Panaga School Newsletter February-March 2013

Panaga School Newsletter Issue 39, February-March 2013

Featuring this month:

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

Inside this month’s issue:

Milepost 2 bring the jungle to life! More on Page 2

Message from the Headteacher of the Dutch Stream and Rampayoh & Mendaram sites Dear all, Plus, a couple of weeks ago, an important It has been an exciting half term again, but fun message about ‘Eating Right’ was filled with many learning, cultural, sports spread across both sites as adults and chiland community events. dren wore aprons and shared healthy and delicious snacks with one another.

Last holidays, Panaga School hosted the International Leadership and Management Also, Wednesday was awash with exciteProgramme (ILMP) for current and aspiring ment and good times as the PTA and stuleaders of our school and a variety of dent councils held the first ever ‘Busking Brunei government schools and colleges. Day’ to raise money for books. Many The ILMP, delivered by Fieldwork Educa- thanks to the PTA and student councils for tion’s Director of Professional Develop- all of your hard work and commitment! ment, Ms Pam Harper, is a "school-based practitioner program, designed to impact Also working very hard this half term were both directly and indirectly on improved stu- Milepost Two, who certainly did ‘bring the dent learning." Special thanks to the local jungle to life’, with their exciting Jungle school leaders for attending this course, as Book concert. It was a fantastic show! well as several of our Panaga teachers, Many thanks to Jenny Dunlop and the enwho all enjoyed coming together to share tire MP2 team of students, parents and teaching and learning ideas and create teachers, plus our music and ICT specialcommunity links. ists, for putting on such a great spectacle.

Speaking of the local community, Panaga School were proud to welcome children and teachers from Sekolah Rendah Panaga to attend our Maths Challenge Day, late last month. Thanks to all children and teachers from both schools and particularly Kathryn Carter, Child Development Leader for Learning, and Tim Walsh, Community Leader for Learning, for organising what will hopefully be the first of many combined school activity days.

Finally, the Panaga School Football Tournament was again a huge success. This year’s event featured 700 children participating in 76 teams from across the country.

Panaga won several categories, but all who attended would agree, sportsmanship and enjoyment were the biggest winners on the day. Thanks very much to our PE Specialists, Paul Deelen and Tim Walsh, and the football tournament committee for hosting such an excellent event.

The Panaga School PTA and student councils have had a very busy and successful half term as well. Many children, teachers and parents put on their dancing shoes for a ‘Disco Night’ last month.

I wish you all a happy, safe and healthy holiday. Term 3 I am sure will be just as busy and exciting.

Best regards, Meino Meines

Page 2: Milepost Two bring the jungle to life!

Page 3: Celebrating the thrill of maths challenges with our community Page 4: Open Morning fun in the Pre-Nursery Page 5: P6 are experts at “Making things go’ First impressions last Page 6 and 7: PTA News Page 8: Educational Leadership Training, Community Spirit and Brunei Yakin’ at Panaga School Language of the month Page 9: Two of Panaga School’s most senior alumni retrace steps and memories Page 10: From the Sports Desk with Tim Walsh, PE Specialist

Quote for the month: “A best friend is like a four leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have.”

- Author Unknown Newsletter designed and edited by Damian Brady

Panaga School Newsletter Milepost 2 bring the jungle to life!

The Milepost 2 Production on the 12th and 13th March was a spectacular showcase of children’s talents.

Primary 4 and 5 danced, sang and acted their way through an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’.

Two storytellers (Phoenix and Mia) took us on a journey following Mowgli through the jungle as they shared their bedtime story with the audience. A pulsating jungle of narrators opened up the story; before introducing the caring wolf pack, led by the authoritative Akela (Owen) and the graceful Rama (Aoife) and the reluctant, marching, dancing and singing elephants. The elephants were spurred into action by Colonel Haiti, or was it really his wife, Winifred, who led the herd? “A female leader? Utterly poposterous!” declared Carl as the Colonel.

Next, came Kaa the sly ssssslitering snake, with the children of DP5A carefully working together to create the illusion of one snake, as they attempted to hypnotise poor Mowgli.

