in this issuepenang.sisgroup.edu.my/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/autumn_newslett… · diwali is an...

Principal’s Message

Magical Merdeka

Deepavali at SIS

Sports Update

House News

Theatre Trip

Saturday Social Events

Website Development

An Insight into Staff Training

From the pen of Primary

Straight out of Secondary School

Co-Curricular Activities

Science Day

Improving Literacy

Raising money for the Philippines

From the Vice Principal

Early Years Focus

Dystopian Future

Mathematics Report

All About Science

In This Issue

Non Mihi, Non Tibi, Sed Nobis

Mr. Charles Grayhurst, Autumn 2013

Dear Parents and the Wider School Community, Thank you very much for the term past. In my experience, the Winter Term is always one of the toughest. There are always a number of change factors – particularly in new schools – that include new teachers, new students, new timetables and a host of newly developed policies. This process of change always takes something out of you. Our staff and students have coped admirably with the standards that have been asked of them and many, have thrived. For me, in the right circumstances, change is healthy. We at the school are constantly looking forward. We have created a nice atmosphere and I was very proud this term to have some experienced guests and fellow Principals comment on how the school has such a welcoming and happy feel. But we are not satisfied with this. There are always ways to improve, and the school has identified a number of areas in which we can develop. I would encourage you to take some time to look at the development plan on the website; it would be great to know that parents play an interest in the school and can see where we are trying to go. One of the places we are trying to go, is to the new campus. I’m delighted that groundbreaking begins next month and we are eagerly awaiting our new facility. Our current home is small, but I do actually feel that the classrooms are nice and spacious. We have more than enough capacity here for the next year or so. This newsletter is another that reflects the hard work and accomplishments of the community over the past term. I hope you enjoy it and wish you all a very happy holiday. I look forward to seeing you in January.


Mr. Ranjit Singh, EAL Teacher

“Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka…..” the shouts resonated across the corridors of…no not a stadium or hall of some government building …but along the corridors of our very own Straits International School. In keeping with the school’s pledge to embed not only culture among its students and staff but also a sense of belonging to the country of Malaysia, we held a simple but very meaningful ceremony to celebrate this auspicious occasion. The week preceding this celebration, students and staff had been busy preparing for the day by creating their own wall decorations to be displayed at the designated foyer outside the Staff Room. Merdeka or Malaysia’s Independence Day falls on 31st August and is significant to the history of Malaysia’s Independence. The country’s First Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman led the masses in a ceremony at the Merdeka Stadium 54 years ago signalling the end of colonial rule. The significance is not just of political significance but marks the birth of a new nation with its pathway and future entirely in its own hands. Here at SIS, students and staff gathered for the morning assembly held specifically to commemorate Merdeka. The principal, Mr. Charlie Grayhurst said a few words to launch the celebrations. This was followed by the singing of the National Anthem, “the Negara Ku”, literally meaning, “My country”. It was indeed gratifying to hear the multicultural SIS family singing the song with much gusto and enthusiasm. Following that, a short documentary was aired showing the significant changes the country has undergone since independence in 1957. A symbolic cutting of a Merdeka cake signaled the end of the brief ceremony.


Ms. Dev Krishnan, Year Two Teacher

At Straits International School, the student population plays an important role in creating and setting the unique culture. With the support of the management and staff, certain traditions are being put into place to create this culture. One significant part of the SIS way of life has been to celebrate the various festivals which abound in multicultural Malaysia. One such celebration was the “Diwali” or “Festival of Lights”, which was celebrated at SIS in November. Diwali is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in Autumn each year. It spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil and hope over despair. A significant part of the celebration is the creation of the rangoli or kolam, an ancient folk art from India. It typically consists of bright colors and is a decorative design usually made in living rooms and courtyard floors. At SIS, the kolam was very creatively displayed on the floor opposite the Staff Room. The kolam is considered sacred and signals the welcoming of all things good. The patterns are created with mainly colored rice and the kolam is thought to bring good luck. With one of our teachers in attendance, a few of our very talented students first of all drew the outline of the SIS kolam on the floor before sprinkling colored rice in keeping with the colors of the SIS logo. It was a magnificent display of art and creativity we could be proud of. Another significant aspect of Diwali is fire or light. This indicates the triumph of light over dark; of good over evil and indicates the presence of the divine. The lighting of the Diwali Lamp by the Principal was the highlight of the Diwali celebrations at SIS. The celebrations at SIS had an added highlight. Students representing their various year groups had been informed earlier of a competition to choose the Diwali King and Queen. The students representing their classes came resplendently dressed to win the hearts of the judges. The winners were announced much to the delight of the students but then it should be remembered that all students who participated were winners as they lent the much needed color and splendor to the occasion. Other activities included a video presentation of the meaning and significance of Diwali and scrumptious “banana leaf “lunch spread for staff and students. Until next year’s celebration, a big thank you to all who helped to make this joyous day a success.

