Newsletter No. 86 - September 2015

TENBY SCHOOLS IPOH
Newsletter #86 - September 2015
In this issue of the newsletter:
Our IPC Journey in Year 6
Visit to Orphanage “Pertubuhan Badan
Kebajikan Darusalam” for Hari Raya
Celebration
Global Perspectives Debates II 2015
Sixth Form Bi-annual Leadership
Camp
Announcing The Tempest by Cohort
12
From the Campus Principal
Dear Parents and the School Community,
We trust that everyone has settled well into the
routine of school. This week, I met more parents
with two Meet & Greet sessions, one at Meru
Raya campus and another at Tenby Early Years
Centre Ipoh (TEYCI). The turnout for both
sessions was promising and at TEYCI it was
heartening to see nearly 50% attendance from
parents. The purpose of the Meet & Greet session
was to share Tenby’s vision which is “A United
World At Peace – Through Education” and what
the school aims to achieve by ensuring our
students are equipped with different skills that will
enable them to be lifelong learners.
During the Meet & Greet Session, we also
reminded parents that any communication to the
school should go through your son/daughter’s
class/form/homeroom teacher in the first instance
via the Student Planner. Class/Form/Homeroom
Teachers will refer the matter to the relevant
subject teacher (for primary school) or school
leader if necessary. For secondary school,
communication may be directly passed to the
subject teacher. Alternatively, you may pass on
your queries via e-mail to [email protected] or
contact the school secretaries who will then
forward their queries/comments to the teacher.
The school conducted a Fire Drill this morning and
overall it was satisfactory. There were areas that
we need to improve upon such as ensuring
students are quiet and that they take any
evacuation seriously. Health and safety is always
a priority for us and this week we have introduced
luminous yellow jackets for staff who are on duty
so that students are able to know who to see if
they need anything.
Jane Kuok
After nearly 6 weeks of
operations, the new school
Canteen has been running
smoothly and we have seen
healthier food options available
for our students such as salads, fruits etc. This
week the Canteen operator attended a feedback
session with representatives from the PA and the
School Leadership Team. The dialogue was
constructive and we hope to see more
improvements from the Canteen in terms of
variety.
Tenby Schools, Ipoh offers a steadfast educational
journey for young children. Our students have the
great advantage of having a through education
from Early Years through to pre-tertiary (A Levels)
education within one institution. Indeed we expect
all our students to complete their studies with A
Level. As such we would like to remind parents
(especially those with children in Year 11/Form 5)
that a full term’s notice is required for withdrawal
in order not to forfeit their deposit. This is because
we expect all students to enter the Sixth Form for
A Level.
As I write this article our students are preparing to
leave for their Model United Nations Conference
which will be held over 3 days in Fairview
International School in Wangsa Maju, Selangor.
14 of our students are attending this Conference
and they have been preparing for it for the past 3
weeks. We wish them all the best! On the
homefront, our own Debate Club will be
organising the Global Perspective Debates from
18th to 20th September and you will read more
about it further into this newsletter.
Wishing everyone a great weekend ahead. Please
remember that Wednesday is Malaysia Day
(public holiday) next week.
From the Head of International Secondary
Dear TISSI Community,
It has been a really great week in terms of parents
embracing our open-door policy. I have over the
first eight days of school, had the chance to meet
a plethora of parents and guardians who have
called in to discuss issues and clarify either policy
or educational philosophy. There has been some
robust discussion and it is clear that parents are
becoming both more willing to enter into dialogue,
and more proactive in the learning of their own
child / ward. This is simply terrific. In months-past I
have shared with the community our structure in
terms of who best to make initial enquiries
through. Pastoral issues or concerns are best
addressed through the student’s form room tutor,
or failing this through our Key Stage Leaders.
When there are issues pertaining to specific
subjects, in the first instance the initial port of call
should either be the subject specialist teacher, or
the Curriculum Area Leader. As a team of
teachers, I know that my colleagues are only too
happy to meet with parents and proffer their
guidance and support. In keeping with enhancing
greater dialogue between parents and teachers, it
was great to see many TISSI parents take the
opportunity on Wednesday to speak with form
tutors or call in to classes to chat with subject
teachers. I know that we will continue to strive for
increasing the frequency and scope to promote
discussion.