Naughty monkeys of IP5P carried out their monkey business, enjoying every moment, as they were encouraged to pull faces at the audience and lark about.

The vultures, who skillfully portrayed their various different personalities, looked for something to do. (OK, which of us is saying, ‘Do!’ with special emphasis as we read this?) And eventually decided to

comed him with drums, dancing and singing, ally funny.”

A special mention to the creating an uplifting end dance was re ke a sn E 4N IP jungle creatures who to the story.

Daniel: “The sang ‘Abba Dabba Honeymoon’ to the courting All this was held toBaloo and King Louie – gether by 6 young actremendous voices from tors who quickly learnt just 5 children from their lines, could be relied upon to remember IP5R and IP5J. their stage directions We all watched out for and who approached the mean Shere Khan the experience with unand his ambush of ti- ending fervor. I would gers. As Mia said, “The like to thank them for tigers deserve an Oscar being such superstars.

Well done, Phine, Alex, for their dance.”

Nicole, Aubrey, Sakshi In this adaptation, there and Annabel. wasn’t a fight to rid the jungle of Shere Khan, An extravaganza of colbut a dance off and our and sound – the Shere Khan’s hip- teachers of Milepost 2 .” hopping contribution are very proud of the ngs o s achievewas superb. Well done, children’s e l l th ga Selby. Moments later, ments. n i ing Ella brought a sense of ds e v o “I l calm to the role of I hope every child feels isti: r K Shanti as she appeared equally as proud to on stage and led Mowgli have taken part in this big team effort as it’s home. success was down to Primary 4, the youngest you. Well done. of Teraja’s pupils, brought yet more enBy Jenny Dunlop ergy and excitement. A herd of smiling elephants (IP4PS) marched and danced wesome.” nery was a e c s with pride, although, did e th t h thoug Prasidh: “I anyone notice how they hurried away at the sight of Shere Khan?

The friendly colony of vultures (IP4N), complete with balding heads, wrapped us in warm sentiments as they invited Mowgli to join their family. Slithering snakes (IP4NE) took er.” to the stage in a blaze ink Panth P to e g sta of green glory as each ross the eping ac re c d e y one danced their hearts enjo Selby: “I out in a carefully choreographed routine which allowed each child to have their own dancing moment. Once Mowgli reached the man-village, the jungle creatures of DP4G welbefriend Mowgli.

Panaga School Newsletter Maths Challenge Day - celebrating with our community On the 20th February 2013, children and teachers from Sekolah Rendah Panaga attended our Maths Challenge Day at Panaga School. It was the first step in what many teachers at both schools are hoping is going to be a productive relationship for the two schools.

It is hoped that from this initial event the basis for a learning community between the two schools can develop as students share educational experiences, musical and drama events, as well as sporting fixtures. Further to this, the teachers of both schools will be able to share the innovative ideas and techniques they use in their classrooms, furthering the educational outcomes of the students of both schools.

When it was time for the two groups of students to say goodbye to each other at the end of the day’s event, future academic, sporting and drama performances were no longer just the topics of discussion. Emails were exchanged too, as was the hope expressed by all that a return visit for the Panaga students could be arranged so they could further their friendships.

At the end of the day, with smiles plastered across their faces, the hopes of the students for the future of this relationship were simple. Md Safiq Idris and David Adegboriye spoke enthusiastically that some football fixtures or a badminton tournament could take place between the two schools in the future.

Many of the girls, including Simin Ali and Ivy Elizabeth Smeith, mentioned their passion for drama and dancing and hoped that some performances could be arranged.

Written by Tim Walsh, Panaga School Community Leader for Learning

Panaga School Newsletter Open Morning fun in the Pre-Nursery On Tuesday 12th March, the children in PreNursery invited their parents in to play, have fun, get messy and gen-

erally get actively involved with their learning.

It was a great morning and the children loved

Parents joined in the fun of Pre-Nursery on Tuesday 12th March

sharing their settling with their parents.

Thank you to everybody who came along, and don't worry if you couldn't

make it on this occasion, we shall be inviting you in again in Term 3.

By the Pre-Nursery team

Panaga School Newsletter P6 are great at “Making things go” Can you make a car move by using air from a balloon? Can you power a watch with a lemon? Can you cook a sausage with the power of the sun?

