April May Newsletter

Panaga School Newsletter Issue 40, April-May 2013

Featuring this month:

The Dutch Stream children, teachers and parents celebrate the crowning of their new king, Willem Alexander in a fabulous assembly.

Panaga School Brunei Darussalam Jalan Utara, Seria, KB3534, Brunei Phone: +673 3372139 Fax: +6733373028 Web: www.panagaschool.com

More details on Page 2

Message from the Headteacher of the International Stream and Teraja site

Inside this month’s issue: Page 2: The Dutch Stream join their country-folk in welcoming their new king Page 3: P8 explore Singapore; The International Community Day logo winner!

Page 4: OGDC give us a feel for subzero science; Author, Allan James Wendt, visits Panaga School Page 5 and Page 6: PTA News: Busking for Books and the School Fair Page 7: Early Years ideas exchange with St George’s School Page 8: Southeast Asian adventures of Elly the Elephant, update Page 9: Language of the Month and Children’s Library; Thanks for all you do, Lili Page 10: P2’s terrific term two toys topic Page 11: ‘In the Zone’ and on the green; Remote Control Group; April 2013: Technology ASA – Yep! Still building…

Page 12: Sports Days

This is my final newsletter front braced the shared school vision for piece for Panaga School, so I would learning and transformed the educalike to take this opportunity to share tional climate of the school. a few farewell thoughts.

For both Stephanie and I, it has been a The decision to leave a school is al- pleasure to have been involved with ways difficult - Stephanie and I thought the children of Panaga School. Day a great deal about it and decided it was after day, they demonstrate an enthusiasm and desire for learning both of us the right time. will miss immensely. To parents, the Personally, it was important to me to support and gratitude you have demonleave the school in a strong position, strated to both of us over the years has particularly in terms of the learning pro- been fantastic and truly humbling. Also, vision for all the children in the Interna- we would like to especially thank the tional Stream. My primary aim in teachers who have taught our own chilachieving that educational provision dren so wonderfully well. They have was to enable all children to achieve had a truly happy, enjoyable and retheir potential in every sphere of devel- warding time at Panaga School and opment within a secure, happy environ- depart well equipped for the challenges ment where individual efforts are val- ahead in Egypt. ued and respect for gender, religion Life is all about the sum of the deciand race was safe guarded. sions you make.

Being part of the school and staff team that achieved ‘Mastering’ accreditation An old proverb says: ‘There is a choice in the International Primary Curriculum you have to make, in everything you is one of the highlights of my career to do. You must always keep in mind that date. To the staff past and present, I the choices you make ….make you.’

Quote for the month: would like to take this opportunity to thank you all publicly for your profes- I really believe that. You make deci- “If content's a kingdom, I’ll sionalism, commitment, dedication and sions, but your decisions also make wear that crown.” outstanding pedagogical expertise in you.

-Thomas Heywood achieving this award. I have been fortunate to have worked with many col- To everyone, the very best of luck.

Newsletter designed and leagues at Panaga who have em- Craig Heaton edited by Damian Brady

Panaga School Newsletter Enter the new King of The Netherlands Willem Alexander, King of the Netherlands

A lot of people came to Amsterdam to see him.

On the 27th of April 1967, at a hos- During this little walk, his brother, pital in Utrecht, a boy called Willem sisters in law, his uncles, nephews and nieces and the rest of the famAlexander was born. ily walked with him towards the When his mother became queen, church. he automatically became crown A lot of other royal people joined prince of Orange. the abdication at the Nieuwe kerk.

He grew up in Drakensteyn Castle in the little village of Lage Vuur- The crown prince of the UK, Prince Charles was there also the crown sche. prince of Brunei. Plus, the famous Willem Alexander studied history at Dutch astronaut AndrĂŠ Kuipers Leiden, Sevilla, Spain. He met his was there too. future wife, Maxima, at a party in 1999 and the two got married on King Willem Alexander spoke to the people in the church and promthe 2nd of January 2002. ised to be a good king.

