Newsletter # Issue 2

Contact us: General Line: +604892 777 Primary Office: (TIPS)+604 892 7703 (STPS): +604 892 7707 Secondary Office: +604 892 7717 Fax: +604 899 8826

Date: 28th September 2015

Tenby Schools Penang

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From the Campus Principal

Council of International Schools (CIS) Membership

I have great pleasure in advising the Tenby Penang community that we have been successful in our application for Council of International Schools membership. Our application and success also includes Sri Tenby National School.

CIS is a leading international accreditation agency that has representation globally. Consideration for membership incorporates not just teaching and learning but a range of 32 standards from the areas of;

School Guiding Statements

Teaching and Learning

Governance and Leadership

Faculty and Support Staff

Access to Teaching and Learning

School Culture and Partnerships for Learning

Our success is testament to the overall high standards that we meet daily in all areas of our operations, whether they be academic, administration or operationally.

There has been a great deal of work and time put into our application and thanks is extended not only to the Heads of Schools, but most importantly to all members of staff, the students and parents who continue to demonstrate great support for our continued development and growth. We have very powerful statements of Vision, Mission and Core Values, and it is very clear to me, and to CIS that we have all embraced them and live them every day.

We are, in every sense of the philosophy, "ALIGNED, FOCUSED and SUPPORTED".

We now have access to global expertise which we will use for the betterment of our students' learning and our teachers' growth. We now have greater opportunity to share with, and learn from, global leaders in pedagogy and classroom practice. We now have greater opportunity to provide for our teachers, National and International, access to professional learning that might otherwise be not accessible. We now have greater opportunity to provide for our graduate students ready and immediate on-line access to post-secondary career and university advice. We now have compliance with a set of standards that identify us as a world-standard and high quality educational institution that favorably compares with the best in the world.

We are determined to continue our development as targeted by our community-driven School Development Plan.

I look forward with great enthusiasm to our future.

Gregory C Mowday

Campus Principal

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Weekly Information

EVERY DAY MAY NOT BE GOOD

BUT

THERE IS SOMETHING GOOD IN EVERY DAY

This Week – 28th September 2015 – 2nd October 2015 (Monday - Friday) Monday, 28th September 2015

SEC TISS & STSS 8.00am-8.40am—Assembly in Basketball court.

STSS Science Week

Tuesday, 29th September 2015

SEC STSS Science Week

Wednesday, 30th September 2015

SEC

STSS Science Week

TISS 4.15pm - Basketball for boys in Basketball Court & Girl in Sports Hall, Y7-11

TISS 3.30pm-5.45pm—PSAC League Game Friendly Netball match at POWIIS, Y9-10

Thursday, 1st October 2015

SEC

STSS Science Week

TISS 3.00pm-4.45pm—Cricket CCA at Penang Free School, Y7-11

TISS 3.00pm-6.00pm—Jump Street, CCA Activity at Bayan Lepas, Y7-11

TISS 6.00pm —New Academic Year Evening Y10-13

Friday, 2nd October 2015

SEC STSS 8.00am-8.20am—Assembly in Basketball court

STSS 8.00am-8.40am Science Day Competition finals and Prize Giving at Basketball court, F1-5

Upcoming Events

PRI TIPS 5th October U9s Football Tournament , Friday 9th October U10 & U11s Boys & Girls Football Tournament

TIPS Wednesday 7th October Parent Consultation Meetings 2.45pm-6.30pm

SEC

STSS 9th October 2015— Form 5 Graduation Dinner at Eastin Hotel, Penang.

STSS 12th -15th October 2015—PT3 Exam, Form 3

TISS 12th -16th Oct 2015 Half Term Holiday-School closed. During the holiday, 30 students will be attending a basketball camp at the Basketball Court from 8.30am-5.30pm, Y7-11. Event Organiser: Mr Adrian & Coach Tan.

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From The Head of STPS

I am proud to announce that our school is now a member of CIS. Both Sri Tenby Primary and Sri Tenby Secondary played an equally important role to gain CIS membership. I would like to congratulate everyone in our school community – parents, students, teacher and staff for their hard work and commitment during our preparation for the CIS membership audit. This audit is a great opportunity to reflect on our strengths and weaknesses which will allow the school to keep improving and grow in all areas.

