Teachers' Day 2012 SMK Convent Sentul

Teachers' Day 2011 in SMK Convent Sentul was already an awesome experience for me as I felt the love of the students showered lavishly on the teachers. Yet I was still not fully prepared for Teachers' Day 2012  which left me just so awestruck at the girls' creativity and innovation and love.  I was overwhelmed to tears by what the students had prepared for Teachers Day 2012. I know this emotion was reflected not just by me but also by Pn Rose Saadiah YDP PIBG and the PIBG committee members especially the new members and the 5 new teachers who joined us.

The colour theme this year was blue and purple.


Pn Siti Sayeedah being loving escorted.

The teachers were lovingly escorted by the prefects through the blue purple balloon arch one by one as their names were read to great cheering and applause by the girls. Yes!!!! It is great to be a teacher in SMK Convent Sentul where you are celebrated!!

The launch gimmick was overwhelmingly creative. We were given scissors to cut the strings that held clusters of balloons. As we cut the strings and the blue purple balloons rose high in the skies, it was to fervent prayers in our hearts that our students would rise as high as these beautiful balloons and their rising be seen and celebrated by all at ground level!

Rising high and being watched and celebrated!

Yes, teachers, staff and girls of SMK Convent Sentul - rise as high as these balloons and let your ascension be celebrated by all who see it.

The girls entertained us very well with their performances. I was bemused by the fact that some of the girls whom I had previously thought were quite serious were swaying their hips with great agility in the dances. I was enthralled by the little Form 1 girls dance - I had seen how they  had practiced in great ernest. The boria girls really"jiwakan" the dance - you could see the pasion in their movements.Thank you, prefects not just for the dances and performances but for orchestrating this overwhelming experience for us all.Thank you Pn Intan and Pn Mastura and the Staff Club Commitee. I am sure the words "I love you from the bottom of my heart" must have been uttered not just in my heart but in the hearts of the teachers today.


Choral Speaking

Hari Anugerah Cemerlang

I am trying to blog again after a fairly long hiatus. The Blogger Dashboard went through some changes and I could not view the buttons on the top. Then I also could not see what I had typed. Thirdly I could not find the edit button which allowed me to edit. All this made me uneasy about publishing posts on the blog.

First I want to record my thanks to Dr Cheah Yin Mee ( and her husband Mr Wong)  for gracing the occasion as guest of honor.

Impacting lives through landscape architecture.

Today in SMK Convent Sentul, we were graced by the presence of two renowned landscape architects in the persons of Ms Yap Nga Tuan and Ms Nicole Van Den Steenhoven. These two very interesting ladies together with their staff helped us understand how landscape architecture and town planning impacts and improves lives.

Ms Yap, who is the director of Praxcis Design enlightened us on the history of landscape architecture with her lovely and colourful slides . She began with the Stonehenge in UK. She then took us  to Easter Island and then to the hanging gardens of Babylon built by Nebudchadnezzar. We literally went around the world with her, to Chinese and Japanese gardens, to Greece, to romanctic water gardens in Italy and to .... We learnt a little bit of the rivalry between French and English gardens. We also learnt that Sentul Park in KLPAC is based on English garden landscaping.




Sentul Park KL PAC




Long green grass on lake in Sentul Park.

We learnt that the nearby Sentul Park surrounding KLPac draws its inspiration from the landscape style of 18th century English gardens which broke away from the formality of the French tradition to a simple appreciation of unadorned nature.



Martha Schwartz artsy fartsy concepts.



Ms Yap introuced  us to Martha Schwartz's artsy fartsy playgrounds with vibrant colours. She educated us on the importance of roof gardens and rain harvesting. She showed us a river in Korea that looked very cool.



1000 year old restored river in Korea.

Ms Yap's friend Ms Nicole Van den Steenhoven began her story with a slide of a garden goat. She told how as a 6 year old, she tended her neighbour's garden and recieved sweets as a reward. Ms Nicole shared she was rejected by the top horticultural school in Boskoop, Holland because she was a ..... girl. Well later, they took her in because she passed the exams ( quite esaily she said). She recieved plenty of help from the boys in the school ( Her model looks and figure must have inspired the boys to help). So girls, be inspired by Ms Nicole and learn that that  discrimination ( gender and otherwise ) can be overcome and only serves to make us stronger in our spirits.

Ms Nicole played a pivotal role in the development of Nexus Resort Hotel, Karumbunai. She shared how she had this lovely office view of  the deep blue sea on one side and Mount Kinabalu on the other. She also shared a story of how once a long drought almost wiped out the plants in her project. And when they were down to their last drop of water, the rains came. She was so thankful that she walked  ( did she dance in the rain, I wonder? )  in the rains with an umbrella.  Ms Nicole's love for plants ( temperate and tropical ) and her expertise on plants is clearly evident.

