From the Head of Secondary 25.01.2020

The Chinese New Year holiday has arrived very quickly and we never fail to be amazed at how quickly time passes. That is largely due to a very busy school and community. On Wednesday whilst we were enjoying the hugely popular annual Lion Dance, Year 11 students were completing their mock examinations and by now will have received many of their results. The mocks are designed to give the students practice in exam technique in addition to facilitating revision of all of the work they have been doing since the beginning of Year 10. They also provide insight into strengths and weaknesses to both students and teachers. From the mocks, we will be able to identify those topics that require more practice and review. Shortly after the Easter break Year 11 will start study leave, with the actual exams starting earlier this year, at the end of April. We will issue a mock report after the holiday and that is followed by the Year 11 Parent/Teacher/Student afternoon, on Monday 10^th February.

This week I have been talking to students about the Community survey, which will be happening in February/March. This is completed by parents, staff, the Board and students from Year 6 to Year 13, and is a very useful tool in contributing to the development of the school. Analysis of the results will be fed into our re-accreditation with the Council of International Schools, which begins  in earnest in early February with teams of students, staff, parents and the Board working to decide whether KIS is aligned with the CIS standards.  This is a lengthy process which is completed in depth and detail, with the results in the form of a report which is sent to CIS in December this year.

Recently I wrote to all Secondary parents about the school’s requirements around homework and how we can work together to make it a valuable learning experience for students. In addition we published the homework timetable and I hope that parents have been able to cross-check this with their child’s diary to ensure that homework has indeed been written down. I would ask any parents that spot any anomalies to get in touch with their child’s form tutor so that we can investigate what is happening. We do have a good structure for homework but as with all procedures it will not work well unless everybody plays their part. Thank you for your support in this.

Margaret Renshaw

Assistant Principal / Head of Secondary 

Last weekend, ten of our Sixth Form students completed one of the most difficult and fraught journeys that they have ever undertaken, in order to fulfill the stringent requirements of the Gold International Duke of Edinburgh Award. All the participants, both final qualifiers (Dania, Edward, Cassidy, Kaori, and Cherelle) and our practice team (Pascal, Bobby, Jimin, Peter, and Suraj) demonstrated extreme perseverance, determination, and positivity in the face of what was a challenging, and often gruelling physical challenge. The terrain was hostile, and weather conditions punishing, and new levels of discomfort were discovered in our often basic accommodation. However, our teams were more than equal to the task, successfully completing the expedition and somehow managing to keep a cheerful outlook throughout.

It did not begin auspiciously when on Sunday morning, the bus driver taking us to our drop off point confessed that he had no idea where we were going. Lucky for us, we had a whole bus full of navigational experts, so we made it to our start point.The rest of the expedition is described by the Gold Qualifying team as follows… 

Day 1- Desan Fish Farm- Pukak (Kaori) 

Our journey began far too early on Sunday morning. We were not yet in pain and greeted each other, along with Mr and Mrs Colbeck, with smiles. Largely unhelpful maps had made us walk three-quarters of the day’s journey in one extended leg, although it did lift spirits knowing that following our lunch we had very little left to go. Our route took us through forests and paddy fields, and over numerous babbling streams, through kampungs and settlements, although we rarely saw other people. The hills were steep, but only after we had completed the trip did we realise how mild these gradients were compared to the monsters we conquered later! Our bags were the heaviest on the first day, and while we were not as tired as the days that were to follow, it presented itself in the speed we were walking at. When the rain arrived in the afternoon, we had just reached the campsite at Pukak, but we did not realise how heavily it would fall, or that it would not stop until daybreak! We did not see a single star that night, as the downpour forced all ten of us into a four tent setup on concrete ground under the only cover. 

Day 2- Pukak – Kondis point (Ed)

We woke up to a slightly overcast sky, accompanied by a slight drizzle to begin our morning routine of getting washed and preparing our food. After our preparation we went into our groups, checked our bearings, filled our water bottles and headed off. The beginning of the journey was mostly flat land with occasional hills and various junctions along the main road in we then had to navigate through to find the correct path. We then reached a small junction with a gravel path, and this was the start of our grueling hill climb. 6km of tough uphill climb faced us as we hauled our 15kg backpacks along with us, and the weather did not treat us kindly as the sun beat down on us. Only the meager shade of the overhead trees provided momentary respite from the blazing heat that drained us. As we marched uphill the humidity of the rainforest truly began draining us of our bodily fluids as we sweated profusely throughout the uphill climb. After 3 hours we finally caught up with the other group and reached the top as one of our group members was not fully physically prepared which caused unforeseen issues. After our brief lunch break we began downhill on a very steep green path covered in wet moss; the descent was slower than the ascent and cautious footing was the best approach. When we finally reached the bottom we refilled our water and headed onto the last leg of our journey to finish the day off. The last leg was shorter than the previous legs but it was harder to navigate; many offshoots and side paths constantly had us questioning our decisions, keeping us on our toes [even though our feet were horribly sore and painful!]. When we finally found our way through the many winding paths we came across a bridge that lead to the camp. We began our journey at 8:45am and reached the camp at 5pm, a total of roughly around 8hrs and 45min of walking. We finally reached our destination after our morale had been ground down by the physical discomfort and the adverse weather. We reached our destination and for the first time in 8 hours, smiles were everywhere. 

