Sports Day Celebration.

We just celebrated Sports Day! Such a canival of colours. Such an very energizing fiesta. We were graced with the presence of our VVIP guest of honor Dato' Ku Chin Wah, Ketua Siasatan Jenayah, Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontijen, Kuala Lumpur. Dato' Ku was very gracious. He gave us insightful remarks in the students' march past performance. He was so very interested in the track events that he didn't mind delaying his breakfast break. When he left the event, he greatly encouraged our students by addressing several  of them personally by name. We trust that Dato'Ku enjoyed the event as much as we enjoyed his gracious presence.



The girls practicing early in the morning.
I like their colourful caps.

Pius girls shows off their banner.



Anne House had a butterfly and very interesting banners



But Vincent decoration was the best (according to the judges)
Of course I know all other house members will disagree.



Anne girls were so happy!



Martha house girls showing off their awesome banner .

I like Pius yellow and black balloons!

You have to be there to feel the energy.
Maybe the video will give you an idea of how  enthusiasticthe girls were.

Vincent cheer.

And the weather was just beautiful. Early in the morning, it threatened to rain and a few drops of rain did fall on us. I heard Datin Cheam praying hard. Her prayer went like this. "Lord, this is my first Sports Day as PK Koko in Convent Sentul - please don't let it rain." Than Ms Anne prayed. ( Ms Anne is due to retire next April) " Lord, this is going to be my last Sports Day in Convent Sentul. Please don't let it rain." I am very sure that many others also prayed. But just between Datin Cheam and Ms Anne, God must have been very hard pressed to grant us their requests and we had just beautiful weather - sunny and at many moments cloudy with plenty of wind to cool all of us.


I am sure you have seen a particular  parent videoing the Sports Day. Mr Tony Ng Keng is a professional and he has very kindly has uploaded his video of our sports Day on Youtube. Please go to the following link to watch the whole  video. Enjoy. Thank you so much Mr. Tony Ng. Enjoy his workmanship and contribution of love.

http://youtu.be/Coi1HlPiYDs





You are the reason

Sometimes it can be a very long tiring day in school but whenever I get out from my room and go on my rounds, I am reminded of the main reason why I am in school. It's all too easy to forget in the midst of signing cheques,teachers' record books and other adminstrative work that is neccasary for school, the real  reason why I have chosen to be in school.

You are the reason why I have chosen to serve in school and not anywhere else. The happy faces and voices of students, be they studying or doing experiments, having fun learning something in and out of class make me happy and energize me.



The happy faces of students in 4 Bakawali showing off
their newly decorated notice board to match the
newly painted classroom' pink walls.



Happy faces cheer the teachers on.

Students under the care of Pn Vasantha.





Michelle smiles as she masters her
Physics Peka experiment



Michelle reads the ammeter with ease. Can you?



Nice salute- not just  with your hands but also with your eyes.

 


Sometimes its not just their hand movements.
Observe how much effort the girls put to make sure
 their legs are stretched out straight.

Now I have come to realize it's the simple things in life - like your smiles, seeing how you students learn in and out of the class under the loving supervision of the teachers - that makes all the hard work worthwhile.
Keep smiling!!!



The joy of a Principal - excellent teachers in the school!

Excellent teachers who love the school and the students are a source of joy to any principal including this one. I am just so blessed to have the service of many excellent teachers amongst my staff. Today I want to highlight two excellent teachers.

Despite personal challenges, this ex-student who has returned as a teacher to Convent Sentul, Fitri Yanti Bt Abdul Jalil works with joy and cheerfulness. She is always full of initiative! Whenever she is assigned with any task, she will persevere and tries her best to find the best and right way to do this task. She will search for information from the internet and make phone calls etcetera until she finds the proper way to carry out the task.

