Volume No: 2004-05/09

Date: 05 November 2004

Dear Parents

As the final days of the longest half-term I can ever remember draw to a close, there are still lots of things happening in the school and a significant amount to report back to you. Let’s take events roughly in chronological order.

FOBISSEA

Mr Davies has already written about the Senior Managers’ Conference he attended. The Heads’ Conference runs back-to-back with it, employing the same speaker but in a different location. I made my first visit to Taipei and found a pleasant and friendly city. The Conference was interesting and the chance to connect with other FOBISSEA heads remains invaluable. The keynote address was on “internationalism” in schools and raised the usual raft of provocative questions. Many of our schools call themselves international schools but what exactly does that mean? Is it simply that our clientele is international in origin? Obviously not, because every national school in any major city has a racial mix. Is it a curriculum issue? If so, how does our espousal of the English National Curriculum fit with this? Is our internationalism based on attitude, ethos and other intangibles? If so, how do we know that we really are international in outlook? And so on. As often with these sessions, there were more questions that answers but they are certainly questions worth asking and they will be explored at KIS on a suitable occasion.

Tambunam Visit.

The visit to Tambunam Children’s Home was a great success and everyone was touched by actually meeting the children we are trying to help. KIS students saw at first hand how little some children have compared to them. The dormitories, in particular, were a real eye-opener.

The bus journey turned out to be less than two hours and no-one was sick! There were stops for drinks and at one of them wild monkeys entertained the children with their antics. An unexpected bonus at another stop was a blooming Rafflesia. It was close to the road and featured on the front page of a Sabah newspaper the following day.

The children at the Children’s Home welcomed our students warmly and performed songs and dances. They were very appreciative of the donations, which included more than 60 pairs of good shoes.

The trip provided a really enjoyable day out and also proved an excellent learning experience for KIS students.

There is a display of pictures from the trip in the Year 5/6 classroom – please visit them and order some if you would like to. I would also like to thank Lily Walker and Mrs Spice for all their hard work in organising both the collection of donations and the outing itself.

Patrick Wenham’s Visit

My thanks to all parents for collecting their children promptly on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Patrick Wenham is an educational consultant based in England and he worked intensively with us for those two days on a number of issues central to teaching and learning. His visit was enormously beneficial and its effect will filter through our practice in school for months to come.

AGM

Thanks also go to all of those of you who were able to attend the AGM. Unlike last year, we had an immediate quorum and I am delighted that our dream of building a school hall is now going to become a reality. Plans of the hall have been posted on the Board of Management noticeboard and you are very welcome to have a look at them. No doubt a disturbed, noisy and interrupted year lies ahead of us but the long term result will be worth it. What we can afford to build at the moment is a shell that we hope gradually to fill. If anyone is in a position to donate any of the “fillings”, like a wooden floor, a stage, curtains, lights, a sound system etc, we would be very pleased to hear from you!

Years 7, 8 and 10 Parent-teacher Meetings

Moving into next week, there are parent-teacher meetings for parents of students in years 7, 8 & 10 on Monday between 3.30 and 6.00 pm. Separate letters have already gone out about this. Please try to attend as this is an excellent opportunity for you to discuss your children’s progress with all of their teachers.

This year we have divided up parents’ evenings so that not all classes are seen simultaneously. Instead, there is a rolling programme throughout the year, often planned to co-incide with key events like mock examinations.  It runs as follows:

Term 1                        Years 7, 8 & 10

Term 2                        Years 9 & 11

Term 3                        Years 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Basketball Match against Seri Insan

Our basketball team has been practising very hard and has a match against Seri Insan after school on Monday. Because of the parent-teacher evening, Mr Leak will not be able to organise this and so it is in the hands of kind parents to arrange transport and supervision of the students. Mrs Curtis has volunteered! Parents of all players need to be aware, however, that sadly there will be no teachers present and no official school transport provided.

House Football

On Tuesday morning of next week the school grounds will be filled with the shouts of excited youngsters as the House Football competition is played out. This is as eagerly awaited as it is contested and I am looking forward to an exciting morning. Any parents who would like to join us are very welcome to do so.

Leave Request Forms

If any of you really have to take children away from school early for the Hari Raya break, please remember to complete the Request for Absence form, which is available in the Office.

Finally, I shall make no connections whatever between the American Elections and the fact that today is Guy Fawkes Day in England … And on that fiery note, I shall wish you a good weekend and a very happy Hari Raya holiday break.

Best wishes,