Who is most important in schools? There will be many answers to this question depending on who is responding. In my opinion, the students are the most important. They are the seed that are planted to nurture into trees. They are the empty pallet from which a painting is produced. They are the minds that step into school for teachers to fill. We might have prepared brick and mortar, facilities and teaching pedagogies around them, but our role would be nothing if there are no students. Thus we adults in the community play a vital role to ensure the children under our care grow into well adjusted, considerate and caring adults. After all there is a Chinese saying “ It takes a village to raise a child “

This year Awards Day will be on the Thursday, 1st October 2015 at the basketball court of Tenby Schools Penang, time 8.30am—12 noon. Students from Tahun 4, 5 and 6 are invited to attend the ceremony. All prize winners and their parents are invited to attend as well. It is the time to celebrate the successes and academic achievement of our students.

Kind Regards

Cheah Sin Hock

Head of STPS

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Key Dates for

October

Thursday

1st October

- Awards Day 2015

Venue: Basketball Court

Time: 8.30am—12.00pm

Congratulations to all the winners of the recent Chinese Writing Competition. Here are the proud winners with their certificates. They clearly show that ethnic background holds no barrier to learning a language.

Chinese Writing Competition

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Tenby English Science and Mathematics Books

In the year 2010 , there was a change in the primary KBSR curriculum - Science and Mathematics were to be taught in Bahasa Malaysia instead of English. Understanding the utmost importance of English proficiency for Science and Mathematics, Mr Cheah Sin Hock, the Headmaster of Sri Tenby Primary had a brain wave. Why not have a series Science and Mathematics books in English for each year level? This would allow students to be proficient in the use of English in the two subjects when they finish standard six .After some discussion with RIC, an Australian publishing company , it was decided to make use of the resources from RIC as a complement to the KBSM curriculum. With approval from the administration, the writing of the books kicked off. The books were produced by two teams, one for Science and the other

for Mathematics. The teams have produced 5 books each. Last week they completed the sixth book in the series. These books will be used jointly for the teaching of Science and Mathematics in all year levels from 2016 in Sri Tenby Primary Schools in Penang, Ipoh and Setia Eco Park.

The process of writing the books was both challenging and interesting. However, it brought teachers from the various Tenby School Campuses together and fostered collaboration of ideas and team spirit.

My heartfelt thanks to all team members for their dedication and hardwork to make this project a success Ready for another Challenge?

Team members at work

The Mathematics Team

The Science Team

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Malaysian Day Celebration

This celebration was held on the 17th September 2015. It was a joint celebration by the Sri Tenby Primary and Secondary School. Thank you to all the teachers and the students for helping to make the celebration a huge success.

The presentations by the students highlighted the meaning of the day and reflected the spirit of Malaysia.

The day’s celebration continued with a colouring competition for students of Tahun 1 -3 and a Quiz for students of Tahun 4 -5.

Part of the audience

Group presentation

Quiz in Progress

Colouring competition

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From The Head of STSS

Dear Parents,

The school makes learning top priority. Many opportunities are open to our students to excel. Motivation talks and workshops help to prepare and boost confidence of students sitting for public examinations especially, the PT3 and SPM examinations.

As I write this, the SPM Workshops are going on. Invited expert teachers help students to reinforce or adopt learning strategies. Student feed back on the workshops are positive, as tips and strategies given by speakers are useful and will certainly spur students on to do well in the examinations.

Science week will be on from 28 September to 2 October.

The aims of the Science Week are to cultivate interest in Science and to strengthen knowledge and concepts of Science. There will be a series of competitions. The competitions will create an opportunity for better exposure to Science applications in daily life. This will greatly help the students in their problem solving ability.

Student groups will have to do research and field studies on the topics they have chosen.

We will keep you informed of the progress of the science competitions as these will be carried out over a few days, culminating in the winners of each category fighting it out for the top three prizes on 2 October.

Best regards.

Thum Lin Chee

(Head of STSS)

Bahasa Malaysia workshop

Really engaged students!

