From the Head of Secondary 11.11.2023
Well, what a week it has been!
Yesterday we commemorated all those who have fallen in warfare through our assembly in the school hall, led by Mr Gant. Traditionally this event is held on the 11th November, marking the anniversary of the Armistice which ended fighting with Germany in World War 1. It something that we have marked for many years at KIS, with a minute’s silence at 11am and many such ceremonies will be taking place around the world today.
Nobody could have failed to notice that on Thursday we enjoyed another long-standing KIS event, International Day! With a mood in complete contrast to Remembrance Day, it was a hugely joyous celebration of community and those things which unite us all. It was a fantastic success by any measure, and special congratulations must go to our parents, led by our fantastically hardworking parent / teacher association steering committee. The students had a wonderful time playing the games organised by the student councils and yet again I managed to get completely soaked in ‘Sponge the Teacher’. Some of those very small young people have very accurate throws….I think they had been in training!
[Slideshow : press small play button on bottom left of slideshow to autoplay or swipe through to see more photos]
On Tuesday we had Pink Ribbon Day. For several years now we have supported the Kinabalu Breast Cancer Association, an absolutely wonderful group of people who do a lot of voluntary outreach work in the community. This year, for the first time, several members of that group came in and gave a talk to raise awareness of breast cancer amongst all our students from Year 7 to Year 13.
I was particularly impressed with the very sensible questions which our students asked at the end of the presentation. I think that this shows that our young people do want to know more, and the more we can talk about breast cancer and other such diseases we can cut through the taboos which surround them.
In addition, our Charity Committee raised RM1821 with their bucket cash collection, which is an amazing amount! This sum will be donated in full to the Kinabalu Breast Cancer Awareness Organisation.
While all of these fantastic events have been going on, behind the scenes we have, of course, continued with the business of teaching and learning. We are currently planning our ‘through-train’ Careers programme, which runs from Year 9 all the way through to Year 13. Over the years we have guided and supported all of our students from the starting point of selecting IGCSE subjects in Year 9 to getting our Year 13 students into top universities around the world by counselling and advising, and through the use of cutting – edge software. We have developed an outstanding programme over many years to fulfil the needs of our students, and there will be more information coming out moving forward about this to the parents and students in the relevant year groups at specific times. Advance warning that this year, post-Covid, we will be restarting our work experience programme for students in Year 12. This particular aspect will take place after their AS exams finish in June.
In the meantime, have a wonderful long weekend and Happy Deepavali!
Mrs Margaret Renshaw
Head of Secondary / Deputy Principal
