TENBY SCHOOLS PENANG E- NEWSLETTER

Issue #40 13th October 2017

Message from Campus Principal

Mr. Iain Sallis

Dear Parents This week we are immensely proud to say we passed our CIS and WASC accreditation visit. This enables us to move to the 12 month self-refection process involving all stakeholders. We believe the CIS and WASC process is the most comprehensive accreditation programme in the world for International Schools. The groups have over 6000 member schools and are professionals in school accreditation and inspection. We have received some huge commendations from the team and although we have not received the full report yet quotes such as “committed staff, good teaching and teaching structures, superb students, excellent use of data to support progress and brilliant administrative teams” added to the positive nature of the visit. As with all schools we have areas to develop however we are pleased to say the accreditor’s opinions matched our self-review and 3 year strategic plan. The principles on school inspection such as CIS and WASC aligns with our philosophy of self-refection, self-improvement to create a student focused sustainable school. The visiting team included Stephen Massiah, Martin Kneath and William Parker, all with many years’ experience of leading schools and inspecting schools. See there profiles below. Thank you to parents and students who supported in the training this week and also attended meetings. The team commented on the commitment of parents and students during the visit. You can visit their websites on http://www.cois.org/ or http://www.acswasc.org/ for more information. AIMS

I was lucky enough to be voted onto the Association of International Malaysian Schools Executive Committee at Alice Smith School in KL this month. This allows me

to be part of a decision making process for schools within the AIMs network across the whole of Malaysia. It also gives us an opportunity to collaborate with other International schools to support improvement. Tenby Collaborations

Heads of Schools from across the Tenby group met for a two day collaboration of all things teaching and learning. Progress, levelling and leadership traits were all on the agenda in Ipoh.

Malaysia Day

We had a glorious celebration of Malaysia Day in September led by National School students and staff. Flags were raised, anthems sung and the agenda included Malaysia’s historic independence from British rule. It was the first time we had gathered as a campus in the new MPH using our new sound system and projectors. The Tenby School Malaysia Day song has had over 18000 hits on You Tube and Facebook. WoW! Deepavali Celebrations

For the first time we will be celebrating Deepavali as a whole campus. The TSPA are donating Deepavali gifts to students and staff. As always food is a big part and pot luck lunches will give parents a chance to get their Indian cooking skills into practice. We are encouraging parents, students and staff to dress up for the event.

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Careers Fair Feedback

Wow what an event. 286 people in attendance receiving information and guidance on their next steps to International Universities. Our guest speakers were fabulous. Many thanks to ASA for their support in this area. Student Council Launch

We launched are new TPLSC on social media last week. 85 students now represent the council. Students have clear guidelines of achievement targets over the year. The Model United Nations style council supports discussion and challenge to ensure students are getting involved and making positive change to our school and their peers. Campus Principal Tours

The old Learning Live tours are now called Campus Principal Tours and take place every week on Thursdays from 8:10am to 9:10am. This is for existing and new parents and involves a tour by the Campus Principal and an opportunity to see the school at work, attend lessons and gain information about our campus when is at its best. The CIS and WASC Team

Stephen (Steve) Massiah joined ACS WASC in July 2017 as an international consultant working with schools throughout Asia. He is based out of Bangkok, Thailand. Steve comes to ACS WASC after successful positions in international schools in Doha, Qatar; Seoul, South Korea; Bangkok, Thailand; and

Hong Kong. Prior to this he was a principal in Toronto, Canada; an adjunct instructor at the Faculty of Education, University of Toronto; and an interim position (secondment) with the Ontario College of Teachers

Dr. William Parker is a School Support & Evaluation Officer. In this role, he supports and visits schools applying for CIS membership and participating in the CIS accreditation process. Bill has over 30 years of professional experience in education in various positions including as a

teacher, principal, curriculum director, Deputy Superintendent and Headmaster in various schools in the United States and overseas. Immediately before joining CIS as an RAO in 2013, he worked at the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) as the Professional Standards Division Manager and also as an Acting

Division Manager of Curriculum, both divisions were within the K - 12 Sector. Bill holds a Ph.D. Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, which he obtained in May 1991, and a Master’s Degree of Education in Social Studies Education (1978). Both degrees were awarded by the University of Illinois, Urbana (United States).