By the time this Newsletter is zipped across the
net later this week, we will have held our first fire
drill of this new academic year. As a young
secondary student many years back, I recall one
Neil Page
of my teachers declaring to the
class “practice makes
permanent, and only perfect
practice makes perfect”. It is with
this in mind that we carry out
such ‘drills’ in order to be in a state readiness
should an actual fire occur. Health and safety
continues to be a key issue right across the
campus. As leader of the Health and Safety
Committee on site, we strive to keep looking at the
campus from all angles to ensure that we
identifying any tangible risks posed to students,
staff, parents and visitors. If in the course of your
time on campus, something piques your attention,
please do convey this to us, and we will seek to
respond..
We have been working with Curriculum Area
Leaders to identify slots for trips so that we can
seek to better bring the curriculum to life. It is our
goal to have trips across all year groups that
bolster and reinforce learning, and where possible
have a cross-curricular theme. If you are a parent
who is involved in business, or is familiar with
venues that may be regarded as a safe and
valuable location to visit, then please do share this
with us.
There are some contributions from colleagues
within the school in this newsletter, and in our
attempts to up the profile and vibrancy of this
weekly to me, I am hoping that there will be more
and more in the coming weeks.
Have a wonderful weekend, and have a brilliant
Malaysia day next Wednesday.
David Key
From the Acting Head of International Primary
This week I would like to pass on some views on:
Learning with the International Primary
Curriculum
We all recognise that it is a necessity for children
to receive a great education. In the challenging
global, interdependent world of the 21st century, it
is more important than ever before. However, it is
also more difficult than ever. In the same way that
far fewer children play football because there are
so many other competing things for them to do, so
it’s far harder to help young children learn in
school when other parts of their lives can seem so
much more attractive, and when so many children
are in homes – professional and non-professional
– where time for parents to be attentive to their
children is at a premium. This is the paradox we
inherit. The need is great and, at the same time,
the opposing forces are more powerful than
they’ve ever been.
Getting a primary curriculum right is more difficult
today than it’s ever been because it has to meet
multiple goals. Of all those goals, the most
essential ones are:
Rigorous learning: This is paying attention to
essential and transformational knowledge, to the
development of key skills, and to the slow, steady
progress towards deep understanding across a
broad range of subjects.
High levels of children’s engagement: We need
to ensure that rigorous learning can win the battle
against superficially more exciting out-of-school
activities so that children enjoy it, stick to it and
come to like learning enough to want to continue
throughout their lives. This must incorporate easy,
accessible opportunities for parents to get
involved in order to encourage and support their
kids.
International, global and
intercultural awareness: So
many of our problems at local
and global level are caused by different groups
not knowing or respecting each other. So many of
the key problems we face today will only be
solved through local and global cooperation. So
many of the opportunities open to our current
generation of children will be in countries and
cultures different from the one in which they are
growing up.
The development of personal dispositions:
Creating opportunities for children to develop
qualities that will help them on their journey
through life as individuals, citizens and partners.
These qualities being adaptability, morality,
respect, resilience, enquiry, cooperation,
communication and thoughtfulness.
Supporting teachers: Providing teachers with
everything they might need to make the
curriculum work to its very best for every single
child.
Supporting schools: Providing all that a school
requires to be confident in delivering good
practice.
A curriculum that thoroughly meets each one of
these priority areas is not an easy trick to pull off.
Feedback from other schools, parents, teachers,
children, inspectors and authorities across the
globe, tells us that – the International Primary
Curriculum – is well on the way to achieving these
goals. This is why we incorporate the IPC into our
school. The IPC will help parents as well as their
children realise that learning can be meaningful,
inspiring and fun.”
From the Head of Sekolah Tenby
Choong Chee Kong
Brainpower? Game On! Competition
Sekolah Tenby organised the inauguaral ‘Brainpower? Game On! Competition’ for
students from KBSR 6 to KBSM 5 and it is hope that this will be an annual event for our
students. The main objectives of having this competition are:
To expose students to how the actual Mighty Minds competition is run so they may be able to take
part with confidence.
