message from the principal primary school news drama ... the link for more details: ...
TRANSCRIPT
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To all in the Uplands Community,
This week is truly another international
edition of the Uplands Newsletter. Mrs.
Nicholson is contributing photographs
and updates from the Year 6 Camp in
Langkawi and I am writing my
introduction to the newsletter during a
break in interviewing at the London
Search Associates Recruitment Fair.
It is a very interesting experience being able to meet so many
like‐minded educators who have taught in a variety of
schools in many different countries. There are almost 700
candidates and 150 schools attending. It is a very busy event
for candidates and recruiters alike. Mr Skinner and I are
interviewing a wide selection of teachers as we look to find
talented, enthusiastic and committed colleagues to come and
join us at Uplands in August 2016.
Although we are competing with other international schools
it is also an opportunity to meet with other International
School staff and to catch up and network with colleagues
who we have worked or collaborated with in previous
schools and networks. It is a privilege to be a part of the
international school community whose members support for
each other crosses many borders and time‐zones.
Yours sincerely,
Matthew Bristow
Principal
Contents Message from the Principal Primary School News Boarding House News Uplands Roar Security Policy Celebrating Green Pastures Drama Department Academic Term Dates 2016‐2017 Upcoming Events Academic Term Dates 2016‐2017
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Study in Europe ‐ KL Fair
There will an opportunity for information for those families and students looking to Europe for
Higher Education. The European Higher Education Fairs in Central Asia and Asia Project is
pleased to announce the dates and location for EHEF Malaysia 2016 – this Fair will be held in
Kuala Lumpur, on the 12th and 13th March 2016 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre
(KLCC).
Check the link for more details: http://www.ehef.asia/malaysia‐info‐for‐visitors/list‐of‐exhibitors
Bill Mitchell
Head of Pastoral and Universities & Careers
Last term, Year 9 p and q created paintings of a chosen animal in water colours, and then using
fine liner pens they drew details and shading on top. They will be developing this work into
three dimensional forms, made from bamboo and tissue paper that will be used in the St Patrick’s
Day parade in March. The work will be displayed in the foyer for about 2 weeks so please come
and have a look.
Anna Martinez
Art Teacher
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Year 6 Camp in Langkawi
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As a few of you probably know, on Friday December 18th, right before the Christmas break, a
delegation from Uplands’ Model United Nations CCA (a co‐curricular activity in which students
typically role‐play delegates to the United Nations and simulate UN committees. This activity
takes place at MUN conferences, which is usually organized by a high school or college MUN
club) left to attend a conference hosted by Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur. The students
had a wonderful experience, learned lots and had loads of fun. Please see one of our delegates’
accounts below:
“MUN is a brilliant activity that would firstly, improve your general knowledge on world issues
and also dispose of your fear of public speaking. I am Adam Pinsler and today I shall write about
my experience on my first ever MUN! It was Friday morning on the 18th of December. By this
time, I was extremely nervous and spine‐chilled about going on this trip. In fact, I started to
regret going on this trip as I was a little confused on the procedure and didn’t know how to write
a ‘good’ resolution. Negativity and anxiety filled my mind! However, I knew there was no
turning back and I decided to get ready.
As the time approached two in the afternoon, we entered the auditorium for the opening
ceremony. By this time, I still felt the element of fear but with excitement as I knew that I should
just go for it instead of backing‐off. So, the opening ceremony ended and we went towards our
separated committees. For now, it is bye to my friends, Mr Derudder and Miss Bush.
Throughout the first day, I decided to stay quiet and make notes on what is actually going on.
During the second day, I decided to get involved and started speaking and sending directives.
Also, espionages (hahaha)! By the end of the second day, I knew my fear was being suppressed
and my confidence raised rapidly. During the third day, I had to defend myself of not being a
rebel! That was really fun!
