Hari Anugerah Kokurikulum dan Ambang Kemerdekaan 2011

Our twin celebrations was graciously officiated by Datuk A.Chandrakumanan. He launched the event by his opening speech and executing an exciting gimmick which involved adding several spoons full of a certain chemical to plain drinking water and hey presto! - The smoke and heat from the vigorous reaction drew spontaneous applause and wide-eyed wonder from  teachers and students alike.


Datuk A. Chandrakumanan launching the twin
Hari Anugerah Kokurikulum and Ambang Kemerdekaan
Celebrations in SMK Convent Sentul ,K.L.



Dr. Dominic Lau Hoe Chai also graced the occasion with his presence. It was quite obvious to all that Dr.Dominic was very intrigued by the experiment that he, Datuk and YDP PIBG Pn Rose Saidah performed to launch the ceremony. You could almost see the wonder and thinking that was going through his mind as he tried to identify the chemical reactions.

I was touched by Datuk A. Chandrakumanan's genuine and spontaneous concern when one of our students tripped and almost fell during the awards ceremony. He comforted the student and gently reminded her to slow down and that her safety was more important than the award ceremony.

Pn Rose Saidah, our beautiful YDP of PIBG is one very precious jewel. She always makes it her top priority to be with us in all major school celebrations. (She also sits through our discipline meetings.!!) I am impressed by her willingness to serve the entire community of the school regardless of race and religion.  I was further touched by her graciousness when she who was fasting during this holy month insisted on sitting down together with us to accompany  our VIP to a meal. She displayed great strength and maturity in facing temptation but not giving in at all. Thank you Pn. Rose !!

All three VIPs were very gracious and I  enjoyed their presence very much. Their graciousness reminded me of  a  line in a favourite poem IF by Rudyard Kipling.

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;

Girls, one day some of you will grow to be VVIPs. Remember to .... never lose your virtue and learn to be able to walk with kings and with common men with the same graciousness. Be humble as these important gentlemen and lady were humble, and learn to walk and talk with both kings and common folks with the same graciousness.



The colours of Malaysia - 3 different experiments executed by
girls of 3 different races showing 3 different colours 
and the last experiment and colour by
our VIPs of 3 different races too.
Malaysia - truly Asia!

 

Iffah doing the experiment which changed from

colourless solution to a bright yellow precipitate.

What do you think these 4 colours were trying to telling us??
You are right! The colours of the Jalur Gemilang.
Red, yellow, blue and white.

See how happy and how creative our girls are.
Notice the Jalur Gemilang creatively stitched
into a smart blazer.

Our beauties dressed in 1 Malaysia multi-cultural costumes.

Our talented afternoon girls performing
a very fun and spirited song and dance item

The happy audience waving their flags and
singing patriotic songs.
Najiha, Nuraina, Atikah and Shikin in foreground
with the Jalur Gemilang.


Happy Birthday Malaysia! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!!
and Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri  to all our Muslim friends, teachers,
staff, students, parents and community.
Maaf Zahir dan Batin
Happy Holidays everybody!





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Fun Learning in 5 Mawar 2011

Adding calcium to water.

We  did a kinda magic science lesson in 5 Mawar today. It was fun both for the girls and me and yet I can see they revised and recap their learning about the reactivity series through teh fun experiments we had.




Clear water has turned chalky white and become an alkali

 


Our version of air bandung experiment where the phenoltalein
turns pink in an alkali


                              Then we did a second experiment where it looked like we made water turn to Ribena syrup and back again to water. and then back again to Ribena syrup.

It may look like magic but its actually science using acids, alkali and indicator. Go ask 5 Mawar girls for the answer. Learning must be fun!

Minor miracle, major operation.

Today we saw a minor miracle and a major operation in school. No - not to worry, it was not on a student but it was truly a major operation on our ancient piano. Some blog posts ago, I mentioned I heard a afternoon student coax Titanic's theme song melodically out of it, despite it's many missing keys. That gave me some hope that maybe, just maybe the piano could be restored. However I didn't know what the cost would be and how major a project it could be. Just thinking about shifting the piano out of the hall already looked very very difficult, given our non-friendly to the disabled  stairs at every turn.



Shortly after hearing our piano's music, I had the blessed opportunity to visit two very lovely schools in Singapore -North Light School and Methodist Girls School in Blackmore Drive. Thank you North Light School and MGS for the rich hospitality and the opportunity to learn, ask and see so many things first hand. We ( 3 school principals and 2 VP's from Malaysian schools) were fed and feted like VIPs and given many materials so we could upgrade our schools.