To encourage students to read more since the competition is general knowledge based.
To encourage out-of-the-box thinking and creativity in building models based on scientific principles.
To have students spend some time constructively after the exams.
To build on student teamwork and cooperation.
Because the KBSR 6 students were going to sit for their trial exams at the time, it was decided that the
competition be open to KSSR 5 instead this year. By deadline, a total of 14 teams had signed up –
KSSR 5 (3 teams), KBSM 1 (3), KBSM 2 (3), KBSM 3 (1), KBSM 4 (2) and KBSM 5 (2).
The following dates were set for the various rounds of competition:
Round One (08.07.15)
Multiple-choice questions
Round Two (09.07.15)
Model construction and presentation
Round Three (09.07.15)
Buzzer quiz
Round Four/Final round (14.07.15)
Model/prototype invention and presentation
At each round, points were counted and the lower-scoring teams knocked out. The top-scoring three
teams made it to the Final round. The final presentation of the team prototypes was done during the
Tuesday morning Sekolah Tenby assembly with four teachers roped in as judges. Each team had to
build a model of an ecologically-sound invention that would help cool down homes and office buildings
without utilizing unnecessary resources.
The three finalist teams were made up of one KBSM 5 and the two KBSM 4 teams. When the final
scores were tallied, our KBSM 4 team comprising Lean Wern, Kaleswar and Sureinder was judged
champions of the inaugural Brainpower? Game On! competition. The winning team was awarded a
Challenge Trophy, and book vouchers. All three finalist teams received congratulatory certificates.
From the Tenby Early Years Centre, Ipoh (TEYCI)
Puvanes Mahendran
Dear Parents/Guardians,
It has been a busy second week at TEYCI and its lovely to have the buzz back in the
school from having all the children now in. Our Nursery and Reception children have
made a good start to school and are settling well. Parents are now dropping off their
child with less hassle and stress watching them waving good bye without tears.
The teachers and students have come up with special names for their respective classes. We are
pleased to share:
Toddlers
FS1A (Little Dolphins) & FS1B (Little Nemos)
Nursery
FS2A (Little Tulips) & FS2B (Little Daffodils)
Reception
FS3A (Little Da Vinci’s) & FS3B (Little Einstein’s)
Curriculum:
All classes have started their Entry Point to their respective topics in the IPC. They will be exploring the
contents through books, project work, discussions, research and activities ensuring that all areas of the
curriculum is covered. Letters informing parents on the areas of study will be sent out by this week.
Nursery will begin with the theme “All About Me”. The Reception covers on the theme “Plants and
Flowers” and Year 1’s “Brainwave”.
Rewards:
Children are rewarded every week in various ways. Certificates are awarded every week to two children
from each level during whole school assembly. This award is presented for a particularly good piece of
work, exemplary attitude or general good behaviour. Star stickers are also presented by teachers in
class for other various reasons/ accomplishment.
After School Enrichment Class:
Item
Target Group
Foundations of Music
Art and Craft
Mandarin
Nursery, Reception
& Year 1
Day
Time
Monday
13:45hrs – 14:45hrs
Wednesday
13:45hrs – 14:45hrs
Tuesday & Thursday
13:45hrs – 14:45hrs
School Times:
An area for concern is school time. Now that children have settled in well, we would appreciate if they
are in school as scheduled to enable the teachers to start their lessons/activities on time. Coming in
early also gives your child the privilege to have a more one to one session with the teacher to work on
areas of concern.
Day
FS1 (Toddler)
FS2 (Nursery) &
FS3 (Reception)
Year 1
Monday- Thursday
08:30hrs – 12:30hrs
08:00hrs – 13:00hrs
07:45hrs – 13:30hrs
Friday
08:30hrs – 12:00hrs
08:00hrs – 12:30hrs
07:45hrs – 12:30hrs
Parents’ Meet and Greet:
Many thanks to those parents/guardians who made
themselves free and came along to our Meet and
Greet sessions on Thursday 10th September. We do
hope the session was insightful.
Finally, thank you again for your continued support
and please pop in or telephone if you have anything
you would like to talk about.
Have a lovely weekend!!!!!
