Habits of Minds HOMS, Happy Deepavali and Selamat Awal Muharam.

Datin Cheam, PK Koko and Form 1 girls and teachers begining the HOMS murals

The Habits of Minds HOMS murals were drawn by the Form 1 students under the diligent supervision of Datin Cheam and teachers this week. Since I was called out of school unexpectedly to attend  a week long course in IAB Genting, I could not fully participate in this event which I had much looked forward to. However during the evenings when I went down to KL on Monday evening for the  PIBG AJK meeting and then again on Tuesday evening for the  Board of Governors meeting, I caught glimpses of the girls, teachers and Datin Cheam hard at work on the murals.

The completed murals.
Note the girls' input with a creative style of placing the words
at different angles

Painting even in the rain shielded by umbrellas
showed the value of persisting HOMS
was painted not just on the walls
but also in the souls of our girls and teachers.

Striving for accuracy - Bull's eye - girls.

Inter racial thinking independently -
a Malay, a Chinese and an Indian portrayed on the mural.

I sought leave from the course to come to school early on Thursday morning so I could wish all the staff , the workers and students Happy Deepavali, Selamat Awal Muharaam and Happy holidays for the long break. It was also a good time for me to catch up on the finished HOMS murals.

With Maran and Jothi

Ratu(s) Sari for Happy Deepavali - Ms Anne and me.

The Form 5 girls

So a belated Happy Deepavali and a be-early Selamat Awal Muharam. May the Habits of Minds values be engraved not just on walls but also in our minds and souls.

The pianos of SMK Convent Sentul

When I first set my eyes on the piano in SMK Convent Sentul hall, it was a very sorry sight. Lonely and forlorn, it was abused and desecrated as a shelf to place books, bottles and drinks. How did a piano descend to being used as a shelf?  It was wobbly - the base was no longer level and so only unsteady melodies could be eked out as the piano wobbled while being played. The sides paneling were in  bad shape.Many keys were missing or spoilt. It was really a very pathetic sight.

I asked around. "When was the last time you heard this piano being played?" No one remembered. Such a sad answer. I thought through for several months on how it could be restored. To take it out to a shop to repair it would already cost a bomb in transportation without even considering  restoration costs. "Why don't you just buy a new piano? It will be cheaper you know. More practical" a friend suggested.

I didn't understand why exactly but my heart preferred the old  piano restored rather than a brand new piano sitting in the hall. Maybe the idea of restoring and salvaging what was no longer useful struck me as being more noble and romantic. So I continued to ask around to see if anyone could help.

One day Mr Lee Geok Ai, the chairman of the board of governors connected me with Mrs Tang, Jer Fang's mum. She in turn connected me with Mr Lim, a piano master. When the piano master came at about 11 am, he informed me that what we had was, indeed a very old piano of some 65 years. I asked if it could be restored. He hmmed for a while and thought about transporting the heavy piano back to the shop. He said after a long while " If you can get a carpenter here - maybe,maybe I can do something but no guarantees."

Miraculously on that day of all days, I happened to have a visiting carpenter who was there with his aide to repair the school chairs and  tables. ( Most schools do not have visiting carpenters even and for me to have a carpenter on the same day the piano master needed one was really a miracle and God's prearranged coincidence. ) So I called the carpenter and his aide to the school hall and they conferred together with Mr Lim. When the carpenter first stepped foot in the hall and I ushered him to the piano - he protested loudly in Cantonese - " I don't know how to do pianos. I only know how to repair chairs and tables."

Carpenter and aide repairing tables

Mr Lim calmed him down. "First you and your aide help me shift the piano out into the middle of the hall and then we all turn the piano upside down together. Then you level the bottom of the piano so it won't wobble. Later we turn it upright again so I can work on the inside of the piano." They took about an hour before the piano was upright and steady on her legs again. Now Mr Lim dismantled the entire piano and displayed all her innards. He painstakingly worked on each key. The carpenter was instructed to prepare new side panelling while Mr Lim worked with the piano innards.

The operation was performed in full view of the afternoon girls who had begun gathering in the hall for the assembly.However we could not carry out the assembly in the hall as operation piano took a good 4 hours plus plus. When Mr Lim came to give me the bill, he said Mrs Tang reminded him not to charge a lot. Guess the price he charged me for that 4 hours plus plus of real hard work? Only RM400/-. As he gave me the bill,he said cheekily, " Oh, I didn't charge you anything for the free show the afternoon girls had today, watching the piano being restored."