As an International Advisor to CIS, Martin is based in Bangkok and is closely involved with supporting and visiting schools applying for CIS membership and participating in the CIS accreditation process mainly in South East Asia. Martin originates from the South East of England, but spent the early part of his

teaching career working in Berkshire, leading two preparatory schools, the second of which was in East Sussex. Martin was involved in ISI Inspections in the UK as a team member and a Lead for a number of years. The position of Principal of the Regent's International School, Bangkok Thailand, he held for 9 years followed by one year as a Member of the Board, all of which amounting to 25 years in school leadership. During that time, Martin has experienced the full range of governance, proprietary (in the UK and Thailand), company and educational charitable trusts, providing him with a good knowledge of the challenges of governance and leadership. Martin a very sound knowledge of the CIS Accreditation process to which he is fully committed. Martin has advised a number of international schools in Thailand in their quest to open and to develop their programmes.

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SRI TENBY SCHOOLS

SRI TENBY PRIMARY

By S.H. Cheah

Adina Yeoh received a certificate of appreciation for representing Sekolah Rendah Sri Tenby in the Wushu event. She has progressed well since her involvement in Wushu activity.

Scouts

The scout movement of Sri Tenby Schools aims to support our students in their physical, mental and spiritual development in line with the vision and mission of our school.

This is achieved through outdoor activities like games, camps, hikes, cycling and many other beneficial activities. The main objective is to making the activities fun with positive outcome.

Photos show a typical Troop meeting where the members enjoying themselves playing team games which foster team, and competitive spirit. In addition through games the students develop life skills like creative/ critical thinking, problem solving, communication and interpersonal skills.

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SRI TENBY SECONDARY

By Mdm. Thum

PT3 Examination

The examination ended on 12th October. Programmes have been planned for the Form three students which will include educational trips and transition days.

Science Week

There were quizzes, games and science projects during Science Week. The highlight of the week was the Science Competition where seven teams competed for the top three places. Projects were as varied and interesting as they come. Form 1 students presented three projects- ‘Snake bubble, ‘Friction’, and ‘Fire tornado’. The Form 2 teams presented, ‘Hologram’, and ‘Book Light”. The fourth formers’ presentations were on ‘Non-Newtonian Fluid’ and creating Jurassic Park

The judges had a difficult time choosing the winning teams but finally the following teams emerged winners.

In first place and second places were the Form 2 teams which presented ‘Hologram’ and ‘Snake bubble’ respectively and the Form 4 team came in third with ‘Non-Newtonian Fluid’.

Prizes will be given away on Awards Day

A big thank you to judges, and students for making the competition both educational and fun.

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The Form 2 students visited the War Museum and Penang Hill as training in preparation for the PT3 History course work they will have to do in 2019. The visit provided students with valuable experiences in gathering information, through interviews, exploration and observation

On arrival at the War Museum students were briefed by the officer on duty. They were led into the 7-meter underground tunnel. Students had to crawl along the tunnel and climb vertically as high as 30 feet to get out of the tunnel. Some said they felt claustrophobic in the tunnel!

The next place visited was Penang Hill. The ride in the furnicular railway up to the top station was a unique experience. In keeping with the aim of the trip, students collected information on the history of the railway. Students had a field day exploring Penang Hill.

By: Mohd. Hakimi Bin Rosli

History Field Trip to Penang War Museum and Penang Hill

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TENBY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS

TENBY INTERNATIONAL PRIMARY

By Henrietta Jameson

Dear Parents,

What a great first half term we have had. Every morning I am greeted by smiling faces ready to engage in the days learning and as I walk through the building, I see students working together, showing each other respect and actively being involved in lessons. As a whole school we have focused on our Personal Learning Goals Respect and Co-operation this term. In all classrooms I have seen children working together to solve problems, listening to others and sharing their ideas. It is great to see this collaborative approach throughout the school.

All of our new students have settled well into their classes and are following our school routines. Many new friendships have been made and lots of students are trying new CCAs to develop their skills and expand their experiences. This has been a fantastic first half term and I look forward to seeing you all after the weeks holiday, refreshed and ready to learn.

Kind regards,

Ms Etta

Swim meet

Gifts from TSPA

In TIPS we like to record some of our learning using photos so we were delighted to receive 6 cameras from TSPA. They are already being used by the class teachers and children, recording science investigations, maths, roleplay and many other aspects of the curriculum.