Mr. Kam Yin Boey, PE Co-ordinator


Straits has been represented by the Under-9 and Under-11 Football Teams in three competitions this term. These were between other local international schools such as Uplands, St Christopher’s, Dalat and Tenby. Straits Under-11s had a disappointing start to their football season in their first competition at Uplands. However, they worked hard and finished in second place in their next competition, hosted again by Uplands. The Under-9s team then had a chance to outdo their elder counterparts and were excited when they finished in second place in their first competition of the season. A football kit has been designed for the school and we hope to have it next term. The Secondary Football Team has also been coming along smoothly and competitive games will be organised with Prince of Wales International School later in the year. Students have been participating in a range of sports during lessons in Physical Education. We want to expose students to new sports that they have never played before and learn how to compete with integrity and respect. Year 1 and 2 completed activities based on game skills such as co-ordination, ball control, sending and receiving objects and dribbling with footballs and basketballs. Year 3 and 4 started off with Gymnastics and learned how to form a range of Body Schooling Actions to improve their balance, link movements together to form sequences and evaluate their own performance and that of others. They then moved on to Kwik Cricket and learned how to bowl underarm, perform different types of fielding techniques and use the correct grip and stance during batting.

Year 5 and 6 commenced the school year with Basketball, learning different passing techniques (chest pass, bounce pass), improving their ball control and movement into space and performing the correct shooting technique. After that, they did Kwik Cricket and were then introduced to the game of cricket. Students adapted to the different rules and strategies really well and there were several exciting moments when different students showed glimpses of excellence in their performances. In Secondary, Year 7 and 8 participated in Football and Basketball, learning a variety of sending and receiving skills and techniques; how to move into space; ball control and dribbling; defensive techniques and how to compete in game situations. Year 9 joined their younger peers to participate in Basketball this term and then joined with Year 10 once a week to participate in Touch Rugby and Rounders. In Rounders, they learned how to bowl underarm accurately, some basic rules including how to score, improve their sending and receiving skills and where to throw a ball to get someone out.

Mr. Kam Yin Boey, House Coordinator


The House system is an important part of school life and some of the aims are to encourage pupils to participate in a wide range of Inter-House activities, create a sense of community spirit and allow children to work together in vertical groupings. Straits has four Houses: Burung Kenyalang (yellow); Harimau (white); Naga (red): and Rusa (blue). There have been several House competitions during the Autumn term that have been varied in nature to allow for different students to shine in different areas. At the beginning of the term, there was a football competition for Key Stage Two and Key Stage Three students. This was the first competition of the year and allowed new students to integrate into the system and get to know their peers. House points were awarded to each House depending on the position they finished. After that, Ms.Gilly and Mr.Shahrul organised a House competition during Science Day for the different Key Stages; each having a different task to complete as a team. Key Stage 1 and 2 made bridges from different materials and the winner had to keep a toy car on it for the longest amount of time. Key Stage 3 made catapult devices and had to accurately predict the distance the thrown object would achieve. Most recently, Mr. Tom has arranged a Geography themed competition for Key Stage Three students based on students being able to locate countries in the different continents. Every week, students test themselves online on a particular continent and post their scores on Edmodo for that week. The top three fastest times, no matter their House, are selected and compete head to head supervised by Mr. Tom and watched by their peers. It is hoped that the competition will filter down to Key Stage Two students later on in the year.

