TOUCHB A S E TOUCHB A S E - The International School Of Penang

Katie MankinKatie Mankin is a teacherof English who graduatedfrom Leeds Universityand has been working inUK schools until gettinga taste for working overseasduring voluntarywork in Kenya. This isher first position in aninternational school.Lilliam CamachoLilliam Camacho arrivesas a teacher of Spanishand French to takeover the Headship ofthe emergent Spanishprogram begun byHelene Domarchi lastyear. Liliam graduatedfrom the University ofCosta Rica and has beenteaching modern foreignlanguages in the UK andHong Kong for severalyears.Neil ElsegoodNeil Elsegood graduatedfrom BirminghamUniversity, UK, and hasbeen teaching Mathematicsin the UK. His lastposition was as Head ofMathematics at a schoolin Hampshire wherehe had the opportunityto put into practiceintervention strategiesthat significantly raisedattainment in GCSE.Neil is keen on outdoorpursuits and outdooreducation.Neil HendersonNeil Henderson, a graduatein Engineering fromPlymouth University,arrives to teach Design &Technology, fresh fromtwo positions in themiddle-east. Neil hasexperience and a keeninterest in youth workand support, and hasworked in his own timeto gain two qualificationsin counseling.Peter TryonPeter Tryon, our newHead of Chemistry,qualified at NewcastleUniversity, UK, and hasbeen working in the UKand in Kazakhstan beforearriving in Penang.Peter has a keen interestin voluntary work and isformally qualified to assessDuke of Edinburghexpeditions.Robin LiaoRobin Liao, Head ofICT and new BoardingHouseparent, qualifiedas a teacher at the Universityof Queenslandand arrives with teachingexperience fromboth Australia and fromChina. Robin has beenteaching both ICT andMandarin within the IBprogram for six years.Ross WhitfieldRoss Whitfeld, our newDeputy Principal (Non-Curriculum) will takeresponsibility for whatwe sometimes call the‘pastoral’ side of theSchool (non-academicstudent concerns) aswell as acting as theSchool Counselor. Rossqualified in Psychologyin Australia, is a registeredPsychologist, andhas been working asSenior Counselor in aschool in Queensland.Sarah GainSarah Gain occupies anew role as Science Coordinatorin the Primarysection and arrives hereafter graduating fromthe University of Surrey,UK, then specializing inmiddle-school sciencewith a masters degreefrom the University ofSussex. She has taughtin the UK, and travelledwidely in Asia, undertakingvoluntary work inThailand, but this is herfirst teaching positionoverseas.Sharlia ShariffudinSharlia Shariffudin,a graduate of USM,Penang, and a Malaysiannational is a new teacherof Bahasa Malaysia.Sharlia is originally fromJohor Baru.Simon PhippSimon Phipp is a graduatein Physics from theUniversity of Oxfordand arrives in Penang toteach Physics and Mathematics.He has travelledwidely in the region, andhas worked at internationalschools within theUK, but this is his firstposition overseas. Simonhas experience of bothA-Level and Diplomaprograms, and has experienceas an Examinerin Physics for two UKexamination boards.Vicky BelwoodVicky Belwood, who trained atLeicester University, UK, is theSchool’s new Head of the LearningSupport Department. Vickihas worked both in the UK, andextensively abroad, includingspells in China, Togo, and themiddle-east.Tony LucianoTony Luciano has a degree inEnvironmental Studies fromBellingham University, Washington,USA and extensive experience insupervising outdoor education experiencesin north America, as well as inyouth counseling. He assumes a nonteachingrole in the School, supervisingand coordinating all our variousoutdoor education experiences , inthe widest sense, including the CASand ECA programs.Harirajan ThuraippahIn addition we welcom Harirajana/l Thuraippah Varatharajan tothe Science Department, as SupportCoordinator for Biology andChemistry. Hari has a degree inbiochemistry and his expertiseis already making a differenceto our delivery of experimentalassessments in the faculty.Page 3