The piano was further improved by frequent tuning and also by varnishing it with dark shellac. Each morning, the girls would play on it before assembly. It brought so much joy and pleasure to hear the sweet melodies. The girls also played it like for about 30 minutes before major school events like speech day or PIBG AGM. Another source of joy was to play it before examinations started . Joyce Tan played it during the PMR exam. It calmed the girls' nerves. Visitors also played on it when they came to the hall.

Joyce at the piano

Michelle Tan playing the piano

Another source of joy the piano gave was the cross cultural informal learning that took place outside class and school times. Often in the afternoon, I would chance upon girls crowding round the old piano. Someone would play and others would just enjoy the music while others learnt. A few days later I would find the learner had been able to tinkle out a similar melody from the piano.

Cross cultural learning around the piano

The piano was also occasionally accompanied by the violin played by Rabiah. Joyce rallied the girls to form a team where the piano was played each morning by someone from the team.

Rabiah and Tay. The violinist and the pianist

Sometime this year, a friend Connie asked me to recommend her a piano master to improve a piano for her children. Of course I recommended Mr Lim, our piano master. When Mr Lim went to tune her piano, he realized the keys were a bit stiff for her young children and he told her so forthrightly. Connie then asked Mr Lim if he would consider buying the piano for studio use since it was not suitable for her children. He was hesitant since the stiff keys would make  it  difficult for young children to play on. So he asked her, "Ma'am, would you like to do something charitable?" Connie asked. "What charitable deeds are you thinking of? " Mr Lim - you know you can donate this piano to SMK Convent Sentul. The girls there are much older and your piano despite its stiffness, is really much better than the piano they currently have."

Ha! So Connie called me and asked if I wanted another piano. Of course my answer was a big YES!!! Actually I and the pianists had wanted another piano for some time. Our grand old dame did have many limitations despite the joy she brought us. In fact  the pianists had asked several  times if I could buy another better  piano for them since they played so very often in school.Connie got Mr Lim to restore the piano beautifully and also had the piano repainted and she got piano movers to send it to our school. The new piano came to us totally FOC!!! Thank you Connie and James Poh and Mr Lim for thinking about our school !!

My girls thought I had spent money buying another piano for them and were very appreciative of it. When I finally tested the keys, I found it not at all stiff so I was a bit surprised and asked Tay - one of our pianists. She laughed and said, " We played so much until it lost its stiffness. Haha!"

Hearing the sweet music each morning reminds me of God's providence and miracles through kind and charitable people. His blessings are ever new!

Pace Program - meeting the mentors the 2nd time

Today is just the second day of school after the 2 week Raya holidays for us in school.         However I saw how eagerly Lae-Hoon Tan from Ernst and Young  scheduled and planned this 2nd visit for the EY mentors to our school. It had been almost a month  since it was quite difficult for the girls to meet with the mentors during the fasting season. The 15 mentors from Ernst & Young led by Lae-Hoon Tan wasted no time and quickly started interacting  with our girls. 

This  2nd time around  was much easier and EY mentors came well prepared with a nice word puzzle activity to help my girls warm up.

It is very good to see my girls grow in confidence and skills. A lot of that is because they experienced the love and care of many in the PACE program. Among those who showered them with care for their mentors from Ernst and Young. I watched animated group discussion take place between mentor and mentees.

Working through the activity sheet - the word puzzle  help the girls search out words on careers and places of work.  This makes the girls focus on what and where they would like to work in the future. Now they could consider various careers. I could really see the EY team came well prepared to help my girls consider various careers possibilities in the future.

It was good to see my girls in very relaxed poses talking in small groups with their mentors. We at SMK Convent Sentul are blessed by the  mentors in Ernst and Young who have taken precious time off their busy corporate work schedule to interact with my girls. Thank you.

Visit to Valley of Hope, Sungei Buloh.

Indian girls singing Mandarin songs? This was our challenge when we discovered that most of the recovered patients at the Valley of Hope's Leprosarium were Chinese and most of our girls were Indian. Oh ..oh......... A very interesting problem indeed. How did we solve it? Read on...!

