.
Come along and enjoy an end of week relaxing glass of wine or
juice and light snacks and meet the four students concerned. We
have an especially interesting group of candidates this year.
Each has explored Art in very individual and creative ways.
The exhibition will remain on show from Monday April 28, to
Wednesday April 30 from 8am onwards so that the whole school
and Uplands community will have the opportunity to enjoy it.
By Bruce Sherratt
HOD Visual Arts
PAGE 2
Exchange program with Penang Japanese School
On Friday 22nd February 2008, 25 of Grade 5 and 6 students
from Penang Japanese School (PJS) came to Uplands for the
exchange programme. Some of you might remember that our
students of Japanese had already visited to their school last November and they were able to have a wonderful experience of
various Japanese cultural activities. This time, the same as last
year, we invited them back to Uplands so that they could experience Uplands and its culture. Mrs. Alexis Kerr and I prepared the
programme on the advice of students of the Japanese classes. In
the programme, students from the Yr 5 to the Yr 8 Japanese class
(35 of them) participated in it.
It started at 9:00 AM with the opening ceremony at the foyer. After the
welcoming speech by Mr. Alan Smith,
Mikako Motoyoshi (5W) and Vincent
Chu (7Y), the program moved to an
icebreaker activity. Mr. Peter Westall
started the games by making students
laugh a lot with his humorous funny
Japanese trial. There was also one
more game where the students had to
find out each other’s birthdays.
Having a break in the secondary timetable, the students from both Uplands
and PJS were separated into small
groups/pairs and they went to different places on the campus during break
time.
The students also did a quiz where they
went around to different spots on the
campus, solving the questions written on
the paper. The Yr 8 Japanese students
helped the game as question givers. It
was rather hard for some of the young
students, but they worked very hard to
find out the answers. Many pairs struggled with communication because some questions were written
in Japanese which meant that PJS students had to translate the
meaning to Uplands students.
The last activity was a kind of mural work in which the pair groups
of Uplands and PJS students used their right and left hands and
they did hand printing with paint on the white cotton fabric. It was
organized by Mrs. Carol Marshall with the help of many teachers. Unfortunately there was a lack of time so it became rather
rushed in the end. However, the students enjoyed the collaborative
process and managed to complete the work. Those who finished
the work early, did an interview in both English and Japanese to
exchange personal information which was a very good language
exercise for students. The students in the Japanese class looked
more motivated to communicate in Japanese than the time they
are in Japanese lessons!!
One of the special arrangements this
year was that some parents from PJS
came to see the programme, Mrs.
Akiko Vonlaufen took them around
the school to see what Uplands is like.
In some class rooms, the group was
warmly welcomed by friendly teachers
of Uplands despite an interruption to
their lessons. It was a good opportunity
to introduce our school to the parents
from outside and they greatly appreciated the school tour.
The exchange program ended with a
short closing ceremony. The Uplands
students said goodbye in both Japanese and English and sent off the PJS
students who were packed in to the
mini bus. Many students found that
there were difficulties in understanding but they could in some way communicate with each other. This is the 3rd
time that we have invited PJS to our
school and we hope the programme
will be continued in the coming years.
In the end, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the
teachers and ancillary staff who supported us and made this
event successful.
By Ms. Akiko Nichisato
By Alexis Kerr
PAGE 3
FOBISSEA: Primary Games 27-29 May
The International School of Penang (Uplands) is proud to announce that it will be hosting the
FOBISSEA Primary Games in May 2008
What is FOBISSEA?
FOBISSEA is the Federation of British-style International Schools in South East Asia. It was founded eighteen years ago by
an initial group of 8 schools - including Uplands. There are about 23 member schools (www.fobissea.org). FOBISSEA is
affiliated to COBISEC (Council of British and International Schools (www.cobisec.org).