Fitri Yanti Bt Abdul Jalil excitedly holding up a
model made by her student

Fitri  has taken student centered learning  up one notch.  There is a difficult but important topic in Form 1 Mathematics called Solid Geometry. This topic is somewhat abstract as students have to draw the net or layout of a given geometry shape. Most of the students are not able to draw the net because they cannot  visualize the net from the geometrical shapes given. To help them master the topic, she tried the hands-on approach.

The treasure box of many more models made by Fitri's mathematics students.

Pyramids and cubes and ... even ribbons to decorate.

Fitri has motivated her Maths students to draw the designs on the straw board or coloured papers then cut and fold along specific lines to create a particular solid and to progress step by step from paper design to the real geometrical shapes. Students had fun time making the geometrical shapes and opening the shapes in different methods to form various shapes of the net of a given geometrical shape. She excitedly brought a whole big box of the students’ productions

Fitri Yanti  is not only passionate about Mathematics but as head of the Science Department, she motivated her Biology students HoYoon Yin, Pang Jing Xian and Pavitra in 5 Bakawali  to produce a large size colorful model of the DNA helical structure.
 

Colourful Double Helix DNA Model



Close up

The students who made this fantastic DNA model! 

Learn the names of the different bonds

Another outstanding teacher is Cik Ainil Shahnaz Binti Muhamad Sham. She is much loved by students and teachers. This pretty lady often lead us in senamrobics with the ease and style of a professional. She is a favourite teacher of many students.

Ainil leading the school in Senam Robics during
our Cross Country event in Tasik Titiwangsa.

Her father’s success as a King ‘s Scout has inspired Ainil to join the Girl’s Guides. Holding on to her personal principle  "Never give up easily" and "It is not the end of the world " helped Ainil soldier on when she lost hope of becoming a Queen’s Guide. Nevertheless she continues to share her expertise to help aspiring Queen’s Guides.

Ainil with her happy girl guides buddies in Penang

 

Ainil has represented the Girl Guides of Malayisa to  countless events. Just in the year of 2008, she attended   the 2^nd Asian Youth Forum in Gwang Ju, Korea for 5 days as well as participated in the help mission to Cambodia  and also represented Malaysia Girl’s Guides to the Juliet Low’s Seminar in the World Guide’s Guides event  in Switzerland for 10 days. She helped out in Padang, Indonesia on 2010 during their crisis. She has received many awards in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Ainil recieving the Pingat Jasa from Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor

 This year she has done the school proud  by being nominated to receive the Pingat Jasa, an award given only  by the Queen or the First Lady, Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor herself during the Girls’ Guides AGM in Penang. This award is reserved for  those who have contributed greatly to the Girls’ Guide movement. Coincidentally, Ainil also recieved the APC Anugerah Perkhidmatan Cemerlang this year in school. Congratulations Ainil for the double honor conferred both by the school and the nation.

So.....  it is indeed an honour for me to serve Convent Sentul together with so many excellent teachers in our midst.



Everyday the school looks different.

The awnings from both sides of the Form 3 classrooms to the hall are up. This provides more shade and shelter from the rain when the students move to the hall.

This new awning is much longer compared to the previous awning so the students will not get drenched while walking to the hall during rain.

The view from the hall shows the transparent but strong plastic mounted all along the top sides of the stairs leading to the canteen.

The students and teachers will be sheltered from the wind and the rain when they walk to the canteen.

The two sinks near the KH bengkel have been repaired.

Of course I love most to see the colour changes taking place as the painters begin to touch up the vertical pillars with the terraccota colours.

The front porch is almost ready.

The painters are working on the vertical pillars today and doing the final touches.

New Colours, new school term and a new season!

Pretty in pink!. These are the terms I would use to describe the new colours of SMK Convent Sentul. And it is really great timing that these new colours have come in, just in time for our new school term. Convent Sentul, we have been adorned with new colours for a new school term and a new season in life! Praise God for a new season and new colours!

