Teachers' Day Celebration Gift Galore.

The teachers were feted with many gifts - edible and non edible. See this yummy cupcake but it's too beautiful for us to destroy it by eating.

We had special beautiful printed note books from the prefects and files from the PRS .

En Subramaniam generously gave each teacher a pink cap and he also gave each student a white cap. We will give the white caps to the students during Sports Day.

Many of the gifts were hand made by the students apart from the cupcake. They baked muffins. We also had pillow cases and the Kelab Guru gave us a very creative sewing kit. PIBG was also very generous in sponsoring gifts for every teacher.

This lovely card inspire me to go on working for the school and reminds of the impact we as teachers have in the hearts of our students.

The prefects gave us yellow carnations and red and yellow roses were given also by the students. The flowers are still very fresh a day after the celebrations. Their lingering perfume reminds me of how much you have honored and loved the teachers. Thank you

Teachers' Day Celebration in SMK Convent Sentul

The prefects and many other girls had worked on the decorations the night before under the superb leadership of Pn Mastura and the Prefectorial Board. They worked till 10.45 pm . Such dedication! Such love. Thank you.

The result of their hard work? Very very beautiful twin strands of yellow gold and brown balloons which looked like it was set up by paid professionals but ahem ... I am very proud to report what I found most professional was that this beautiful decor showed the inner beauty of the hearts of the students - their beautiful attitudes of the students in wanting to honor their teachers.

Can I say a few words about

Pn Mastura here? Her dedication and love for the school is awesome! Pn Mastura has been serving in Convent Sentul for the past 22 years! She is the head discipline teacher and she knows how to be firm while being gentle. She is also an excellent BM teacher. The students and teachers totally respect her which is why they willingly worked till 10.45 pm to make sure all was complete and set up for Teachers' Day celebration.

What a glorious day! Even the heavy downpour at 8.20 am did not dampen the mood of the students. Although the students sitting arrangement had to be rearranged, the students were creatively displaced from their usual sitting area.

Now they filled the upper balconies from the lab all around the assembly area to the Form 4 block.

Each student had a bird eye view of the celebration. The rain has forced us to re-think again and given us fresh new ideas . We may use this arrangement next time even when there is no rain because simply more students get a better view.











Apart from the impressive twin balloons strands, the prefects set up a beautiful balloon arch complete with bridal veil. As the MC announced the arrival of each teacher, the prefect escorted the teacher like a pengantin (bride) under the beautiful balloon arch with its bridal veil down the stairs lit with candles to their seat. The choir sang out the reason for the glowing candles. "Guru anda pelita hidup ku."

Such honor! Such pomp.The teachers giggled and laughed and said that even the teachers who were not married yet had now experienced what a bride would experienced on her wedding day. We also had a colour theme as in most Malay weddings. All the teachers wore yellow gold and brown.

Smiling under the balloon bridal arch with 5A girls.

I said this during my speech and I want to say this again.

In my 31 years of teaching and celebrating Teachers' Day, I have not seen such a lavish display of affection, love and honor for teachers! SMK Convent Sentul - You are the BEST! Other schools - don't be jealous, ok?



The performance started with the beautiful Malay dance.

Oh the very energetic Indian dance was not to be missed. You have to be there to catch the energy and their vibrancy. Alternatively, view the video to catch the girls' very flexible hip swaying movements.

The beautiful Chinese ribbon dance. Even though the wet ground made it somewhat difficult for the dancers to move their wet ribbons, these young Chinese dancers were still very pretty to watch.

While the performance was going on in the assembly area, there was a lot of side action - like this one where the students gathered arround their teachers En Lim and Cik Fauziah and had lots of fun photography.

The afternoon teachers performed song and dance with the song " Oh Carol, I am but a fool" We really enjoyed their number.




Of course, the morning teachers were not to be outdone! Ms Ainil led the morning teachers to perform a modern Malay dance. The morning teachers look absolutely stylish in their dark sun glasses and very upbeat dance movements ! Betul betul bergaya.