Next term should see further House competitions that will stimulate and challenge all pupils in sports and academics. There are also plans to choose our first set of House Captains, from amongst the students, in January. This is an important role and those chosen will have some more responsibilities including being the first point of contact for students in their respective Houses.

Mr. Richard Power, Primary EAL Teacher


This October, our primary students experienced the thrill of the theatre for the very first time when we ventured out of school to give our little ones a taste of the theatrical. Laughter, and a mixture of screams of delight and terror, filled the Performing Arts Center at Straits Quay, when a production of The Gruffalo brought the imaginary character of the monstrous Gruffalo to life. The excitement began earlier in the year when the students learned about pantomime, acting, role play, stages and the theatre, as we read “The Gruffalo” by Julia Donaldson. This wonderful imaginary tale is a children’s book by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, that tells the story of a mouse's walk in the woods. The book has sold over 10.5 million copies, has won several prizes for children’s literature, and has been developed into plays on both the West End and Broadway. Leaving the school and boarding the coaches with packed lunches of triangular egg sandwiches, and triangular tuna ones too, ensured the children eagerly devoured every last morsel and were sufficiently energized for the journey. With ample reserves for hollering and shouting back at the stage actors, they watched tentatively as a mouse took a stroll through a deep dark wood, when a hungry fox, then an owl, and then a snake each intent on devouring our cunning little friend attempted to persuade her to visit their homes for lunch. Whilst the mouse was good enough to eat, he was also smart enough to know this, so he invents the Gruffalo! As Mouse explains, the Gruffalo is a creature with terrible claws, and terrible tusks in its terrible jaws, and knobbly knees and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the end of its nose. But Mouse has no worry to show. After all, there’s no such thing as a Gruffalo or is there?

Silly old fox/owl/snake, doesn't he know? There's no such thing as a Gruffalo!

For the children, seeing The Gruffallo gave context to the learning. As a live, louder than life monster pounded up and down the stage, so too did the rapidly beating hearts of our enthralled children. They loved the book, learned all the songs, and the show certainly didn’t disappoint by the look on their faces when the Gruffalo leapt from the stage roaring and prowling among the audience looking for a victim. That victim, fortunately for the children turned out to be me and everyone giggled – including me – when the Gruffalo called me ‘Daddy’! A fun and rewarding trip for all of the Primary School.

Theatre Trip

The Gruffalo


Mr. Stephen B., French Department

SIS 1st Social Event – Turtle Beach

For our first social event of 2013 – 2014, Straits International School invited all parents, students and SIS staff to join a fun day at Turtle Beach, located in the Penang National Park. All met at 9am at the school for a bus journey of an hour to reach the other side of Batu Ferringhi in the North of the island. Once there, students had a nice boat ride and they didn’t let a bit of rain ruin their day out. At about 10.30am, we all finally had our feet in the sand, running around, playing games such as football and Frisbee with the teachers and going for a swim. After an exciting morning, we had a delicious picnic on the beach made by the parents, making sure we kept away from monkeys and monitor lizards. The Sea Turtle Centre was sadly under renovation but all understood it was for a better good to protect the lovely animals. After playing some more and with lots of laughter, everyone had the chance to enjoy one final boat ride with a fresh breeze to bring us back to the bus. All our students had a well-deserved nap on the bus and for sure nice memories to tell for years to come. A really nice day out. Thanks to all for coming.


Mr. Stephen B., French Department

For our second Straits International School social event, our students, parents, siblings and teachers all joined at the Countryside Stables Penang located in Balik Pulau for a memorable and fun day participating in horse riding, feeding and grooming. Everyone was excited and met at the school at 7.45am to go on a bus journey around Balik Pulau which is a very peaceful and natural area of this beautiful island, Penang. After driving through small roads, we finally arrived at 8.30am to our destination: The Stables. Our students were right away diving into the world of horses and ponies by being given a tour of the stables and introduced to all of their occupants. Instructions were given on how to behave and react around horses and ponies to ensure that everyone, including the animals, enjoyed their day out. All had the chance to participate in horse carriage for group pictures as well going on horse riding for the older students and pony for our younger one. Not feeling too confident at first, our students showed great skill as riders as they got the hang of it. After a friendly break time made of orange juice, sandwiches and mango pudding and cupcakes, our students resumed their activities by now showing love and care to the horses that carried them earlier. They learned how to brush them and went around to hand feed the ponies and donkeys. To conclude, our parents were very pleased with their children enjoying their time and probably moved back to their own childhood for the time of the event. Thank you to all that joined us, we are looking forward to seeing you at our next social event.

