The first day back! Reflections by Elisa, 11K

I find that the end of school and the start of school are quite ironic.

On a day where people should be rejoicing the start of the holidays and several weeks without homework or lessons, it is common to see tears everywhere as people bid farewell to teachers and friends whom they have come to love.

Conversely, it is always a pleasure to come into school on the first day back to settle into your group of friends and rejoice seeing each other, even though starting school this year marks the start of the dreaded IGCSEs, which are drawing close all too soon.

It’s a pleasure to see all the lovely faces of 10K-gone-11K again, this year tutored by the handsome Mr Mah. Obviously, there were those of us who were woeful of being on the MFL floor, rather than the S floor and not having Mr Norbury behind the table, but knowing us, we’ll soon adjust to life with Mr Mah.

Now used to the usual welcome-back routine, all of us sat through the notices, endured the hassle of lockers, timetables and planners and politely said hello to the customary greeting from the Head of Year. This year, obviously was slightly different as we said hello to the lovely Ms Golding and we’re all excited to see her.

Personally, this day felt like any other, as if summer hadn’t gone past. Walking through the school, it was easy to spot the changes and it was  equally easy to settle into lessons, saying the standard “Hey, how was your summer?” to classroom peers.

To give a brief rundown of lessons, I was welcomed into the swing of lessons with Geography, where we escaped a test only to have it scheduled for next lesson. This was followed by Maths, in which we welcomed a new teacher and finally with Physics, where we did in fact, have a “test” of sorts. All in all, not too shabby a start.

If the first day of school is any indicator for the rest of the year, then I’m sure that we’ll have many more ups, downs and surprises to look forward to. Not all of them will be fun, but I’m sure that in the end, we’ll get through them all.

The Student Leaders: Out Current Agenda by Iza Munir Hamdani

On the behalf of the Year 11 Student Leaders (though we seem to be better known as ‘Prefects’), I’d like to say ‘hey’. I hope that everyone has settled in and is happy with the way in which the first few weeks of school have played out.
For those of you who are interested, I thought I’d take a moment to fill you in on what we have been working on as a team.

So far, it’s been Mufti Day - I can practically hear the sound of everybody’s excited cheer at the mere sound of the words. Although Mufti Day is a tradition at GIS, and has been consistent for a [really, really] long time, we have come together with Ms. Capstick, Ms. Sham (who are the heads of Community Service here at GIS) and Ms. McGregor (the new head of Student Leaders), and we've planned for some minor changes. Admittedly, the vast majority of the Student Leaders weren't up for this change – myself included. But now that we've started adapting to the concept of it we realize that there’s a lot we can do to keep you well informed about which charities we’re working with, and also give you an amazing time on the actual day. As you may know, our overall theme at GIS this year is ‘empathy’, and we decided to try and integrate that into Mufti Day this year. We've been looking towards really building our relationships with the charities that we work with, and maybe with this we can raise awareness and help them out more often throughout this year, and many more years ahead. For the moment, I suppose that’s as much as I can let you know, but I really do hope that you’ll contribute to and enjoy Mufti Day this year, and embrace the changes we have made. I know I will!

Thank you for reading!

PS – As soon as I can tell you more, I will.

Work Experience- important information

Please see the link below for important information about work experience which will take place after the final GCSE examinations. All students have been given a copy of the letter which outlines key dates and the steps students should take to help them organise their placement.

Work Experience Letter

Careers in Year 11

Over the next two weeks, students in Year 11 will be working with our Careers Advisor, Ms Sharma, who will introduce students to the Careers programme at GIS, focusing specifically on e- portfolios and work experience.

This work will be continued during Camp Week (more exciting details to follow soon!) when students will set up their portfolios and start to think in more detail about work experience placements.

Please see some pictures of 11K below during their Careers workshop.

Mindfulness in PSHE

During this Thursday's Positive Education lesson, our students enjoyed getting 'mindful' with a whole host of activities designed to promote positivity and well-being. From writing letters of gratitude to practising relaxation techniques, our students kick-started the day with a feeling of positivity and calm.

If you're interested in seeing what the students did, please take a look at the presentation attached.

https://docs.google.com/a/gardenschool.edu.my/presentation/d/153ZwyuMUTJTkn-7tAcYewDQcQitxMd3Rhebw3kgaXGg/edit#slide=id.g471c6457f_030

Key dates- mock exams

As mock exams are looming, please be aware of the key dates below:

January 5th 2015- Mock exams start
January 16th 2015- Mock exams finish

The full mock exam timetable will be released at the end of Term 1.

Good luck to all Year 11 students with their preparation for the mock examinations.

First Day back

Wow! What a whirlwind. Almost eight weeks of summer holiday and we’re finally back at school, right back into the swing of things- it’s almost like we’ve never been away!

For our Year 11 students, this is an extremely important year with the IGCSEs looming in the not-so-distant future. Ready to embrace the challenges of the year ahead, it was great to see the students arriving bright-eyed and bushy tailed, looking forward to starting back at school. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself…

So, let’s keep up the positive start Year 11 and look forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Tutor Groups

Our form tutors play a very important role in the lives of our students and should be the first point of contact for any questions/issues regarding your child. Please find below the list of tutors for Year 11 students.

G Crest	Mr O’Reilly
I Chancellor	Mrs Lopez
S Sultan	Mrs Collins
W Queen	Mr Gavin
K Crest	Mr Mah
L Chancellor	Ms Williams
M Sultan	Mrs Taylor
P Queen	Ms Morrison