In MGS, I saw a piano in the canteen. When I queried the VP, Mr Tan informed me the piano was for the students to play during recess so they could de-stress. Then, in their hall I saw a grand piano and up on the gallery I saw another keyboard. For your information, MGS has their own orchestra and also a lovely handbells choir and a guitar ensemble, all played skillfully by the girls in MGS. I saw several other pianos and keyboards in other rooms. I stopped counting pianos and keyboards when I entered the music room which was filled with probably like 30 ++ keyboards.


I came back from Singapore with an awareness we were far behind our neigbours in the field of education and especially in music, we were far far behind. That visit left a deep longing in my heart to try to put some music in the school. So I began thinking..... and thinking aloud. So I voiced out the piano issue to Mr Lee Geok Ai, the Chairman of our Board of Governors and he told me he would look into it and gave me some contacts.

Last week, I was delighted when Jeremy Yap, our kind electrician fixing up the lab allowed me to borrow his electrician to repair our organ keyboard in the SAL room. It is now restored.  Step 1 towards music n the school! La la la..!


Back to our piano story. The piano master Mr Lim who was a friend of Rachel, who was a friend of Jesse Law, ( one of our student's parents ) who is related to Mr Lee Geok Ai, came to the school today with his suitcase of equipment. Talk about connections!!  Mr Lim at first told me the possible bad news - he probably would not be able to tune the piano to the standard required given its age. I found out our piano is 61 years old. and the make is Robertsons. Awesome! We have heritage in our school!



Mr Lim also mentioned about neccasary carpentry work. Some wheels were missing and we had propped all sort of things to prevent the piano from "goyang". The side panels were also loose and partially separated from each other. The  wooden panel above the pedals was totally stuck. Of course there were many missing keys. And so many sticky keys! Girls - please read the following excerpt so we will no longer have sticky keys!

What Mr Lim didn't  anticipate was we actually had a carpenter on call in school today of all days. The carpenter and his aide happened to be  in school as of yesterday, repairing all the chairs that had come apart or were threatening to come apart, again courtesy of Mr Lee. So I asked the carpenter and his aide to come in and to take a look and see if he could do what Mr Lim asked. As the piano master proceeded to dismantle the piano to show the problem to the carpenter, he had a brain wave! He told him, "I will open up the whole piano and you repair all the wooden stuff before we put it back together again. "Mr Lim actually thought the carpenter was our resident carpenter and not our visiting carpenter! Talk about good timing - only God can arrange it so well!



So the three strong men proceeded to turn the entire piano upside down so that the carpenter could take off the spoilt wheels and replace with a flat base so the piano would no longer shake and totter from side to side. I  phoned  our workers to come in with cloths and the vacuum cleaner.  Whole sections of keys were dismantled and placed on our stage. At this time, the afternoon students came into the hall for their assembly and many of them viewed the entire operation from a safe distance. The piano master chuckled and informed he would only charge me for the repairs but not for the show.( the live demo of how to restore a piano).

My only regret today is that I did not take any photos of the whole exciting procedure! Sorry lah! Why? Simply because I was running between chairing two important meetings in school, liasing the carpenter and aide and piano master and workers  and teachers and prefects as well as an unexpected visit from a official from PPWS and also painter and aide for the IT lab as other happenings. So you have to be satisfied with the pics from the internet.



Fast forward 4 hours later. When I next went into the hall after the two meetings, I saw the piano upright, stable and the side panels all nailed together. Miracle! Carpenter and aide and piano master were still looking and testing the piano. Yes, there are some missing black keys which Mr Lim will order from the factory for us but the piano has now been cleaned and good news, it has been tuned properly. It sounds good! It looks so good compared to how it had looked since I first lay eyes on it!



Tomorrow, the carpenter will fix the wooden section for the padlock and key. He will also nail the panel for the music book. Our next need will be to get a good piano chair. Later we will shellac it - black - Mr Lim recommends.


The cost of this beautiful major interesting operation in full view of students who saw the innards of an old piano - you will never believe it!!!  Only  RM 400/- for 4 hours solid labour and Mr. Lim parting words were " Rachel says .. cannot charge so high for school piano." Thank you, Rachel,  thank you Jesse and thank you contact of contacts Mr Lee.


Music has come to SMK Convent Sentul! Haha! And La ..la ..la ... la......!

Children are born with wings, teachers help them fly.

In the previous blog, I mentioned I was ecstatic because SMK Convent Sentul was the Champion of the  Inter-school Choral Speaking Competition  in the Klang Valley for 2011 and that they also recieved RM 700/- together with a beautiful plaque. I am very happy to announce the maturity of our students who decided to donate RM 500/- of their winnings to the school. We will use their money to purchase new chairs for the school. Thank you students for your generousity!

