Nostalgia

#KLASSics

THROWBACKTHURSDAY

We are excited to be celebrating our 75th years in Malaysia this year. So many wonderful and precious memories made and shared over the years. KLASSics takes you back down memory lane of the momentous reunions and anniversary celebrations we have had. Happy reminiscing!

Paul Elliott with HRH Prince Edward during the royal visit.

The Gala Ball (from L-R) Datin Nancy, Datuk Chris Boyd, Mike Kemp and Mei Tin

50th Anniversary Celebrations

in September 1998, the school was honoured to welcome HRH The Prince Edward CVO, the youngest son of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England, for the official opening of a brand-new, purpose-built RM33 million Secondary Campus at Equine Park.

60th Anniversary Celebrations

The meaningful celebration with the community.

(From L-R) Alison Nadarajah, Dato’ Rohaya and Indi Nadarajah

Dato’ Rohaya and John Smurthwaite with guests.

Mrs. Patricia Lee (Principal 1964 to 1989) with her students.

70th Anniversary Celebrations

Our 70th Anniversary celebration was one of the biggest events we have ever had at the Alice Smith School back in 2016. We hosted many activities before the Platinum Gala Ball.

We started off the celebrations by hosting the 70th Anniversary Alumni Get-together in London on 16th January 2016

KLASSics also hosted a 70th Anniversary Singapore Alumni Get-together on 13th September 2016

On 1st of November 2016, the school celebrated the anniversary by burying a time capsule with precious memorabilia of the Alice Smith School that will be opened 70 years later.

KLASSics held an Alumni Get-together and Appreciation Evening on the 10th November 2016. It started off with a nostalgic trip at both the Primary and Secondary campus followed by an evening of cocktails and dinner at the residence of the British High Commissioner.

The final big bang took place on 16th of November with the Platinum Gala Ball! It was a fantastic night of glitz and glamour with our community.

We are so eager to celebrate the 75th Diamond Gala Ball with you on 18th June 2022. Mark you calendar, we look forward to seeing you in-person!

In this issue of Teacher Feature, we interviewed a teacher who has served at the Alice Smith School for 33 years!

She is loved by all who took her class and are in awe every time they come back to school for a visit.

As Madame Wong is finally hanging up her teaching shoes, we thought we will take this opportunity to let her say a few words.

Nicole Wong Assistant Key Stage Leader Teacher of French 1988 - 2021

It’s sad to hear that you are leaving Alice Smith. Tell us about your time here at KLASS. And where you are headed to. Alice Smith means a lot to me as a foreigner in this country and I have thoroughly enjoyed my 33 years at school. I am very grateful and feel indebted to the school for a number of reasons: firstly for supporting me through my masters, enabling me to learn continuously and develop as a professional and a human being. I love being in the classroom, interacting with students and guiding their thinking in all that they do; secondly for providing a very good education for my children who really developed their skills whilst being at this school; thirdly for enabling me to live a very decent lifestyle and retire comfortably.

My plans for now are to take life easy for a while and support my daughter as she starts her family in Australia.

What inspired you to teach and chose Alice Smith? Back in 1998, the school was seen as being very secluded for the elite. At that time I was teaching part-time in Alliance Française as well as giving tuition classes. My friend who was covering for an Alice Smith teacher insisted that I go and see the Principal who was looking for a French teacher. She arranged the meeting for me and I never expected to be employed on the spot! I was very happy about it.

Can you share with us your experience of virtual teaching and then finally being back to in-person teaching these last few months? At first, it felt surreal to be on my own in my working room, speaking to a computer, lesson after lesson. I found the first few lessons of virtual teaching very, very tiring and difficult. I also learned that I expected too much from students and myself. As time went by, I adjusted to it and students were very helpful and supportive with the technology and in submitting their work. It has been the most difficult teaching period of my career. However, I got used to it by now, I am coping much better and I have even done hybrid lessons.

What would the students be surprised to find out about you? I have lived longer in Malaysia than in France.

If you won a lottery and decided to give up teaching, what would you do instead? I would like to help others, especially the needy and urban poor. I would look into their needs and sponsor some of them.

What makes a ‘good day’ at school? A good day at school is when I feel ‘in the flow’ and everything feels good. It is when students have understood something, I feel it is a special moment.

A good day at school is when I have helped someone to learn and understand something, feel better about themselves, and look at the bigger picture.

What sort of morning routine do you have to get jazzed for class? Well I like my routine to be the same everyday.

First of all, I need to have all my lessons and marking done the night before and my bag must be ready. Next, I need to get up on time, get ready and have breakfast because I am very hungry in the morning. Then I need to leave on time because I don’t like to be late and go through traffic jams.

When I reach school and have settled at my desk, I always go to the MFL office, have a chat with Dorothy, collect my MFL coffee, go back to my desk and talk to Rachel. A little while later, I catch up with Jane and I am ready to work.

In which other teacher’s class would you like to enroll, even for a day? Why? I would like to enroll in Maria’s history class because a number of her former students have said that they love her lessons so much that they could sacrifice any subject but not history. I remember Celeste Delort telling how much she loved her history lessons. There must be something special about her history lessons because my daughter had said the same thing when she had to choose her A Level subjects in 2006.

I would also love to learn Maths with Miss Whittington, and even thought that I might consider sitting for the Maths GCSE exam.

What current trends (among students) are baffling to you? Why? • How good and quick they are with technology • How mature they can be even in Year 7 • How knowledgeable they are compare to my days • How confident they are in interacting with adults • How talented some of them are: the sports results, academic results, art work, musical events and drama production are evidence of that

It’s always sad to see your favourite teachers leave and it’s even harder when they have been around for many years. These long serving teachers are on their next adventure in life and we wish them all the best!

Farewell and Bon Voyage

Our Head of School, Mr. Roger Schultz will be retiring in July 2022. By then, Mr. Schultz will have given twelve years of outstanding service to our school. His vision and leadership of our school has made Alice Smith one of the world’s leading British international schools.

We would like to thank Mr. Schultz for all his hard work, passion and dedication to us all. Our school community will have many opportunities to thank him for his exceptional contribution to Alice Smith over the course of the next one year. Thank you for all that you do and continue doing Mr. Schultz. Read about his retirement announcement here. If you have any photos or memories to share, please reach out to us via our social media channels or email us at klassics@alice-smith.edu.my.

It’s not a goodbye! But it’s I’ll see you later. Thank you Mdm. Wong, Pn Azizah, Sergeant Lee, Mr. Slade and Ms. Gosling for all your great years of service! You’ve contributed so much to the development of our students. These five incredible long serving teachers will be spending their last term at the Alice Smith School.

Former students, parents and staff gathered online in early July to bid farewell to them with some joining us from the UK, Australia and as far as from Canada. A special tribute video was played during the event. Watch the video here to walk down the memory lane and see the event pictures here. The teachers enjoyed and appreciated it.

As mentioned by Mdm. Wong “To be part of Alice Smith is like being part of an international family.” Anite Boey who joined us from Canada said ‘Thank you for organising this event! I enjoyed my time catching up with teachers and friends from years back! All the best to our teachers who are retiring! So thankful to have had them in my earlier years.”

KLASSics now welcomes them to our community.

~ Madame Wong ~

22nd February 1988 - 2nd July 2021 ~ Pn Azizah ~

1st July 1994 - 2nd July 2021 ~ Sergeant Lee ~

1st September 2002 - 2nd July 2021 ~ Mr. Slade ~

1st September 2006 - 2nd July 2021 ~ Ms. Gosling ~

1st September 2011 - 2nd July 2021