To conclude, I have to say that MUN is the best CCA I could have ever joined! One thing for sure
is that in a MUN conference you learn a hundred times more than a normal CCA! Also, you
make lots of friends! Espionages, assassinations and backstabs will make the fun increase
evermore! I would like to thank Mr Derudder and Miss Bush for the constant encouragement
they gave me and my friends and for the continuous support and help they offered! Most of all,
I would like to thank my parents as they allowed me to participate on this amazing trip! I am
sure to participate in more MUNs to increase my experience and debating level.”
Thank you very much Adam for sharing your experience, and thank you Ms. Bush for your
support in running this CCA.
Our next planned trip will be to Bangkok where we will attend the prestigious TAIMUN III in
April. I can’t wait to see our delegates in action writing resolutions, caucusing, debating, etc.
Thank you.
Kim Derudder
Head of Years 10 & 11
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The Boarding community would like to extend a warm welcome to a new staff member within
our team. Tracy joins a team of 4 matrons who are responsible for ensuring the smooth running
of the boarding house by providing a nurturing and supportive environment for our boarding
students. Tracy has extensive experience in working as a Kindergarten assistant and more
recently coordinating youth programs in her local church. Tracy is looking forward to getting to
know the extended Uplands community and in particular engaging with children from many
different cultures and participating in weekly activities.
Jacalynne Peake
Head of Boarding
Our Roar Sports teams have been back in action this week with the first fixtures of the term taking
place in both Football and Basketball. Tuesday saw our U15s playing Football with POWIIS. The
boys ran out 2‐1 winners over at POWIIS whilst the girls drew 0‐0 here at Uplands. On
Wednesday and Thursday it was the turn of our O15s and U13s Basketballers, all of whom played
against Dalat. The results of these games can be found on our Roar Twitter page.
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X Country
On Thursday we took a squad of 13 runners over to Straits Green to compete in an Inter‐School
race with Dalat and POWIIS. With temperatures high and distances of 3km for the U13s and 5k
for the U15s, conditions were pretty tough! Despite our very inexperienced team, due to clashes
with Sports Fixtures and the Year 6 Residential, our runners put in some amazing performances
with the following managing to place in the top 3 in their respective races:
U13 Boys – Will Cartlidge 1st Place
U13 Boys – Spencer Chaplow 2nd Place
U13 Boys – Finlay Gray 3rd Place
U15 Girls – Emily Liao 3rd Place
U15 Boys – Leon Schmidt 2nd Place
U15 Boys – Cian Douthwaite 3rd Place
Uplands New Year Swim Meet
Tomorrow we play host to what we hope will become a regular feature of the Uplands Swim
Calendar as we host our fellow Penang Schools. In future years we plan to include schools from
further afield. The first heats begin at 8am! Results will be in next week’s newsletter.
Primary FOBISIA Games
Last week saw an incredible 55 students trying out for our 2016 Primary FOBISIA squad.
Following 3 evenings of intense competition, and some long discussions between coaches, I am
delighted to announce the following squads:
KTJ Mini Games Squad
Year 4 Girls Year 4 Boys Year 5 Girls Year 5 Boys Year 6 Girls Year 6 Boys
Brooke Hali Ranee Finlay Celina Matthew
Mai Takeru Karoline Alexis Maya Jerry
Jessica Markus S Soahn Liam Izdya Michael
Naomi Yuqi Keira Julian Anh Shamil
Aisha Yulin Solytha Filip Nicole George
Sofia Aiden Johanne Will Miyu Guy
Maya Vruksha Daisy Felix
Oscar
FOBISIA Games Squad
Year 4 Girls Year 4 Boys Year 5 Girls Year 5 Boys Year 6 Girls Year 6 Boys
Brooke Justin Ranee Finlay Celina Matthew
Mai Mark Karoline Alexis Maya Jerry
Jessica Henry Soahn Liam Izdya Michael
Rasleen Spencer Keira Julian Anh Shamil
Chiara Tom Solytha Filip Nicole George
Kate Arjunpal Johanne Will Miyu Toshiki
Maia Izeral Zephai Guy Sabina Wallace
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For more information regarding our Roar Sports Programme please go to:
www.uplandsroarsport.webs.com
And for the most up to date information regarding things like pick up times, late cancellations
please use our Roar Sport Twitter page at: @UplandsSport
Weekend Sports Programme
Registration for Term 2 is now open.