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Key Dates for

September

Key Dates for

September & October

Monday—Friday

28 Sept– 2 October

- Science Week

Friday, 2 October

- Presentation of awards for winners of science

Competition

Friday, 9 October

- Graduation Dinner

Monday—Thursday, 12—15 October

- PT3 Examinations

12—15 October

PT3 Examinations

SPM Workshop

SPM Workshop

F4 & F5

SPM Physics Workshop

SPM English Workshop

Mr. William Parker sitting in for the workshop

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From the Head of TISS

Dear Parents,

It has been a short but very busy week in the International Secondary School. We started off with an excellent student-led assembly on Monday from the National school. Also included were updates on the CCAs, yearbook, trips, events, awards and charity work ideas that are planned for this term.

I`ve visited a lot of lesson in these first 4 weeks and I have to say how impressed I have been with the attitude of the students. They are very focused on their work, there is a positive learning atmosphere and the relationships between the staff and the students are wonderful.

I feel very proud of the efforts of our students and staff during our inspection this week and it is a privilege to work with everyone being extremely enthusiastic, caring and supportive.

Warm regards,

Mr Paul Walton

Head of TISS

paul.walton@tenby.edu.my

Parents follow our secure Twitter @tisspenang

Theme of the Week International Day of Peace - 22nd September 2015

Thinking about how we work with others.

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Key Dates for

October

Thursday

1st October

- The New Academic Year Evening

O ur students have made a fantastic start to the year with lots of students getting involved in many activities inside and outside the classroom.

In our assembly on Monday we had the national school lead the assembly and also had students receive medals presented by Mr Ben. We encourage our students to take on organizing and presenting at school as this can build confidence and they gain vital skills which can help them at school and in the future.

We have been delighted with the quality of the presentations, assemblies and videos our students have created so far. They really have risen to the challenge of student-led activities and we are excited to see what ideas they come up with next.

We always celebrate success here in the International school and we had reason to be very happy with our students as 4 students excelled at a recent karate competition.

Cavan Chong, Bryan Lee, Wen Lynn Lee and Jian Yu Tan were all recognized by the school for their performances in this event.

I look forward to more students getting involved in competitions, clubs and events this term as it’s a great way to build teamwork skills and a also a way to meet new people.

Also announced at the assembly was our charity work which has started with a challenge competition ran by our

students. This week the students have been nominating staff to sing in front of the school. We hope to raise money and continue to build our caring and giving school spirit when it comes to others who are less fortunate than us.

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O ur students have been recording a variety of videos this week. These will soon be uploaded to our YouTube channel. This will enable you to see

how our students learn at school, what they get involved in and to find out more about our school community. We have had 400 views in the first 2 weeks of the channel and everyone has had a chance to see the Introduction trailer created by our sixth form students.

You can go on YouTube and look for our Channel, Tenbyschoolspenang, for fun video content! Don’t forget to subscribe to see our video content.

W e are delighted to invite all parents to our “New Academic Year Evening” on Thursday, October 1st from 6pm. The evening will be packed with student performances, presentations and a celebration of our excellent exam results.

Parents will have the chance to find out more about the direction in which TISS is heading and will also be able to speak to members of staff at the end. It will be a great chance for me to meet more parents, for parents to interact with staff and to also celebrate what we do here in the International Secondary School.

We believe it is a great way to show you what we are very proud of from an academic and pastoral view and also another opportunity for some of our students to perform their music pieces. There will be a selection organized by Mr Nick, including piano and guitar pieces.

We kindly ask that you indicate whether the above time is convenient for you by clicking on the link below and selecting Yes or No.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K5Y9CMC

I am very excited about meeting all of you there and showcasing what I believe makes this school special to our wonderful community.

As always, please feel free to pop into school to see me or send me an email to ask anything. I have now collected 20 images of our school life for the private twitter feed for parents so please request to follow to see regular images of what are students are doing at school. This feed is private and only parents can follow this.

@tisspenang

This week...This week...This week...

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T his week I have asked the sixth form for their views about how the school year has been so far...