We actually tried very hard to secure sponsors for the painting of the main front façade earlier but somehow despite this project being one of our primary priorities, our efforts just didn’t gel. But we didn’t give up on our dream and persevere on. We held on to our dream of wanting the school to be beautiful and to create a conducive environment for you all to study in. Through the concerted efforts of Mr. Jason who also had earlier sponsored the painters’ salaries of the school hall, we finally managed to contact three companies who responded to our appeals for change.

These three companies rose to the occasion and rescued SMK Convent Sentul from the drudgery and the drabness of the old and if I may add, the peeling paint of the old façade. By their kind sponsorship, they gave us a fresh new beginning by giving us a fresh new look. Thank you so very much!











Our kind sponsors are Pembenaan Leow Tuck Chui & Sons Sdn Bhd. from Jalan Pahang, Sin Seong Hin Sdn Bhd and First City Construction & Trading Sdn Bhd, both from nearby Bandar Menjalara. Once again to all three companies involved, on behalf of the whole school, I wish to express our grateful thanks to you for helping us make the transition from the old to the new by your timely sponsorship.


We also want to thank Mr Robert Lim for giving us a big discount off the price for the painting and for painting more areas than we actually paid for. He coordinated his painters to work overtime on many days, often till 10 pm.




It is only because these companies and their staff were willing to respond quickly and immediately that the bulk of the painting project could be completed before the new school term begins. Painting of the exterior is definitely more complicated. The walls had to be jet sprayed to remove the peeling layers of paint and clean them. A white base coat of paint had to be applied. We had some challenging weather this week and we had to ensure the base coat was dry before applying the colourworks. The painters used long ladders, scaffolding and all sorts of technology and gadgets.



Girls and staff, we must also learn from the example of these fine people to work quickly, promptly, innovatively so that we can meet deadlines. Respond immediately and work overtime if necessary to meet set deadlines. Procrastination is not good. Get rid of the esok, lusa mentality!!! Just in case we forget what the walls used to look like; you need to compare the old and the new so that you appreciate the new.

To fully embrace the new season for the school and for yourself, you need to work HARD just like all the examples named above. Some of you need to jet spray off some long accumulated debris and bad habits in your heart and mind. Others may need to apply a fresh base coat.

Let the change of colours in the school usher you too, through a change of season in your heart and your mind. It is pretty awesome to me that the upgrading works especially the timing has been orchestrated by God so that you will have new colours in school for a new season in life and for a new school term.


So..... respond and change and walk into a brand new season of your life!

Excellent in service.

This morning I read the wise words of King Solomon in Proverbs 22 and 23. It was very coincidental that today’s reading reminded me so much what happened these past two weeks of very intense renovation and upgrading works in the school .

He who has a generous eye will be blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor.

When I read this, I thought of Suntrack Development Sdn Bhd. This company has generously contributed more than RM 30K this year to SMK Convent Sentul through fully sponsoring the newly built drains, awnings, repairs of the cement floors in 6 classes and many other sundry repairs in our school. They definitely have a generous eye towards our school and while we are not able to financially bless them yet, God has blessed this company. How so??
.

Yesterday in the Star Metro, I saw Suntrack Development Sdn Bhd being highlighted for their five-star award during the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2011 in association with Bloomberg Television. Their award was in the category of Best Development – Multiple units in Malaysia for their current project on Summerglades at Perdana Lakeview West, Cyberjaya. The award was presented at a high profile gala to

at a presentation dinner at the Longemont Hotel, Shanghai on May 31st 2011

The handsome young man in the picture receiving the award in Shanghai is none other than Mr. James Tan, the Project Director of Suntrack, whom I had mentioned in earlier blogs. He has sweated much as he walked about Convent Sentul countless times to evaluate and plan about what could be done to improve the school. Shortly after he returned from Shanghai, he again came to the school to personally check on the progress of the work and the quality of the upgrading.

Similarly I am very impressed by the same commitment of excellence and leadership seen in the chairman of our board of Governors,Mr Lee Geok Ai. Often, unbeknown to me and others in the school, this quiet gentleman would come to the school to check on what needs to be done and how he can improve the school.