LeaversWe have also to announce some recent leavers. Our part-time teacher of Malay Language, Mrs Basariah Binti Naina Mohamad, hasdecided to leave the School after four years helping our students to master the local language, our sincere thanks go to Basariah for allshe has done. Bram Tan, our Publicity and Events Manager for the last three years is moving to Paris, France where his wife has recentlybeen transferred after working for the British Council in Penang. Bram declares that, as soon as he has his work visa sorted, he is going toestablish a Laksa Penang stall and show the French the real meaning of haute cuisine. The School wishes Bram and his family all the bestfor their time in France.Examinations 2010I count myself as a liberal educationalist who, as a reasonable statistician, tries never to place undue reliance on numbers. Nevertheless,there is no denying the fact that examination success is one of the factors deemed most important when assessing a secondary school,and I am therefore very pleased to announce that the 2010 IGCSE results were excellent. The School seems to have adopted an upward,if slightly wobbly, trend since 2003 and, as you can see in the statistic illustrated below (the % of total grades of B or above), the last fouryears have seen the three highest scores of the last twelve years, a great achievement by the students and teachers.I have spoken before about the importance of the IGCSE examinations, but it bears repeating! At the time of university application formost Uplands students, these are the only qualifications they have in hand and, consequently, university admissions tutors will placesome considerable importance on their quality. Standing instructions at many universities are to place about equal weight on theachieved GCSE results and IB/A-Level predictions, with the face-to-face interview being the deciding factor for destinations such asOxbridge or courses such as Medicine. What university tutors want to see from the GCSE results is a minimum number of 7 or 8 subjectswith a grade average as high as possible, with B and above being the areas where good universities start to take notice. The very competitiveuniversities will almost always require a clean sweep of grades of A* or A. (See Pg 8)There is one additional factor that favours many international, and a growing number of private UK schools, which is that the CambridgeIGCSE almost invariably commands a higher level of respect than the local UK examination boards, because the Cambridge IGCSE hasbeen allowed to stay closer to the traditional UK “gold standard” of O-Level than have the local examinations. The two systems (IGCSEversus GCSE) are sometimes very different in their content, something that does cause some confusion for parents when trying to followthe various educational debates around the world. For example, parents occasionally send me references pointing to newspaper articlesdeclaring “GCSE too easy!” when what is being referred to is not the IGCSE taken by our students, but the local UK GCSE’s, which aresometimes very different creatures. The same considerations apply to our A-level courses: the CIE International A-Level GCE is not thesame entity as the local board A-level offered in most UK state and private schools, and most teachers and university admissions tutorsare well aware that it offers more demanding challenges.At sixth-form level, the average IB score achieved by Year 13 was, once again, above the world average, and most students achievedresults that enabled them to fulfil their ambitions to enter colleges and universities of their choice.In all areas of examinations and assessment, we have started a rigorous process of self-examination and appraisal, designed to raise ourstandards even higher, under the coordination of Jonathan Field, whom many of you already know as a teacher of Chemistry and Science.Some areas of weakness in the School have already been identified and addressed but, through a revision of our student feedback,internal examinations, and reporting system, we are undertaking a fundamental review of how best to improve the quality of learning.Part of this revision is to make sure that parents know why and how we are making changes, so I will be sending further details shortly onthis whole initiative, including web-links where parents can themselves examine some of our internal guidance material used by teachers,plus external resources of interest.Page 4

Organisational ChangesThere were some changes at Senior Management level in the School over the summer vacation, involving several targets for better coordinationand service to students and parents. John Cadman changes his title to Assistant Principal, highlighting his unique role in managingthe School during my absences and his expanded role in managing all issues of recruitment, advertising and communication withthe outside world. Part of John’s role this year will be to make applications by, and reception of, prospective parents a more efficient andwelcoming experience, particularly with regard to the physical facilities currently “enjoyed” by reception. He will also be casting his criticaleye over the website, our advertising strategy, and our relationships with our feeder