We seemed to be on a winning spree! Haha! Last week, our choir ( made up of 14 afternoon students and 6 morning students ) became the first Runner-up to the Patriotic Songs Choir  Competition  and recieved     RM 1000/- as cash prize and another beautiful trophy.

Thank you Pn Naimah for handling the choir competition. Thank you Datin Cheam for seeing to the transportation logistics and being there on my behalf to provide moral support for the students. I heard that the judges were enthralled with our girls multicultural outfits of sarees, cheong sams and baju kurungs and kebayas.

I get very excited and happy when I see our students shine. Keep it up girls and teachers! Let SMK Convent Sentul flag fly high! We are very proud of you!



Happiness is to be in school!

July is a month packed with many courses and meetings for most principals. I have already attended 3 long courses and I still have one and a half more course to go! Today I returned to school after my ICT course to attend the PIBG Committe meeting at 5pm. In the short time I was in school today from 4.30 pm to 8 pm, so many things make me happy just to be in school .

First, as I was getting out of my car and struggling with my many bags, a tall young student approached me. Initially, I thought she wanted to ask me a question but her question was " Can I help you?" She then proceeded to help me carry my bags, laptop and all. This was such a lovely greeting for me since I had been away from school for a week! If I am not mistaken, her name is Tan Yen Hui from Form 1 but if I get her name wrong, please leave a comment on my post. I got to know she was there near the car porch because she was on her probation prefect duty. I really like the way she was helpful and how she allowed her helpfulness to give her courage and overcome her shyness. Girls, you must emulate Tan Yen Hui. Often we want to help others but we are too shy. Let your helpfulness give you courage.

Secondly, when I had settled in the office and had finished signing some documents, Datin Cheam my PK Koko excitedly showed me the plaque our afternoon girls had just won for being champions in the Inter-School Choral Speaking Competition (Klang Valley)  in KDU today. Bravo! Congratulations to the teachers Pn Siti Syaheedah and Pn Siti Hasrina and the wonderful girls who make the school proud ! Keep up the good work! Teachers, thank you for your hard work in training and grooming our students to be champs! We also won RM 700 together with the plaque.Champions --Yes!!!



Datin Cheam posing with the plaque
 on behalf of the teachers and students.



Then I popped out into the office after signing the documents. Imagaine my surprise when another young Malay student approached me and hugged me saying -" Rindu, cikgu, lama tak jumpa cikgu " I enjoyed being missed. Who wouldn't?

I decided to just go walk around the classes and the hall for a quick round before the meeting started, more because I missed the students and teachers rather than because of duty. I always enjoyed seeing students learn in and ou of class. Teachers were all teaching in the classes I observed. Happiness!

Then something melodious caught my ear. I heard the sound of sweet piano playing. My first thought was "Oh maybe the girls are having choir practice and someone brought the keyboard to school." So I walked to the hall and saw a group of girls gathered around our very very old piano. When the girls saw me approaching them, the pianist stopped playing and the other girls were a little apprehensive. The reason was they were they were also probation prefects on duty. I invited the pianist - a young Indian girl to resume playing. She played " My heart will go on"( from the show Titanic) beautifully. I loved the way she coaxed the beautiful melody out of our very very old piano with so many missing keys. One of the items on my wish list for Convent Sentul  is to repair and restore this old piano. Even when I continued on my rounds away from the hall, I heard the beautiful music. May beautiful music always fill our school and our hearts!

More pleasant surprises. Datin showed me the boxes of books Ms Navam  had personally donated towards the needy students of the school.

Beneath the many books in the boxes, I saw beautiful hard cover books. Ms Navam's  instructions were very clear. "These books are to be given to the needy students.These books are not from the alumni, they are from my personal collection." For your information, Ms Navam is an ex-teacher of SMK Convent Sentul and also a very important and crucial person in the Alumni and the Board of Governors. She is still very active despite having retired for so many years and her love for Convent Sentul is very strong evident and inspiring.

Thank you Ms Navam for your gift to the students. For those of you who do not know Ms Navam, she is a legend!.  I first heard about Ms Navam from Marina Chin, an  ex-student of SMK Convent Sentul.       The story went something like this. Marina had only about RM 25/- on her but the running shoes cost       RM 49/-. Ms Navam and another teacher topped up the balance needed and bought Marina her first pair of running shoes. Marina's running shoes have set her on the running track to success! She represented Malaysia on many occasions and bought glory to Malaysia ( and to Convent Sentul and to Martha's house) Today Marina Chin  is the principal of the National Sports School in Bukit Jalil . I know her career started with Ms Navam's gift. So students and teachers, emulate Ms Navam and leave a rich legacy!