Sung Hyun (Y5 & 6), Wye Sern (Y6),Tommy (Y6), Emily Lee (Y6),Sumayyah (Y5), Elin Tan (Y2), Hayley (Y3), Sophia (Y3), Rui Koji (Y4) & Angelique (Y2)

Fantastic first swim meet of the season!

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Star of the week 29th

September 2017

Year 6

Year 3 Year 2 Year 4

Year 5

Year 5 & 6

Wye Sern (Y6)

Congatulations for

achieving his Tennis

Certificate and Award

Ben (Y3)

Congatulations for

achieving his Tennis

Gold Medal

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Science Term 1

Several year groups have been focusing on science based IPC units. Y6 and Y5/6 have been learning all about forces. For their entry point they worked in teams to create something that would protect an egg when dropped from the first floor of Sri Tenby. They had some eggcellent ideas and many managed to prevent the egg from breaking.

Year 3 have been growing plants and creating fantastic observational drawings. Their mini garden centre is being well tended as they learn how to care for their plants.

The children in Early Years have taken inspiration from the story, The Little Red Hen, and have created a great roleplay area. They have been growing wheat, acting out the story and linking all their activities to the story.

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TENBY INTERNATIONAL SECONDARY

KS3 News – By: Rob

Excellent attendance is key to success and all KS3 tutor groups have so far hit the school target of 96% and above. Well done!

A polite reminder to book doctor or dentist appointments after school to ensure maximum learning time is gained. Thank you for your continued support.

Music clubs have been well attended so far, with all students from KS3 and 4 welcome to join for free.

Year 9 students are engaging with year 1-3 students in a supported reading scheme one morning a week to get our ‘Love Literacy’ school initiative off to a flying start!

Thank you to the whole Tenby community for making my first half term an extremely enjoyable and rewarding one. Remember to check out my video on the Tenby Penang YouTube channel! Mr Rob

‘Hot Chocolate Friday’ is back! We reward outstanding student performance at Tenby. With recognition to the Cambridge Learner Attributes the KS3 students nominated for displaying high levels of respect and responsibility are: Shea Lynn Yeoh, Ethan Ze Choong Chua, Ashley Tingzhi Tan, Jian Sheng Chew, Kang Sheng, Maya Mehrotra, Xu Rouxuan and Jaycee Tan. Well done!

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KS4 News – By: David

Hello I am Mr David, I am in my second year with Tenby. I teach History in Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 and this year, I am enjoying my Year 7’s English class. It is a pleasure to introduce myself to those who don’t know me and to those who do, I have taken on the Key Stage 4 Co-ordinator role and would like to talk about a couple of changes and developments we have made this year.

Tutor period

The tutor times have changed from a quick 5 minute check-in, to a 30 minute session (7.55-8.25). This allows our tutors to spend time with the students, know them better and deliver a planned range of activities including Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE).

Schedule for the tutor period:

Monday - Planner review and DEAR ‘Drop everything and Read’. The tutor spends time with each student reviewing any notes from class teachers and whether the student is meeting their homework commitments. It is also a chance to review any communication with home. While the tutor does this, students are asked to ‘drop everything and read’ to promote and encourage literacy through reading which helps across all subject areas. Students can bring in any book to read, or they can read their English texts.

Tuesday and Wednesday – PSHE. Two 25 minute sessions based on the topic of that term. In year 11 students have been thinking about steps and actions that will support them in their studies this year and thinking about their next steps after their iGCSEs with activities including, goal setting, writing a covering letter and creating a CV. Year 10’s have been focusing on Health this term, gaining an awareness of drugs and alcohol and the effects they can have upon the body, alongside enquiries into how drugs are portrayed in the media and used in sport.

Thursday – Newsround and challenge time. In Newsround students present on a topical news story, local, national or international. This is then followed by either a quiz or a thinking challenge, designed to broaden and push student thinking while at the same time introducing an element of healthy competition as winners earn House Points for their team. Ledang lead the way so far for the challenge time in KS4.

Friday – Assembly. Each assembly is linked to our vision and mission in some form from encouraging cultural diversity to promoting the values of democracy, equality and respect. Students also get the opportunity to demonstrate responsibility and effective communication through leading on assemblies.

PSHE

We are in process of reviewing what we have done before, looking at what other schools deliver, whilst thinking hard about the needs our students. Toward the end of next term as we finalise our overview, we will share the outline of the topics we intend to cover with students through KS 3, 4 and 5. At this point we will seek your feedback and input via an online survey.