She showed us a cute picture of slippers that looked like they had grass growing in them. Walking in those slippers would be like walking on the green grass. She inspired us to creative and innovative thinking beyond our horizon. She showed us slides where she stood in a pool with her jeans rolled up to literally test the waters. One thing stands out clearly, girls. Often Ms Nicole is the only lady on the project.  She shows us that ladies can succeed just as well as the men provided we work just as hard. We must throw off negative  mindsets and set ourselves free!!!



Ms Nicole pays careful attention to Ms Yap's sharing



 Thank you Ms Yap and Ms Nicole for lifting us up from our horizons. Thank you, Mr Lee Geok Ai and Ms Lee Foong Lian for coordinating this lovely visit and talk. Our souls have been watered and refreshed.  We want to bloom like the many lovely gardens shown and bring therapy to others through the well watered gardens in our souls.




Ms Lee Foong Lian and girls pay rapt attention.



Beauties with brains

Today is a good day. In the morning, I attended the Majlis Anugerah PIBG in Victoria Institution together with our beloved Pn. Rose @ Saadiah binti Ismail, our YDP PIBG. The event was graced by the Pengarah - the Education Director as well as the Assistant Directors from the various zones and attended by the Chairman and Principals or representatives of primary and secondary schools in Kual Lumpur.

We were pleasantly surprised when the announcer called SMK Convent Sentul PIBG up stage to recieve the 2nd place award for the PIBG ( Parents Teachers Association ) in Sentul.



Pn Rose Saadiah YDP PIBG SMK Convent Sentul with the award.

Pn Rose has been a wonderful support in the school. She makes it a point to attend most of the events in our school. She joins us even on early special morning assemblies as well as attend the discipline meetings.I am just so blessed by her commitment. Pn Rose is an excellent example to the girls in many areas including her stylish attire. She is always beautifully dressed right from her tudung to her glam shoes.This one year we have worked together have given us both  the opportunity to become fast friends. She righfully deserves this award. Congratulations Pn Rose and the PIBG Committee.




The happy winning PIBG presidents posing with their awards



When I reached school after the event, I had another pleasant surprise. Roopini, Pavitra and Joyce told me proudly they had won the chess competition in St Mary.The girls ( and me ) are so happy with their win. I can see the Convent Sentul calm and steady spirit ( CS ) in my champions!




Beauty with brains - Pavithira, Roopini and Joyce.

So girls, I hope we start a strong culture of grooming beautiful girls with brains right from YDP PIBG Pn Rose down to our beloved students.

Love in any language at Convent Sentul.

They had practiced before the hols and during the hols. It was great to see and to hear the choir - both morning and noon session girls taking and making time to come together to practice. They sang "Love in Any Language."



Different languages of love but all from the heart.

Je t'aime te amo
Ya tyibya I yublu
Ani ohevet othka
I love you

The sounds are all as different
As the lands from which they came
And though our words are all unique
Our hearts are still the same

Chorus:
Love in any language
Straight from the heart
Pulls us all together
Never apart
And once we learn to speak it
All the world will hear
Love in any language
Fluently spoken here

We teach the young our differences
Yet look how we're the same
We learn to laugh, to dream our dreams
We know the sting of pain

From Leningrad to Lexington
The farmer loves his land
And daddies get all misty eyed
When they give their daughters' hands
And maybe now we realize
How much there is to share
We have too much in common
To pretend it isn't there

Though the rhetoric of governments
May keep us worlds apart
There's no misinterpreting
The language of the heart

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/g/gary_valenciano/#share

When we speak the language of the heart in whatever language, the message is loud and clear. Jaz Lyn conducted the choir skillfully, leading them by her clear hand signs  from the time they stepped out right to the very last bow. Diana used sign language to convey the message. She made great effort to learn it properly from one of our ex-students. The girls sounded very sweet as they sang. Today at assembly, our newly purchased synthezizer made its maiden appearance under the dancing fingers of our headgirl Teoh Wei Yee.

After the song, the girls spoke I love you in various languages. They had the crowd in stitches when the two Malay girls said "Wo Ai Ne" followed by any two Malay girls who spoke I love you in Tamil. I have lost count of how many languages were spoken today at the launch of Minggu Bahasa - we heard French, Portugese, Tagalog, Japanese, Mandarin, Tamil, Korean, sign language and .......



After the choir finished singing, they placed their hearts with different languages all over the school. Let love be spoken fluently in SMK Convent Sentul always.