Thank you to all for your prompt completion of the Term 2 and 3 CCA Registration. All registers
have now been finalised and sessions will begin from Monday 25th January.
Unfortunately due to a lack of interest in the following sessions, these will not be running:
Mondays Year 7+ Origami
Tuesdays Year 5+ Trampolining @ Jumpstreet
Tuesdays Year 7+ Malay Song & Dance
Wednesdays Year 5+ Stand Up Paddling (Coaches unavailable for this term)
Thursdays Year 7 to 10 Maths Games
Thursdays Year 7+ Green Club
Friday Year 10+ Fitness
NEW CCA
**French Pastry CCA**
When? Mondays 3:30‐4:30
Who? Year 7+ (Maximum of 8)
If interested please register on the CCA Boards. This will not start until Monday 1st February.
For all the finalised registers/schedule please take a look at:
http://www.uplands.org/school/?page_id=12187
These registers will be posted here for the first week of CCA’s and will then be removed.
Dean Metcalfe
Head of Faculty PE
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During Arts week in March, 7th ‐ 11th, we are going to have a Talent show as part of the music
department’s celebration of well...talent! There are four categories, Group, Solo, Dance,
Miscellaneous. Group include performers of three or more, Solo can be one or two person and
duets are included in this category. Dance can be any style and Miscellaneous can be anything
from DJ, magic tricks, story telling, comic acts, to even rubic cube speed? Its up to you what
makes your act interesting!
Heats will be held to determine the finalists during the week and then the Talent show will be
held in the MPH on the Friday after school of that week. There will be prizes for each category
and an overall winner but you have to be in it to win it!!!
You will need to get Audition forms from the Music room or from the board outside F202 and
these will go up from next week. Some students from DSS will be coming around to explain to
tutor groups but if you already know and are interested in being involved then come and see me
or Ms Jacob in F201 and F202.
Estelle Owens
Head of Music
The Operations team is currently reviewing and looking at steps to improve security measures
for the Uplands community in school. We are in the midst of setting up a new security policy
where it covers implementation of a new access system for every individual entering and leaving
the school campus.
Further information will be published once the system is in place and we will notify all staff,
students and parents accordingly.
We look forward to your cooperation in helping us to upkeep a safe and secured environment.
Swee Guat Tan
Head of Administration
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Last year, the school entered an Art competition, organised by the British High Commission, as
a part of the birthday celebrations to honour H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth II. There were 302 entries
to this competition, based around British themes and London landmarks. A work by Vicky Oh
in Y13 was judged to be the overall winner, beating works from many much larger schools. Now
calendars have been printed showing these artworks. They are being offered for sale by the
school priced at RM 25 and all proceeds will go to the High Commission’s designated charities.
Those wishing to purchase these calendars can do so by sending the necessary sum to Ian McGill,
Head of the Arts Faculty.
The photographs show the front of the calendar and Vicky’s winning entry; Alice and the Mad
Hatter’s Tea Party in an unusual venue.
Ian McGill
Head of Faculty Arts
If you have unwanted personal or household items in new or good condition that you would like to donate to charity this New Year, please bring them to the front office before Monday 1st February. The CAS Department has arranged for a collection of these items by a Good Start Learning Centre representative. Mel Cartlidge CAS Coordinator
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It is hard to explain in words just how much effort the USC put into our school proms on a yearly
basis. Experiencing my second Uplandʹs prom I was blown away once again by the vision,
creativity and dedication of the USC team to make the evening special for our secondary
students. Their quirky and stylish table decorations complimented the Alice in Wonderland
theme and the additional decorations which included balloons, giant cards and a tea cup were
well received by our students. I hope the photos included here give you, as parents, a glimpse
of this special school event. As one new student said, ʺ All the girls were wearing beautiful
dresses with flowing skirts and all the boys were wearing smart suits, everyone was looking
fantastic. The food was really delicious. The queue for the photo booth was long, very long,
however it was worth the wait, as everyone wanted their night to be captured in pictures. All
the USC hard work paid off, the Alice in Wonderland decorations were awesome! Thank you
everyone that gave up their time and effort to make Prom 2015 possible. I can’t wait for next
year! It was an amazing experience and memory to treasure.ʺ
Thanks go once again to Aniqah, Dong Joo, Many, Jiawen, Angelica, Ernest, Aishah,
Sharmaine and Chloe, our executive team, as well as all the class reps whose help is essential to
such events. Finally, a thanks to the staff who chaperoned, including Mr Skinner, Mr Bristow,
Ms Bell, Ms Sharpe, Mr MachLachlan, Mr Double, Mr Rose, Mr Waring, Ms Easton, Ms Marshall
and Mr and Mrs Pearson.
