Issue 48 December 2014
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
Panaga School Magazine Issue 48 December 2014
Panaga School HRF/4 Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd Jalan Utara Seria, KB 3534 Negara Brunei Darussalam (+673) 3375728/3372138 (Teraja) (+673) 3372694 (Rampayoh & Mendaram) Principal: Tim Robinson tim.robinson@shell.com Head Teacher, Teraja: Andy Ryan andrewryan@panagaschool.com
December 2014
Contents: 3. Message from the Head Teacher of Rampayoh and Mendaram 4. Panaga School Student Council - leaders of today and tomorrow 5. PTA fund the ‘new look’ Teraja Learning Centre 6. News from our neighbours - St John’s School 7. Panaga and St John’s School Choirs - making music the language of all our hearts 8. Challenge Day on Rampayoh 9. Challenge Day on Teraja 10. Nomadic Lion take a rest in Panaga with P8s 11. Links with local schools 12. Sally Crabtree boosts our passion for Literacy in EY and MP1 13. NTC at Panaga School
Head Teacher, Rampayoh & Mendaram: Cindy Bin Tahal cindybintahal@panagaschool.com Senior Admin: Jalinah Bte Ali jalinah.ali@shell.com Admin Support, Rampayoh & Mendaram: Zurimah Bte Jumat z.jumat@shell.com
14. Omani Day 2014 15. Panaga School Penan Shoebox Appeal 16. Panaga helmet awareness 17. Health and Fitness ASA
18. Play presentation in Pre-Nursery 19. Nursery ‘Talk for Writing’
Admin Support, Teraja: Hasmah Bte Hj Salleh: hasmah.salleh@shell.com
20. Communication and Cooperation in P1 21. Milepost One Concert
Panaga School Magazine Editor: Damian Brady damianbrady@panagaschool.com
22. Technology ASA - in pictures 23. IP5 and Run sheep, run! 24. DP5/6 Exit Point 25. P7’s trip to Temburong 26. and 27. P8’s Cell Cake Sale 28. Sports action from the BJSL
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
Message from the Head Teacher of Rampayoh and Mendaram Welcome to another wonderful Panaga School Magazine. An edition that once again celebrates all that is the Panaga School Community. Through our connection with the IPC Personal Goals, the children of Panaga School are driven by values: a clear sense of the right thing to do. Reading through the pages of this magazine, I get a real sense of the many ingredients required to establish a school community with shared values. Everyone brings with them their own values. We are absolutely unique…just like everybody else. So how do we develop our school community values to create a clear sense of “right things to do” that suit all individuals? “Treat others as you would like to be treated” is a statement used by a number of people as a reference point to establish values. This needs careful consideration, as not everybody would like to be treated the same. How do we remain individual while operating from a shared values system? In an international school like Panaga School, where we celebrate so many different nationalities coming together, we learn firsthand the sameness and differences of cultural, faith and family groups. Even if we are from the same country and faith group, our own family values often vary from other families. I often use the analogy of a flower structure to explain how schools can operate from a set of shared values. The centre piece and stem of the flower is the space that we all need to agree on or at the least be able to live with. School policies influence this common space of operation. The centre piece and stem establishes our foundation, our underlying, shared values. Where there is overlap of some petals
away from the middle of the flower, this indicates where differing groups (but not all) have overlapping or shared values. At the very tip of the petals is where values are not shared. As long as these unshared values cause no harm or significant negativity, they can provide an opportunity for celebration and recognition of difference. While as a school community Panaga School has an underlying values system, we also operate within a system that respects our local Bruneian hosts. I see the beautiful Bruneian people as the glue to this expat society. In this magazine, you will see examples of our school community being collaborative, bringing to life our shared values. You will be presented with articles about field trips, wider community involvement, student leadership, performances, parent and community presentations, cultural celebrations and more. The maturity and leadership of our Student Council was overwhelming as they recently worked together to write their school pledge for their investiture ceremony. These young leaders of today talked about their commitment to their peers, school community, BSP and the wider Brunei community. Perhaps this broad mindedness is indicative of the shared val-