Last Tuesday in the late evening, Mr Lee dropped in to check on the progress of the upgrading works. He checked the paintings and then follow-up with coordinating with the both internal and external paint contractors to ensure the quality of the paint jobs. His comment led the painters to use this interesting gadget- the protimeter.

It has two little electrodes. We placed the two electrodes in the newly painted white base coat of the school walls to check on the moisture content. The little green light indicates moisture content at the value of 8 in the green zone. The green zone indicates the moisture content is low enough and good to begin painting the next coat. I had a bit of fun when the painter planted the electrodes into his bare skin and immediately the reading shot up to the red zone because our body has very high moisture content.

Mr. Lee checked the drains, the ceilings, the awnings etc. He saw things I didn’t see – the plumbing that needed to be done. On Friday evening, he sent two plumbers to the school and they immediately replaced a faulty sink at the canteen. Can you see the price tag on the newly purchased sink still sticking out from the hose? The two plumbers also promptly repaired the double sinks at the back of the KH workshop as well as the leaking storage tanks above the toilets.

How blessed we are to have Mr. Lee Geok Ai’s faithful and quiet service, his generosity and his sure leadership in the Board of Governors in SMK Convent Sentul

When I see both James and Mr Lee’s commitment and excellence to their work both professionally and also in charitable causes like our school, another verse in Proverbs 22 comes to mind.

Do you see a man who excels in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before unknown men.

Teachers and students, the main reason why I write this is to inspire and to remind you to grow up to become five star ***** men and women of quality, of commitment and excellence to tackle whatsoever jobs you are assigned to do. Your work for men and for God should commensurate with the level of five-stars awards. It really doesn’t matter if the job has payment like, for your salary or whether it is for charity. You should NOT do one any less professionally as the other. If you want to stand before kings, let your work be five stars quality.

This one thing I know with great surety.

God is a very good accountant and a very good paymaster! He owes no man anything!!

I have so often experienced how God has paid me very well for service and love I rendered, way beyond whatever I have ever put in. So ..... be excellent in your service!!! Aim for five-stars awards *****

In the midst of changes

Coming to school each day of this holidays has been quite exciting! Why? I never quite know what changes to expect after one night's lapse.

There are now 5 teams of guys at work in the school simultaneously The drains team, the awning team, the internal painting team, the ceiling team and lastly the external painting team.

The drains team have almost finished their work. The heavy downpour yesterday was a good test to the drainage system. There are still some issues to be addressed but overall the flooding problem looks resolved.

The awnings team is in the midst of fixing the metal frames. The transparent rain shelters near the canteen walkway is up and looks good.

We debated for a while whether to do up the ceilings fo the ERT and GK room. The ceilings were made up of small wooden panels. Each time someone walked upstairs, a layer of dust would seep through the small holes in the joints betwee the wooden panels and descend on the students and teachers below. If we were to postpone this, we would have to wait till next year to do anything here because it would be difficult to find willing workers during the Raya hols. After that during the next hols, the SPM would be on during the year end examinations and we needed the school to be quiet during the exam period. So we decided we would do it immediately.

However we are really glad we made that decision. The ceiling team for the ERT and the GK's rooms were the most impressive! They came and took measurements. Then with a team of 3 workers and supervisor, they worked all day till 9+ pm one night and transformed the ceilings above. My office staff were really impressed at the transformation once the ceilings were in place. It look very neat and it was done very quickly.






After the ceiling team were done with the rooms, the internal painting team came and changed the colour from green to paint.

On the next post, we will report the progress of the painting of the external facade.

Change in the midst of changes.

Men at work while you holiday

On regular school days, SMK Convent Sentul is usually filled with female sounds and sightings except for our 4 gentlemen teachers and En Najib, En Maran and our guards. This holiday, the scenario is quite reversed.