P6 say, “Yes you can!”

WOW! Another task which was lots of fun was using the power of air to make a balloon travel up a piece of string.

From our understanding of how this works, we designed and made buggy cars powered by balloons. We had great fun racing our cars to see whose travelled the furthest.

In P6, we have learnt lots of exciting ways to create energy by using eco-friendly resources and renewable energy.

We learnt the more One of our favourite air in the balloon, tasks was making a the more energy solar powered created. The more oven. No one be- energy created the the car lieved that a pizza further moved. box, clean film, black paper and the power of the sun would be able to cook a sausage.

We should have been more positive, as every sausage successfully cooked in one sunny afternoon. In fact, some of our solar powered ovens reached an astonishing 90deg Celsius.

Creating energy from a lemon was a sticky and fiddly task. From learning how a battery works, we were able to make our own battery by using zinc and copper threads and 2 lemons to produce enough energy to power a buzzer and watch. By Miss Jo

On the 1st February 2013, a group of P6 remotecontrol enthusiasts got together for the first time to trade fun with their gadgets and toys in the safe environs of the school grounds - the first of what is

Budding F1 racers, robot ‘engineers’ and helicopter ‘pilots’ spent an hour ‘Making Things Go’ to coincide with their IPC topic of the same name.

One month later, on the first of March, a group of

that the school would have an international curriculum, but it’s more than that. The children still know where they come from but they have a deep understanding and respect of other people’s cultures too.

An interview with Duru Ngozi Ifeoma Duru Ngozi Ifeoma recently joined the Panaga School Community with her family.

Not only is she a mother to three girls in the school, she is also an experienced teacher and school administrator who is uniquely placed to give us a perspective on what it is like to experience a new beginning at Panaga School.

Can you describe your first impressions of Panaga School?

As soon as I walked into the school I saw ‘Feathers’ and I knew that, if those were the key words for the school (Personal Goals), this would be a special place. I had to take a photo of it with my ipad. The word ‘Resilience’ touched me and it really helps my daughters with their work.

When they find something hard, I tell them about resilP6 and P7 heliience and encourage them copter ‘pilots’ got to try and try again. together (pictured above) for a secWhat are your impresond meeting. sions of the learning environment at the school?

For the next occaIt’s intimidating…but in a sion, notice will be good way! I looked at the circulated to welclassrooms and saw the come all Milepost displays with the children’s 3 remote-control photographs and their car drivers/racers countries and it gives the back together in children a sense of belongone place for a ing. little more homegrown Top Gear I thought that being an infun! ternational school meant

By Mr Dermot

Remote-Control Friday! hoped to be a monthly gathering.

First Impressions

What have you noticed about the learning activities that your children have taken part in?

This has really impressed me the most. The children bring their own ideas to activities and the teacher meets them half-way. They participate in the learning, rather than just cramming in the information the teacher gives them. It’s very child-centred. I think it’s wonderful!

How do your children talk about the school when they come home in the afternoon?

They are excited about school and tell me about their new experiences. Did you know that my teacher can play an instrument?

Did you know that my new friend is from here? Did you know that my friend is having to leave Panaga School and she was crying? This really made me think that it must be a good school if a child who has been at the school for so long is crying because she has to leave.

She wasn’t saying, “I’ll miss my friends,” she was saying, “I’ll miss the school.” It must be like a home for her.

We value all the feedback that you, as parents, give us at the school and thank Duru Ngozi Ifeoma for taking the time to share her experiences with us.

By Andy Ryan

Panaga School Newsletter PTA News What we’ve raised and where it’s going...

Coffee morning for class parents

A total of $5,495 has been raised from PTA events and activities so far this school year.

Wednesday 10th April 2013 9.30-10.30am Kenyalang Restaurant, Panaga Club

The Social Night generated $555, the Panaga School tea towels brought in $3,860 and the profit from the School Disco amounted to $1,080. Very many thanks to everyone who supported these initiatives.

Please advise if you (or an alternate parent) can attend by emailing panagaschoolpta@gmail.com.

