Volume No: 2002-03/12 

Date: 13 December 2002

Dear Parents

Year 6/7 “Roman Food Day”

On Thursday, Mrs Hamilton’s Year 6/7 History students had a taste of ancient Rome for “Roman Food Day”.  All the children dressed in Roman costumes, the girls wore colourful tunics and shawls and the boys were dressed as Roman soldiers, complete with armour and swords.  They tasted authentic food from ancient Roman days and played games Roman children played.

Garage Sale ... at the end of December

Dr Sanjay will be selling all of his household goods, furniture, bicycles etc at the end of the current month. If you are interested, please contact Dr Sanjay on 016 8359626.

The Young Ambassador Programme

The Young Ambassador Programme is an event organized by the Sabah Tourist Association.  The aim of the programme is to equip young people who intend to travel abroad with knowledge of Sabah and Malaysia so that they can become “ambassadors” for their homeland. Acknowledged authorities in their fields will give eight papers covering all aspects of the “uniqueness of Malaysia” providing the participants with many valuable insights into their own heritage.

This one-day programme will be held on Tuesday 17 December from 8:00 to 17:30 at the Kimanis Ballroom, Hyatt Regency Kinabalu. The cost is RM35 and this includes two tea breaks and lunch. Seminar packs, brochures, stickers and certificates will be given to all participants. To book a place or make further enquiries, please contact the STA Secretariat at 266089 or 260621 or Madam Cecilia Chew at 213668.

Happy holidays

After another long and eventful term everybody deserves a good rest. While you are putting your feet up spare a thought for our Year 11 students who will be revising for their mock examinations at the start of next term. We look forward to seeing everybody returning with renewed energy in the New Year. The school reopens for students on Tuesday, 7 January.

We wish a “Merry Christmas” to all of our families who celebrate this festive occasion.

Farewell Mr V

It is always sad when anybody says good-bye to KIS but it is especially sad when the Principal leaves. Mr Van Rijswijk, better known as “Mr V” will be returning to his native New Zealand at the end of this term.

Mr V joined KIS from the Garden International School in Kuantan in September 1999. His arrival instilled the whole school with a new sense of purpose. In just over three short years under his leadership the school has changed dramatically. The whole curriculum has been reorganised to bring it in line with the UK National Curriculum and the National Curriculum Tests have been introduced. The Secondary department has been extended up to Year 11 so giving our students the opportunity to take their IGCSE’s at KIS. Many of our students now study in the new building constructed during Mr V’s tenure. Obviously the school has many reasons to be grateful to Mr V.

In New Zealand Mr V will be living on his farm, at least for a while. It is hard to imagine a man with as much energy as Mr V settling down to the rural life of a farmer. Still no matter what he decides to do in the future, everybody at KIS wishes Mr V and his family every happiness.