Settling in Reports

We have had 74 new students join us since the start of this academic year and teachers are completing ‘Settling in reports’ we look forward to sharing these with parents of new students and then having the opportunity to meet new parents on the XXXXX?

Consistency of uniform and appearance

Returning this term we have put a focus on ensuring that we have consistency of uniform and appearance, for many students who were meeting the guidelines they did have not notice a change, for others we have students who may have been asked to address one or more of the following;

• To wear black shoes with no other colour are worn.

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• To wear a tie and do it up neatly to the top button.

• To ensure shirts are tucked in. • That hair is the natural colour. • That longer hair is tied up and fringes are out

of the face. • That make up and/or nail varnish is not worn • That jewellery is not worn, with the exceptions

being a wristwatch, medical alert bracelet (if required), one pair of ear-studs and a religious necklace.

We have noticed the steps the students have made in response and we appreciate the support of parents in

this area. If you do need further guidance or clarification, please do review the Parent and Student Handbook pages 19 and 20.

http://www.tenby.edu.my/penang/downloads Finally from me – the careers conference, what a success!

What a great event with over 300 people in attendance and I know from speaking to students how useful it was, this is just the first of this type of event as we look to support our students in the decisions they and you make together.

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KS5 News – By: Paula

It’s been a busy first half-term and our amazing Year 12’s and 13’s have settled into Sixth Form life with great ease. I would like to give a huge welcome to our new students who have joined us. We are delighted that you chose Tenby Penang Sixth Form.

Ryan Ng is proving to be a popular member of the group. He is also one of our ILMU Scholarship winners. Ryan is studying Art, Maths, Physics and English Literature.

Miho Morita has joined us from Japan and is settling in very well to Sixth Form life. She is studying Business, Computer Science, Economics and Maths

Yufei Zhao has journeyed all the way from China to be part of our family here at Tenby. She is studying Business, Economics, Maths and Chinese

Our Information and Guidance process has sprung into action starting with informal one-to-one interviews with all our Year 11’s. The aim is to engage our students in discussion about their aspirations for the next steps in their career pathway. It is essential that our students are made aware of the learning opportunities on offer and know which choices are the most appropriate and effective for them.

Li Ying has joined us in Year 13 and will complete her final year in June 2018. She is studying Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Maths.

Natasha Ramlee has not had to travel too far as she joined us from the Sri Tenby Penang National School. She is studying Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Maths.

I have the privilege of also introducing Ms Gomathi who is our Year 12 Form Tutor. Our students speak very highly of Ms Gomathi and she is building strong relationships with each student.

Congratulations to Daniel Ashfak who came 11th out of all Malaysia for a National Science Competition. Daniel made it through to the Finals which were held in Kuala Lumpur.

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Date / Day Schools Description

Venue

2nd Oct – 26th Oct

(Mon – Thurs) STSS STSS Year End Examination Classroom

14th Oct (Sat) TISS Penang Netball Open Invitation @ 7am

– 5.30pm

Penang Kompleks

Belia dan Sukan

24th Oct (Tues) STPS Tenbt Zumba kids Halloween Party @

2.30pm – 3.45pm Room 301

26th Oct (Thurs) TISS Meet the Tutors (New Students) @ 4pm

– 5pm School Library

27th Oct (Fri) STSS Graduation Dinner @ 7pm St. Giles Hotel

30th Oct (Mon) STPS Parent Forum @ 8.15am – 9.15am School Library

31st Oct (Tue)

TISS &

STSS Scholarship Roadshow @ 8am – 9am MPH

STSS Parent Forum @ 8.15am – 9.15am School Library

1st Nov (Wed) TIPS Parent Forum @ 8.15am – 9.15am School Library

2nd Nov (Thurs) TISS Parent Forum

***Only for Year 7 – Year 9 parents

@ 8.15am – 9.15am

School Library

3rd Nov (Fri) TISS Parent Forum

***Only for Year 10 – Year 13 parents

@ 8.15am – 9.15am

School Library

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Useful Contacts

Tenby International School: 04 – 892 7703

Sri Tenby Primary School: 04 – 892 7707

Secondary Office: 04 – 892 7717

School Email: penang@tenby.edu.my

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Tenby Schools Penang

2, Lintang Lembah Permai,

11200 Tanjung Bungah. Penang.

www.tenby.edu.my