SIS 2nd Social Event – Countryside Stables Penang


Mr. Charles Grayhurst, Principal

Website Development

Over the past few months, the school has been working very long and hard to develop the website and the information that is upon it. It has a whole new look, and is becoming very informative. We’d like to discuss some of the features and what you can find upon it: Along the top are all the scroll bars which shall direct you to the different pages we have. You can find all the information as relating to the curriculum that your child is studying, as well as the activities that are on offer. This includes the curriculum leaflets for each term as well as the activity blurbs. The ethos of the school is on show as well as the school development plan, which is highly informative. All the staff are listed as well as the events calendar and term dates. If you wish, you can also view the school canteen menu as well as the uniforms and books on sale for each year group. Back to the main page and there are two ‘buttons’ either side of the school motto. This is where you can find the school brochure or access the ‘Celebrating Excellence’ area, where we shall begin to place examples of the great work that students are completing at the school. One of the areas in which we are proud are the pages for the school blogs. These are completed on a weekly or fortnightly basis and give a real insight into the school. Over the next few months we shall be trying to expand the blogs to classes, publish our main school policies as well as attempt to make the site more interactive. Please visit! www.sisgroup.edu.my


Mr. Charles Grayhurst, Principal

An Insight Into Staff Training

Much effort has been made by all staff over the past term to improve standards of teaching and learning and ensuring that all staff are continuously developing their practice. This has included days spent on investigating what makes an outstanding lesson, as well as the features of best practice. All staff have undertaken an appraisal process which has included two formal lesson observations with an associated book scrutiny. This has also included three separate meetings with their line manager and a series of targets for each staff member. These targets have been fairly generic initially as we attempt to set the standards for a new school. They seek to develop the use of Edmodo as a learning tool, raise the quality of lesson planning to ensure the setting of work appropriate for different levels of ability, as well as reflect up-to-date methods of Assessment for Learning. Teachers should also seek to construct inspiring activities that encourages group work and engages learners. This is obviously a lot of pressure for staff, but is essential, we believe, in improving standards across the school and setting our expectations to a style of education we espouse within our ethos. However, professional development cannot simply be ‘top down’, and for it to be consistent, worthwhile and truly effective, we must encourage our staff to share good practice and be proactive learners in their own right. The school wishes to see all staff research and continue to learn and not simply feel they know everything about teaching after they gain their teaching certificate and leave university. To that end, the school has begun a program of “Learning Communities’ that allows the staff the time and freedom to investigate educational ideas within teams of their teaching peers. Hopefully this shall encourage a sense of open debate and reflection that shall truly inform their practice. These communities shall be in small groups of four and be focused upon the areas of Assessment for Learning, Differentiation, Behaviour Management, ICT in the classroom and Effective Feedback. Staff shall peer observe (without the pressure of management) and discuss with each other where they feel they can improve, based upon the standards they have previously discussed during training this term. However, we again feel that we cannot simply get into a trap of not allowing staff to develop their own field of interest and ‘forcing’ them to engage only in the areas that management wants. This is why one learning community shall always be for personal research, with an associated blog posted upon the website to reflect upon what they have learnt and tried in their classes. These learning communities shall be held on a half termly basis, with staff expected to participate in each over the following twelve months.