This money, together with the profits from last year’s International Cook Book, is being spent on:

(The cost of the coffee morning will be covered by the school.)

• • •

Equipment for ‘In the Zone’ playground activities at Teraja A friendship bench and traffic marking at Rampoyah A ‘make-over’ for the reading area in the Teraja library

At the end of this school year, the PTA will issue an End of Year Report.

We are hoping that each class is represented.

SAVE THE DATE!

SCHOOL FAIR ‘A fun event for the whole school community’

Saturday, 18th May 2013 3-5pm Panaga School, Teraja site There will be face painting, a lucky dip, second-hand books and DVDs to buy, live performances to watch, fun activities to enjoy, home-baking and much more…

To run the event we need the help of volunteers. If you can help in any way please: - contact your class parent - email panagaschoolpta@gmail.com - speak to anyone on the PTA Committee

Catch coverage of all the fun and excitement of this year’s wonderfully successful Busking Day next newsletter, where we will reveal how much was donated, who some of the top acts were; plus, show how much fun we all had. Thanks to all participants, parents and teachers for supporting this great event.

Panaga School Newsletter PTA News Wednesday Night Fever

By Anna Sanderson The almost 300 children who attended this year’s Panaga School PTA Disco will enthusiastically attest that disco is definitely not dead!

Irrespective of whether you prefer to breakdance, moonwalk, twist or Harlem shake, the school disco was the place to be.

Wednesday February 27th saw children from P1 to P8 dust off their dancing shoes

and head, ticket in hand, to the Teraja hall. Thanks to the efforts of the PTA disco divas, Adrienne Brocklebank, Carolyn Brien and Elizabeth Moraz, the hall was transformed into a glow stick and disco light illuminated dance den. Parent stylists had obviously worked overtime as sequins, glitter make up, slicked backed hair, curls and fancy up-dos abounded.

Nicki Minaj and PSY kept on coming as each Milepost took their turn to work up a sweat with an hour-long session of non-stop boogying. All up, there were three disco sessions running between 4.30pm and 8pm, none of which would have been possible without the assistance of the fantastic troupe of parent volunteers who collected tickets, distributed snacks, drinks and party favours and superDisco DJ, Rob De Bree, vised the children as they tore made sure that tracks from up the dance floor. favourites like One Direction,

Eat Right to increase your might!

By Anna Sanderson healthy discussion and improve the Lunch boxes went quality of school under the micro- snacks and lunches. scope this month as the Student Council To get into the spirit, launched Eat Right children and teachers theme day. The day’s donned aprons, beaim was to stimulate cause, as any healthy

eater knows, preparation process is key to a healthy diet. Each class also feasted on a nutritious and delicious picnic at snack time.

Eat Right theme day saw the introduction of a theme-day-based class discussion session and the ‘take away’ task. The rationale behind the ‘take A successful theme away’ task is to bring day is not just about the theme home. The dressing up and sharing food. If done right, a theme day should generate discussion, debate and positive change.

children did this by conjuring up healthy snacks at home and sending in a photo for our healthy eating gallery.

Take a look at what some of our kitchen wizards whipped up!

Panaga School Newsletter Language of the month

- Rita Mae Brown

cate

with

family

friends in their home country. In addition, many children may return to live in their home country at a later stage, perhaps for schooling, and this will help them to reintegrate. Research has shown that children who have a strong mother tongue language are far more successful in learning other languages.

Panaga School, there will be a new ‘Language of the Month’ display board on both sites, starting in the new term.

We aim to introduce some basic vocabulary and give a little insight into some of the countries where the language is spoken. Look out for the board - if you see your language on display, please feel free to To celebrate and raise contribute with pictures, awareness of the lan- maps, photos, etc. and guages spoken at Speak to your child’s

At Panaga School, many pupils have English as an additional language. They work extremely hard at developing their English, and do a great job!

However, it is also important that they continue to use and develop their first lan“Language is the road guage at home. map of a culture. It Their mother tongue is tells you where its peo- an integral part of their ple come from and cultural identity and enwhere they are going.” ables them to communi-

class teacher; there may be an opportunity for you to share stories, poems and songs from your home country with your child’s class.

