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

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Commencing with all presentstanding as a show of respectwhile the National Anthem wassung, the assembly was an entertainingvariety of history, songand dance.Students Zachary Iqbal, Nicole Tan and Tan Hui Min told us some interestingfacts about the history of Malaysia and the impact of Merdeka up to thepresent day.In 2009 the chosen theme for independence celebrations is “1 Malaysia,Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan”(1 Malaysia, People First,Performance Now).It was then the turn of Enna Chow, a young lady witha confident singing voice, to give us a rousing renditionof her “Gemilang”. A presentation of prizes forour Merdeka competition winners (for details see below) preceded the singingof “Malaysia Gemilang” with the whole School singing and waving flagsand, as a finale, the Head Boy and Head Girl of Uplands in National Dressleading us all with those ever famous cries of Merdeka.After we viewed a video clip of a spirited performance of the “Satu Malaysia”song, all present were treated to a feast of dancing. The Malay Zapin wasorganized by Sharifah Katreena Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail, while forthe Chinese Fan Dance we have to thank Ms FayCheng and her six girl students. Finally two ofour young Indian students, dressed attractivelyin traditional greens and purples, performedtheir dance thanks to the organization ofBindiya Lakshmi Ragunath Reddy. It was a greatway to enjoy the splendour and richness of thecountry’s multi-cultural heritage.Thanks go to all who contributed to making this assembly such a success. Tothe parents who expressed their interest to be involved or invited we expressour gratitude for their help and much appreciated moral support for thestudents who performed so well.At the end of our celebrations a lady approached the writer of this article andsaid that she thought she may have been the only person in the School Hallwho had witnessed first hand the 1957 Merdeka in Malaysia while at schoolhere. Can you guess who this was? (A clue – she is one of Uplands teachers).Poster prize-winners: Aisyah (Year 10); Sha Ling (Year 8); Justina (Year 10).Essay competition winners: Genevieve (Year 13); Regina (Year 10); Zi Koon(Year 9).ANOTHER VERY SUCCESSFULEXAMINATION YEAR FOR UPLANDSWhen the global statistics are released, Uplands is confident that its examination results will be, onceagain, well above the world average.In the International Baccalaureate (IB) over 89% of candidates obtained the full Diploma. The averagegrade obtained was 5.47 out of a maximum 7, while the average points score was 34. A total of sixstudents scored over 40 points, the highest score being 44 from a possible maximum of 45. One ofthese six happy IB students visited the Campus last week to tell her teachers that she had succeededin obtaining a place at St Edmund Hall Oxford to read Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. We wishher, Jasryn Ng Sui Wei, and all our Class of 2009, congratulations and good fortune wherever they goin the future.The Cambridge International GCSE/Edexcel examinations produced equally pleasing results: 88.1%of candidates scored Grades A*- C, the subjects with the biggest number of entries, Mathematics (68candidates) and English 1st Language (65 candidates), enjoying success rates of 94.1% and 87.7% respectively.Ten subjects, with a combined total of 82 candidates, including History, Foreign LanguageFrench and Chinese, enjoyed 100% A*- C. Congratulations are especially due to the ten students withstraight A*’s or A’s across all their subjects at IGCSE!Jasryn receiving her graduationcertificate from Dr Horsfall.Her 42 IB points take her to studyBiochemistry at one of the UK’stop universities.Hello all,Welcome back to School! I hope you have all had a great break. You may have noticed that TouchBase has a new cover andpage design. I hope this new look presents you with a more streamlined and easier to read newsletter. TouchBase will continue asa ‘window into the School’ through which all readers can share stories and experiences of life at Uplands. Contributions from thewhole School community are welcome, especially write-ups on whole School events, experiences on School trips and Residentials,special projects and charity work; tell us or show us your group or individual achievements outside School; charity or comminity workand initiatives; even classified advertisments are given some space on the last page. Please send your words and pictures to me at:bram@uplands.orgIncidentally, I was really happy to see that there is now a ‘TouchBase Writing’ ECA on offer this term by Ms. MacKinnon once again,fantastic! I hope it is a great success and I look forward to publishing stories by these budding writers over the coming School term.In the meantime, I hope you enjoy readingTOUCHB A S TOUCHB A S EEBram Tan,EditorPage 2