Here we have Agus and his team - 2 guys and 2 ladies working on the drains. The entire team looks very fit physically and would do any gym instructor proud for their work is their work out area. Each morning, they start work quite early and work very quietly and independently.

We were surprised by the mountain load of things that preceded the arrival of the workers. Bricks, sand, cement, drains, pipes etc. We females have little inkling of the labour and the materials required in building new drain outlets.

The pipes and the drain covers.







First the digging. They enlarged the drain pool near the toilets and dug the passage for the new drain all the way to the main culvert.

Was this neccasary? Very much. I have taken plenty of photos and videos during rainstorms personally. I know this area floods very quickly when it rains heavily and for the safety of the students and the school, this is very neccasary.

Thank you Suntrack Development Sdn Bhd. Thank you, James Tan who visited Convent Sentul many times and sweated as he walked through all the areas where we have problems. James studied the actual locations and thought through how to solve the problems faced by the school. James and his team, Shawn and Drain Ah Soh and gang and now Agus and gang made sure the new drains became a reality for the safety of the students.

For the information of the students, parents and teachers and other interested parties, Suntrack sponsored fully every part of the drain project as well as the awning project and the repairs on the cement floor of the classrooms. Thank you Suntrack. May God's blessings rain richly on you James and on Suntrack Development Sdn Bhd.

The enlarged drain pool and the drain bottom covers.

Agus and team had good ideas - this must been prompted by Shawn, their supervisor. They filled the low lying field next to the KH block with the sand from the dug outs. This low lying field often resembles a swimming pool during heavy rain - it literally fills up with water since the water flow used to be not as efficient as it should be.















Laying the drain covers in.

Patching the cement floors in the classrooms. Can you see the size of the holes? Can you imagine how many times people must have stumbled over these holes?
Thank God they are now being filled.

Another team of 6 painters superivised by Mr Yai worked on the interior of the classrooms. They painted first the ceiling and then the walls changed from a dull green to a cheery pink.

See the transformation!

The yellow noticeboards and doors will be painted brown.

This major painting project of 22 rooms ( 18 classrooms plus the interior of our main entry to the office and the bilik GK and the Home Science Room) is made possible by the efforts of Mr Lee Geok Ai, the Chairman of the Board of Govenors of SMK Convent Sentul.
 Mr Lee initiated and made sure that the project of beautifying the interior of the classrooms was carried out so that students could have a conducive environment to study in. Mr Lee took the project all the way from the first step of suggesting it to making sure it will be completed in time before the new school term begins.  Mr. Lee also enlisted the contribution of a very kind donor Dato' Ng Hook of Engtex Group for sponsoring all paints needed for the 22 rooms from Jotun. Mr Lee also motivated several parents of Form 1 and Form 2 students to help pay for some part of  the labour charges whilst he covered the balance of all remaining cost of this project. He also helped the school coordinate the work through Mr Yai that all this would happen during the 2 weeks holiday in May. Thank you Mr Lee, Dato' Ng Hook and parents for your contributions.

This 2 week holiday period is very crucial to us in school. The next holiday will be in September during the Raya break where it will be hard to find workers to work and after that, the next holiday will be the year-end holiday and renovation works of any sort will disturb the concentration of the SPM students. So both James Tan and Mr Lee made it their priority to get materials and workers to work on the school during this crucial window period.
See the transformation-before and after.






















.We trust that students and teachers will know how to treasure all the upgrading efforts paid for by our generous sponsors.

The latticed door - nicely painted

Students and teachers, just as the school is being upgraded at considerable efforts and cost, we must respond by upgrading ourselves in skills, competency and in our integrity so that the beauty of our souls can match the beauty of our classrooms. Just as James and Mr Lee made it their priority to do the projects according to the school holiday, we must also learn to reschedule our lives and its activities according to the right timing. When we respond correctly, God will know how to add more blessings into our lives.

We will post the more of the school's transformation on the next post.

Exciting things are coming up for the school!