Volume No: 2004-05/26

Date: 20 May 2005

It has been good to have two complete weeks in school and to have been able to run a normal routine – always the circumstances in which most is achieved. The next two weeks, however, are part-weeks, with next Monday and the following Monday and Tuesday being holidays. It will be the beginning of June before we have our next full school week and then there is a long interrupted run until the end of term. My advice is to get some rest over the next two weekends as it is going to be pretty hectic from then on!  

Foundation 2

We welcome Ms Cecilia as the new classroom assistant in Foundation 2. Cecilia is waiting to take up a teaching position elsewhere but has agreed to help us out for a few weeks.

FOBISSEA

I wished our FOBISSEA team well yesterday and it was evident that the participants were all very excited about their adventure. They go to Thailand as ambassadors for the school, as well as competitors in the Games, and I am confident that they will not let us down. Their batik outfits look very smart for the formal occasions and I have no doubt that they will give of their best in the sporting events. The Games are intended as a celebration of sport and friendly competition and also provide a great opportunity for our children to meet students from other international schools in the region. We wish them every success. I would also like to extend thanks publicly to all those who have made this trip possible: Mrs Wickham for  taking the initiative to organise it, and Mr Leak, Cikgu Mutang, Ms Fox and Mrs Spice for their help and support in training. Mrs Roosma and Mrs Chang have provided invaluable ground support and special thanks go to the Office for providing back-up service beyond the call of duty. To all of you, our thanks – it wouldn’t have happened without you!

Books, Books, Books!

We are hoping to establish links with Baker Books, an organisation in England that provides top quality books to schools. As a school book club, we hope to be able to buy excellent children’s books at competitive prices. We are in the process of exploring this, so more news will follow …

Bahasa Malaysia , French or Mandarin

Despite newsletter appeals, the number of returns has not significantly increased in the last week. If you have not returned your slip to the office indicating a preference for Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia or French, please do so. If you have lost the return slip the office will happily provide you with another one. Please be clear that returning the form does not commit you to anything – it is simply to give us an idea of people’s preferences and to enable us to see if any curriculum change is both possible and worthwhile.

School Photographs

The annual merriment of the school photographs took place this week – an event that always provokes additional interest in coiffures and sartorial elegance. Despite the heat and the bright sunlight, the task was accomplished with minimum fuss and we await the results with a mixture of dread and eager anticipation.

Contact Details

On a very serious note, I cannot stress enough that parents need to provide the school with up-to-date contact numbers. It really is essential that we are able to contact you at any time, should the need arise. Lost or obsolete hand phones are a regular cause of numbers going out of date, so if you have changed your hand phone number recently, or any other contact details for that matter, please double check and make sure that the office has been notified of the new number.

Enjoy the long weekend,

Best wishes,