After 6 weeks of summer holidays, it feels great to be back in school. We are glad to have the year 11 students from last year joining the sixth form family as year 12. Although it’s the start of the new school term, sixth form has been busy so far. While the younger ones are settling into the new sixth form life, the older students are starting to prepare for their future studies. From looking for the right course to writing personal statements, this is something new for all of us as it is important to select the best course for us. Nevertheless, we get advice from Ms Paula, our sixth form pastoral care who constantly guides us in our university application.

Lastly, for those taking the AS exams in October, I wish you good luck and all the best. :) ~ Han Ming Saw

Sixth formSixth formSixth form

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Starting this school year was bittersweet in many ways- after being in Tenby for years, this year is our last. It was weird to realise that we have less than 10 months left in the school, which also means less than half a year to start making important decisions about our futures. With that in mind, we began our school year, some ecstatic about our AS grades, and some resolving to work harder. That, along with several among us joining team sports, organising activities for the school community as the seniors of the school and just being teenagers on the brink of adulthood has been filling up our school days and keeping us busy and motivated. ~ Rhea Goh

A few weeks in, and the new sixth formers have seamlessly settled into school life. There has been lasting camaraderie between those who have stayed on together from Year 11, yet the Year 12s have been swift in welcoming the new additions to their class. There is a new found independence for the Year 12s, allowing them more time to catch up on work or read ahead before a school day has even ended. The class sizes have also allowed the Year 12s to build more personal connections with their fellow students and teachers, making them more comfortable and confident in the classroom.

~ Sean Choon

Sixth formSixth formSixth form

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From The Head of TIPS

Dear Parents,

This week we are happy to welcome back Ms Darshan from her maternity leave. She will resume her role as Nursery Class Teacher.

We also wish to thank Mrs Singh for the fantastic job she has done over the past few weeks in setting up the Nursery class and ensuring that our youngest children have settled into TIPS so well. They have had a fantastic start to the year and can be seen daily enjoying all areas of their learning.

Next week you will receive a portal message about our Parent Consultation Meetings which will be held on Wednesday 7th October This will be an important meeting to have with your child’s class teacher to discuss how they have settled into their new class and to learn more about how you can support your child with their learning. We look forward to seeing you all at this event.

Regards

Ms Marian

Head of International Primary

Nursery Role Play

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Key Dates for

October

Monday

5th October

- U9s Football Tournament @ Uplands

Wednesday

7th October

- Parents Evening

Y1– Y6 2.45pm-6pm

Friday

9th October

- U10&U11 Boys & Girls Tournament @ Uplands

Monday - Friday

12th - 16th October

Half Term Holiday

November

Monday - Tuesday

9th - 11th November

Public Holiday

December

Friday

4th December

Term 1 Ends 1pm

Recycled Uniform

We have a number of items of school uniform that have been kindly donated to the school from parents whose children have grown out of them or from people who have moved away from Penang. We would now like to recycle this uniform.

We are offering this for parents to buy with a donation of RM 5 or RM 10, depending on the item. All money collected from these sales will be spent on play equipment for children in TIPS. If you would like to see the range of recycled uniform that we have please contact Ms Sharon in the TIPS school office on the first floor of the Primary building.

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IPC

Learning to be a Paleontologist in Year 3

Co-operation

Patience

Precision

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IPC

Children from Year 3 started their new IPC unit Footprints From The Past, with a very exciting Entry Point last week. Working in pairs, as part of their History focus, they researched the role of a Paleontologist, then they collaborated to try their skills with hammers and chisels when trying to excavate ’fossilised’ dinosaurs. They learned that they had to be very careful and show great patience and perseverance when trying to uncover the dinosaur or the item could end up being damaged. Following this exciting opening to the unit the children went on to create a dinosaur timeline including the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. They presented their timelines as a concertina book. Please visit Year 3 to see more of the learning from this fascinating History topic.

Footprints From The Past

Entry Point

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Stars of the week Stars of the week Stars of the week

21st to 25th 21st to 25th 21st to 25th

Sept 2015Sept 2015Sept 2015

Well Done!Well Done!Well Done!

Year 6

Year 3 Year 2

Year 1 Reception

Year 4 Year 5