The play which had En Mazwan and our coy Cik Fauziah enacting a dating scene had us in stitches .


The Form Five students came and performed the beautiful Java dance.

I say this prophetically! With the great pool of creative feminine talents here in SMK Convent Sentul. I think many of our girls will marry very well in the future and become Datin and Datin Seri eventually. Datin Cheam who was an ex Convent Sentul girl and has now returned to serve her alma mater is a fine example of this.

The last item. Our young prefects dressed beautifully in colourful Indian costumes complete with scarves gave us a lovely dance.

The teachers were feted with many gifts. I think I will post the gifts galore on a next blog post. There are just too many photos to post on one single blog.

What touched my heart was a giant Teacher's Day card created by by Ilayavashini Subramaniam from 1C dedicated to all the teachers of SMK Convent Sentul.

Pn Siti Syaheedah proudly shows off the front panel of this card. Ilaya painstakingly pasted shiny white pearls on to flower petals to make this giant heart on the beautiful card.






When we turned the pages, we found more pages decorated with poems and many words to encourage to go on as teachers.

I think the celebration has been a most wonderful event. I am sure, Pn Rose Saidah the YDP PIBG and En Tarmiezi the NYDP PIBG who both graciously attended the event enjoyed it as much as we did.

On behalf of the teachers in SMK Convent Sentul, I would like to say a big thank you to all the students. Thank you girls, thank you prefects for organizing the event, thank you Pn Mastura for your leadership in supervising the girls, thank you parents for your support. Thank you PIBG for your presence and your financial support.

Sounds of happy laughter in SMK Convent Sentul.

Today if you had been in SMK Convent Sentul, you would have heard sounds of happy laughter and whoops and cheers! The sounds of happy laughter is really therapeutic! The reason behind the laughter? Oh we had 1M1S - 1 Murid 1 Sukan games after the Mid year exam for Form 1,2,3 and 4.

Kepik Kacang game. See the happy faces behind as they see their member successfully pick the bean using a pair of chopsticks and drop the bean ( kacang) after carrying it from table 1 to table 2 and then dropping it into the cup.The Form 5 heard the fun but couldn't joined in as the Bahasa Tamil and Bahasa Cina papers were on for a few students but some Form 5 who were not involved in the exam helped out as games coordinators.

You may think it is easy to pick up the bean but I was mobbed by this group of Indian girls who couldn't pick up the bean using the chop sticks. They asked me to demonstrate how to hold the chopsticks - of course it was more or less second nature to a Chinese but this game is good for RIMUP. ( Rancangan Integrasi Murid Untuk Perpaduan or ala 1Malaysia style games)

I can pick up the bean now! No problem! Next time I can eat Chinese food using chopsticks! See this happy Indian girl smile confidently as she showed off how esaily she holds the bean with the pair of chopsticks!

We used every nook and corner to play the games. Indoor and outdoor games were held. See the girls enjoying hockey and rushing for the ball with their hockey sticks.

Nearby other groups played volleyball. Some students confessed it was the first time they held a volleyball.

What drew a lot of laughter was the Sukaneka - telematch games. The guard told me he laughed till he was sakit perut. ( stomach pain)

Jumping the hurdles! Watch me lift and take off!

From jumping hurdles to bursting balloons. The students and teachers who planned this sukaneka track were definitely very creative! Bravo!

Hey! Why can't I burst this balloon? Oh come balloon! I am sitting on you but you are not bursting still!

Shrieks of laughter elapse each time the balloon burst.

This is so funny! I can't stop laughing! Haha!

Watch me bowl in style! Guess what my ten pins are? Bottles filled with sand!

When you are hot and thirsty - head for the Gatorade stall. They give free drinks . Thanks Gatorade!

Your drink is delicious and healthy and best of all it's free!

