pegasus international school june 2014 @ seri alamuniworld.edu.my/images/stories/newsletters/pis...

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PEGASUS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL @ SERI ALAM

June 2014

www.pegasus.edu.my

Address:

Tel:

Email:

No. 1, Jalan Tasek, Bandar Seri Alam

81750 Masai, Johor, Malaysia

+607 387 8700

[email protected]

A Message from the Principal

At Pegasus we highly value academic excellence.

Academic achievement is important for the successful

development of young people in society. Students who do well

in school are better able to achieve occupational and

economic success. It allows them to enter competitive career

fields. It also raises self-esteem and increases confidence.

Five steps to academic success

1. Be organized

Keep a diary of tasks to be completed

Ensure you have the right equipment

2. Manage your time

Schedule time for study and leisure

Never leave tasks to the last minute

3. Prioritise

Do the most important tasks first

Make an early start on tasks that will take a

longer time to complete

4. Concentrate

Study where there are few distractions

Make TV and mobiles off limits during study

time

5. Motivate yourself

Link what you’re learning to real life

Share with others what you’re learning

Celebrate your successes

Have a goal – work towards it!

The students below are our high achievers in the recent

Semester One examinations. We congratulate them and wish

them success in their future studies.

Geoff Clark

IN THIS ISSUE

A Message from the Principal

Literacy Activities

Science is Fun

Our Virtues Program in Practice

Pegasus Wildlife


June 2014

Term 3 resumes

Monday 30th June, 2014

Parent Teacher Interviews

Wednesday 2nd July, 2014

iPSLE Exams

July7 – 10 (Orals) 15 – 17 (Written)

Cross Cultural Visit

July 21 - 24

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June 2014

www.pegasus.edu.my

Address:

Tel:

Email:



+607 387 8700

[email protected]


September 2013

Literacy activities

Building a personal Library is one of the joys of life. Keeping

well-loved books on your book shelf is a reminder of many

pleasurable hours spent in another world. Owning a book

means you can read it again and again, or share it with a

friend.

This term students were given an opportunity to purchase

readers from Scholastic. Scholastic offers a wide range of

books at discounted prices. Many students showed interest

and a total of 50 books were purchased. We know the

students will enjoy ownership of their new books.

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Our Library features a regular book display as a means to

exposing students to new books and reminding students of the

books they may have overlooked on the Library shelf.

Students from Secondary 2 to Primary 1 have taken a keen

interest in this activity and volunteered to set up a display of

their choice.

We have benefitted from great ideas from Charmaine (Art and

Craft), Afiqah (Trees and Recycling), Ashrina (Roald Dahl) and

most recently Amirrah (Plants). Amirrah Iman is in Primary 4

and this is her display.

Next term we look forward to displays by Yuei (Sharks) and

Lucas (Insects).

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Many of our Pegasus students are avid readers and constantly

looking for new books to read.

To assist with this, teachers and students have been asked to

recommend a book they really loved reading.

The book is placed on a special shelf with a tag

‘Recommended by …’ and it is then available for loan.

The books recommended by students cover a wide range of

genre including Science fiction, humour, historical fiction,

classics, children’s literature and non-fiction Science.

Charmain Ng, Afiqah Iman and Shola Ayisha are students who

have been churning through the Library shelves and made

some great recommendations.

www.pegasus.edu.my

Address:

Tel:

Email:



+607 387 8700

[email protected]


June 2014

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June 2014

www.pegasus.edu.my

Address:

Tel:

Email:



+607 387 8700

[email protected]

Science is fun

Primary 3 and Primary 4 joined together to study weather and

climate.

They recorded the temperature indoors and outdoors, looked

at cloud cover and learned about humidity. The weather over

several days was recorded.

They constructed a simple wind vane to determine wind

direction. Despite choosing a day with little air movement the

wind vanes proved reliable in observing the direction of the

wind.

The properties of materials (hardness, flexibility, ductility,

density, buoyancy, strength and water resistance) were tested

using a range of activities.

After predicting whether an object would float or sink in water,

the different objects were tested for buoyancy and the results

recorded. The objects were then classified accordingly.

