CONNECTwith Nexus International School

Connect 29
10 May 2013
CONNECT with Nexus International School
Greetings from Nexus International School, Putrajaya
Whole School News
Parents’ Visitors Must Wear Tag At All Time In School Premise: We seek your cooperation. Please can all parents
take a visitor tag for their passengers when entering school compound. Unfortunately I have to report that security have
faced some problems and arguments when advising parents to follow this request. We hope you can support us in
future to ensure that the safety of the children is a priority for us all even though it may be an inconvenience.
Triathlon: The Nexus Triathlon is being held tomorrow on Saturday 11th May. We have over 260 athletes competing
from 8.30am until 12.00pm. If you would like to support this event then please come along and cheer on the
competitors.
Nexus learners have talent: Well done to our resident water skier, Aaliyah Yoong from Year 5.
Congratulations to Praveen Nair:
Praveen is currently taking part in a three-day tournament as the sole qualifying event for
young equestrian riders to book their berth for the second 2014 Youth Olympic Games in
Nanjing, China.
As a National equestrian rider Praveen Nair Mathavan hopes to make an impact in his debut
at the Federation Equestrian International (FEI) World Jumping Challenge 2013 to be held at
the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort, over the weekend.
Praveen said "I expect to face stiff competition from other young riders who will also be vying
for a place in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games since there are only four places available for
each continent. I will be banking on my horse, Clearcut which has been with me for the past
several years."
Everyone at Nexus wishes Praveen every success in this tournament.
Novel Knockout: Nexus fielded four teams at the exciting Novel Knockout competition on Thursday, held this year at
Alice Smith. Although none of the teams won any prizes, they are to be massively congratulated on their
achievements. They have been reading and preparing for the competition since January and today display outstanding
teamwork, camaraderie and sportsmanship. No doubt there are a few who are already looking forwarding to the 2014
competition!
Congratulations to Hariz, Ling Ann, Jia Mang, Sofia, Stephen, Lisa, Michelle and Xin Yi from secondary and Sorour
(6N), Jonathan (5X), Javen (5X), Charmaine (5E), Deanna (5E), Samantha (5E), Jasmine (6E), Sammy (6E), Andra
(4X), Leah (4X), and Shaun (5X) from primary. Well done all!
Nexus Education Forum: Thank you to our dedicated participants that attended our session on 'Lifelong Learning'.
Feedback indicates that it was most useful and the discussions seemed to enlighten both parents and staff on attitudes
toward supporting a culture of learning at Nexus. Click here to explore ideas that came from the meeting and steps that
we recommend be taken as a result. Watch this space for details of our next session and hope to see you there.
th
Young Performers' Concert: 6.30pm Wednesday 15 May – Tickets available from the Payment Counter in the
School Reception
th
Rehearsal Times on Wednesday 15 May in the Theatre.
• Ask you teacher politely if you can go to your rehearsal
• Arrive 5 Minutes Early
• Bring your Music, Instrument, Backing CD
REHEARSAL
TIME
NAME OF
PERFORMERS
CLASS/YEAR
PIECE, COMPOSER, INSTRUMENT, TEACHER
8.45am
Amelina Stiff
2E
A Whole New World - Tim Rice & Allan Menken
8.45am
Nur Ilham Afzal
Farahin Ahmad
Fahmy 10E
3N
Mickey Mouse Club - Jimmie Dodd - Piano Duet with Farahin
Ahmad Fahmy 10E - Sam
8.45am
Amyra Aisha
Farahin Ahmad
Fahmy 10E
2N
Feed the birds - Sherman Brothers Piano Duet with Farahin
Ahmad Fahmy 10E - Sam
8.45am
Girl Vocal Group
Y3
You Can Look In A Book For Your Heroes by Robin Grant Solo Voice 1 Jasmin Roseli Solo Voice 2 Darnia Rohaizad Arianne Mohamad Qabil, Laxshmi Karunanithi, Syarah Bt
Omar Ali and Aminah Syed Yahya
9.15am
Shang-Wei Toe
3N
Mexican Standoff
9.15am