schools in the surrounding area, so any comments orfeedback on any of the above would be welcomed at assistant.principal@uplands.org.A huge part of the smooth-running of the School depends on non-educational matters; things that are now called Logistics or Operations.Craig Skinner now occupies a new role, which we have called Deputy Principal (Operations) in order to coordinate and imposea uniform quality on all such activities. Craig will be supervising not only day-to-day affairs such as providing the proper resources forteachers, but will also play a key role in our physical development by helping to manage outside contractors and suppliers, ensuring theaccurate implementation of the intentions of the Senior Management Team.The academic business of the School, as I mentioned earlier, is becoming increasingly complicated with our internal audits of departmentalexamination success and teaching strategies, plus our revised Staff Appraisal System, each involving a lot of time and expertise.Accordingly, we have split the academic coordination of the School between the present SMT incumbent, Geoff Newton, who retainsresponsibility for all things curriculum as Deputy Principal (Curriculum), and new SMT member Jonathan Field, who occupies a new postwith responsibility for all reporting and assessment issues including international examinations, as Deputy Principal (Assessment). In hisfirst major task, Jon has today delivered a whole morning of staff training on determinants of teaching quality, a crucial theme to whichI will return in a later communication. Alison Nicholson retains her position on SMT but with a revised title, reflecting properly the enormousjob she undertakes, as Deputy Principal (Primary). The last member of the SMT has not yet arrived but, when here in October, RossWhitfeld’s title will be Deputy Principal (Non-Curriculum).Our new School Administration System (SIMS) continues to improve its friendliness towards the users, largely due to the heroic efforts ofWong Lan Sin, our Database Manager, and Aznan Nagor, our Network and Systems Manager. We hope that we can configure the reportingmodules in time for our first reporting sessions, at the end of this term, and we hope that next year we can extend that system topaperless reports for parents. The end of the vacation saw the integration of the new Library software and, again thanks to a huge effortby Doreen Smith, Rosie Sebastian, Sharlotte Oliver, plus a group of staff and parent volunteers, we have managed to transfer our Libraryrecords for thousands of books.DevelopmentOur most significant development task over the vacation was to upgrade our gas supplies to both the secondary Science Laboratoriesand the Primary kitchen to comply with European standards of safety in schools, the local regulations leaving rather too many issues tothe client’s discretion. In the kitchen area we have moved the liquid gas tank away from the children’s work area and outside of building.At the same time we have installed extra points for additional gas hobs. In the Science area the work was more extensive, involvinga re-routing of gas supplies so that each of the three laboratories operates independently, and each is now fitted with an electronic‘panic’ shut-off valve positioned in the teacher’s desk for immediate closure of gas lines in the case of a problem. Upgrading safety on thecampus remains one of our major concerns and we hope, in the near future, to be able to address several other nagging concerns, suchas floors on which we could hold the Winter Olympics after a shower...One development immediately apparent is our re-naming of three of the Schools public open spaces, something we felt we could dowithout causing too much offence now Mr Whittlestone was safely in Singapore. The new Malay names go like this:Primary Assembly AreaReception AreaBurnley Area= Jasa Area (Service)= Hormat Area (Respect)= Mesra Area (Friendship)The next development, in the sense that you may see the results before the year-end, will be our attempt to make the Reception area ofthe School more efficient and more welcoming. By redecorating and relocating some staff we hope to convert this important area into alarger, open-plan office space where both personal visitors and telephone calls will always find what they need, or be placed in contactwith someone who can help. As part of this development, and to aid the efficiency of School visits, other work-groups may also be relocated,but we will keep the community informed through TouchBase and the Friday Newsletter.A little further down the road are plans to improve