BOARD BOARD Talk TalkIt seems no time at all since it was the end of year assembly,and everyone was saying their “goodbyes” before embarkingon their holidays. Whether you travelled overseasfor all or part of that time, or stayed here in Penang, wehope everyone had an enjoyable holiday and would like toextend a warm welcome to new families and staff, and anequally warm “welcome back” to all returning families andstaff members.Traditionally, the end of year holiday is a quieter time for school Governors,and like parents and staff, some Governors take the opportunityto travel overseas to visit family and friends, or simply enjoy abit of a break.School holidays do not, however, mean that everything comes to astandstill for six or seven weeks. On the contrary, during the ‘holiday’,the school campus becomes a hive of activity as there is a rushto get work done which cannot reasonably be carried out during theregular school year. An example would be work carried out in therecent holiday period to improve science facilities – both in terms ofspace and fittings. It would be impossible to have done this in normalterm time. In spite of promises from contractors, and the greatesteffort from school staff and Governors alike, deadlines are not alwaysmet. We are aware that not everything was in place as it was expectedto be at the start of term. We apologise for this and hope you will bearwith us. We can report that everyone involved is doing everything intheir power to ensure that any outstanding work is completed as soonas possible. This has been, and continues to be, a very busy time forthe Governors who sit on the Building and Development Committee.The Trustee Committee (TC) has also been very active. Several potentialnew Governors have been recommended for their expertisein education and business. TC members followed up by contactingthese individuals and determining that they have both the interest/desire to sit on the ISP Board and of great importance, the time to bean active, committed Governor. Subsequently, the candidates werecalled for interview. At this juncture, we cannot comment further asTC recommendations need to be presented to the full Board for approvalbefore the outcome is made public. We will therefore keep youupdated on our progress in the next Boardtalk column.You’re Talented!ZACHARY IQBAL- Year 11TC members are also busy working on upgrading guidelinesand policies which relate to the governing body. This workwill be ongoing, and one of the areas currently receiving attentionis the updating/drafting of Terms of Reference forthe Management Committee and its sub-committees. Forclarification, the TC does not make decisions for the Board.The TC operates on the basis of consensus decision-makingwithin the committee, and will ultimately make recommendationsto the Board. It is the full Board that will have thefinal say.The new academic year has only just started, and as always, is a bit ofa hectic time. This is particularly true for families and teachers new tothe Uplands community and perhaps to Penang as well, as they striveto become familiar with, and comfortable in, a new environment. Thenext couple of weeks will be even busier than usual, particularly forDr Horsfall, staff and Governors, with the CIS re-accreditation teamdue in mid-September. Again, we ask that you please bear with us asit does take a bit of time for people to “settle in” and to iron out anyprocedural hiccups.A final note: as is standard practice, the Trustee Committee, the ManagementCommittee and associated sub-committees were re-electedat the Board meeting immediately after the OGM on July 1st 2009.Anyone interested in knowing who sits on the various committeesand sub-committees of the ISP Board can check the school website fordetails, under the heading “Governance”. Additionally, it should alsobe noted that both the Staff Forum Representative and the PTA Chairaddress the Management Committee immediately before the monthlymeeting. This allows the Management Committee to receive valuablefeedback from both the teaching and parent bodies.Feedback on this column is welcome. Comments/suggestions can besent to our email address boardtalk9@gmail.comSusan Leefor and on behalf of the ISP Board of Governors.Zac is a well liked student at Uplands. A vibrant personality as well as anenjoyment of studying marks him out as a Student of Talent. He has beenpassionate about computers since he was little. He loved computer games andused computers to help him withhis school work.In Year 6, Zac’s parents foundout about Informatics, a computer course that ran twice weekly for 2 hours.Zac was a little hesitant at first as he was still young but once he started, therewas no stopping him.“I knew that I really liked computers so much that I would eventually choosethat as my field, my occupation.”In November 2006, Zac completed his Diploma in IT which covered programming,theory and computer business. He then commenced his advancedDiploma in IT but unfortunately Informatics closed down. Despite this, Zac continuesto be passionate about computers. While doing the course Zac also didhis open water diving and during the holidays he got his black belt in Aikido. Inaddition Zac is a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).His IT teacher, Mr Towers says, “Zac excels at all IT activities. He gives 100% of histime and effort when working on an assignment and usually presents a piece ofwork that supersedes the requirement by a significant margin. His knowledge is deep and wide ranging. He is a model student,and his work is always of an exemplary quality, to which other students aspire.”Uplands is happy to be able to celebrate our students’ achievements and successes. Zac, congratulations for being a Student of Talent!Zac and his mother, Rosie were interviewed by Mrs Nield. If you or your child has done something to be proud of please email MrsNeild so that we can share and celebrate our students’ successes at: sneild@uplands.orgPage 3
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Page 5 and 6: A Message from the PrincipalMany te
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Page 9 and 10: HALF-TERM CAMP, 17-20 OCTOBER 2009,

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