PH (Naional Day)
Wednesday 16th September, 2015
PH (Hari Raya Haji)
Thursday 24th September, 2015
Sneak a Peek!
The First Markings and Activities of Nursery Children
Welcome to our world of colours!
Look! That is me! Don’t I look pretty or
handsome!
Role play – Pretending to be daddy and mummy!
From the Head of Tenby Early Years Centre, Meru
Samantha Leuty
Hello Parents/Guardians
The beginning of Term 1 marks a big change for children and parents alike, but both the
Reception and Nursery classes are settling really well and enjoying exploring their new
classroom environment. Here are some of the things we did this week!
Little Fish Nursery Class:
Our IPC topic this half term is “All
About Me” and this will span across
the 7 areas of learning within the
Early Years Foundation Stage.
Here are some of the activities they
learned through.
Busy Bees and Dragonfly Reception
Classes:
The reception classes are learning about
“Plants and Flowers” this half term. For
our entry point we planted seeds in
individually designed and painted pots.
We also started working on number recognition and made some lovely
number worms for our garden.
We started Read, Write Inc this week and have learned for sounds for m,
a, s, d and t. Here we are practicing!
Dates for your Diary:
Parent Workshop: “Supporting Your Child’s Phonics and Reading” –
coming soon!
Reminders:
•
Sun hats please! Without hats we cannot go to our gardening plot
•
Please return home/school communication books
everyday.
Request:
We would like to make “phonic pots” to support children’s phonics. We are looking for donations of small
toys/items for this. We thank you in advance.
OUR IPC JOURNEY IN YEAR 6
Year 6 will be undertaking seven exciting International Primary Curriculum (IPC) topics within the
academic year. The following is a summary of what our students will be learning.
By finding out
more about how
we learn, and how
we can improve
our learning, we
will be better
equipped for
meeting the many
challenges ahead
of us.
Your body is like
an engine that
never stops
working. By
knowing how the
body works we
can learn to look
after it better and
stay healthy. Do
you know how to
look after your
teeth, heart,
bones and
muscles? Let’s
find out.
What holds an
empire together?
Perhaps it is faith.
Perhaps it is
dependency. Or
perhaps it is
leadership. These
bonds help to
make empires
strong. But the
bigger they
become, the more
difficult they are to
hold together…
These days we
have lots of
science
knowledge at our
fingertips. The
science
knowledge in
books and
websites is what
other scientists
have discovered
in the past. To
discover new
things ourselves
we need to be
able to ‘do’
science not just
‘know’ about it.
Every single living
species is
uniquely adapted
to its life on Earth,
and that includes
us, humans.
Living things exist
in an amazing
variety of forms.
Why is there so
much variety and
how do scientists
sort, identify and
classify the 1.7
million species
living today?
One day, you
should have the
right to vote – to
decide who will
lead your country.
What will you do
with your vote?
Which party or
leader would you
choose? What
issues would get
your attention?
Politics is about
taking an active
role and interest
in the future, to
improve our lives
and those of
others.
Is this
neighbourhood a
good place to live
– what do you
think? Have you
ever wondered
why people in the
past chose to live
here? Together,
we are going to
find out about the
places where
people live. We’ll
be looking at
different countries
as well as
different times in
history and
different societies.
News from……
TENBY SCHOOLS IPOH INTERACT CLUB
SERVICE ABOVE SELF
VISIT TO ORPHANAGE “PERTUBUHAN BADAN KEBAJIKAN DARUSALAM”
FOR HARI RAYA CELEBRATION
The Interact Club of Tenby Schools Ipoh had the opportunity to visit some 35 orphans at the above
premise on Wednesday 15.07.15 which was the last day of the term. To raise funds for this charity,
members of the club organised games, which were paid for by students, during break times, sold
doughnuts, bookmarks, button badges and contributions from teachers and parents. The total sum
collected was RM1,654.00. On Monday 13.07.15, the Board and Teacher Advisors were off to Mydin Mall
to purchase essentials for children of the home.
On that Wednesday, some 20 members of the club travelled in our school bus and our Teachers’
cars to our destination. Reaching there, we were welcomed by the caretakers of the home headed by
Encik Mohd Basri. Interactors mingled with the children and being conservative, the girls and boys
stayed with their respective gender. The children of the home were considerably shy and needed
prompting to mix with us. However, they got over it after some time and played games in their groups
organised by fellow Interactors.