Je Taime girls.

Love overflows onto Jalan Sentul

1st March, Thursday, 2012. Early that morning, I and Ms Anne Mathews went to the area behind the school gate. When my students first saw me and Ms Anne near the gate, they probrably thought we were standing there to catch them on some issue and to fault them. Imagine their surprise and shock when we cheerily greeted them and welcomed them to school. I said "Good morning, girls!" and Ms Anne followed up with  "Welcome to school. " The expressions on our girls faces were priceless! I wished I took photos of their incredulous expressions! The girls could not respond to our greeting because they were just too shocked! Many girls turned back and took a second look at us after they had passed us because they simply could not believe the school principal and a senior teacher was actually welcoming them to school. They probrably thought we had gone cuckoo!



Good morning! Welcome to school! Pn Bong warmly greets
the students .
and shakes their hands




Car lights are still switched on as it is pretty early. Traffic is already very heavy.
We await our students on this side of Jalan Sentul.
They will cross Jalan Sentul when the traffic light change colour..
We need a pedestrain crossing for our girls!

 The second morning. This time, the duty teacher Pn Siti Shazalina had gone ahead of me and Pn Kamaliah. Instead of standing behind the school gate like we did the first morning, Pn Siti Shazalina took the iniatiative to walk past the school gate and waited on the main road of Jalan Sentul for our students. When we realized she was on the main road rather than behind the gate,  we joined her.

This time our girls were more responsive. They burst out in bright smiles as  they saw us waiting for their coming. Parents sending their children to school were also pleasantly surprised by us standing there on the main road of Jalan Sentul. In fact the whole of Jalan Sentul, together with the traffic police, our traffic warden and the heavy early morning traffic must have witnessed the love of the guru penyayang, all overflowing out from our hearts to the girls, right there in full view of the busy Jalan Sentul.

The third morning saw Pn Bong, Pn Mastura, Pn Sarah and me awaiting the girls on Jalan Sentul, Now parents and our girls have ready smiles as they see us awaiting their coming and warmly welcoming them.



 

Our students crossingJalan Sentul in heavy traffic.
Pn Marslipah doing her duties as traffic warden.

Three loving teachers Pn Mastura, Pn Bong and Pn Sarah
welcoming our girls" arrival with bright happy smiles in the early morning!
What a nice start to the day!

Happy teachers greet the students. Today the primary school teachers
in SRJK (T) St Joseph join me, Pn Sagunthala and Cik Rohaiza to welcome
the students to school.

Launching the Sekolah Penyayang Program in the afternoon session assembly.
Three in one - 3 hearts - student leader Erica, Cik Hamidah and me in smiles.







Creativity is well and alive in Convent Sentul

As I go round the school and check the hall and the classrooms, I am delighted by the creativity I see all around me in SMK Convent Sentul. There are many teachers and students working quietly in the background.


Creative smart is definitely a yes acronym for Convent Sentul.

3 D roses and rows of girls.

Take for instance The preparations of  the backdrop for the stage for the AGM PIBG.



SYAFIQAH NAEMAH 4K

NORASYIKIN 4C
Hardworking stage hands - thank you for your help.

We see the final product but I see the teachers' hard work and the students diligence. Syabas Pn Intan, Pn Bong and other teachers! Syabas and a big thank you to my lovely girls hard at work!

Going on my daily rounds especially into the classes is always the fun part of my job for me. I meet the people at the grassroots - my students, my teachers and staff. I see a little what makes them happy and what frustates them. This year, our  PK HEM  Pn Rohana held a competition on the classroom environment and this inspired and challenged  the girls to come up with  many ideas on keceriaan class.

Manga girl on swing in 3 Cempaka

                       

3 Dimensional  pretty butterfly

Birthday corner in 5 Anggerik

Snowman timetable

Roses on walls of 5 Mawar

Birdcage and flowers in 5 Mawar

The real beauties - my roses of 5 Mawar.

One of the winning class for the keceriaan competition is 5 Mawar 2012. Under the guidance of Pn Noor Zalida, their loving and inspiring form teacher, I really see 5 Mawar girls bloom as roses. The girls' creative master is Yuvarrani.


Keep the creative juices flowing girls. CS - Creative and Smart!

Celebration of Womanhood

When I was first posted to SMK Convent Sentul, I had to do some mental adjustments as I had never taught in a all-girls school in my entire teaching career. My first post was at an all boys mission school. Subsequent schools were all co-ed.  I kept asking God - "Why, an all girls' school Lord? Why .........?"