Happy cheerleaders! Come on , come up keep running!

Inside the classroom - dart players concentrate and throw their darts. The whole class would cheer when one of the darts reached the target! Bull's eye! This happened very now and then. That's what I meant by the sounds of happy laughter!










Another part of the Sukaneka race. throwing the ball into the laundry basket! Bingo! Haha! My ball went in!

So many games were played. From the senamrobics to volleyball to hockey to futsal and netball cum bola baling to modified bowling and darts and kepik kacang and sukaneka!

Wow! I am very sure the many smiles and sounds of happy laughter, the healthy flushed faces were the just rewards for all the Koko (Co curriculum) teachers and students helpers headed by Datin Cheam and aided by Pn Rubiah!

They really worked very hard - from the creative and technical planning to executing all the logistics. Their hard work has made this first time 1M1S event a great success for SMK Convent Sentul! Thank you, students helpers, teachers, Datin Cheam and Pn Rubiah.
And thank you God. Today the weather was perfect - not one drop of rain. Keep smiling!

Reasons for Joy.

On the afternoon of the 13th May 2011, SMK Convent Sentul recieved a very happy pleasant surprise first via an official letter. We have been waiting for this letter since February . Finally SMK Convent Sentul has recieved the candidate to fill the post of the Penolong Kanan Ko Kurikulum which has been vacant since Pn Ong retired. Our new PK Koko is Datin Cheam Swee Har. Welcome to SMK Convent Sentul Datin Cheam! We are delighted with your appointment to our school.

Both Pn Rubiah and me are both greatly relieved at Datin Cheam's appointment. It has not been easy for Pn Rubiah and her team of capable and dedicated teachers - Bong, Raudah, Kamala, Ainil and the rest of the teachers to do the job and to bear the burden of the PK Koko especially during this period of 1M1S.

You all have helped me and Pn Rubiah tremendously but most of all I am happy and grateful because you all have not only just done your job but done it superbly with dedication these few months with a very positive and cheerful spirit! Tahniah and Terima Kasih!

Datin Cheam Swee Har is formerly of SMK Puteri Jaya. She has responded very quickly upon recieving the official letter. She phoned me immediately at about noon and then reported to SMK Convent Sentul at about 3 pm.

I am delighted to report she is an ex-student of Convent Sentul. In fact when I took her on a short school tour, it was a delightful merge of information between us both - a merge of information from the past and the present. I listened enthralled as she told me some lovely history about Convent Sentul and pointed out where some rooms had been changed. Did you know the Principal's room used to be where the Bilik Tetamu is now? The Principal used to monitor the classes and the canteen from the room's window. Isn't that interesting to know? I also got to know that 5 Anggerik was formerly called 5 Science 1 but it is still in the same exact class location.

Datin Cheam holds a M.E.D. in Education Psychology apart from her first degree in Geography and Political Science. I am very assured she is well qualified and will be a strong assest in SMK Convent Sentul to all of us.

A 2nd reason for joy. All new teachers under the program Guru Baharu were required to make a teaching aid (ABM - Alat Bantu Mengajar) to enrich their teaching. Last Friday, one of the new teachers excitedly showed me her teaching aids for Sejarah.

She had several kinds of spices - pepper, cinnamon etc as well several types of grains nicely packaged on a manila cardboard. When she first showed me the teaching aid, I could not understand how it could be used. Then she explained it was for these products that the spice trade routes of Johor were established since Johor was at the confluence of these trade routes. She also had oil in a container and a pretty traditional vase which denote a certain age in history.

What made me really happy was how her eyes sparkled brightly and she smiled happily as she described how the students were so excited yesterday when she brought the teaching aid to class and taught them using the aids . I really hope and pray that teachers young and old in Convent Sentul will continue to prepare teaching aids so that students can understand and enjoy their lessons.

There are many good and dedicated teachers here in SMK Convent Sentul.