In 2012, he visited Brunei and all of the Dutch children had the opportu- After that, he had a party with a lot nity to see him, Maxima and of of important people. Then he went on a boat and listened to a special course, Queen Beatrix. song for the king and waved to all On the 30th of April 2013, he be- the people. came King of The Netherlands. Inside the palace in Amsterdam dur- After the boat tour he went home, ing an important meeting, Queen as the new King of The NetherBeatrix put her signature to the pa- lands. per which said that she will hand

By Stijn Suk (DP7/8) over the crown and all responsibilities that goes with it to Willem Alexander.

After Willem and Maxima put their signature on it too, he officially became the King.

On the balcony of the palace, the new king and his wife and mother showed themselves to the people on the square. They all cheered, Hurray!

After that, they all walked to the Nieuwe kerk (the New church). Willem Alexander wore a big, red mantle over his shoulders; the same mantle all the other kings and queens of the Netherlands wore in the past.

Congratulations to all Dutch Stream children, teachers and parents for recreating this momentous occasion in Dutch history for the assemblies on both school sites.

Panaga School Newsletter P8 tour Singapore seas with school children before so it was an excellent experience. I also got th On Monday 6 May, the to know the children betPanaga School P8s along with four teachers; Andy ter,” said Anna Sanderson.

Ryan, Tim Walsh, Barbara The P8 Singapore trip not Diepenmaat and Anna only aims for children to Sanderson, departed for have fun but also learn Singapore. more about Singapore. As International School stu“It was a great trip; fun and dents, Panaga P8s want to very educational. There learn more about Singawere also activities which I wouldn’t be able to do on a pore as they think it is important to be internationfamily holiday,” said Tiger ally minded.

Carlos Ang, an 11-year-old P8 Clemente, a 12-year-old student. student from P8 said, “I The trip was scheduled liked when we learnt about from 6th May to 10th May Singapore’s history and and the activities included what WWII was like in SinNight Safari at the Singa- gapore.” pore Zoo and a visit to Sentosa including stop ins The Singapore trip also at the Merlion, Fort Siloso, builds personal skills by Images of Singapore, a teaching students about cable car ride and 4D and staying away from home 3D cinema experiences. and the processes of travThe P8s also visited Sin- eling. The children even gapore Art Museum, learnt to fill in their own Changi Chapel, the Na- customs departure and tional Museum of Singa- arrival cards, “It gives you pore, the Civil Defense good experience for life,” Museum, shopping malls, said Joost Van den Hemel, Chinatown and much a P8 student. Wendy Shen also enjoyed the fun of bemore. ing away from home, “It “I have never been over- was so much fun to share

By P8 reporter, Harris Rana

a hotel room with a friend.”

During the trip the teachers encouraged children to be more independent in lots of ways. For some meals, children were given money and could choose whatever they wanted but it was their responsibility to buy proper and healthy food. Pocket money was also supplied for gifts and souvenirs, “I bought accessories and clothes with my pocket money,” said Floor Kuijpers who had lots of fun shopping with her best friends Sophie, Kari, Heleen, Tina and Wendy at H&M and Accessorize.

The P8s were also given meeting points and timings and it was their duty to be there on time, “Every one was up and ready in plenty of time,” said Andy Ryan when asked about morning wake-ups.

The Singapore trip built on the children’s skills of being independent and internationally minded and was a fantastic way to celebrate the children’s final year at Panaga School.

International Community Day Logo Competition winner Congratulations to Anushree Konwar (IP6D) on winning the 2013 International Community Day Logo Competition.

Anushree’s entry will now be the official logo for this exciting upcoming event. It will be reproduced into banners and posters that will appear across the school. Well done Anushree!

International Community Day will take place on Friday, 28th June. Thanks to all parents who have supported preparations so far!

By Damian Brady

Panaga School Newsletter PTA News Teraja

By Anna Sanderson If you see Teraja as solely a vessel for Maths, Literacy, IPC and playtime, you are selling it short! Teraja has the astonishing ability to transform completely and it doesn’t even need the cover of darkness or a phone booth to do it! With trusty sidekick, the PTA, by it side, Teraja can become anything!