Day 3 – Kondis Point- Kiulu (Dania)

On the third day, we were pleasantly surprised to wake up to a shorter route card than Day 2, but little did we know how we would underestimate the vertical distance that we’d be climbing. Even though the sun was shining far too brightly and our bodies were far too sore from the hilly day before, nature wanted to add to our misery by scheduling a thunderstorm at 2pm later that afternoon. So with the prospects of ironically being in a rainforest during a rainstorm in mind, we began the first few kilometres of our journey on main road playing cat and mouse with the other Gold Group until we both arrived at the first water station. Some people relieved their backs by putting their portable homes (rucksacks) down, whilst some sought to take a quick nap before continuing the long day ahead. Although we expected to wake from our midday slumber on our beds at home, the concrete below us snapped us out of our daydream. The next part of our day  would be split into three stages. 

1. Rock climbing
2. Walking up a vertically inclined “ hill ” 
3. Sliding down said “ hill ”

As we snaked through the deforestation that marked the turns on our map, we came across a seemingly dead end. To the left there was a 10m fall. Directly in front were just stumps of blackened trees. But to the right, was a barren hill at least 50 metres high with the Practice group struggling to get up. For visual aid, imagine us as lizards crawling on this sandy hill, grasping at rocks, roots and logs ever so carefully so that it wouldn’t fall and knock off the person below you. What made it harder was the blaring heat, reminiscent of Icarus flying too close to the sun, although we had no wings but rather 15kg backpacks that taunted us with the prospect of falling. With our newfound capability to scale cliffs, our ego was fed and we started stage 2. Keeping it short and sweet as so not to relive the screams of our calf muscles, the ‘hill’ was a mental challenge rather than a physical one, and after numerous breaks after ten metres we made it to the top for lunch. Enjoying some sloppy spaghetti, we took an hour’s rest while the sky was still clear. 

In the moment, Stage 3 was truly frightening. With no actual path to follow we used ridges as a guide in the rainforest and began our descent. As a cruel joke played by Mother Nature the rain started at 1:57pm. The thick canopy that cascaded the sky was our only protection from the rain. But the onslaught above was not as bad as the dirt paths that created natural slides for us. If we had RM1 for every time Mr Colbeck fell down we could’ve bought a Grab all the way back into KK! Keeping in mind we were a group of 15 in a single file so the people who were last were the most susceptible to falling. And fall we did. One fall I must record in KIS history involved Cassidy, Kaori and I. After witnessing a patch of dirt that was smoothened by a fall from its predecessor (Mr Colbeck), I chose to walk around it, grabbing a tree for support. Unfortunately (yet not surprisingly), the path I chose did not agree with me and I started to slip. To balance the weight I was exerting on the tree, Kaori pulled the tree upwards so the forces would balance but alas the tree decided to uproot itself, sending us both hurtling down the hill. Kaori’s fall shifted the ground below her sending Cassidy flying too and we all toppled down. Kaori was not so lucky in her landing and was an ankle away from falling off the face of the cliff if we had not grabbed it in time! Although we were the only witness’ to this comical scene, it created an unforgettable memory. The rest of the day was easy compared to what we went through and before we knew it, we arrived in Kiulu and Day 3 became just another memory.

Day 4 – Kiulu- Tamparuli (Cassidy)

We were on the road again, thankfully, for the last time. We set out early with the preconception that the day ahead would simply be journeying across concrete roads from Kiulu to Tamparuli. We did not expect to walk across a prickly pineapple field, or to trek thirty minutes into the jungle on a wrong path and double back. It was a great start to our last day. 

After suffering a few scrapes and a fall from Cherelle, we were finally on the main road to Tamparuli town. Despite enduring the gruelling terrain and harsh weather for the last few days, the concrete road and cloudless sky seemed like a nice change of events, yet again we were wrong. The 10km hike proved much more mentally taxing than we believed. The blazing sunshine, hard concrete road and boredom of walking in a single file line was eventually made up for by the rewarding mamak meal we enjoyed at Tamparuli town (it was lucky that the bus driver was on Sabah time). Our journey finally came to an end: we have never been so happy to sit on a bus!

Conclusion (Kaori)

We had truly pushed ourselves to the limits on this trip, walking a staggering 80.5 km over the course of four days, expending every calorie we ate, and losing our body weight in sweat. Thank goodness we had Mr and Mrs Colbeck to look after us! But the important thing we learned is that even though we often voiced the thought that this was too hard, too difficult, too impossible, we all did it. I’m not sure where the energy came from, but every one of us did the impossible things that lay before us, and it has left an indelible mark: Perhaps we are far more capable than we think, and maybe we can achieve things that we always believed we could not. 

NB None of the students were actually harmed or injured in the expedition, despite the lurid descriptions of near-death experiences! 

Here are the fabulous words from Mr Graham’s English classes this week:

Joshua Ng 7K with obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass.

Bella Luping-Cowan 7K and her indefatigable efforts to come up with fresh words.

Yan Ye Yap 7K presents loquatious, tending to talk a lot!

Amy Ling 7S contributes the simple but beautiful word orb which describes spherical objects.

Debbie Wong 8K discovered the not often heard negus, a hot drink of port, sugar, lemon and spice (not the best drink for Sabah’s climate!)

Ruth Tsen 8S saw an empathetic man with a doleful (sad) look on his face.

Dylan Mansul 9S hopes that he will never have egregious results in English!

Victor Chang 9S is concerned about venal governments in the world – those susceptible to bribery and corruption.