For many parents, a key part of involvement within FOBISSEA has been the opportunity to become involved with the
FOBISSEA sporting competitions. Due to the different sizes of the schools within FOBISSEA, schools have been allocated
to different groups to enable competition against schools of similar student numbers. Over the years our students
(and many parents as supporters) have traveled to many different countries to represent Uplands in various sports e.g.
athletics, swimming, football, T-ball and basketball. This offers our children a chance to be good ambassadors for our
school, to make friendships with students from other schools in the region and to compete at an appropriate level in
their sporting areas.
FOBISSEA Primary Games (Tuesday, 27 May - Thursday, 29 May)
For the Primary Games, Uplands is in Group D, which includes the smaller schools. We are anticipating this competition
could include up to 400 people:
•
•
•
•
•
Approximately 110 - 120 visiting students
Our own Uplands primary competitors (36 students)
Up to 50 accompanying teachers
Quite a lot of parents!
Officials, judges and volunteers
Teams should consist of 6 boys and 6 girls from each of the Primary Year groups 4, 5 and 6.
Which Schools will be sending teams to the Primary games in Penang?
International School of Penang (Uplands)
ISP
Malaysia
ABC International School Vietnam
ABS
Vietnam
The British School Kathmandu
BSK
Nepal
St John’s International School, Bangkok
STJ
Thailand
GISR
Thailand
Kinabalu International School
KIS
Malaysia
St Stephen’s International Sch. Bangkok
SIS
Thailand
The Regents School Bangkok
RSB
Thailand
Garden International School Rayong
What is the FOBISSEA Primary Games programme for those days?
Monday, 26 May:
Teams arrive in Penang. They will stay at the Equatorial Hotel
near the sporting venues.
Normal School day at Uplands for all Uplands students.
Tuesday, 27 May:
ATHLETICS MEET at USM Athletics Stadium
Officials from the Penang Amateur Athletics Association will assist.
Wednesday, 28 May: TEAM GAMES at USM Front Field
Morning: Football
Officials from the Penang Football Association will assist.
Afternoon: T-Ball
PAGE 4
Thursday, 29 May:
SWIMMING GALA at PISA
Officials from the Penang Amateur Swimming Association will assist.
Friday, 30 May:
Visiting teams depart.
Normal School day at Uplands for all Uplands students.
y, 2008
What about the funding? Who pays?
Each participant pays for their own costs.
In addition, Uplands is seeking to raise
sponsorship and support from the wider
community to reduce overheads and the
costs to the Uplands students participating in the games. The PTA has kindly agreed to help out with various aspects of
the games, especially with sales of food and souvenirs at the games venues, kit for our own team and information for
visiting parents. Mrs. Sue Watts is co-ordinating sponsorship.
If there are parents’ companies who would be willing to sponsor, or place an advertisement, we would love to hear
from you. Please contact [email protected]
What happens in School during the FOBISSEA Primary Games?
Although the games are Primary games, this is very much a whole School event. Although officials from different sporting
organizations will be assisting during the competition, teachers from both Primary and Secondary will be involved during
the three days of competition. School will still be held for this period as detailed below:
As all the Primary teachers will be involved in the games there will be no school for years 1-6 on those three days. It
is hoped that those students who not competing will come along to the competition with their parents to cheer on and
support their friends.
The following programme will be followed for Secondary students (Tuesday - Thursday, 27-29 May):
Year 7 (8am - 1pm)
A specialist programme (subject specific) on examination revision and study techniques in preparation for the internal
Year 7 examinations in early June
Year 8 (8am - 1pm)
A specialist programme “The Winning Habits of International Teenagers: Making it All Add Up!” will be delivered by
Secondary teachers.
Year 9 (8am-3pm, Tuesday and Wednesday; 8am - 1pm Thursday)
“Champions of Enterprise” Programme will be delivered by Secondary teachers and guest speakers from the local business
community.
Year 10
At-home revision programme to prepare for internal school examinations to be held early June.