ues and visions of the BSP family from which these students come from. Parents, your contributions continue to be sensational in growing our shared school community values. Work from the PTA, class representatives and various action and subcommittee groups have created real parent leadership in this area. This work also assisted to improve community connections for all and overcome behaviours and values that have the potential to work against our underlying values. Major thanks to Lisa Poore and a large band of volunteers who have worked on our Car Park Action Group to assist with creating the safe and respectful use of our car park. On the same day as writing this editorial, an ambulance drove into the Rampayoh car park at drop off time to attend to a casualty via the beach road. Security’s ability to assist the ambulance casualty to receive timely first aid was improved as the entry and exits to the car park were left clear, a direct result of the shared car park values. Next term, our PTA and Student Council are working on a number of projects to continue to bring our school community together. Keep the 5th and 6th February free for a fantastic art gallery exhibition of children’s work along with Busking for Books. Our Student Council are also devising action plans to improve litter control on beaches. Look out for more information to come next term about these events. May the end of term break offer opportunities for your family to be together and enjoy safe, joyous moments as we farewell 2014 and welcome 2015. Enjoy reading your Panaga School Magazine. - Cindy Bin Tahal
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
Panaga School - proud to present our leaders of now and the future Student Leaders’ Investiture held on Tuesday 11 November, 2014 at 10am in the Teraja School Hall Classes from P3 to P8 are represented by their elected Student Councillor. This group of students meet each Thursday to make decisions and action initiatives to benefit the school, BSP community, Brunei community and beyond. Our Student Councillors have formally been inducted into their Student Council roles at an assembly attended by Mr Omar (Acting Head of Facilities BSP), Mrs Lisa Poore (PTA and School Board Representative), parents, P4 to P8 students and Panaga School staff. By Cindy Bin Tahal
Student Councillors IP3E: Altav IP3JS: Felix IP3JB: Uthman IP3JT: Austin DP3E: Felix IP4L: Suraj IP4T: Kian IP4P: Leo IP4J: Tony IP5P: Eloise
IP5R: Hain IP5D: Iman IP5RS: Jasmine DP5R: Jelle DP6R: Lars IP6P: Mimi IP6T: Liliana IP6A: Katy IP6M: Alex
IP7G: Samuel IP7SS: Hridyanch IP7S: Phine IP7M: Vasumathi DP7/8B: Joanne/Julian IP8A Manikya IP8L Shreya
“Hello everyone. My fellow Student Councillors and I would like to thank everybody for voting for us. May I say I am very proud to present this assembly today. As Student Councillors, we promise to demonstrate and encourage the eight Personal Goals of Resilience, Enquiry, Adaptability, Cooperation, Communication, Values, Thoughtfulness and Respect. These goals help us do our jobs when we take suggestions to our meetings. We would all like to make the school a better place for you and for me, so we have a happier community.” - Speech by Manikya (IP8A)
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
The PTA provides new equipment for the Teraja Learning Centre Students at Teraja have been enjoying stacks of cushions, a reading tent and book boxes, all beautifully decorated, in the newly revamped reading area in the Learning Centre. Miss Steph, a member of the PTA, explained why the PTA had made the decision to invest in the new equipment. ‘We wanted children to have a comfortable environment for their reading. We want them to come in more often,’ she told our reporters. Miss Jackie told us that she had noticed children were more enthusiastic about spending time in the reading area; ‘It helps them to really enjoy reading.’ And the students agree - Sisi, P5, told us she “loved it” here! Researchers have shown the benefits of not just reading but loving reading. From one report: ‘When children read for pleasure, when they get “hooked on books”, they acquire, involuntarily and without conscious effort, nearly all of the so-called “language skills” many people are so concerned about: they will become adequate readers, acquire a large vocabulary, develop the ability to understand and use complex grammatical constructions, develop a good writing style and become good (but not necessarily perfect) spellers.’ To put it simply, when we enjoy reading, we learn more! We interrupted various Teraja classes’ reading times and they all had a clear message for the PTA: ‘Thank you!’
Article based on IPC ‘Making the News’ Report by Laura Giang and Finn Collicutt, IP8L
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
News from our Neighbours: St John’s School, KB St John’s School holds Celebration of Music
graceful and breathtaking event that enthralled all those who came for the concert. The sounds were incredible. The stage could be seen from any place that one decides to stand on. For this particular concert, the venue was dimly lit. The concert was graced by different levels of students with their different thrilling performances.