Edmund Wong
4N
Joy to the World - Isaac Watts - Piano Solo
9.15am
Andrea Lee
4N
Das Ballett by D. G. Turk - Piano Solo
10.25am
All Year 5
11.00am
Jonathon Chin
5X
Golliwog's Cakewalk by Claude Debussy Grade 4 Piano Solo
11.00am
Samantha Guillouet
5E
Ballade by J Friedrich Burgmuller - Piano Solo
11.20am
SyamirWansapawi
6E
Piano Solo Performing his own composition “Reflection on a
Marshmallow”
11.20am
Ashley Kim
6N
Por Una Cabeza by Tango Project - Piano Solo
11.20am
Najla Najib
6E
The Moon’s A Balloon by James Manders - Grade 1 Guitar
Solo
Blast Off Into Space - Matthew Crossley
11.40am
James Low
7X
The Things That You Don’t Know by Wong Le Hong Grade 3
Piano Solo
11.50am
Sofiyya Ahmad
7N
La Rotta arr. Huws Jones - Grade 3 Violin Solo- Mervin
Accomp
12.00pm
Xin Yi
7E
Englischer Tanz in A by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf Piano G3
12.10pm
Jun Wei Hew
7E
Kavakeriiskaya by DB Kabalevsky Grade 5 Piano Solo
12.20pm
Ericia Chang
8N
‘Summer’ from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi ‘Violin G7*
12.35pm
Leanne Chew
8N
Polonaise in G Minor by Frederic Chopin Grade 6
12.45pm
Cicely Guillouet &
Kirsty Tay
Y8
Love’s Messenger by F B Behr Op. 221 Piano Duet
1.55pm
Angela Wang
8E
Hunshi - Wedding Song - Chinese Traditional Instrument the
Hulusi
1.55pm
Jariel Ho
9N
Carol of the Bells Piano Solo G8
2.05pm
Alex Kim
9E
Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt - Piano Solo - Sam
2.15pm
Jasmine Foong
9E
Nuvole Bianche by Ludovico Einaudii
2.25pm
Eric Tae
9X
Sonatina Op.36 #3 Musio Clementi Piano G6
2.35pm
Aishah Isham
9X
Ballade Pur Adeline Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint
Grade 6 Piano Solo
2.45pm
Jae Woo Lee
Farahin Ahmad
Fahmy 10E
9X
Be Our Guest - Piano Duet with Farahin Ahmad Fahmy 10E Alan Menken andHoward Ashman - Sam
ARTS WEEK: June 17th see the start of Arts Week, a week that will feature many performances with the highlight
being Oliver! the Musical on Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th June.
The week will feature:
• Our learners' works of art placed around the school campus
• Busking musicians around the school throughout the week at lunchtimes and break times.
Monday 17th June:
Drama Performances during the day
Dance in Action 7pm in the Gym - Nexus Dancers in Action
Tickets RM10 Adult - Rm5 Concession/Learner
Tuesday 18th June:
Nexus' Got Talent - Auditions during the day
Nexus' Got Talent FINAL 7pm in the Theatre
Tickets RM10 Adult - Rm5 Concession/Learner
Wednesday 19th June:
Oliver! the Musical - Dress Rehearsal 10.20am
Oliver! the Musical - Opening Night - 7pm in the Theatre
Tickets RM30 Adult - Rm30 Concession/Learner RM80 Family Ticket - 2A+3C
Thursday 20th June:
Oliver! the Musical - Final Night - 7pm in the Theatre
Tickets RM30 Adult - Rm30 Concession/Learner RM80 Family Ticket - 2A+3C
Friday 21st June:
Nexus Rocks - Rock and Pop Concert - 7pm in the Theatre
Tickets RM20 Adult - Rm10 Concession/Learner
Weekly Festival Tickets: One Ticket to Each Show (one Oliver! show night only)
Adult RM65 Learner/Concession RM40
Tickets for these events will be on sale from 17th May.
Primary News
This week we are talking to year 1.
IPC Learning Goals (Science)
• Be able, with help, to conduct simple investigations:
- Thinking about what will happen
- Using, with help, simple scientific equipment
- Recognising when a test or comparison with one variable is fair
- Observing what happens
- Know about the basic conditions needed for living things to survive
- Know that living things grow and reproduce
The Year 1 learners are learning through the IPC theme of Our World.
What is your IPC topic this half term?
Amjad: Our World
What have you been learning about?
Amjad: We have been sorting in maths things that are alive and not alive
Mikel: I have been learning about our environment, plants and nature.
How are you learning this?
Amjad: We have been planting seeds to learn about Our World and we
are trying to find out how they grow.
How do you know if things are alive or not?