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

- Nelson Mandela

By Perminder Sanghera and Vanessa Clee

Educational Leadership Training, Community Spirit and ‘Brunei Yakin’ at Panaga School ‘Brunei Yakin’ is not just of paramount importance to Brunei Shell Petroleum, it is a key part of the ethos of Panaga School.

Though the school’s primary role is to provide learning opportunities for children of expatriate staff, ‘Brunei Yakin’ at Panaga School is clearly evident in our students’ and staff’s (including Bruneian Administration’s and Learning Support Assistants’) pride in working and living in Brunei.

From the 11th to the 14th of February 2013, Panaga School hosted the International Leadership and Management Programme (ILMP) for current and aspiring leaders of Panaga School and a variety of Brunei government schools This year, Panaga School aims to conand colleges. tribute even more to The course was an the wider community opportunity for this of Brunei by having country’s top educa- appointed, among its tionalists to come to- teaching staff, a Comgether in some ‘Brunei munity Leader for Yakin’; to learn about, Learning. to inspire one another and to share in school As a result, stronger management best links have already been formed with local practices. schools and organisa-

tions, including Panaga’s invitation to local school and college leaders to attend the ILMP. The ILMP, delivered

by Fieldwork Education’s Director of Professional Development, Ms Pam Harper, is a "school-based practitioner program, designed to impact both directly and indirectly on improved student learning."

other schools; their shared experiences and the contrasting challenges they face each day.

At Panaga School, we refer to Brunei as our ‘host’ country and this notion of hospitality explains in a simple way how ‘Brunei YaThe feedback from all kin’ worked for us durteachers and school ing the course. managers who attended the course For all that Brunei was highly compli- teaches and provides mentary, including: for us, our commitment to sharing our ‘An outstanding pro- experiences and expertise as educators is gramme.’ the small gift that we ‘Wonderfully beneficial can bring in return to for those who are say, “Thank you”. leaders, thinking about being leaders

By Andy Ryan, and even those who Milepost 3 are not.’

Leader for Learning, and Damian Brady ‘The best course of training I have received of any kind in my teaching career.’

The programme encourages confidence and expertise in leadership and professional relationships between students, staff, senior leaders and board members; among other teaching/ learning management aspects.

‘It was great to be united in leadership In addition to the prac- and learning.’ tical and theoretical guidance provided on On a daily basis, the course, partici- teachers help children pants gained a great learn by making what deal from interactions is complex, simple. with colleagues from

Panaga School Newsletter Two of Panaga School’s most senior alumni retrace steps and memories Last week, Panaga School were seem fulfilled. It is wonderful to see honoured to welcome 2 ex-pupils the huge mix of cultures. All students who attended classes over a re- seem to get along with one another.” markable 60 years ago.

He added, “It is startling to learn of the Perry Harlen and Donald Whitaker diversity of the school, with over 40 both went to Panaga School in the nationalities. Back when I was at late 1940s, shortly after the school’s school, we only had pupils who were Dutch, Australian, a New Zealander inception. and British.”

Panaga School was established in 1948, originally on a different site fur- Perry also noticed the variety of activither north along the South China Sea ties now on offer at Panaga School, coastline. It is now located in the compared to when he was a student.

Brunei Shell residential camp of “In my time, there was only football, Panaga, between the oil towns of not cricket and all of the other activities I have seen today.”

Kuala Belait and Seria.

Perry Harlen arrived in Brunei in 1946 and completed his studies between 1949 and 1954. Donald Whitaker arrived in 1948 and began school the same year.

Donald furthered however that art and music were popular curriculum areas back then, despite there not being television or cinema; only the occasional ABC radio broadcast from Australia.

Both gentlemen were very pleased to visit Panaga School so many years on, to share memories of building developments, favourite old teachers and classmates. They were amazed at how much the school has thrived over the last 65 years.