Karun Kathiraven, Year Six

The first term in Straits was fantastic. I had lots of fun. This term I met new friends and new teachers. This first term for me was a great start to the year. In this term there was lots of fun stuff that happened like House soccer, Christmas celebrations, the Moon Cake Festival and many more fun things. Straits is a very good school for kids. At Straits we will have a great time and learn many new things. Kids should come to Straits School because here at Straits there are lots new things to be told and new skills will be learned. Right now in Straits there are about 110 students. There is also our Under-11 Soccer team and Under-9s Soccer team that represent our school and this term both teams made it to second place. We are also trying to get a girls soccer team going for next term. In Year Six, I have enjoyed learning about Ernest Shackleton and Antarctica through the book, Ice Trap! At our school we also have field trips like going to the Horse Farm. After school we also have ASAs (After School Activities) like soccer, maths club, chess club and many more fun activities. In our school we have a website called Edmodo. Edmodo is a website for students to chat and post messages. Right now all our students are using this website everyday. And there are also lesson such as PE, English, Science and many more. There is group called Student Council that organises the schools events and represent all students in Straits. Also Mr. Charlie is our Principal and Mr. Simon is our Vice Principal. In our school our year groups are Nursery to Year 10. For students and teachers in Straits this is a good start to the year.


Hannah Lee Shu Wei and Fariheen Nur Sheikha, Year Seven

This year, we had more activities and events happening. The Secondary School has been more interactive and social. The events this year – Mid-Autumn Festival, Deepavali and Christmas – have taught us to work together and be obedient to the teachers. I noticed that most of the students are now more proactive and wanting to join more things. We had a lot of new students coming in, so now we have a wider variety of friends. By having a mix of people, I feel that we have learned to be more open-minded and to socialize more with different students. (Hannah year 7)

The lessons are more interesting than my last school, as they are more challenging and they have opened up my mind to new ways of learning. Some of my most memorable lessons have been in Speech and Drama; Science, as we did lots of experiments; English, as we have done some descriptive writing and looked at ways to improve and PE as we learn various sports. During the first term, we had a football tournament to see which House is the best in football. Every week we get to learn new things and do something that challenges us more and more. Personally my most favourite thing about school is that I get to meet new people and mix with students that are from different countries and nationalities. Finally, I’m really looking forward to Challenge Week next year, as we get to explore outside of school and do something adventurous. (Fariheen year 7)

Straight out of Secondary


Mr. Kam Yin Boey, Activities Co-ordinator

The co-curricular activities programme at Straits International School runs alongside the National Curriculum and the Cambridge International Programme, to further enhance our students’ learning during their time in school. Activities are optional for Early Years students and compulsory for students in Year 1 and above. They take place Monday to Friday, from 2:30 to 3:30pm. The programme has different themes throughout the week to ensure that a wide variety of activities are covered that can help students to attain and improve a range of skills and abilities, as well as gain further knowledge and understanding in that area. The themes are currently Academic Challenge & Support, Action, Creative and Culture, Community and Service. This term saw may exciting activities, including Weaving, Zumba, Yoga, Football, Reading and Book Clubs, Chess, Penang Heritage, ICT Skills, Storybird, Maths Club and many others. The programme has been strengthened for next term and will recommence on Tuesday 7th January, the first day back after the school break. Teachers, old and new, have worked hard to provide a range of activities this term and have had some good ideas to move forward next term. Some interesting and exciting activities have been put forward for next term including an Improvisation and Comedy Workshop, Myths and Legends, Carcassonne, Fairy tales Club, Gomoku and International Carrom. New outside providers have also been added and new activities include Ballet, Kindermusik and Robotics Education. The Co-curricular program plays an important part in ensuring our commitment to educate and inspire all of our students at Straits International School.


Ms. Gilly Harland, Science Teacher

Science Day was celebrated by the whole school for the whole day and a celebration of all things Science. All tutor groups were given the task to design a Science themed letter that spelled out ‘Science Day’. These were used to make a display in the atrium of the school. Teachers were asked to do Science themed lessons, which they embraced very well and in each lesson from French to History and Geography, Science was the main topic of the day. For the last hour of the day, all students and teachers gathered in the assembly area to be placed into their respective Houses in specified Year Groups. Each Year grouping was given a task that required them to use their engineering skills to build either a bridge or catapult out of straws, spaghetti or paper. The event was a complete success, with both students and teachers enjoying the challenges and showing their ability to work as a team, voice their opinions and engineer something from simple materials. Winning teams were given House Points!