On March 20, Teraja rivaled Barcelona’s famed Las Ramblas, when it transported visitors to a thriving artisan community of street performers. Gone were the P4 to P8s; in their place were Harlem Shakers, classical musicians, beat boxers, hip hop boy bands, human statues, Irish dancers, vocalists, fortunetellers and painters. Upturned hats grew heavy with the fruits of the first-time buskers’ labour, as they raised a healthy $2523.40 in just an hour and a half.

Luckily, our talented performers don’t fit the ‘starving artist’ stereotype, so the money raised didn’t have to be spent on baked beans!

As the name of the event suggests, Busking for Books was conceived to be not only an artistic outlet for our creative students but also to be a means of fundraising for books.

The PTA is proud to announce that not a single cent of the $2523.40 has been saved! Our hardworking Literacy Leader for Learning, Teresa Lenihan, has been on a book spending spree and, in consultation with local teachers, has purchased reading materials for Sekolah Rendah Panaga, Sekolah Rendah DMS Dian Sukang, Sekolah Rendah Melilas and St John’s KB.

After a quiet spell (punctuated by IPC entry points, P4’s bake sale and of course lots of learning) May was made memorable when Teraja transformed once again, this time into a fairground. The fun of the fair included face painting, piñatas, carnival games, races, prize draws, ‘Guess the Teacher’, temporary tattooing, ‘Beat the Goalie’, ‘Mini Golf’, ‘Slalom Hockey’, a secondhand book stall and plenty of delicious snacks and ice-cold refreshments.

Those in attendance were also treated to live performances by the school choir and a group of talented young dancers coached by Prajna from the Indian Association of Brunei.

The Fair was a community event in the truest sense of the word. Parents and students from across the school worked together showing that many hands make the load lighter (and the hampers heavier!) by contributing to the prize hampers, secondhand book stall, lucky draw and the sweet and savoury snack stalls.

Panaga School Newsletter PTA News Transformed The Fair and the resulting fundraising for the School Yearbook would not have been possible without their organisation, event management and good old-fashioned hard work.

There were also a large number of parents and teachers who jumped into the saddle (literally in the case of race coordinator, Matt Jones, who brought his finest fillies to the field for Teraja's very own Seria Cup!) by running games and activities and manning the busy stalls.

Also after a piece of the action, were the Nerf toting P8s. With their 'weapons' locked and loaded and ample ammo on hand, they held the fort at Teraja’s own family friendly shooting range.

Gracie Hammond and Sarah Seagraves from P5 also got in the spirit of things with their own enterprising fund-raising idea; ‘The Lollipop Stick Game.’

With so much on offer, bringing everything and everyone together was a huge task. Luckily, the School Fair Committee, comprising of Adrienne Brocklebank, Carolyn Brien, Elizabeth Moras, Germaine Field, Lilin Wright, Christina Fenlon and Anna Sanderson, were on top of the job!

Panaga School Newsletter Sub-Zero Science

By Sidharth Raj and Mark Brocklebank

All in all, the children from P7 and P8 had an entertaining day of science!

—— Wednesday, 17th of April 2013: Today we hade a great science show by the OGDC (Oil gas discovery centre).

They brought with them liquid nitrogen as they froze bananas balls and many more.

After the show they had a small exhibit.

After we had looked at the exhibition we had a competition. We had to make slingshot to hit balloons.

On Wednesday April 17h, a science team from OGDC (Oil and Gas Discovery Centre) visited Panaga School as a part of an educational exhibition. The exhibition took place in the Teraja hall and went from 8.30am10.30am. The exhibition featured four science experts who showcased to children many science skills and personal goals.

The exhibition included lots of exciting activities and experiments such as dropping objects into liquid nitrogen (which is - By Boaz & Kari 196 degrees Celcius).