Amjad: They can grow if they are alive but if they are not they won’t grow.
Have you been learning anything else?
Amjad: In science we have been planting seeds to see how plants grow
and what makes it grow and what makes it not grow.
And how will you find this out?
Amjad: We are not watering some plants and watering some to see what
happens.
What do you enjoy about this learning?
Amjad: We have been using our imagination too to think about an
adventure story that’s not real called’ The Day I Climbed the Beanstalk’ –
some of the seeds Ms Clare and Ms Nina planted were magic and grew
really big overnight.
Mikel: This is fun because we are growing plants and we’ve never done
this before.
What may happen next?
Mikel: I think I’ll find out how they grow. We needed soil and seeds and
water and we need to water everyday and make sure they have soil and
sun.
Thank you for sharing with us Year 1.
More learning in Year 3: This week we have been learning about our heart and our bones. We have had lots of
opportunities to learn in different ways. We brainstormed all the different ways that we could use to find out the
information we needed and came up with more than 20!
To learn about the impact of exercise on our heart, we went to the Science department and interviewed Mr Joel and
carried out some fair tests. We also borrowed a 3D model of the heart from Mr Joel to learn more about the heart. At the
start of the week sent questionnaires to the PE department to find out more about why P.E. and exercise is good for us
and to our Parents to find out how much Sport is played in their Home country.
This week we also discussed how we wanted to PRESENT our work using our SMARTs. We used ART smarts to make
to make our skeletons and our lungs using plasticine and MUSIC to learn a song about our bones. We also used ICT in
many different ways – PowerPoint, Pages, Mindnode to map out our ideas and Imovie to show what we have learned
this week. Finally, we completed our Reflection Journals and decided whether our learning was Knowledge, Skills or
Understanding. Jasmine and Dania
School trips: On Tuesday, Year 2 learners will visit the Science Centre and Year 4 learners visit Beryl’s chocolate
factory. We hope to get reports next week.
Message from Year 2 Bahasa Malaysia learners: We would like to appeal to parents to send in any small plastic
bottles, empty jam jars and cans for our project of Recycling. Please ensure all items are be washed and left in the
Agama room at level 2. We would like them by Friday 17th May 2013.
Much appreciated.
Athletics events: The KLISS Track & Field event is next Saturday (18th May) and all learners chosen to represent the
school in their best events will be given time to practice during lunchtimes. By this weekend all competitors chosen will
know their events for the KLISS meet. ALL parents and learners are VERY welcome to attend and support our school in
what is the biggest sporting event we'll be hosting this year at Nexus.
On the following Tuesday (21st May) Nexus will be running their own Primary Athletics events for MP1, MP2 & MP3.
Events will start at 9am and hopefully finish by 12.20pm. Again, ALL parents are very welcome to support their children.
Every learner From Year 1 - 6 will take part in the event. More information about this will be in next week's Connect.
Wake Up - Shake Up!: There has been a dramatic shift in the organisation of wake up - shake up this week. All
activities in the morning will take place in the Sports Hall upstairs starting at 8-25am. Please ensure that all learners are
ready in the Sports Hall for that time so the teachers on duty (Mr Harvey - Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Miss Northam
- Tuesday & Thursday) can start promptly.
Tuesday and Thursday's with Miss Northam will involve exciting dance routines as before. On Monday, Wednesday
and Friday's all learners will practice their balance, coordination (gross & fine motor), agility and cardiovascular fitness
across 8 multi-discipline stations. The activities are aimed at raising the heart rate and physical condition of our children
in order for their brain activity to be at the optimum level for learning when they go back to class.
Physical exercise can dramatically improve the brain's ability to access and retain information whilst also giving our
learners an energy boost. If you would like to see the new format in action then feel free to attend any of our sessions in
the Sports Hall.
Football Fixtures: The U11 Boys footballers are in action on Friday 10th May. They travel to ELC, Cyberjaya to
compete in a friendly match, while the U9s are hoping for a enjoyable and successful day on Saturday at GIS, as they
take on other KL International Primary Schools in the final U9 tournament of the year...good luck to all the boys
involved!
T-Ball fun: Nexus will be hosting a T-Ball event on 19th May between 1.30pm and 4.30pm on the school field. If you
are interested in having a fun and learning some new skills, then please come and get a letter from Mr Andy in the PE
Office.