Lynsey Collis
USC Teacher Co ordinator
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During our last Secondary Assembly, as part of the Year 10 assembly, two of our Year 9
students gave a presentation on the issue of bullying. As they did such a wonderful job, I
decided to share their presentation with the rest of our community. Please take a few
minutes to see what they did and came up with. Please follow the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLkBVmwMGUk&feature=youtu.be
Thank you Parth and Lucia for being such excellent communicators, being caring
individuals and being risk‐takers as it takes a lot of courage to offer such a presentation in
front of all of secondary! Also, thank you Mr. Macoun for making this video possible.
Kim Derudder
Head of Years 10 and 11.
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A very warm welcome back and best wishes for the New Year. Your committee has been active
since the beginning of this term and has already held its first meeting (Tuesday 19th January)
where we discussed among other things, the proposed UPTA fee increase. Given the high level
of interest and sensitivity on this issue, we have attached a more detailed write up of our
discussion which we hope will help address any concerns you might have. You may also be
interested to hear that following on from our invitation to send the Chairman an email with any
concerns regarding the fee increase, we received a total of 8 i.e. a 2% objection rate, which
confirms the majority are comfortable with the increase. Please see below:
UPTA Fee Increase:
After an extended period of deliberation on the UPTA committee and over a 2 month
consultation period with our members, the Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday 19th to
raise our annual fees to 80MYR per family, to be charged at 40MYR twice a year at the same time
as the school fees.
The reasons for this increase are for the UPTA to be able to carry out its objectives by providing
a channel to:
• Parents to better understand the school
• Foster friendly relationships among its members
• Promote public awareness of Uplands
• Encourage teachers and parents to work together
• Help to improve the school
• Provide financial stability to the UPTA that has lacked in previous years
• Covers annual costs that UPTA occurs running the society
The annual budget for this year was confirmed at 35,000MRY in order to be able to provide the
various events and benefits our members enjoy and to achieve the above whilst fostering a sense
of community at UPLANDS School and helping to integrate the different stakeholders of our
school where possible.
Our membership is a family membership which includes parents/guardians and the students, as
well as teachers. We will be looking to increase this membership in the future, with a change to
our constitution, to also include non‐academic staff and governors too (for now they have been
invited to the events and activities we have run last and this year).
Raising money via school events is not even part of our constitutions which will also need to be
changed in our constitutional review for this year’s AGM. Without an increase in fees we on the
committee will need to be more focused on raising funds from more events rather than helping
the school to improve by spending our voluntary time on important matters like Food and Safety
subcommittees which we are helping the school to set up or join. We strongly feel, as a not for
profit school, it is important the main stakeholders, the parents, have more than just a fund
raising role on the PTA.
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This bi annual fee will be for these objectives only and will not be used to make donations to the
school or other causes. This amount will be ring fenced and can be reviewed annually by each
committee or at our AGMs.
The committee has also unanimously agreed that all funds raised on the school premises, such
as the school fairs, can be donated to help school improvements (to be chosen every year before
Xmas by the committee and UPTA members), that are additional to the schools’ usual
requirements for the staff and students to get something extra they would not otherwise have,
and as a thank you to the school for allowing the UPTA to use the school’s facilities for its various
clubs.