The children who were involved in the exhibition were from P7-P8. After some amusing experiments presented by Albert, a member of OGDC, the children were involved in a variety of visual and kinesthetic activities.

Towards the end of the exhibition there was a challenge where children in a team had to create a sling shot to knock down ‘balloon squids’. All they were provided with was cardboard, chopsticks and elastic bands. Quite a few children managed to hit the target.

Every child was given a prize for participating.

The prizes were rubber snakes and lizards. The winners received a bar magnet.

Author, Allan James Wendt, visits Panaga School On Wednesday 8th May, Allan James Wendt, author of The Scarab Bracelet, visited Primary 7 to talk to them about his books. He was interviewed by the students and teachers about his life and career.

He shared some chapters of his book with the students. This was to help the Primary 7 students improve their writing skills.

Mr Wendt was visiting Brunei with his wife and Panaga School invited him to visit Primary 7.

Primary 7 now knows further information about why he started writing and his past life. He writes about action and adventure because those are his favorite subjects to read about.

Mr Wendt is writing a trilogy; ‘The Scarab Bracelet’ was his first book and ‘Lapinda the Promised Land’ is his second. He is in the middle of writing the third one.

Mr Wendt has given a copy of his book, The Scarab Bracelet, as a gift to the school.

If you want to learn more about Allan James Wendt visit his website: thescarabbracelettrilogy.com

By Khoula and Raham (IP8)

Panaga School Newsletter Early Years ideas exchange with St George’s School Eight teachers from St George’s School in Bandar visited Panaga School in April. The aim of the visit was to share knowledge, ideas, theories and good practice in Early Years education. The visit was a huge success!

The Kindergarten teachers from St George’s School spent the morning undertaking a planned programme of events in Panaga’s Early Years Milepost. Sarah Josefsen, the Early Years Leader for Learning, held discussion groups and presentations, followed by time for the visiting teachers to observe high quality teaching and learning in action. This was a superb opportunity to exchange information on the latest methods and resources to maximise children’s learning in the Early Years and support children through this crucial stage in life.

The Panaga teachers also learnt a great deal about schools in Brunei and had interesting conversations about the similarities and differences between the two schools. It was a good learning experience for all!

At the end of the visit Lily Sim, the Head of Early Years at St George’s School, presented Panaga School with an engraved plaque to mark the visit and it is now hoped that the link between the two schools can continue in the future.

By Sarah Josefsen

Pre-Nursery receive a surprise visitor Earlier this month, Miss Anne's Pre-Nursery group had a lovely surprise when they found a baby owl sitting in the window of the playhouse in the playground.

It was especially exciting as Pre-Nursery had just been reading the story, 'Owl Babies'.

To everyone's delight, a sibling was spotted in the tree above and then a day later a third owl baby was found.

So all three owlets (Sarah, Percy and Bill, as nicknamed from the story) were safe in the tree and mum and dad have also been spotted bringing them food.

It was certainly a moment to treasure.

By the Pre-Nursery team

Panaga School Newsletter Southeast Asian adventures of Elly the Elephant, update: Ellie the Elephant, the official mascot of Ecole Yenzi School, Gamba, Gabon, continues to enjoy her travels to South East Asia.

Over the past fortnight, she has entertained and participated in the learning of classes across Teraja.

time in Africa by visiting the jungle, caves and the beach; plus of course the children of Ecole Yenzi School.

Both mascots are a part of the Shell Schools’ Mascot Exchange Project; “an annual project to promote ICT skills and International Mindedness between Shell Schools.”

She also continued to rack up even more air miles as P8 took her on their recent trip to Singapore.

For the many and latest photos and stories about both Shell School mascots, log onto the blogsite: Meanwhile, our very own shellmascot.weebly.com school mascot, Feathers, has been enjoying her By Damian Brady

P4 Bake Sale - a huge success covered that many people living in poorer countries don’t have access to save water, let alone have taps in their homes!

On Friday 3rd May, the P4s had an exciting and successful Exit Point to mark the end of their learning in the unit ‘On Tap’.