The Head caretaker of the home, explained
to us the timeline since the home was established
and how the children got absorbed in. We then
handed the rice bags, cooking oil, biscuits,
beverages and some cooking utensils for the home
which were well received. The children were then
requested to queue up to receive their Hari Raya
monetary gift of RM10.00 each. Parents of
Nuraizah Chai, our fellow Interactor, also shared
out some monetary gift packets with the children as
well. Indeed the beaming smile on the children’s
faces was a sight to behold. We left the home circa
17:00 hrs knowing we touched the hearts of these
children as they celebrate a new year of Syawal on
a positive note.
Nevertheless a feeling of thankfulness for
having a home to go to and parents to greet us left
a worthy smile on our faces and a reminder to
always count our blessings and never take life for
granted.
Reported by,
Deborah (KBSM 2A), Secretary
Mohd Iqbal (KBSM 4), Sargeant-at-Arms
WHAT’S GOING ON AT SIXTH FORM
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES DEBATES II/2015
On 18.09.15 and 19.09.15 and Tenby Schools Ipoh will serve once again as the crucible where Perak’s
best school debaters in English will experience the fine art of debating in the British Parliamentary
tradition. More than ten schools have entered their teams to participate in this fiesta of words and which
has become Tenby Ipoh’s biannual tradition.
Global Perspectives II/2015 is organised by the Tenby Sixth Form Council under the patronage of Tenby
Schools Ipoh. It is held with the following objectives in mind:
(a)
To promote a greater awareness of global issues of wide concern to humanity.
(b)
To encourage reading and discussion of issues of global concern to mankind.
(c)
To encourage a spirit of voluntarism and civic action for the creation of a better world.
(d)
To foster a personal commitment towards collaborative action for the creation of a better world.
(e)
To foster the growth of ideas for better global governance and global citizenship amongst our
students.
Among the schools which have confirmed their participation are:
1.
Tenby International School, Ipoh
6.
SMK Gunung Rapat,Ipoh
2.
SM Tenby, Ipoh
7.
Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Ipoh
3.
SMK Ave Maria Convent, Ipoh
8.
Poi Lam Private School, Ipoh
4.
The Malay College, Kuala Kangsar
9.
SMK Seri Keledang, Ipoh
5.
SMK Sam Tet, Ipoh
Also attending as observers are students and teachers from Wesley Methodist School, Ipoh.
Day 1 of the debates will be from 15:00hrs on Friday 18th September till 18:00hrs. Day 2 will commence
at 08:00hrs and is expected to end by 17:30hrs on Saturday 19th September. The debates will be held in
the Tenby Schools’ Auditorium and in the Sixth Form classrooms.
The topics to be debated are the following:
1. “The pen is mightier than the sword”
2. “There should be quotas for women in every sector.”
3. “People today have less regard for decency.”
4. “Social media networks should be more tightly regulated.”
5. “Artists should have maximum freedom in society.”
Parents, students and teachers of the Tenby fraternity are cordially invited to attend the debates. The
debates are also open to all interested members of the public.
The Global Perspectives Debates are organised twice a year by the Sixth Form Council under the
auspices of Tenby Schools Ipoh.
SIXTH FORM BI-ANNUAL LEADERSHIP CAMP, CAMERON HIGHLANDS
Day 1 (28th August 2015)
Do you remember the last time you gave back to
society?
On 28th August 2015, the Cohort 12s visited
Cameron Highlands to not only present charitable
offerings to an orang asli village, but also to
tighten the bonds between our friendships as well
as with our teachers.
By 13:00 hrs., the Multi Purpose Hall (MPH) was
crowded with eager students waiting for the arrival
of the bus. The trip had hardly started and already
the students had an emotional moment. Sadly, a
fellow classmate, Tim, was unable to join us on
the trip. It was supposed to be the last get
together and the students wanted to make it
memorable. At 14:00 hrs, we, the Cohort 12s,
departed to Tanah Rata. We were accompanied
by Ms. Mangales and Miss Kasturi on the bus.
