From the Head of Secondary 21.03.2020

What a difference a week makes!

Last week I wrote to you about my pending CIS visit to a school in Australia, and on Thursday I flew out to Melbourne all geared up and ready to evaluate the school with a team of educators from around Australia and Asia. The team met, we had some meetings in the hotel and on Sunday we visited the school where we received a wonderful welcome from staff and students. We settled into the team room and had a tour around the school, which is huge [2200 students]. However, by Sunday evening some team members were having doubts about continuing, considering the fact that airlines were cancelling flights, schools in Australia were closing and more stringent measures were being put into place by the government. We consulted with the CIS head office in the Netherlands and the final decision to call a halt came from Stuart McLay [whom many of you will remember as a previous Principal of KIS, now Director of CIS International Accreditation Services] who said that the safety of volunteer teams must come first. Postponing the visit was of course a huge disappointment to the school and to the team; all staff had worked tremendously hard on the self-review. We all hope that it will happen at some point in the future. I flew back to KK, arriving on Wednesday morning.

I would like to thank all staff, students and parents for working together so well to ensure that learning continues during this difficult time. I’ve received some very supportive messages from parents and in this newsletter you can see evidence that our students have responded well and are making the most of what their teachers have prepared and will continue to prepare. You cannot entirely replicate the face to face learning in the classroom but technology is pretty impressive. Feedback that I’ve received suggests that there were a few glitches on Wednesday but Thursday and Friday went more smoothly as students adjusted to the new format. They must message their teachers for help if need be and we will do all we can to support the learning process. Students who have IGCSE and A Level exams coming up must continue to put every effort into their studies. The Cambridge Examination Board have said that international exams will continue to be held and we will keep students and parents fully informed about matters pertaining to this.

Please enjoy Mr Graham’s account of ‘A Day in the Life of’ and Ms Corbishley’s write-up of the Year 10 Business trip [both obviously written before school closure!].

Margaret Renshaw

Deputy Principal/Head of Secondary

I get up earlier here in Sabah than I did in Australia. It makes sense of course, because the mornings are beautiful outside my windows (I can see Mt Kinabalu in the distance) and lessons start at 8 am. As I eat breakfast – usually cereal, fruit, yoghurt and a mug of local green or black tea – I watch the ABC news live from Australia to keep up with events from home. As much as I have been welcomed and assisted by everybody here in KK, it has been hard to watch Australia burning and now being inundated with massive amounts of rain. My family and my house, thankfully, have been spared from any injury or damage.

I usually ride to school with colleagues who also live in my building. I can drive, but I don’t have my own car here. Grab is a wonderful invention! I enjoy watching the behaviours and techniques of local drivers, which are quite different from what I am used to at home. At the KIS front gates, the warm welcome by John, Aziman and others gets me ready for the day ahead: temperature check, put lunch in the fridge (usually a salad with tuna/mackerel/sardines and fruit) and climb the three storeys to my classroom – this is surely good training for my climb of Mt Kinabalu coming up in June!

In my classroom, I turn on the lights, fans and air conditioners. For me, the humidity here takes some getting used to, so the temperature in my classroom may seem a little cold for some students who then wrap themselves up in a jacket! A check of the Daily Bulletin, the teachers needed to cover classes of absent teachers, then perhaps writing the key concepts of the next lesson on the whiteboard. While I do this, I will usually be playing some classical music on YouTube. I enjoy most good music, but I find that the works of Franz Schubert, Gustav Mahler and Sergei Rachmaninov make me happy. (Schubert, especially, is an emotional balm for any issues that one might need to work through). I also like the large choral works of Eric Whitacre – so beautiful.

I have five KS3 English classes: 7K and 7S, 8K and 8S and 9S. I appreciate the energy of these students and the challenge of feeding their hungry minds. Of course, as young people they have much in common with Australian students, although there is more variety in English language acquisition here, and certainly more cultural and religious differences. I am always impressed with the students’ enthusiasm and often surprising sense of humour. They are very interested in learning about the world and how to improve their English. I will try to regale them with (hopefully relevant) stories about Australia (and other places that I know about) whenever I can. The length of lessons here is similar to my last school (which was sixty three minutes).

I have to try to remember to drink lots of water because this Borneo climate is so humid. Though there is humidity sometimes, my home town in the Southern Highlands of NSW has four very distinct seasons, including very cold winters. Until recently, Australia had been in a long drought, so whenever it rains here, it makes me very happy. I never complain about rain anymore!

If I have a free period, I might go to the staff room for a coffee while I correct students’ work or prepare future lessons. Occasionally, I might have time to read some local news and I try to keep abreast of what is happening in Malaysia at large. If it’s a Thursday, I will help Mr Bryant with the KIS production of Macbeth after school, usually from 3pm until 7pm. The cast of this show is so enthusiastic and there is lots of talent to be seen. I have loved Shakespeare’s drama for many years, and it is great to see that he is being performed all over the world.

Sometimes I think about which new restaurant I can try for dinner – I love experimenting with new food and KK has not disappointed in that respect! I also like to read every day (as I suggest to my students) and no day is complete for me without reading a book (and listening to more music – perhaps something a bit more energetic while I prepare dinner).

So, a day in my life here starts with the beautiful vista of verdant greenery in the foreground, across a misty skyline to the mountains in the distance, and ends with dreams of new ideas – and sometimes dogs barking outside.

The Year 10 Business students were very busy last week inventing a new soft drink. They worked in teams to come up with an idea, find out what people thought about it and also carried out some secondary market research on their target market. We even turned the class room into a test kitchen so we could make a prototype of their drinks. Not all drinks tasted as expected and there was some quick changes made to the recipes to ensure they were drinkable. Following on from this, students took their ideas to Mr Boon, owner of Cap Kuda Coffee Company to get some valuable feedback. Mr Boon was very direct with the students, but I think they appreciated his honesty and humour. He explained many key business concepts which I believe really helped their understanding. Being able to see text book theory come to life through projects and visits is very valuable, and I thank parents for their support.

Ms Corbishley

Business Teacher