During the unit, they learned about water around the world and dis-

Through research on the internet, they were able to find out how the charity ‘Water Aid’ helped people in these areas by raising money to buy taps, toilets and by teaching them skills which they could use to help themselves. P4s decided to raise some money for ‘Water Aid’ by hosting a bake sale.

They enjoyed making posters to advertise the sale and with the help of

their parents, they baked some delicious goodies.

The P7s came to help with the actual sale on the Friday and we were grateful for their support and experience in this area.

The P4s felt very proud and managed to raise $825.17.

Thank you to all those who contributed: parents, P7s and both the students and adults on Teraja who remembered to bring their money and buy!

By the P4 team

Panaga School Newsletter Language of the Month and Children’s Library guage…Norwegian. So if you have any links with Norway, please send in any books, photos, artifacts, etc, to your child’s teacher to share with the class.

Many children had fun in April learning to speak some Arabic words, our focus Language of the Month, and many of our Arabic speaking children were very helpful with pronunciations!

You will have noticed that we have now changed the Language of the Month boards to a new lan-

As you are aware, at Panaga School, we encourage our bilingual children to read in their Mother Tongue at home as much as possible. We would like to introduce you to this website, which consists of many online books written in different languages: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ “The mission of the International Children's Digital Library Foundation (ICDL Foundation) is to support the world's children in becoming effective members of the global community - who exhibit tolerance and respect for diverse cul-

tures, languages and ideas by making the best in children's literature available online free of charge. The Foundation pursues its vision by building a digital library of outstanding children's books from around the world and supporting communities of children and adults in exploring and using this literature through innovative technology designed in close partnership with children for children.”

The ICDL Foundation is a nonprofit corporation.

Not all languages of our school are currently represented on the website, but please have a browse, you may be lucky and find some interesting books in your language.

By Vanessa Clee and Perminder Sanghera

Thanks for all you do, Lili her time in Brunei helping many them tips about growing up.” Lili is people from different communities also the class mum to IP5P, Mr feel a sense of family.

Philips class. Working with the students in class on reading and IPC “Assimilating into a new commu- topics, as well as extra work on nity can be very difficult for many school concerts and International students and families…I try to build Days, is her love. a sense of belonging. Working with the new students I try and give Within the community, she is acthem the self-confidence to be part tive on National Days with the Inof the culture of this area.” donesian community such as celebrating their national hero, Kartini, Knowing many languages helps on April 28th, 2013.

Lili with her tasks. She speaks Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesian, Ma- We at Panaga School are very lay and English. Her local dialects lucky to have Aunty Lili: always of Banjar and Kutai also allow her there to offer a helping hand, a to be that second mother. kind word or some good advice.

Recently, some children of Teraja performed in a Language assembly. They were demonstrating songs and games in their mother tongue. We would like to thank Lili, one of our parents, for her help with the Tagalog and Bahasa Indonesian performances. Mr Rorie and Andie Millie of IP7K talked to Lili about Andie Millie from P7 knows first From all the Panaga School comher experiences with language. hand all the amazing work Lili does munity, thank you very much Lili. within the school and greater comLili K. Agapay is a second mum munity. She is a focal point of the

By Mr Rorie and an aunty to many students at Indonesian school commuPanaga School. Coming from nity. Andie said that one of the To watch the Language assembly, click on S a m a r i n d a , E a s t B o r n e o / best things about Lili is “her caring to the link on school website: Kalimantan, Lili has spent much of nature and how she is able to give panagaschool.com/school-events-2012-13.htm

Panaga School Newsletter P2’s terrific term two toys topic Although it seems a while ago now, Term 2 was another exciting term, and another exciting IPC topic was explored in IP2. It all started in January with a story...a Toy Story.

After watching Toy Story 4, the children came to school dressed as their favourite toy. And, in the role of these characters, they invented their own stories. What scrape would Woody get himself into? Would Buzz Lightyear come to the rescue? Would the princess find her prince? Only the children had the answers!