Secondary News
Year 10 – Tioman Trip: Parents Information Meeting: The Tioman departure date is fast approaching and although
all the details can be found on the Tioman 2013 website we are sure that some of you will have questions or points you
would like to clarify. We will therefore be holding an information meeting on Monday 13th May at 8.35 on Level 4 in the
Nexus Boarding House. Please can you complete this form to allow us to ascertain numbers.
•
We will be collecting ic cards/passports on Thursday16th May to check in and ensure we have all the necessary
documentation for the flight. Please can you make sure your child brings their identification to school.
•
Please can you inform us if there have been any changes in your child's medical details, including illness,
changes in medication or your contact details.
Thank you. Suzy Pugh & Amy Liversidge
PE Notices: Well done to our U15 Boys and Girls Softball teams who put on a fantastic display against
tough opposition at the weekend. Both teams have another tournament this weekend and we wish them the very best of
luck.
The U15 and U13 Table Tennis teams were in action again on Monday night at ISP. They ran out comfortable winners
against with a series of terrific performances leaving the our teams with a 100% winning record this year.
This weekend also sees the U14 Boys Touch Rugby team in their first tournament of the year. MKIS are hosting this
year and it is an opportunity for our boys to test themselves against the best, as all KL schools will be in attendance.
The Nexus Triathlon is this coming up this Saturday (11th) everyone is welcome to attend and support the event. If you
would like more information on race details and timings then please visit www.mrxevents.com
NISPMUN Team 2013: On the 7th of June (Friday), there will be quiz night for parents to attend. There will be teams of
four and each parent will be required to pay a fee of RM25. An information email will be sent to outline the specifics and
when the tickets will be available at the admin office. Please keep an eye on Connect and your e-mails for further
updates!
CAS Reflection: Bryan Chen
I am leading a group of Year 12 students in the Nexus TV production team because I love filmmaking and video
recording. We are in charge of recording events and broadcasting them live. For example, we have broadcasted the
Year 11 IB Options Evening live from Nexus. It was live on the Internet for an hour. We also live broadcasted a
discussion forum by the Year 12 Mandarin class for half an hour. Aside from live programs, we also make
documentaries and educational clips. For example, when the Taiwanese students visited Nexus, we made a video to
highlight their stay and school life at Nexus. We also made a documentary on how IB is conducted at Nexus and it was
shown during an IB Annual Conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Right now, we have a recording studio on the 4th floor with various equipment such as the Chroma key green screen.
We are learning how to use the green screen for post-recording editing and also live broadcasting. We are
experimenting on how to incorporate animations into our recordings with the green screen. As pioneers of this
production team, we are also planning to create an iBook on how to establish a TV production team. Since students
from other year groups will inherit the production team when we graduate from Nexus, the iBook would serve as a
useful guidance for them on how to manage the team.
Leading this project has made my schooling life much more exciting. It has also challenged me in terms of creativity and
sharpened my leadership skills. I have made big advancements in my video recording and editing and I am happy to be
employing these skills in disseminating information about Nexus.
EAL
Private tuition for EAL learners (Part 2):
What should my child learn in private lessons?
Again, it depends on the individual child. The two major areas of focus for private help are: subject support and general
English development. In subject support the child is helped with work that has to be done in subjects such as science,
math or mainstream English. This can be a good use of private tuition time, provided that it is correctly taught, because
it deals with a child’s immediate needs. Tuition that focuses on developing the child’s general English proficiency can be
also useful but it will probably take quite a while before any benefits are noticed in the classroom.
Once again, the person in the best position to tell you what kind of tuition, if any, would be most beneficial for your child
is his/her EAL teacher.
Who should be my child’s private tutor?
In general it is desirable to have a teacher who has been trained in teaching a foreign language and, best of all of
course, would be a teacher with training and experience in teaching English as a second/additional language; i.e. an
EAL teacher!
However, if you mainly want your child to have some extra practice in English conversation, any native-speaker teacher
could do a good job. Alternatively, if your child needs help in a specific subject, such as math or science, then a teacher
of that subject would be a good choice. Another source of subject help could be an older student who has completed
the same course and has the same first language as your child.
Whoever you choose, it is very useful if the private tutor can make contact with your child’s EAL teacher in order to get
a clear idea of how best to help.
Tuisyen peribadi untuk pelajar EAL (bahagian 2):
Apakah yang patut anak saya belajar dalam kelas peribadi?