3rd August 2013 was our 2nd enrichment activity for the North Soil and Chinese girls for the year. My girls were scheduled to visit the Valley of Hope and bring cheer to the residents through gifts and songs. The girls decided to give RM 700/- to purchase adult diapers, new  toiletries and Tupperware for the residents. I was much encouraged when some girls shared about this CSR visit to the Interact Club. It was then I realized my girls did not see the trip as a burden but saw it as an opportunity to bless. Soon Shubiny from the Interact Club approached me to see if the Interact Club could join this CSR trip. The Interactors gave another RM 300/- for the residents.  About 14 Interactors joined this trip.

CS girls with TOD youth at the Valley of Hope

Back to our Chinese songs dilemma - both for the Indian girls,  for the banana Chinese girls and also the banana school principal. The youth from Tabernacle of David, coordinated by Avis Ng printed for us the lyrics of several songs, complete with Chinese characters and Han Yi Pin Yin. We decided wisely to shortlist the song list to one famous popular Mandarin love song - Yue liang dai biao wo de xin ( the moon represents my heart ) and two English songs. We also went to the TOD Valley of Hope FB page and downloaded the YouTube movies. We practiced singing several songs using printed song scripts and everything ICT.

The song learning sessions turned out to be very interactive and fun and not as daunting as we thought it would be. Our girls were very open to cross cultural connections. Many questions about the words and pronunciation  were asked. Soon the Mandarin speaking girls decided they had to help us. Sor Wei Ning and Ng Jia En displayed their leadership in leading us to read the script properly. We read sentence by sentence to enunciate each character properly. Eventually we learnt the meaning of the characters, accompanied by much scribbling on the song scripts. Of course the famous wo ai ni ( I love you )was quickly identified and learnt.

Indian girls singing the Mandarin song from the song script
 while Shubiny enhances her script by writing down
what she hears and understand

The girls had fun learning through the songs. Even girls who were not going for the CSR trip came to learn the songs. The beauty of this learning session for me personally was that finally I learnt the whole song. I have always been an extreme banana Chinese and though I knew the tune of Yue liang dai biao wo de xin, I did not know the meaning of each character and had never been able to sing the song.  I now can sing this song from memory without referring to any script. I do hope this learning is permanent.

I heard my girls did Convent Sentul proud at the Valley of Hope. Several Interactors dressed in their Interact T shirt. I also heard they sang other songs - like Rasa Sayang upon the request of the residents. I also heard they met Indian residents and the Indian residents were very cheered to have conversation with my girls. The 1Malaysia spirit is well and alive in Convent Sentul!

Selamat Hari Raya dan selamat bercuti

To all Muslim teachers, staff and students,
Selamat Hari Raya Puasa.
















To all teachers, staff and students selamat bercuti - happy holidays

To all SPM and PMR students, use the 2 week break fruitfully to celebrate and also to revise.

God bless all of you

Regards

Pn Tan Tee Hwa

School is open on the 25 June 2013

Dear all students, teachers, parents and stakeholders,

School will re-open tomorrow 25 June 2013. Please refer to the sms from Haji Juahir who is the Vice President of the School Principals association. ( NYDP Majlis Pengetua KL)

I hope this clears the air for all of us who were confused by earlier announcements. We also pray the air clear physically. Please come to school with masks. See you tomorrow.

Regards

Pn Tan

Dear all students, teachers, parents and stakeholders of SMK Convent Sentul,

According to the Star on Line, all schools in KL and PJ will be closed tomorrow due to the worsening haze situation.

The school office will be opened at office hours. For subsequent days, kindly follow the news on TV.

Thank you. Have a good holiday.

Pn Tan

The LEE GEOK AI Computer Lab  was officially opened on 20 April 2013. We, in of SMK Convent Sentul accord this honor of renaming the computer lab. the Makmal Komputer LEE GEOK AI  in view of Mr Lee's many many contributions to our school. His sterling leadership as the Chairman of the Board of Governors, particularly in spearheading the solicitation of funds for the school computer lab was the main reason  for the set-up of  the new computer lab. Mr Lee Geok Ai has been re-elected Chairman of the Board of Governors  for the third term running.

We also had the honor of meeting many generous sponsors of SMK Convent Sentul for the first time when they came to celebrate this auspicious event together with us.

The first 23 sponsors as of 9 July 2011

but the final target was reached in September 2011

Ms Anne escorting in our much awaited guests -
 Mr Lee Geok Ai, Chairman of the Board of Governors,
Mr Teo and Mr Paul Lim of Inta Bina.