I was shown two newspaper cuttings - one from the Star Metro and the other from Sin Chew Jit Poh of our students posing with the awning Suntrack had installed for us.

We had a very fruitful and pleasant PIBG meeting where PIBG pledged help for the many requests of the school. Thank you PIBG.

 So many pleasant things happened for such a short time spent in school. So worthwhile!

The ICT Mountain is to be climbed.

I am currently at a three-day ICT course for school principals in KL. Here at the course as I listen to the lecturers, I realize there is a huge ICT mountain and  great potential for growth in schools systems using ICT. Listening to Mr Wong of MBS KL share, I realize he is somewhere near the peak of the ICT mountain while suddenly I realize I am probrably at the base of the ICT mountian. Sigh...! and I thought I knew something about ICT.

However I also realize there are many HMs who haven't even touched base yet and still many HMs who have yet to see the mountain peak. Haha!

So, I want to encourage all associated with Convent Sentul to continue on their magic carpet ride and rise up in their journey to the mountain peak and not to think they have arrived.

We all still have a long way to go and the ICT mountain peak actually keeps growing higher ( unlike other static mountain peaks )  when new innovations are developed . So keep on going and don't ever give up halfway.


Now some motivational videos. The message from my heart. If this guy can succeed, all of us  can succeed. Don't ever give up.You become stronger in the face of adversity.


<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wOlTdkYXuzE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Another video - this one about Michael Jordan

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/woOu_4l3lio" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A whole new world!

For some strange unfathomable reason, the strains of the song “A whole new world” from Aladdin on a magic carpet comes to my mind. Why? As I ponder, I know the answer. Our 11 brand new computers have opened a whole new world to our students. Some parts of the song goes like this…

I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view …..

Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky

 

That’s what the new computers have done for the students. It has opened their eyes to see something, over, sideways and under. And as they see the screen, the whole new world open up to them. The unbelievable sights they see and hear set them on a journey where they soar, tumble and freewheeling through endless diamond skies and unlimited possibilities in their future!



Smiling faces and bright eyes savor everything on the screen.



You should listen to the girls’ comments when they first set their eyes on the brand new computers.  “For us??? You mean this is for us ? Flat screens! Awesome!  Ooh! Just look at that … brand new computers. This is really, really beyond our wildest imaginations and expectations! Cool!”  The expression on their faces is priceless! Their thumbs automatically point up! Thumbs up!

The students pay RM 10/- per head each year. There is no way from that RM 10/- that we can ever get these units of new computers. The new computers were made available by the generous donations of the friends of the Board of Governors. The drive to solicit funds for the Computer Lab was spearheaded by Mr. Lee Geok Ai, the Chairman of our Board of Governors. Mr Lee rallied much support for the bulk of the funds. Thank you, Mr Lee for your pioneering leadership which has opened a whole new world for us.

On behalf of SMK Convent Sentul, I want to officially thank the many generous individuals and companies that have been moved to help us open a whole new world for our students through the computers. Thank you for believing in us even though you do not know us personally. Your generosity has inspired the students! I know your investment in the school will bear much fruit. Thank you!!!

Apart from those in the list above, Omni Resources gave us a huge discount off the wiring charges. In fact, their discount was bigger than their actual charges. Thank you, Jeremy and Omni Resources for the discount and for making the wiring to be so neat and discreet.

We also want to thank Mr. Lee’s secretary, Ms Lee Foong Lian, who cheerfully and willingly helped us coordinate the letters, receipts, cheques and financial records via uncountable phone calls, emails and faxes.  As of 9 July 2011, sponsors for  23 units have pledged their support. The Board of  Governors is working towards getting sponsors for a target of 30 units, The best is yet to come!!

Do you know why the students are so thrilled? Do you know how old our old computers actually are? A little short of being archaic, literally. See our old CPU with the inventory number inscribed ever so faithfully denoting the year they were bought. The new computers are so fast compared to our archaic computers from the year 2002.



Our old computers were purchased in 2002.






Smiling as we learn together. Thank you Mr Tiew of
Edu Networks Sdn Bhd for your expert advice in setting up the
lab really neatly.

 


The small circle shows the student in open mouthed wonder.
The big circle shows 1Malaysia hands teaching and learning together.

   


The happy expression on this Malay girl's face is priceless!

 




The donors are placed on each computer. We will put on
more permanent fixtures to honour the donors.


Thank you for helping the princesses in SMK Convent Sentul on their magic carpet ride and seeing a whole new world open up to them.

I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me, princess, now when did
You last let your heart decide?

I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view





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!!!