the Multi-Purpose Hall area to provide accommodation for the Senior Library, a facilitythat has never enjoyed a suitable space on the Batu Ferringhi site, plus some multi-purpose rooms. At the same time the sporting facilitiesthemselves will be examined and revised wherever possible.Finally, the project that was announced at the ISP Ordinary General Meeting, we are exploring with architects the best way to provideupgraded and expanded Primary facilities in the area between Gate B and the Swimming Pool, a piece of land that has long been earmarkedfor more intensive use, but without a specific plan. By moving Primary classes to this new accommodation, hopefully by August2012, we will be able to utilise some of the existing Primary spaces for Secondary and Sixth-Form classes, increasing our capacity andthe quality of facilities for these older students. This is a major project that will cost somewhere between RM3-4 million, with planningpermission alone taking up several months of work, but we are confident we can progress this sufficiently rapidly to benefit the greatmajority of existing Uplands students.Dr John Horsfall 14 September 2010Page 5

BOARD BOARD Talk TalkWith the holidays behind us, and the new School yearunderway, we would like to extend a very warm welcometo all families and staff new to the Uplands community. Wehope your time here in Penang, and particularly with us atUplands, will prove to be a very happy experience. To thosein our community returning after the holiday period, “Welcomeback”. We hope you had a wonderful holiday.In his annual report for 2009, Mr Chandran communicated his intentionto step down as Chair of the ISP Board, a position he had heldsince 1994. Given the fact that his home base is Kuala Lumpur andhis work involves extensive overseas travel, Mr Chandran had hopedto step down a little earlier, but was persuaded by fellow governorsto continue. However, in more recent times, it became apparent thatthe increasing demands of the position meant that it would be morepragmatic for the position of Chair to be held by someone geographicallycloser to the School. We would therefore like to offer our deepestthanks and gratitude to Mr Chandran for his valuable contributionsand guidance given to the Association during his long tenure as Chairmanof the Board of Governors. He will continue as a Governor, and inaddition to sitting on the main Board, has agreed to a position on theTrustee Committee.Taking over the position of Chair, with the support of all fellow Governors,is Mr John Patrick Cyprian Baskett MBE, known to many withinthe community as “Pat”. For the benefit of those new to Uplands, MrBaskett has lived and worked in the Asian region for close to 50 years.He served as the Honorary British Consul in Medan for 13 years andas the Belgian Consul for 10 years. During his time in Indonesia, hewas also a Board member and Chairman of Medan InternationalSchool for 4 years. He has had 3 children educated at Uplands, theyoungest having just completed Year 13. We very much appreciate MrBaskett agreeing to accept the Chair and would encourage all in thecommunity to be supportive.In his year end report, Mr Chandran also informed the communityof the intention to change our Company Secretary. The reason for thechange was quite simple. Plantation Agencies Sdn Bhd (PASB), whohad acted as our Company Secretary for the past 30 years, are a plantationmanagement agency, rather than a company offering corporatesecretarial services.As Uplands was originally established by the plantationcompanies, PASB offered to provide their services for anominal fee, and for many years this arrangement servedthe Association well. However, in more recent times, itbecame increasingly clear to both the Board and PASB thatas the demands of the position had become so much morechallenging, it was necessary for the Association to seek theservices of a specialist Company Secretary. We would like tothank Plantation Agencies Sdn Bhd (PASB) for their long andfaithful service to the Association. It has been greatly appreciatedand much valued. Key Secretarial Services Sdn Bhdofficially took over the position on 15th July 2010. Their representatives,including our incoming Company Secretary, Mr Khoo Choon Keat,were present at the ISP Association O.G.M. held on 19th June 2010, andwere introduced to members at the meeting.Over the past year, the Trustee Committee (TC) has worked long andhard updating the Governors Handbook and revising the Terms of Referenceof all Committees of the Board. This task is now almost complete,and once approved by the full Board, the