Further tests were carried out to see whether changing the

shape of a material changed its buoyancy and density.

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Secondary 2 have experimented with alternative methods of

heating and cooking food for a more sustainable Earth.

They designed solar cookers using the energy of direct sun

rays to cook bread and eggs. The solar cookers are

inexpensive as they use no fuel and cost nothing to operate.

Solar cookers work on the following principles:

They use reflective materials such as aluminum foil and

mirrors to concentrate heat and light from the sun on a small

cooking area. This makes the energy more concentrated and

increases its heating power.

The black surface inside the cooker assists in turning the sun’s

visible light into heat. The air inside the cooker is insulated to

avoid losing heat and assists in trapping the hot air inside.

After assembling their ovens, the students ran a trial test and

then modified their ovens to become more effective.

Imran, Kar Fung, Gan Xin Rou and Alicia waited patiently in

the hot sun to observe the effectiveness of their design.

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June 2014

www.pegasus.edu.my

Address:

Tel:

Email:



+607 387 8700

[email protected]

Our Virtues Program in Practice

Patience

Everybody knows the saying, ‘Patience is a Virtue’, but it is

often difficult for us to be patient in this busy world, where

instant gratification is preferred.

Primary 1 dramatized this virtue at Assembly. The drama

showed children in class being demanding and wanting the

instant attention of the teacher.

The simulation demonstrated that learning to wait and being

patient is the better option as it makes everyone happy and

everyone eventually gets a turn to speak with the teacher.

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Caring

Pegasus students are well known for their care and kindness

to each other.

The birthdays of all our students are displayed in the Library

and at Assembly we celebrate the birthdays of the week with

song and a small gift. Our students frequently go the extra

mile as Aashika did this month, when her friend Afiqah had a

birthday. She provided a delicious cake for all their friends to

enjoy.

Having a caring nature is a powerful tool which will change

our world if used frequently.

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Diligence

Sometimes our students use the simplest of tasks to

demonstrate great skill.

Narihiro Okada has learnt about the different ways organisms

have adapted their body parts to obtain oxygen. Fish take in

oxygen that is in the water. Water containing oxygen enters

through the mouth and washes over the gills. The gills are

under the gill covers.

Narihiro dissected a fish to find the delicate gills that fan out to

provide a large surface area for taking in oxygen. He located

other body parts including the eye lens, heart and swim

bladder. Being a skilled Japanese student, Narihiro then

proudly proceeded to cut a perfect sashimi from the remaining

fish.

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June 2014

www.pegasus.edu.my

Address:

Tel:

Email:



+607 387 8700

[email protected]

Pegasus Wildlife

Malaysia is now the proud home to 2 giant pandas, Fu Wa and

Feng Yi, who recently arrived on loan from China, to mark 40

years of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and China.

To celebrate their arrival in our country, Panda-monium has

broken out at Pegasus with classes researching Panda Facts.

One unusual fact discovered by a student is that the mother

Panda is 900 times bigger than her cub at birth. A baby Panda

is the size of a croissant and the mother holds it in her paw and

presses it against her chest to keep it warm and safe.

A Panda art competition was held and Yuei Matsuda and

Aashika Binti Amber are now the proud owners of these

adorable cuddly bears donated by Mr. Clark.

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Recent finds at Pegasus have included beautiful giant Tropical

Swallowtail Moths (Lyssa Zampa), commonly known as the

Laos brown butterfly, and also a variety of reptile species.

This Malaysian Box Turtle was also discovered in our school

compound. The Malaysian Box Turtle has been listed by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature as vulnerable to

extinct. They are rarely observed in the wild compared to 5 – 10

years ago.

The species is in peril due to over exploitation for meat and use

in traditional Chinese medicine.

An interesting fact about these turtles is that when they become

frightened they retract their head, tail and limbs totally into their

shell and clamp it shut. They wait in this position until the

perceived threat is gone.

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Nursery / Kindergarten have been studying the ocean zones:

sunlight zone, twilight zone, midnight zone and the abyss.