Year 11 and 13
On Study Leave whilst sitting their IGCSE and IB examinations
Year 12
At-home revision programme to prepare for internal school examinations, in addition to assistance in the FOBISSEA
Primary Games to acquire CAS hours to contribute towards their IB Diploma.
What happens after it is all over?
Uplands is also hosting the FOBISSEA Under 13 Games in mid November and will be rolling out our welcome a second
time for a different group of schools, this time from Brunei, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
How can I help?
If you would like to help out in any way with this exciting event, either in May or November, please contact AlexisKerr@
uplands.org to register your interest.
PAGE 5
ISAKL- Athletics Meet
Feb 22-23
The Primary and Secondary students represented Uplands
in K.L, Feb 22nd-23rd, at an Athletics meet hosted by The
Garden International School. The students performed very
well, coming home with gold, silver, and bronze medals. It
was the first time that our athletes had the opportunity to
demonstrate their skills at a competitive level and coaches
and parents alike were not disappointed.
This Track and Field meet was a wonderful experience and
acted as precursor to the upcoming FOBISSEA games for
the Primary and Under 15 athletes.
I would like to extend my thanks to the other coaches,
Dr. Colin Dickinson, Buby Weggartner and Alexis Kerr for
their wonderful help during the weekend. Thank you to
the parents who made the journey as well and supplied
goodies for both students and teachers.
Congratulations to all the students who participated in the
Athletics meet.
Please find pictures of the students who participated in the
ISAKL track meet at the below link. Note that these pictures
are for web display only. They are too small to print.
http://www.nunuboo.com/portraits/Uplands/ISAKL
Merrill Ross
H.O.D P.E
The Story of ISAKL
It all started on Friday morning. We sat in the bus at 11 o’clock.
After 6 hours in the bus, we finally arrived at our hotel. After
that we got to know our roommates and our room numbers. We
went up to the 16&17 floor. We took a shower and changed
our clothes. Everybody went down to the foyer and went to the
shopping mall. There was a choice of places to eat. Most people ate Burger King. After dinner we all went back to our hotel
and went to bed. Mrs. Kerr read a story called “The Mousehole
Cat”.
Next morning we had to wake up at 5:45 which was for some
of us very difficult. We went down to eat breakfast and saw the
“SCIPS” (St. Christopher’s) Athletics team. We went to the bus
straight after. In the bus we were really nervous but confident
at the same time. We were very excited as well. As we arrived
we stood there, in front of the stadium only staring around. We
found our places, where we had to sit. The first event was 800m
PAGE 6
under 11 girls and Vera came 6th, Helena came 13th. After some
events we sat on the bench and ate our lunch. We got RM10
lunch money to spend on what we wanted.
After we ate lunch, some of us went down to the gate to buy
some ice cream. They are quite refreshing after some of the events.
As we came back, we saw the Malaysian Gymnastics and Badminton Squads. Some of us got autographs from the badminton
teams. Next we went and watched the Secondary do their events.
The last race was the U15 girls’ 1500m race. Lena got an amazing 1st place on her race. We were incredibly glad to have done
so well. Afterwards we went to the bus and went to the service
station to eat dinner. Then we went back to the bus and headed
back to Penang! We only got back at 11:25pm. We were glad to
be back with our families and it was a very memorable trip.
By Buma Patria, Owen Roberts and Vera Muelller , 6K.
Upcoming event -
Environmental Week
Save the world…save the environment…start here.
Joy to the green world, Uplanders.
In the next following weeks, the UES (Uplands Environmental Society) crew will be preparing an event called ‘Environmental Week’
which will be held during the 28th, 29th and 30th April.
As you know promoting environmental awareness and concern within
the School is one of our mottos. However, who said saving the world
can’t be fun?
Here, only in Uplands, we will be providing you all with games and
competitions along with mystery prizes you’ve never expected before.
To support this event you can also accessorize your self with any green
clothing you have. Just a hint for you all, please start collecting plastic
bottles or cans from the drinks you’ve got. You’ll be surprised how the
cans can bring you luck; the more the merrier!