Standing left to right
Mr Yap, Mr Steven Gan, Mr Jeremy, Mr Terence, Mr Teo, Mr KC Tang, Mr Paul Lim
Seated left to right: Pn Tan, Pn Rose, Mr Lee, Sister Luke, Pn Zaini

The corsage being pinned on Mr Teo

The corsage being pinned on Mr Yap Kok Keong

Pang Jin Ling meeting Mr Paul Lim of Inta Bina

Mr Yap Kok Keong signing the guest book.

Pn Rose Ismail , YDP PIBG and guests witnessed
the unveiling of the marble plaque

Guests clapping as the gimmick is launched

Students waiting to show their ICT skills

We were delighted with the students' creative ICT skills. We viewed lovely and encouraging movies made by our students under the supervision of teachers. The students showed the computer animation games they had developed. Some showed how they maintained blogs. Some showed how they used ICT for lessons.

Below are some snippets of the movies done by the students. I am unable to upload them currently as they are quite heavy. The first section of the snippets are from the movie produced by the students under the supervision of Pn Fitri and Pn Harnida.

The credit for the movie for Hari Anugerah Cemerlang 2013
which showed the highlights of 2012 goes to ......

Happy in work and play

The heart of education is the education of the heart.

The following snippets are from the movie GlimpseofCS.wmv done by JazLyn Tan and Diana from 5 Bakawali 2013. They went around the school,  took photos and videos and interviewed a wide spectrum of students and  teachers.

Happy CS girls in co-curricular uniform.

Happy teachers in the canteen
Pn Hasnta, Cik Arpannah, Pn Raudah, Pn Wan Hasnorain

Happy CS students

Principal Tan Tee Hwa

I wish to thank all the teachers and students who have worked very hard to make this event a great success. Pn Harnida, Pn Sarah, Pn Fitri and the computer teachers were very passionate in training the students and developing their computer skills. Of special mention is Pn Vasantha who came up with the brilliant idea of honoring Mr Lee by renaming the computer lab the Makmal Komputer Lee Geok Ai.  Another teacher of special mention is Pn Wang Jok Kheng who persuaded her husband Mr Chew Hwa to generously donate the beautiful shiny black marble plaque used to officially name the lab. All the teachers and students worked very hard to make two major events on the 20th April 2013  - the Hari Anugerah Cemerlang 2013 and the official opening of the Makmal Komputer great successes. Thank you!!!

Colourful shoes in Convent Sentul during PACE .

The Edge Education Foundation, Ernst & Young and Taylor's University signed an MOU on the 22 Feb 2013 in Taylor's University Lakeside Campus to launch a pilot project under PACE (Programme for After Class Enrichment). SMK Convent Sentul is one of the schools in this pilot project. In this PACE programme, 15 Taylor's Business School students and their lecturers come to our school on gazetted Tuesday and Thursday from April to November 2013 to help  22 selected Form 1 students acquire skills in Mathematics and English.They will conduct activities to help students understand the teachers' lessons.

The colourful shoes of the Taylor's Business School 
students and lecturers arranged neatly outside 
the SAL room in SMK Convent Sentul.

Lecturer Chandra supervising 
his Taylor's students helping our girls.

PACE officially began on 23rd April 2013 in the SAL room. Our students revel in the attention given to them to help them understand and catch up on their studies. The school selected 3 teachers to provide tuition in B. Melayu, English and Mathematics on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. The tuition and lunch for PACE students are sponsored by Kuala Lumpur Kepong. We are truly blessed to be selected to participate in this pilot intervention program! Thank you Kuala Lumpur Kepong for the generous sponsorship. 

Prior to the  actual activities starting in the SAL room, our students and their parents were taken to Ernst and Young's posh office in Damansara on the 12 April for their first briefing and an eye opening tour of the E&Y office! Our students and their parents, 3 teachers and I attended the event and were treated to a great meal and given goodie bags to bring home! This wonderful visit cum briefing was made a happy success by Lae Hoon Tan and Dorothy Teoh's careful and fast paced coordination. Thank you Lae Hoon and Dorothy!!!

Dorothy from the Edge Education Foundation

This week, our students enjoyed another treat. Kuala Lumpur Kepong sponsored students and chaperoning teachers to watch a play at KL PAC. Each ticket cost RM 125/- each! Wow! All in all for two nights 37 students and teachers enjoyed this treat. We truly appreciate this!

The girls will also be taken on an educational visit to an oil palm plantation and plant owned by the sponsor KLK in the months to come. The school and I look forward to the positive impact that PACE will have on SMK Convent Sentul Form 1 students.