Major transformations in 6 short weeks of holidays!

This post is long overdue. It should have been written  in  December 2013. But December 2013 was a very hectic period in SMK Convent Sentul, despite it being the year end school holidays. My profuse apologies.

That period was hectic because we were working very hard to get three new classrooms and one new staff room ready for the new academic term in 2014. At the same time, events such as the Holiday Musical program, the Clothes Bank workshop, SPM 2013 exams, teachers transfers etc were taking place concurrently during the school holidays. Many people mistakenly think school holidays are easy lazy, hazy days. Please stand corrected as school holidays is the only period to do major renovations in school without disturbing the pedagogical processes involving teachers and students. However between mid November to 6 December, the contractors would only work on Fridays and weekends since we had to observe silence during the SPM examinations.

To max the holiday period, we persuaded the tenant of the caretaker's house to shift out by mid November so we could have more time. Here she is shown, holding the extra money we paid her to shift out earlier. Father Alan of St Joseph church was very helpful and helped her her out by allowing her to put her furniture in a spare room until she could shift in to her new premise. For old timers of the school, yes, the caretaker's house is no longer there - it has been totally demolished and replaced by 3 beautiful modern classrooms!

This pic shows Mr Lee Geok Ai, our chairman discussing the location of the new classrooms with the contractors. Mr Lee came very often during this period especially during weekends and early in the morning.

When the proposed plans were sent to me, I was very, very pleased. We had hoped for only 1 new classroom, but what was proposed was three modern classrooms."Eyes have not seen nor ears heard what the Lord has prepared" became a reality in the space of 6 short weeks!

The caretaker's house was totally demolished and its bricks used to build the raised platform to cut cost.The surrounding trees were cut down. Many big machines - excavators, cranes and cement mixers were on site to help us race against time. In the following picture, you see the picture of the train passing through in the background. Mr Lee design had to include sound proofing against the frequent trains, heat proofing and various other factors.

See passing train  in background. The  cement is being poured
out by crane and workers level the cement. They worked even during rain!

Slowly but surely the new classrooms took form and structure

.Mr Lee decided to add on more transformations. He also did an entire new covered walkway that led  from the former 5 Mawar classroom in a straight path to the new classrooms instead of the zig zag pattern we used to have.

Of course we also had to do major landscaping to straighten the path. The gardeners and cleaners were kept very busy, uprooting trees that could be replanted.

Students were delighted by the changes taking place.

Meanwhile I had no idea that students were posting on FB on what was been built in the school. Their comments were very encouraging especially in the stretch when we worked very hard. Meanwhile the holiday musical program was carried out over the space of 5 weeks. Our girls received musical training from professional trained pianists in a  NGO INC situated in the nearby Sentul Raya complex.

The two kind pianists who volunteered their services FOC courtesy INC. Their training made a big difference to our girls hearing and pitching. I heard them the first  few session and they could not pitch accuractely. By the time they reached the 5th session, it was sheer delight to hear them sing.

Singing You raise me up

On Dec 2nd 2013,  Dr Cheah Yin Mee, her two sisters and their friends set up the clothes Bank.  Our girls had a field day choosing matching clothes, shoes, belts accessories  and bags. Our girls were beautifully decked from head to toe. Dr Cheah brought in her friend from Singapore to give the girls a professional talk on how to conduct themselves during job interviews. The girls also received an unexpected angpow from Dr Cheah. What a lovely treat!

Filzah and gang choosing clothes

Wei Ning and Ang trying out the clothes for size.

Vinni beautifully decked out.

Dr Cheah handing out angpows

Meanwhile we totally converted the former 4 A classroom into the senior teachers new staff room. We also upgraded, repainted and re-oriented the old staff room to create more space for our dedicated teachers.

The teachers had to pack up their belongings to get ready for the upgrade and the shift into the new rooms.

Packing up to shift

Old cabinets with spoilt doors

New cabinets

The senior teachers new room

The teachers smiling happily in the upgraded.
more spacious old staff room.

Pn Roszam teaching in the new high ceiling, well lit new classroom.

By the way, Mr Lee's friends Ipcos Facade totally sponsored the cost of the framework for the new classrooms. They donated more than RM 50K. Praise God and thank you Ipcos Facade!! Our next job was getting the the school ready with new banners and holistic values for our girls but I will write more about that in the next blog post.

  Now  you know why the holidays was such a hectic period!