So what are you waiting for? Start collecting and wait for the grand
event of ‘Environmental Week’. There will a lot of new and fun stuff
coming along.
Green Cheers
UES crew
Congratulations Liew Xiang Xiang, 13B for being offered
Drake University’s National Alumni Scholarship Program!
Below is the email from Drake University Iowa dated 7th March 2008
Xiang Xiang,
Hi. My name is Julie Koch and I’m the chair of Drake’s National Alumni Scholarship Program. I
want to personally congratulate you on all of your achievements. We are so impressed by you that
we would like to offer you an Alumni Scholarship covering full tuition, room & board for 4 years at
Drake. We had 350+ applicants and are only able to give 6 Alumni scholarships. You truly stood
out from the pack! Congratulations and I hope to see you on Drake’s campus in the fall!
You will receive additional information about the scholarship from Drake in the coming week. If
there is anything I can do to assist you, please do not hesitate to contact me.
PAGE 7
Golf Training in Thailand for the Uplands Community
- Easter Holidays
Dear Parents,
I am proposing to organise a six day golf training course
for students and parents during the first week of the
Easter holidays Sunday 6th April to Saturday 12th April.
The training centre we intend to use is part of the Bangkok Golf Spa Resort http://www.resort.th.com/ The
trip is open to parents and students alike. Indeed, it is
an ideal opportunity to learn the game of golf with your
children.
1 trip to Future Park
Airport transfers, to and from airport
All use of Bangkok Golf Club and Bangkok Golf Training Centre’s facilities
Prizes and handouts
Please let me know of your interest ASAP by note or
email: [email protected]
Best regards,
Steve Weatherley
I estimate the cost of this trip will be between RM3,200
– RM3,400 depending on final numbers. This I am sure
you will agree is exceptional value for money. It includes the following:
Flights and insurance
5 nights accommodation with breakfast
5 lunch’s
5 dinners
5 days golf tuition with PGA registered/qualified
professionals
Unlimited driving range balls
5 green fees plus caddy fees
1 night time par 3 round including caddies
1 rules of golf quiz night
1 trick show and competition evening
Open House Leaving Sale
Dear Parents,
Please be informed that
invoice for Term 3 will be
posted out by mail on the
4th of April, 2008.
Payment due date is 21st
April and discount is entitled only until the 25th
April.
From Accounts Dept.
We have all kinds of mainly teak and marble
furnitures to sell, all of high quality.
Example: couches, dining table and chairs,
coffee table, leather love seat, carved mirrors,
picture frames, assortment of Balinese masks,
carved teak chests, carved book cases, and a
beautiful traditional carved door and etc.
Our house will be open to Uplands community to view the items from 9am to 6pm on
Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30.
Free coffee and cakes.
Bruce and Nita Sherratt
28 Chiah Phee Cheok
Peal Hill (ground floor)
Tanjung Bungah
Tel: Hp 012 4179614 or 016 4846442
or 04 8998661
email [email protected]
Closing thought.......
“The great gift of the human imagination is that it has no limits or ending.”
Jim Rohn, Motivational speaker
TOUCHBASE - General Information
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•
The International School of Penang
(Uplands)
Jalan Sungai Satu, Batu Feringgi, 11100 Penang, Malaysia.
Tel: 04 881 9777 Fax: 04 881 9778
•
•
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www.uplands.org
•
TouchBase is published every Friday fortnightly during
the school year as a service to the Uplands community.
It is produced by the School, and is meant only for
internal circulation.
TouchBase is distributed to each family by way of
youngest enrolled child of each Uplands family.
All information must be e-mailed (touchbase@uplands.
org) to reach the School by 10am on the Monday prior to
the following week’s publication.
TouchBase encourages every member of the Uplands
community to contribute to the publication. However,
we reserve the right to edit or reject any article or
information.
For advertising enquiries, please contact the School.