I am blessed to be here as Principal. Happy Teachers' day to all the teachers here. We will do our real celebration after the exam finishes.

More about orchestra instruments

Since the visit of the Istana Budaya's Orchestra Simfoni Remaja, I have felt a revival of sorts in music. I reverted back to an old habit of listening to good soothing and inspiring music from my laptop while working which helps to brings down the stress level.

As promised, we will continue your virtual informal education in music on the blog here after your real life encounter with the instruments and the wonderful handsome and beautiful musicians of Istana Budaya. We can't bring back the orchestra to be with you everyday in real life much as we would love to but you can still hear the sounds and remember the instruments for a long time if you reinforce the real learning with the virtual.

Let's do some quick revision. Question 1 .Name these two instruments below. Hint: The first one was something you did not manage to answer correctly when Madam Mayya asked you all at both sessions so it is imperative you must now learn and get to know the name of this instrument.

The colorful diagram above shows how the musicians were arranged by instruments they play. Can you name the instruments from 1 to 14?

The orchestra OSR was also sitting in this arrangement in our school hall except for instrument No 14. If you can name the instruments anytime off hand when I next ask this at assembly, I think you have learned a lot and if I should have an extra gift on hand, I think I should give it to the students who know the answer.

Last question for today - who can name the 4 families of instruments?

I also discovered many good websites which give you the music played by each instrument.
I find the two websites below to be very helpful and interactive. You could trying surfing them.

•http://datadragon.com/education/instruments/winds.shtml

http://library.thinkquest.org/22673/orchestra.html

Happy learning! .

Youth Symphony Orchestra in SMK Convent Sentul.

Today is a very very memorable day in SMK Convent Sentul! The OSR - Orkestra Simfoni Remaja or the Youth Symphony Orchestra came and filled our humble school hall with heavenly music.

Eizaz b. Azhar on the saxophone made us so happy and in a very romantic mood.

The OSR came with 31 musicians from the age of 11 to 50 and many support staff and their famous conductor Madame Mayya Musaeva. Encik Zulkefli Ahmad and his team came twice - once yesterday to survey and arrange the setup of chairs and to sort up the logistics. This morning he came again with two big vans way before the rest of the musicians arrived to set up all the logistics needed for the event! This event would not have been possible if not for the favour of Madame Mayya Musaeva the talented and passionate conductor. I am very sure her presence here rallied the support of so many from Istana Budaya. Thank you Mayya! Thank you Istana Budaya! This event has left a great impact on us in Convent Sentul and we will not forget it.

Mayya Musaeva conducting with passion!

Our girls are simply so delighted by the OSR performance. Awesome! Mesmerizing! Enthralled! These are the words I would use to describe the expressions on my students' faces.

See how much the girls savour each moment of heavenly music. Watch the intensity of their eyes - how focussed they are. They craned their necks, their eyes watched without blinking.
They drink in every moment in full concentration!

See how happy the sea of faces from the students!

Pn Rubiah - thank you for coordinating all the logistics for this concert. Teachers of SMK Convent Sentul, thank you for doing the organizing work to bring such joy and happiness to the students. It is great to work with your support! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!





For many of the students, it was the first time they had witnessed an orchestra at such close range. I hope and pray it will not be the last time they hear and see an orchestra play sweet delightful music. Music indeed for our ears and a feast for our eyes!

I think for many of the student here, this could well mark the begining of their music education.

They saw and heard the difference between the instruments from the smallest member of the strings - the violin to the viola to the cello to the huge double bass.

There were so many happy faces all around me. I am also very very proud of our extremely well behaved girls who did not fidget much but stay seated quietly throughout and enjoyed the entire performance.

Most mesmerizing was beautiful Madame Mayya who conducted with such passion! Just watching the way she conducts makes us understand - here is a lady who loves what she is doing and who do it with all her heart and soul. Thank you Mayya for teaching us how to live life with every fibre of our being and to celebrate it in fulness of our soul!