At the end of the topic, it was IP2D’s turn to run an assembly. It was their own magic key adventure. The Magic Key took Biff, Chip and Kipper back in time, where Magic Grandma showed them around Panaga in the past.

They met the teachers when they were children. Miss Christina and Miss Laura were having a skipping race, Miss Sam was playing on a rocking horse, and Miss Teresa was arguing over a doll with Mr Andy!

Who says learning can’t be fun?

Especially when you spend a Then, the children boldly entered a whole term learning all about toys! new world: a world where aliens

By Mr Dave J beamed toys into outer space. After getting into role and acting out an alien toy story, the children became authors and publishers, producing their own books.

From space we returned, but only to beam somewhere else: back in time. From space travel to time travel! All just to learn about toys in the past.

The children met an old man, Mr Alfred…or was it Mr Dave in disguise? He told them about his favourite toy from his childhood.

Then the children produced their own non-fiction information text about toys.

After this, it was time to play some games. Some helpful and kind parents came to school to play various games from around the world with IP2.

Using these games as a starting point, the children designed and made their own board game. They even wrote instructions for it. Finally, they invited their parents to school to play it with them.

Panaga School Newsletter ‘In the Zone’ and on the green The ‘zones’ ranging from ‘Craft’ through ‘Get Fit’ to ‘Games’ ensures that all students can enjoy stimulating, safe places to play in allocated zones around the school during lunch.

‘In The Zone’, sponsored by the Panaga School PTA, has been successfully running since November 2012; providing fun and educational activities at lunchtimes for Teraja students.

Remote Control Group Friday 3rd May

The zones’ great work could only be possible due to the dedication of the Play Leaders and Zone Rangers of P8. Responsible, mature students, interviewed in early October, promising to generously give their time. ‘In the Zone’ has been an amazing success because of the time and patience of these leaders.

they all predicted. After a short introduction to the basics of the game, the competition commenced. After many ends, and a lot of competition, I think the game may live on, in the adults of tomorrow.

Thank you to the inaugural ‘In the Zone’ leaders.

Fittingly, for their enthusiasm and

By Mr Rorie and Miss Kathryn drive, they were thanked by the PTA with a delicious lunch and a spot of lawn bowls, overlooking the South China Sea. Escorted by Ms Kathryn and Mr Rorie to the Panaga Club, the students had a very enjoyable afternoon. Upon entering the lawn bowls pitch, many were surprised to discover it wasn’t the ‘dog recreation area’

April 2013: Technology ASA – Yep! Still building…

Boys (Big & Small) and Girls with their Toys!

…Mr Tim has a go!

By Mr Dermot

Panaga School Newsletter P4-P8 Sports Day

By P8 Reporters, Sidhu Raj and Mark Brocklebank The Panaga School Sports Day for pupils from P4 to P8 took place on the morning of Friday May 17th.

The event was held on the Panaga Padang and provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the children’s sports skills.

There were five different sporting activities including a tug of war, a threelegged race and a 100m sprint which were contested by students representing their houses: Earth, Fire, Wind and Water. The teams competed for the top place by displaying not only their sporting prowess but also their personal goals such as cooperation, resilience and adaptability.

Tim Walsh, PE teacher at Teraja, organised the event with the help of class teachers who ran the various activities.

“It was great to see the children working as a team. The event ran smoothly; it was like a ‘well-oiled machine’. We were also lucky to not get the full Brunei heat,” said Anna Sanderson, a P8 teacher.

The event started at 8.00am and ended at 11.30am. “It was a very exciting and exhausting event,” said one tired P8 student.

Parents played a big part in the event, as they were on hand to support the children. “It was nice to see people participating and supporting in the right spirit,” said Tim Walsh. Parent, Adrienne Brocklebank, agreed; “I thought it was a great event and especially enjoyed cheering on my children’s team in the tug of war.”

All the children loved Sports Day and can’t wait for it to come around next year. The points and Sports Day trophy will be awarded at Friday’s special Sports Assembly.

Scenes from the Early Years and MP1 Sports Days