“One of the most pleasant features of the school in the old days was that it was down near the beach. Mrs Eileen Corby, the art teacher, used to take children down to the beach for lessons. I also had a wonderful music teacher called Rachel Mead, who “It is marvellous to still see that the used to give inspiring classes on the original three wings of the school re- classical music of Greig,” Donald main. Though, it’s also great to see reminisced. the school’s expansion which shows Shell’s confidence in the future of Se- He added, ”When you lived in Brunei, ria. When my father retired in 1963, you were completely cut off from the there were some doubts over the vi- outside world. We had telephones, but ability of the oil fields. Since then, you could not call out of the country.” there have obviously been several Plus back then, the roads only went as far as Anduki (20kms away). “If you discoveries made,” said Perry. had to get to the capital, Bandar Seri Panaga School is again expanding Begawan, you needed to go along the today to accommodate several more beach.” students expected in the coming years; a further sign of the success For Perry and Donald, so much has and prospects of Brunei Shell Petro- changed at Panaga School in the last 65 years. Who can predict what the leum. school will be like a further 65 years Donald also remarked on the school’s from now? At least there’s hope the growth from his time to now: “It is very current pupils of today will remain in nice to see such a progressive school the fine health and happiness that with a huge variety of children in it. Donald and Perry have been in over The children we have seen on our such a long period of time. visit today are obviously very happy in their learning and life. The children all

By Damian Brady

Panaga School in the 1940s and 50s, when Perry and Donald were school boys.

From left: Donald Whitaker, Dianne Shaw (Perry’s wife) and Perry Harlen

Donald and Perry enjoying the many developments since their time at Panaga School

Panaga School Newsletter From the Sports Desk with Tim Walsh, PE Specialist

Panaga Football Tournament 2013: The annual Panaga Football Tournament was contested on March 10th at the Panaga padang. This year’s event featured 700 children participating in 76 teams from all over Brunei. The Crown Princes of the Bruneian royal family also played in the tournament.

This only served to add to the level of excitement everybody was already feeling for the day’s festivities.

It was great to walk around the Padang and see so many football matches being played in such a competitive, yet positive spirit.

Despite fierce competition from the kick off, all matches ended with a handshake, a smile and a much-deserved drink of water.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the staff of Panaga School and the parent volunteers who assisted in all aspects of the running of the tournament. From referees, team leaders and scorers to water distributors, everybody worked together to ensure the day was stress-free and fun for all the players and spectators.

From an organisational standpoint, events such as this do not just happen overnight. A great deal of hard work was put in by many staff members in the preceding months to ensure the tournament’s success. For this, special thanks needs to be given to the Tournament Committee.

2013 Panaga School Football Tournament Winners and Runners Up: U/12 Boys: 1st Panaga 2nd JIS B U/11/12 Girls: 1st JIS 2nd Hornbill U/11 Boys: 1st JIS 2nd Panaga U/10 Boys: 1st JIS 2nd Panaga B U/10 Girls: 1st Hornbill 2nd Panaga U/9 Girls: 1st Panaga A 2nd Panaga B U/8 Mixed: 1st Panaga A 2nd Panaga B U/7 Mixed:1st ISB Bandar A 2nd ISB Bandar C U/6 Mixed: 1st Panaga A 2nd Panaga B All football players need to ensure that their uniforms are returned to Miss Kathryn on Teraja or the Administration office on Rampayoh.

Inter house Football and Basketball: As we go to press, we are coming to the end of the round robin stage of our Primary 4/5 inter-house football competition and our Primary 6-8 inter-house basketball competition. At this stage, the finalists remain undecided due to the close nature of both competitions. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the students who have represented their houses so enthusiastically in the year’s first inter-house sporting events. The finals of both competitions will be played in the first week back after the holiday. Stay tuned to see if your house will make the final!

BJSL Congratulations to all the competitors who have represented Panaga School in the sports of t-ball and football over the previous months. Unfortunately, our teams were unable to attend the final round of the competition at JIS on March 14th.

The final results will be very close in all age groups of the competition. Regardless of the final standings, the developing level of commitment and pride within our teams is something to savour. The number of students attending before school training sessions has increased every week. It is no accident that the performances of our teams during matches have improved, also as more and more students have worked hard to develop their skills.

After the holiday we will be selecting our touch rugby and netball teams for the next round of the BJSL. Panaga School will also be looking to take the top spot in this year’s BJSL swimming gala.