Science Day


Ms. Vikki Gale, Primary Literacy Co-ordinator

Based on research and current good practice in the UK, we are looking to emphasise the importance of great books and literature in enabling children to become confident, happy and enthusiastic readers and writers, with all the benefits this brings. Therefore, this academic year at SIS we are making a break from the constraints of the text book (that so many local and international schools here still rely on) and adopting a more creative and engaging approach to learning Literacy in the Primary school. Each term, as an alternative to using the Collins text book (which we continue to use for Non-Fiction and Poetry units), every class will read at least one book together. They will then base most of their English learning on it, as well as incorporating other subjects, creating a more topic-based and holistic curriculum. For example, in Year 3 and 4 we have read ‘Fly, Eagle, Fly’ by Christopher Gregorowski and ‘Into the Forest’ by Anthony Browne this term. We incorporated many fun and engaging activities into our learning, such as: • Reading and re-reading together, in groups and independently • Creating story maps (to develop understanding of plot structure) • Re-telling the story in pairs • Drawing, labelling and discussing characters and analysing their motives • Role play and drama such as hot-seating, freeze frames and conscience alley • Speaking and writing in role as a character • Writing poetry Drawing settings in Art and labelling them with powerful adjectives Writing powerful descriptions of characters and settings Writing play scripts based on the story and performing them in small groups Data shows that schools adopting a creative curriculum such as this have made nearly twice national expected progress in reading and writing and children have developed more positive attitudes to reading. Teachers are developing their knowledge of good quality children’s literature and finding more innovative and inspiring ways to engage children in Literacy. I hope that this inspires children and parents to read more books together. They are, after all, the very essence of Literacy.

Primary Literacy at SIS


When myself and the Year 7 group found out about the devastation caused by the recent typhoon in the Philippines, we wanted to support them somehow. We thought we could do some sort of fundraising event, where we could get the whole school involved. I gave each group of students 5 Malaysian Ringgit to design a fundraising activity that was fun and could make money. I informed them that I would like it if they could turn the RM5 into RM100! Well, they all designed fun games that students and teachers could do during their lunchtime to win prizes. So on Wednesday 27th November, we set up outside the canteen and invited the school to attend.

Ms Gilly Harland, Year 7 Form Teacher

Raising Money For The Philippines

The activities included ‘Candy Grab’, Ball in the Cup’ and ‘Face Dunk’. The event was a success and much fun was had by all, and on the day we raised approximately RM650!!! Even more after we had some kind contributions from parents and teachers, which took it to the grand total of RM1157.50. Money will be sent to the Red Cross Philippines Yolanda appeal. Thanks to all who helped and contributed to the event, and of course the students in Year 7!


Mr. Simon Greenhalgh, Vice-Principal – Head of Primary

As we approach the long-awaited end of our first term of the year, we are able reflect with satisfaction upon a great number of achievements and events at Straits International School. The Primary School team have been working ever so hard and we have seen the children grow and gain confidence over the past few months at an astonishing rate. It doesn’t seem so long ago that we had a few tears and nervous moments as new children settled into the school but indeed those times are in the past and I’m pleased to report that it’s all smiles wherever one goes in the Primary School these days. I watched a Christmas movie recently, the theme of which was much the same as most other Christmas films, namely that of coming together or being a family. It is with that in mind that this Christmas reflection has had me thinking about how a school is like a family and how we all work together – adults and children alike – to create a bond of closeness as we learn together each day in school. It also made me realise that whether we celebrate Christmas or not, the end of the calendar year and the start of a new one is a time when people get together with loved ones and reflect on the past and look to the future. As I sit and reflect upon the term, a flood of memories flashes into my mind: Merdeka, House Matches, Diwali, various lessons, staff meetings, the Gruffalo trip, Activity time, speaking with parents, talking with children, assemblies and more recently, report writing, parents’ evening and the Christmas performance. It certainly has been a busy term and one which has only been possible through teamwork and creativity.