information will be postedon the School website. The TC will then embark on a review of SchoolGovernance Policies and Procedures. This will be another major, butvery necessary, undertaking.Finally, the Board has a number of areas where there is opportunity formembers to be of assistance. We are looking for someone with formalaccounting qualifications and recent experience in the profession toassist the Finance Committee. If anyone has the required skill and experienceand would like to help, please let us know. The DevelopmentCommittee are also looking to enhance their numbers, and once againare looking for someone with professional qualifications and experienceeither in architecture and/or the construction industry. Again, pleaselet us know if you are able to help. You can do this either by sending anemail to the address at the end of this column, by personally informingan existing Governor or passing your details to Dr Horsfall’s secretary,Miss Jeanette. If you have the requisite skills but are concerned that youdon’t have a great deal of time to spare, that’s absolutely fine. Do contactus. We can then determine how and where you may be of assistancein a way mutually agreeable to all.Feedback on this column is welcome. You can contact us via:boardtalk9@gmail.comSusan Lee, for and on behalf of the ISP Board of Governors.Respect to All Uplands Achievers!Uplands School would like to take thisopportunity to congratulate Year 12students on their recent examinationresults for the Cambridge International(IGCSE) and Edexel (GCSE) ExaminationsThe following six students scored A*/A IN EVERY SUBJECT! -Ho En En, Sayuri Kakiuchi, Oliver Hopkins, Agrima Ghosh, NicholeTan Jun Yi & Lim Yong Shang. Well Done!FURTHERMORE, 31% of students achieved seven A-grades or better;54% of Science grades achieved A*/A; 64% of Mathematics gradesachieved A*/A and 69% of entries achieved B-grade or above.Page 8

BoardingHouse OutdoorEducation DayCampThe boarders of PenangInternational School (Uplands)embarked on theirfirst Boarding HouseOutdoor Education DayCamp on Sunday, 12September 2010.The boarders initially resisted to sign up for these activities,which require them to spend a day away from their air-conditioneddorm room and away from their lap top. But they soonfound that they had made a good decision. The photos say itall!!The Boarding House encourages every boarder to participatein a club, sport or activity, believing that participation creates awell-rounded student and it occupies the students during theweek after school.The boarding house organizes outdoor education day camp regularly.We offer many activities for our boarders. These actives are Flyingfox, Suspension Bridge, Rock / wall climbing, Abseiling/ Rappelling,Wire Obstacles, Archery, Guided jungle trekking, Hiking, Mountainbiking trails, Paint ball war games, Water polo, Beach soccer/volleyball/Netball.AnnouncementOur next boarding house outdoor educationday camp is held on Sunday 10October. Non-boarding students are welcometo join. For IB students, this camp isrecognized as your CAS work. A small feewill be charged to cover the cost of busand lunch. For a more detail itinerary andprogram please email rliao@uplands.org.Robin Liao, Boarding ParentFOOD FOR THOUGHTChildren used to spend a lot of time outdoors riding a bike, building a cubby house or throwingstones in the creek. It's fondly referred to as a free-range childhood. Contemporary children spenda lot more time inside and this has produced an epidemic of nature deficit disorder.www.wilderdowm.comPage 9

Orientation DayOn Tuesday, 24 August 2010, we were delighted to see many newfaces as we welcomed new students and their parents for OrientationDay. We welcomed a total of 104 new students from differentparts of the world so now we have a total of 35 nationalities here atUplands!Our boarding numbers also increased to 33 students when wewelcomed 12 new students from Malaysia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Maldivesand Thailand. We hope that our boarding students will enjoyUplands as their second home.We would also like to thank the Uplands Parent Teacher Association(UPTA) for hosting Coffee Morning and for providing new familieswith an insight into what Uplands, Penang and Malaysia is all about.We hope our new students and our existing students will continueto have a wonderful learning experience at Uplands.Diane Wah, Admissions.Right: Orientation Day veteran, Ms Juliena Teh welcomes her newYear 1’s and calms their parents.NEWS! from PrimaryOur highly experienced and qualified Primary Team are committedto providing quality