These names represent the amount of sunlight that passes

through the ocean.

The children researched the kinds of creatures that live in each

zone and their artwork illustrates the colours of each zone.

They also learned about whales, jellyfish, starfish and squid –

their habitats, diets, ways of communicating and the different

species. The class prepared a display of different sea creatures.

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June 2014

www.pegasus.edu.my

Address:

Tel:

Email:



+607 387 8700

[email protected]

Excursions

The Infant and Primary school visited Tanjong Balau Beach at

Desaru. Despite the weather beginning on an ominous note,

the clouds parted and the students basked in glorious sunshine

for the duration of their stay.

They frolicked in the soft sands of the beach. It was a multi

sensory experience. For many students it was their first visit to

a Malaysian beach. Some students walked about and collected

sea shells whilst others could not resist getting into the water.

After morning tea, they kicked a beach ball and busied

themselves with the patient task of building sandcastles. The

budding architects carved up ramparts and towers all over the

beach and by the time they were done Tanjong Balau Beach

looked a little like historic A Formosa.

After lunch the students did the school proud by doing their part

in cleaning up the beach. This was followed by a visit to the

Tanjong Balau Fishermen Museum. Although it was closed, the

students caught a glimpse of the external exhibits, such as

traditional fishing boats, and a little history of the life of

fishermen in days gone by.

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Secondary 1 and 2 students went inter country for their Science

excursion and visited the Human Body Exhibition at the

Science Centre in Singapore.

The Human Body Exhibition is a larger than life $US1.5 million

Australian designed exhibit that will be in Singapore for 2 years.

Upon entering the mouth, we crawled down the throat to begin

exploring. We played the vocal cords, checked out the giant

lungs and got lost in the labyrinth of eerily lit veins and massive

network of neurons. Each of us battled through harmful

bacteria, explored the brain on a delicately suspended walkway

and squeezed down the soft esophagus.

It was difficult keeping our balance across the floor of the

churning stomach and then it was time to be digested by the

undulating floor of the small and large intestines.

Some comments by students:

Kota: It was exciting. I want to go again.

Rebecca: It was the most fun I’ve had at Pegasus.

Yee Hon: I learnt things I could not learn at school.

Shola: It was something I’ve never experienced before.

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June 2014

www.pegasus.edu.my

Address:

Tel:

Email:



+607 387 8700

[email protected]

Around the school

Every Monday lunchtime this term our Library has been a

noisy buzz of shared reading aloud with Buddy Reading. It has

been a time of friendship, caring and learning together.

An average 86% participation in this voluntary activity was

recorded. Congratulations to every student who read!

It has been pleasing to note the value that our students are

placing on their need to read, speak and understand English.

Some students also shared readings at other times during the

week.

Reading stimulates the brain, reduces stress, provides

knowledge, expands vocabulary, improves memory, promotes

analytical thinking skills, improves focus and concentration

and above all is great entertainment. Have you read a book

today?

Cultural Day

It is important for each of us to understand and retain the

language, food, clothing and other traditions of the culture into

which we were born. The last day of term was a cultural day

for our infant school. Many students enjoyed wearing their

Japanese and other traditional clothing.

The craft for the day included making beautiful cherry blossom

trees and fans. They also prepared and ate sushi and other

delicious foods sent in from home.

When it was Nap time for the younger children, Primary I

challenged themselves by solving brain teaser puzzles.

Secondary social

Secondary 2 students planned and organized our first student

social at Pegasus. The social theme was ‘Disco and Party’

and everyone wore casual clothes with the money raised

being set aside for charity.

It was a fun activity for Primary 3 to Secondary 2 students and

everyone absolutely enjoyed themselves. Games such as

Spin-a-Dare, Musical Chairs, Hot Potato and many others

were played. They also danced to songs including the Chicken

Dance and “In the Dark” by DEV.

Some students won prizes for winning competitions and for

the best themed dances.

We congratulate Afiqah, Aashika and Ashrina for all their work

to make this a happy end of term celebration for their peers.

pegasus international school june 2014 @ seri alamuniworld.edu.my/images/stories/newsletters/pis...

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