The ride lasted for about an hour. When we
arrived, we saw Mr. Alex waiting for us at the foot
of the hill where Kampung Perghom is located.
We carried the food that we had bought the day
before uphill to Kg. Perghom. It was a tiring
journey with rain pouring heavily midway but the
students never gave in and reached the village.
Our cohort president, Anna Varghese, presented
the items on behalf of our cohort. The children
were extremely timid and hesitant but after a
couple of minutes of social interaction, they
seemed to be less intimidated. Curious at the
sight of the cameras, they surrounded and
pounced onto our photographer. Along with the
children, the students played a game of "Human
Limbo" which involved the player having to bend
backward in order to get pass a line of a certain
height. The younger children were constantly
encouraged and motivated as they started gaining
confidence and interest. That was not all, the
youngsters continued their fun time with other
games such as musical chairs, ‘eagle and
chicken’, and many more. At the end of the day,
words could not express how fun and enjoyable
the time had been.
Upon our arrival at the hostel, Barre IJ Centre,
after a 2 hour trip, feeling exhausted the students
dragged themselves into the rooms they shared
amongst each other. At 19:00 hrs, rice was served
with curry chicken and vegetables. Although the
meal was simple, we still wolfed down every grain
of rice.
Following the dinner was the Leadership training
led by Mr. Louis revolving around the topic 'A
United World At Peace'. Before beginning our
session, we had to play a little game for team
building activity. Some of the students came up
with a game of charades wherein the participants
have to guess what the person is acting. Mr Louis
was the one giving names of significant people
and we had to act them out. Some were relatively
easy, such as Hitler, Bruce Lee, Buddha, etc.,
while others such as Obama and Bill Gates were
quite challenging. After that, students spilt up into
groups to discuss and brainstorm on the topics
given by Mr Louis. By the end of the session, we
had to do a presentation on mahjong paper. There
were many insightful presentations regarding the
different topics that were given.
After the session, we were given free time to walk
around to the shops nearby our hostel that were
about 10 minutes’ walking distance. Upon
discovering Starbucks down the street, many
students decided to chill and have a drink there.
With drinks and companions, time flew by really
fast and the clock soon struck 11, a signal for the
students to head back. Dead tired from a long day
of activities, we scurried into our beds and fell
asleep right away. Awaiting them the next day was
another set of activities.
Day 2 (29th August 2015)
It was six in the morning when our alarms began
to sound. We were all glued to our beds with our
blankets covered right up till our necks but
eventually we had to get out of bed sooner or
later. We headed down only to find the typical
Malaysian breakfast sitting on the table. Nasi
Lemak! We then took a stroll around the
compound out in the chilly weather and we took
lots of pictures as well before heading back inside
for our first session of the day.
We started off our workshop with some simple
icebreaking activities conducted by two students
to get us to mix around with each other and
strengthen our bond. We then proceeded with our
workshop on “Satu Malaysia” where Mr Louis
showed us a video on the speech in Oslo given by
Ambiga Sreenevasan, an inspirational Malaysian
lawyer on the “The Role of Civil Society in a
Democracy”. We split up into groups and talked
about how we could create a better world if we
had the power to do so in the future. Each group
would have to then share their views. After doing
so, we had a short 15 minute tea-break followed
by a preparation session where we were given a
choice to prepare several activities, such as
sketches, on promoting peace or conflict. We also
had to carry out presentations on the Apostles of
Peace, like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, who
brought the people together through peace
instead of war.
Once we were done, lunch was served! It was
about an hour after lunch when we left for the
Sungei Pallas BOH Tea Plantation. When we
arrived, we were all stunned by the amazing sight
that we stood before. It was breathtaking and we
couldn’t resist taking loads of pictures. We also
learnt about how tea was made as we saw the
process being carried out in the factory. After we
were satisfied, we got back on the bus and
headed to a Bee Farm. We spent about half an
hour in the bee farm. Some of us bought
souvenirs from the gift shop for friends, who were
not able to attend, as well as for family members.
When it was time to leave, we all got back on the
bus, exhausted.