From The Vice Principal


From The Vice Principal

Teamwork and creativity are both buzzwords nowadays. I’m sure there is a whole section dedicated to both areas in the business books section of your local book shop. However, if anyone wants to see genuine teamwork and creativity in tandem, then your best bet is to visit a school. Teachers and students work together in teams and create amazing lessons every single day. I think there is much for people to learn from schools, if you’ll forgive the pun. Organising events and putting together assemblies, performances, sports teams, lessons, meetings and other activities requires a spirit where everyone chips in to help. Similarly creating these events and making them exciting and rewarding learning experiences for the children needs huge ingenuity. Children are the first to see through any half-baked activity, as any teacher will tell you and so they keep us all on our toes and, most importantly, they keep us creative. Both in school and out, we need to work together to create. We need to help one another to achieve. I can be no more proud of the children and teachers of the Primary School who have tried their best to fully embrace this spirit of teamwork and understand that working hard and working together is the best way to achieve success for the whole group. In this case, Straits International School continues to grow and develop thanks to the hard-work, sense of camaraderie and fun that exists between the staff and students. I look forward with genuine interest and excitement to 2014 and the remainder of the school year. May I take this opportunity to both thank all children, parents and staff for their efforts over the past months and also to wish everyone connected with Straits International School a safe and happy holiday.


Ms. Serene Tan, Reception Teacher

This autumn was an exciting term for the Early Years students. The students had fun through learning and exploring new things. For this first term, the Early Years students covered two themes: “Myself” and “Food and Nutrition”.

In the first half term, students explored the names of their body parts and their functions. The Nursery students learned the basic body parts in conjunction with their senses: sight, smell, hear, taste and touch. Students of Reception learned about the functions of their body parts and internal organs. They had an activity that represents the heart pumping blood around their body. They were also given activity to be sent home to be completed with their parents, creating your own scent, and creating a sound bottle. Then they had a Show and Tell session in the school. In the second half of the term, the students explored the Food and Nutrition theme, students of Nursery learned about the food pyramid and they were able to categorize each food accordingly. Students also did food tasting based on the tastes: sweet, sour and bitter. They also learned about healthy and non-healthy foods and practised healthy eating during break and lunch time in school.

Reception children learnt about the functions of the food. They learnt that different foods help different parts of the body and the importance of having a balanced meal. Students had an activity where they were to create their own balanced meal by selecting various types of food. To implement the importance of balanced meals, students also have to create a balanced meal together with their parents. They also learned about fruits that are able to be grown in Malaysia and fruits that are not. Students had a chance to taste different types of fruit and learning about what the seeds of the fruits look like. They were exposed to the different types of food from around the world. Countries that we focused on were Korea, India, Japan and Malaysia since we have students from these countries.

The students in Early Years had a chance to go through different types of obstacle games during their PE lessons. They had obstacles that require them to jump over a barrier, crawl through a tunnel, walk on the balancing bar and throwing bean bags into hula hoops. They are learning to work in a team in completing a task as well as running and passing the baton. It was a fun term for our Early Years children.

They have grown so much. We look forward to more excitement in the next term.