If there are any queries regarding our fee increase, then please do email [email protected] or
come along to the next Coffee meeting to discuss in person if you wish.
Coffee Morning 3rd February
Our first Coffee morning of the year is confirmed for 3rd February at the PARK ROYAL Hotel
in Batu Ferringhi between 8.15am to 10.30am. We hope many parents and teachers can attend
this event to catch up with old friends and meet new members who joined UPLANDS community
in January. This month’s event will also be to celebrate Chinese New Year before our half term
starts, so there will be some Chinese New Year goodies at the event and we look forward to
everyone dressing up or wearing red if possible. Committee members Serena Liu and Roz Wirth
have been extremely busy organising seasonal Arts and Crafts, (photo below) sourcing
decorations and arranging a traditional Chinese Lion Dance for both Parents and Students alike
to enjoy. We hope many can show their appreciation by coming along and supporting this event.
Please RSVP to [email protected]
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Christmas Fair 2015
Committee Treasurer Jen Sheppard has given initial feedback that the Fair was successful, and is
busy making the final tally of accounts. These will be included in the full year statement which
will be released soon. A big thank you to everyone involved is helping this event run smoothly.
UPTA Discounts
Please note the discounts applicable to THAI ODYSSEY have expired to UPTA members for now,
but we will be looking to renew this by next week. We will also announce the full list of vendors
where you can get discounts next week too, by which time we will have hopefully added a couple
of new vendors. For the current list of where your UPLANDS card will give a discount please
refer to our Facebook page or Notice board at school.
UPTA Clubs
We are pleased that Monday night football club and Thursday morning Art and Craft Club have
started again this term in good numbers. If you would like to join these clubs please
email [email protected] and [email protected]
For all other clubs we will update on their status, time and days next week. If there are clubs you
would like the UPTA to support or run, please email [email protected]
Admissions would like to remind families who may be relocating in the near future to take note
of the Schoolʹs withdrawal procedure for refunds. Prior notice, in writing, stating the date and
reason of leaving must be given to the Admissions Office via submission of the online withdrawal
notice form which can be found at the following link:
http://www.uplands.org/school/?page_id=12497
The form must be filled in and received according to the following date for non‐returning
students (School/Boarding):
04th February 2016 for students not returning in April 2016 (Term 3)
The School will send an acknowledgement upon receipt of the Notice of Withdrawal. If you do
not hear from us within three working days of your submission, please contact the
Admissions Office at 04‐8819777 extension 106.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Janie M Y Chung
Admissions
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ISP Uplands New Year Swim Meet Saturday, 23rd January 2016
Penang Japanese School Swim Meet Tuesday 26th January 2016
U13 Boys Basketball @ Tenby Wednesday 27th January 2016
15 Boys Basketball vs POWIIS Wednesday 27th January 2016
FOBISIA Swim Meet @ BIS Phuket 29th ‐ 31st January 2016
Seniors Football/Basketball Invitational Saturday, 30th January 2016
Seniors Football/Basketball Invitational Sunday, 31st January 2016
Mid Term Break – School closed Saturday, 6th – Sunday, 14th February
Year 5 KL residential Wednesday, 24th – Friday, 26th February
Inter‐House Cross Country @ Penang
Botanical Gardens Saturday, 27th February 2016
FOR FULL INFORMATION PLEASE SEE SCHOOL CALENDAR
http://online.uplands.org/calendar/SitePages/Home.aspx
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New Student Orientation Friday, 12th August 2016
Start of Term 1 Monday, 15th August 2016
Mid Term Break Monday‐Friday, 17th‐21st October
End of Term 1 Friday, 16th December 2016
New Student Orientations Monday, 9th January 2017
Start of Term 2 Tuesday, 10th January 2017
Mid Term Break Monday‐Friday, 20th‐24th February 2017
End of Term 2 Friday, 31st March 2017
Start of Term 3 Monday, 17th April 2017
End of Term 3 Friday, 23rd June 2017
New Student Orientation Friday, 11th August 2017
Start of Term 1 Monday, 14th August 2017