We reached Barre IJ Centre at 17:30 hrs and had
our final session with Mr Louis on the UN
Declaration on Human Rights. We began with a
simple game of charades and yet something so
simple could bring so much joy when you’re with
others. We viewed a documentary entitled “The
Hidden Genocide” about the Rohingyas in
Myanmar. We were all shocked and horrified when
we were aware that there were mass murders
going on when we were probably sitting at home
in our couches and lazing around.
We were then given about an hour to freshen up
before heading out for our highlight of the night.
We went to a halal Chinese restaurant for a
steamboat dinner in Brinchang and then we had
an hour to wander about in a local ‘pasar malam’
nearby followed by a stop by a ‘mamak’
restaurant that was about only 10 minutes of
walking distance from Barre IJ Centre. We all felt
that it was very important that we had at least
some time to wander about and hang out because
as one of the students said, “We are so divided
into the arts and science stream that we barely
see each other in school and this little time that we
had has enabled to create a stronger bond
between each and every one of us no matter how
different we are,”. We finally reached back at
about 23:45 hrs and rested till the sun came up.
Day 3 (30th August 2015)
It was our final day on this trip. We had our
breakfast at 07:00 hrs before beginning our
highlight of the day which was jungle trekking. It
was the perfect weather for us to carry out our
jungle trekking activity. Around eight in the
morning, our trekking guides, Mr Ong and Mr
Atan, gave us a short briefing before we began.
They gave us a short introduction to themselves
and asked if anyone of us had health issues or
injuries. Mr Ong warned us of the possibilities of
dangers that we had to look out for ourselves but
along the whole way, Mr Ong prioritized our safety.
It was a great experience for most of us have
never been jungle trekking before. The jungle was
well preserved and unpolluted (unlike our concrete
jungle). The track was pretty challenging as it was
pretty steep and we had to help one another. We
took about two hours (only) for us to trek through
the forest and we all made it out alive.
All of us had an amazing time and even though
there were a couple of us took the wrong track
and ended up being in a mess, we had an
amazing time. We returned to the lodge to clean
ourselves up before heading for our final meal
before hitting the road. On the way back, we
stopped by the Avant Garden to take a few
pictures for last memories and sat down for some
tea.
Finally, we arrived in Ipoh about half past five in
the evening. All in all, I can say that we all had a
great time and really go to know each other more.
From this trip, we learnt how important it was that
we, as a cohort, should get to know one another
and act as a family and always being there for
each other.
On the behalf of Cohort 12, I would like to thank
Ms Mangales, Mr Louis, Miss Kasturi and Mr Alex
Chuah for making this camp a HUGE success and
also giving up their weekends to go on this trip
with us. This camp was really eye opening to most
of us and this camp has pulled off a great start to
our next 18 months.
Written by:
Phoebe Jane (Cohort 12)
We had to carry the food items we donated uphill to the orang asli village.
The children were playing a game of musical chairs.
We were socializing with the kids.
Announcing “The Tempest” by Cohort 12
Our newest Sixth Form class is cohort 12 with 24 students who are now in the throes of rehearsing
Shakespeare’s last play “The Tempest”, a story of usurpation and betrayal ultimately redeemed by justice
and forgiveness.
“It is also a reflection on how colonialism debases its victims,” remarks Sixth Former, Balasubramaniam,
who as the director of the production, faces a huge challenge of making the play relevant to our
Malaysian school audiences.
The class meets every Monday for its weekly rehearsals and hopes to get the production ready by early
October.
“We hope to be able to stage the play for our own school in early October, and, thereafter, we hope to
stage the play at various schools in Ipoh,” says Phoebe Jane, the co-director.
The Shakespearean drama tradition remains strong and vibrant in the Tenby Sixth Form in TISS Ipoh
thanks to the ardent support of Principal Mr. Page and our teachers.
“Our previous plays are on show on YouTube,” declares co-director Shih Liz. “Among them is “As You
Like It” which was staged in 2014 at Malay College, Kuala Kangsar, in conjunction with the National
Schools Drama Festival (North Zone).”
The drama tradition is an indispensable medium through which a high degree of social bonding and
class cohesion is achieved in our Tenby Sixth Form programme.
Balasubramaniam (center), our home grown director for Cohort 12’s “The Tempest”