Mr. Tomas Needham, English Department

Having studied The Giver by Lois Lowry, Year 7 embarked on a two-week long scheme of work which gave them the opportunity, through the teaching of contextualised grammatical structures, to create their own dystopian story openings. Having gained an understanding of the dystopian genre through Lowry’s novel as well as exploring extracts from Orwell, Wyndham and Bradbury, students were encouraged to experiment with different structures with the aim of creating atmospheric and descriptive pieces. While all the pieces were of a high quality, Hannah has really captured the bleak, futuristic desolation so beloved of dystopian writers. Here is an extract from her work. The full piece can be seen displayed in the school library. Now on the dusty, run-down streets the ‘blank’ people stand confused, waiting for a ‘Divergent’ to help them. The towering, once-perfect structures stand broken around them. The Ferris wheel, a landmark between the dilapidated train tracks and a compound that belonged to a faction looked like a weird, broken structure in the distance. As I look through the cracked window of the moving truck, I wonder what is outside the fence that is keeping us in this ruined community The huge truck stops at an underground compound. The only entrance is a massive hole in the road. The buildings surrounding the Pit (that’s the name of the entrance) are neglected and old. Crunching under my boots are shards of glass. The government, which ran out of money to fix the broken city, is making the ‘Divergent’ help them to mend the buildings, but with only a few of us left, it’s not use. I leap into the Pit and land on my feet. There used to be a net to catch falling visitors but it’s torn and useless now. I walk down the hallway, the sound of rushing water in the chasm filling the air. I was told that there was fighting down here, and I guess it’s true, because I see the occasional streak of blood on the walls. The cold, concrete floor is cracked and there are bullet holes in it. It’s dim and dusty, making my vision blurred. The ceiling is a little low, so I crouch down a bit so as to avoid knocking my head. I make a left and find what seems to be a cafeteria. Cobwebs hang on the walls, the metal chairs are rusty and dented and butter knives stick out of the sides of the room. This place is forbidden, but I don’t really care. Leaving the cafeteria, I look for the control room. It was used to control people after giving them controlling serums, but now that’s illegal, the control room is empty. Marks of bullets are shown in the blank screens of computers. Some of the keyboards are on the floor along with notes that contain a bizarre mixture of numbers, letters and symbols. Behind the computers, a window, stained with blood and shattered by bullets, overlooks the gigantic chasm with water gushing in it. “Your shift.” The robotic voice calls from the chip in my brain.


Ms. Yogeswari Boghan, Maths Teacher

As our children go about their daily lives exploring and discovering things around them, they are exposed to the world of mathematics. And since mathematics has become increasingly important in this technological age, it is even more important for our children to learn maths at home, as well as in school. Straits International School Maths Department always ensures that by helping students to learn to solve problems, to communicate mathematically, and to demonstrate reasoning abilities are fundamental to learning mathematics. These attributes will improve students' understanding of and interest in maths concepts and thinking. By applying this, we may produce students who can:- Be Problem Solvers, Communicate Mathematically, and Demonstrate Reasoning Ability. The Primary Maths curriculum is divided up into five areas which are labelled as A-E, which are revisited three times per year each time progressing in challenge and difficulty. The areas are as shown below:

Unit A: Counting, partitioning and calculating Unit B: Securing number facts, understanding shape Unit C: Handling data Unit D: Calculating and measuring Unit E: Securing number facts, relationships and calculating.

The Secondary Math curriculum is focusing more on mathematical processes and application, number, algebra, geometry and statistics. For IGCSE Maths we will cover matrices, data handling, frequency table and differentiation and integration. The aim of the maths club is increasing students’ interest towards maths. Using games, quizzes and bingo maths motivates students to learn addition and subtraction or multiplication and division. Students will also be able to apply maths to their real life problems.

Upcoming Maths Events!!!

Numeracy Workshop (16th of January 2014)

World Maths Day (12th March 2014)


Mr. Shahrul Afzanizam, Science Teacher

Science at Straits International School emphasizes what students should learn, it also recognizes that how science is taught is equally important. In planning instruction, effective teachers draw on a growing body of research knowledge about the nature of learning and on craft knowledge about teaching that has stood the test of time. Typically, the school considers the special characteristics of the material to be learned, the background of their students, and the conditions under which the teaching and learning are to take place. Young children learn best through doing. Abstract thoughts and concepts are difficult for them to comprehend because they primarily learn about the world around them by experiencing it through their senses. For this reason, Science lessons (be it Primary or Secondary) at Straits International School always focus and emphasize lessons which involve things that students can see, hear, touch, taste and smell so that students are continually immersed in Science as they discover all sorts of new and different things about the world around them, how things work and about themselves and others. These types of discoveries are Science in a very real way.

All About Science

Because the students are naturally very curious and love experiments, every lesson in school provides perfect opportunities to help them develop a love for learning and especially a love for Science. By providing plenty of opportunities for our students to experience things in a hands-on way, the school will encourage and increase their curiosity and soon everything the students encounter will become an important scientific investigation.

Straits International School 1-Square, Tingkat Mahsuri 1, Penang Cybercity, 11950 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia T: +604 643 1815 F: +604 611 5969 E: [email protected] W: www.sisgroup.edu.my

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