Now after those initial questions, some answers have come and some light has dawned in my understanding. One title I always have had in my heart for another future book is the title of this blog - "Celebration of Womanhood! "What better place than to learn and prepare for this book by being principal of an all girls' school and an established 72-year old convent at that!"

Why should womanhood be celebrated? In much of Asian mentality and culture, woman are often consciously or subconsciously delegated to second class citizens.  Woman are often  just tolerated, much less celebrated. My Chinese name is a very very macho masculine name. My father had already chosen the name before I was born because he was hoping for a son. Father did not see the need to change my name to a more feminine version when I emerged female instead of the son he expected. Yet now my 80+ dad often declares in Hokkien " Cha boh tor su kah hor ke tau por" meaning "Girls are usually better than guys." No offence meant for the male readers on this blog.

I discovered this to be definitely true in Convent Sentul. All toilets work here. ( This was not at all true of the previous schools I taught at) The school is clean. There is order.There is little vandalism. There is minimal graffiti. There is a calmness and a quietness here related very much to the feminine girls I have here. Oh, it is almost heaven here. Yes, womanhood is celebrated here in Convent Sentul!!

How should womanhood be celebrated? One way - putting pretty things up in school to be enjoyed by all the girls( and teachers )  here. The orchids planted near the fish pond is another of the pretty sights I enjoy in school.

Double pretty pink rose bouquet pompon hanging on the staircase to the staffroom.

Honing feminine skills and stirring the artists' soul within is another way of celebrating womanhood. Yesterday morning, Tay Hao Jin played beautifully on the piano. She did not need to refer to any manuscripts, she played from her soul. Just having the girls play most mornings has done a lot for me and I hope for the school.

I want the aesthetics to be highlighted here! Arts, music, expression through drama, song and dance. Aesthetics is linked to stirring the feelings and the woman within. I want my girls to express their feminity and not be ashamed that they are born woman. I do not want my girls to be devoid of feelings. The opposite of aesthetics is anesthetics. A person being anesthetized feels nothing, yes they feel no pain but also no joy and no life.  I do not want that to happen to my girls. They must be taught to feel and to love for to love and to care for others is a woman's strength.

Something happened yesterday and I saw the strong caring part of my girls. I had posted on my facebook a request for 2011 ex-students to come and see me if they were interested in helping to teach some Form 1 and 2 students we had identified as needing extra help. I would only give them minimal token pay for the "tuition" I requested. To my great joy, within days of my FB postings, 3 girls already volunteered to teach. They were pretty excited and as I let them meet with their future " students" I saw the care in their hearts and their eyes for their future charges. Even though the arrangement is temporarily until their SPM results are released, I am confident the care shown by the ex-students will go a long way to change the perceptions and self esteem of the younger girls. I also saw the excitement in my afternoon girls as they met their 'kakaks'

More evidence of feminine power in school. The prefects staying back in the afternoon to decorate their board.

Woman power celebrates festive occasions. In most homes, the women prepare the most for festive occasions. Convent Sentul is now festivey decorated for the Chinese New Year.  Dato' Andrew Tan, Datin Cheam's husband  very kindly donated several CNY lanterns to CS. Gong Xi Fa Cai everybody.!May you prosper in your soul, your health, your wallet and your spirit.

Lantern in front of the staircase to the canteen

Double Chinese lanterns in the car porch.

But we girls can't do much without manpower.

Maran, our beloved gardener and Agus our new staff helps us fix the lanterns.

Thank you Maran and Agus! What would we do without you both?

We celebrate the success and progress of our girls! Here, I pose happily with the

recipients of "Make a difference PMR 2011." The girls  happily show off their letters of commendation and angpows

Puan Intan with her beautifully decorated Program Nilam. Pn Intan 's creativity is reflective of the creative culture here. She is an ex-student and her creativity speaks of the ethos of emphasis on important values apart from academics.

Let's keep up all the feminine touches that make CS special!

Music in our souls and in the hall of Convent Sentul

We made an annoucement for musicians to register themselves. To my delight, 10 musicians from the morning session made themselves known. So we made arrangements for them to play our ancient piano each morning before the formal assembly began. This was part of our pull factors to draw students to school early each morning. We also wanted to de-stress students ( and teachers?) with the sweet music. And we simply wanted the pleasure of listening to music in our souls.

That first morning saw Lim Yivonn playing the piano. She has completed her Grade 8. She played confidently and beautifully and many girls were drawn into the hall.

Outdoors the prefects were industriously doing their briefing in the dark. This was very early in the morning - maybe 7.05 am. We caught the rising dawn in our souls through the music and through the brightening skies.




Now I must rush to school to catch today's musician. How wonderful to have a great reason to draw students to come early to school to liste to the music.

Thank you for the music.