education for your children. Their skills andknowledge are indeed cross-curricular, often extending to teachingin our Secondary School also. As well as many familiar faces,we welcome some new faces to the Primary Department this year.Ms Sarah Gain will coordinate our science programme, Mr. DeanMetcalfe, Primary PE and Ms Sharlia will assist with the teachingof Bahasa Malaysia. Ms Corrine Maibach and Ms Lilliam Castro jointhe Foreign Languages Department and Mr. Ian Johnston and MsAbby Brewer will work with Primary students in drama.The new academic year began with a flurry of excitement andnerves as we welcomed over 50 new students to the PrimaryDepartment. New friendships have developed, new routines havebeen established and our programme is in full swing as we approachalmost one month into the new term. The crisp, new batikshirts and shiny shoes combined with the eager, smiling faces thatgreet us each morning make the tranquil six weeks holiday seembut a distant memory!Almost all Primary students are involved in at least one extracurricularactivity this session where a variety of sporting, musical,artistic or simply ‘fun’ activities are on offer to supplement ourSchool programme. This term will also provide many opportunitiesfor children to learn outside the classroom. Children from all yeargroups will benefit from these experiences. Planning is alreadyunderway for the Year 5 residential to Taiping and the Year 6 visit toLangkawi. Sporting events combined with other schools in Penangfeature in our calendar this year.The year promises to be exciting, filled with a variety of challengingand stimulating learning experiences. We appreciate the supportand help offered from our parent community and the UPTAand trust the year ahead will enjoyable for us all!On behalf of the Primary TeamAli Nicholson, Head of PrimaryPage 11

faces of UplandsMr. Aznan Bin Nagoris the Systems & Network Manager at Uplands,he has been with the School a cumulative 7 years.Wall Info Photos BoxesActivities & Interests: I love to ride bikes. If possible, I ride everyday. I alsolike watching movies, especially action movies. To get fitter and healtier, Iintend on taking up hiking as one of my pastimes.About me: I have three children and a lovely wife. I am dedicated to my joband enjoy working in IT very much.Rapid Hunting! CompetitionImagine this, you are driving or walking along the Tanjung Bunga road and suddenly see an Uplandergo past your car window at great speed! What’s going on?! Not to worry, that will just be the newUplands School bus advertisment, letting people know about the excellent education found here atUplands. Seen it lately? Hint: It goes from Teluk Bahang to the Airport.TouchBase is offering a limited edition water bottle by BROS to the first ten (10) Uplands parents,guardians, students or staff who can snap a photo of the bus whilst en-route and email it to the editor.Offer ends on 15th October, 2010 or when all ten prizes have been claimed whichever comes first, please check theTouchBase section of the website for an update of prizes left to be won. (click on the ‘News & Events’ tab, then ‘TouchBaseNewsletter’)Rules: The person claiming the prize must be the person who originally took the photo. Only one prize per family/individual/setsof photos. First ten winners can collect their prizes at School. Validity of photo is at the TouchBase editor’sfinal decision.Email to your photo to: bram@uplands.orgGood Luck!Rapid Hunting! PrizeClosing thought...“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that weregiven to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, andAlbert Einstein.”~ H. Jackson Brown, American Author.The International School Of Penang(Uplands)Jalan Sungai Satu, Batu Feringgi, 11100 Penang,MalaysiaTel: 04 881 9777 Fax: 04 881 9778Email: info@uplands.orgwww.uplands.org• TouchBase is a monthly publication and comes out onthe second Friday of each month during the Schoolyear, as a service to the Uplands community.• A full colour PDF version can be downloaded fromthe School website: www.uplands.org - Go to ‘News &Events’ or click on ‘TouchBase Newsletter’ button on thehomepage.• A printed version of TouchBase is also distributed inSchool to each family by way of youngest enrolled childof each family.• Contributions that benefit the School community arewelcome, send your material to bram@uplands.org• TouchBase encourages members of the Uplands Schoolcommunity to contribute to the publication. However,we reserve the right to edit articles submitted for clarityand content.• For advertising enquiries, please contact the School.