Sekali lagi, hal ini bergantung kepada pelajar. Dua perkara utama yang ditumpukan untuk pertolongan peribadi adalah:
sokongan mata pelajaran dan perkembangan umum Bahasa Inggeris. Dalam sokongan mata pelajaran, pelajar akan
dapat bantuan dalam subjek seperti sains, matematik atau Bahasa Inggeris. Jika diajar dengan cara yang betul, ia
dapat menangani keperluan segera pelajar. Tuisyen yang menumpukan perkembangan kemahiran Bahasa Inggeris
pelajar juga amat berguna, namun memerlukan masa yang lebih panjang sebelum faedahnya akan diperasan dalam
kelas.
Sekali lagi, orang yang berada dalam posisi terbaik untuk memaklumkan mengenai jenis-jenis tuisyen, untuk memberi
manfaat kepada pelajar adalah guru EALnya.
Siapa harus menjadi guru tuisyen peribadi anak saya?
Secara umum, ibu bapa harus memilih seorang guru yang sudah dilatih untuk mengajar dan pandai mengajar bahasa
asing. Guru itu harus mempunyai latihan dan pengalaman dalam mengajar Bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa tambahan,
contohnya seorang guru EAL!
Walaubagaimanapun, ibu bapa yang mahu anak mereka membuat latihan yang lebih dalam perbualan Bahasa
Inggeris, guru penutur asli yang mana-mana pun sudah memadai. Sebaliknya, jika pelajar memerlukan bantuan dalam
subjek-subjek tertentu, seperti matematik atau sains, seorang guru pakar subjek tersebut adalah pilihan yang bagus.
Sumber bantuan lain yang dapat membantu pelajar ialah pelajar ‘senior’ yang telah menjalani kursus dan mempunyai
bahasa ibunda yang sama dengan pelajar.
Ia adalah sangat berguna jika guru tuisyen peribadi pelajar dapat berhubung dengan guru EAL untuk mendapat idea
yang lebih jelas tentang cara terbaik untuk membantu pelajar mereka.
为学习英语为外语的学生安排补习（第二部分）:
我的孩子应该在补习时学习什么？
同样的，这也是因人而异的。补习应关注的两大部分有：科目补习以及英文补习。在进行科目补习如：科学、数学或英语
补习时，学生在有关科目的功课上获得指导。若以正确的方式教导学生，这对他们是有益的，因为这些补习能够针对学生
的需求帮助他们。对于学生英语的掌握能力的补习对学生们也很有帮助，但这些补习要多一些时间才能看到其果效。
当然，回答关于您的孩子应参加哪一种补习这问题的最佳人选还是您孩子的EAL 老师。
谁适合当我孩子的私人补习老师？
一般来说，最好是一个受过外语教学训练的老师，最佳人选是拥有教导英语为第二语言经验的老师！例如，EAL老师。
当然，假设您主要是想让您的孩子练习讲英语，那任何一个以英语为第一语言的老师都可以胜任。或者，假设您的孩子在
某个科目需要辅导，如数学或科学，那该科目的老师就是最佳人选。另外一个可能性是寻找曾经完成该课程，并拥有相同
母语的高年级同学。
无论您作何选择，若您孩子的补习老师可以联络您的孩子学校的EAL老师，以了解如何有效地帮助您的孩子，这将带来更
大的助益。
Boarding
Last Saturday we went to the ATV Adventure Park in the afternoon, it was great as we were able to sleep in before
having breakfast. For the majority, this was a new and exhilarating experience, yet also out of some people’s comfort
zone.
First of all, we had to complete a safety briefing on how to use the Quad-Bikes, with a short talk and demonstration
before we were able to have a go ourselves. Then we went for a test run around the ATV Centre, allowing us to get
used to the bikes. Once we were done with the drill, we were all set for the ride ahead. The scenery was also something
to look forward to.
We rode through the jungle up to some of the natural wonders of KL, such as the Sofea Jane Waterfall, which was a
wonderful sight. We had a short break by the waterfall to regain our strength for the journey back to the ATV Centre.
On the way up to the waterfall, everyone was starting to get the hang of being able to handle the bikes, but then on the
way back, everyone was set for a bumpy ride as we had all gained confidence in riding the bikes a little faster. Overall
this was a pleasant experience and we hope to take the bikes out for another memorable journey.
Brenon Johnstone, Year 11
Best Wishes
Ms Alison Hampshire, Principal