St John’s School, Kuala Belait, held a Musical Concert in the school multi-purpose hall recently. It was the first ever combined concert Celebration of Music by St John’s School and The ‘Rhythm of Life’ by the St Panaga School; featuring the John’s School Chorus Panaga Rampayoh and Teraja Choirs, SJS Chorale, Children’s Chorus, Year 3, 4 and 5 Choirs, The band was very talented and Recorder and Ukele Ensemble, the music was amazing. The voice String Band and Concert Band. recitals with the piano accompaniments and organ recital and clasThe event kicked off with the wel- sical guitar carried the night. The coming speech by St John’s audience could not help but sing School Principal, Dr Teh, followed along with the participants. After by words from Miss Sarah Hutson all, the lights in the hall were in The Panaga School children and Miss Christine Simpson, the gracious harmony with the conwith their song entitled music specialists of Panaga cert. ‘Adiemus’ School and Mr Abraham Lotivio, the music coordinator of St John’s Moving towards the closure of the School. The contents of their event, St John’s School Board of speeches focused on the im- Governors, St John’s School Prinportance of music as a universal cipal, Dr Teh, and Panaga School language. Principal Tim Robinson, presented If students continue to practise the tokens of appreciation to the hard work, it can lead to great re- music coordinators of both wards up to the elation of master- schools. The event came to the A member of the St John’s School ing an instrument and then per- end after the St John’s School band performing the violin forming it for others. It was also principal thanked all participants, expressed that learning music parents, and staff of both schools. gives children increased opportunities in adult life. Playing an instrument for sheer pleasure is rewarding enough, but learning music also opens the doors to community bands, orchestras and other creative outlets. After the speeches, we sang the Brunei patriotic songs Tanah Air Ku and Merdeka Brunei together with the St John’s School chorale.
There were at least 21 musical performances altogether of which 19 were presented by the St John’s School students comprising the primary and secondary levPart of the audiences taking els and 2 performances presented by Panaga School. The finale was photographs while watching the magnificent performance by St performed by both schools. John’s School and Panaga It was truly a fantastic, wonderful, School during the finale
St John’s School Board of Governors with the St John’s School Principal, Dr Teh, and the Principal of Panaga School, Tim Robinson, and the music coordinators of both schools By Jack Ding Jok Head of School Media St John’s School Kuala Belait
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
Panaga School and St John’s make music the language of all our hearts
On Saturday 15th November, the Panaga School Choir participated in a combined St John's and Panaga School "Celebration of Music 2014".
hosts. They went out of their way to care for our students with numerous staff supporting our every need, a box filled with packages of food and drink for our performers and sensational gifts for our music The event took place in St John's School’s teachers. impressive, state of the art performance hall. Stage lighting, sound systems and an I would like to acknowledge and thank our audience in excess of 500 people set the Panaga staff who through their work and scene for an excellent event showcasing 2 commitment, made this event possible for hours of musical talent from a cast of more our students. Miss Sarah and Miss Christine than 250 students from 5 to 16 years of age. - thank you for sharing your musical talents with our children. The numerous after The program featured both soloists and school rehearsals and appropriate and qualgroups - singing, guitars, violins, drumming, ity song choices were incredibly obvious and dancing and rock band. All performers a result of your teaching - thank you both. joined together in an electrifying finale Miss Carolyn and Miss Rachel - your support where the song "Sing" produced goose in supervising on the night demonstrated bumps and pride for the audience, seeing a your community spirit and commitment to fine example of the children of this world our students - thank you both. To the many unified through music. parent/teachers who assumed dual roles St John's School were most welcoming assisting with the bathroom runs and the
like - thank you. To our parents who assisted along the way with getting your children to rehearsals, assisting organisers with lead up communications and logistics and were there on the night showing your support thank you! St John's music teacher Mr Abraham and Principal Dr Teh need to be acknowledged for their leadership. Mr Abraham is a truly gifted music teacher who I know both Miss Sarah and Miss Christine have built a relationship of mutual respect and collegial collaboration with to extend the talents and programs of both of our schools to benefit our students. This event brought to life a quote from the organisers: "Let's make music the language of our hearts and the comfort of our souls." Thank you all and congratulations on a sensational evening. By Cindy Bin Tahal
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine Challenge Day on Rampayoh
Our first Challenge Day of the academic year had the theme ‘All the World’s a Stage’. The morning assembly had an ‘X Factor’ theme and the judges were treated to performances by ‘Cyndi Lauper’, ‘Nicki Minaj’, ‘Snoop Dog’, ‘3 Cents’ and ‘Iggy Pop’! After the assembly, the 4 house colour teams experienced four different activities involving dance, drama and music from around the world. In one activity, the children learnt a Greek dance and found out about various other European dances. Another exciting activity was traditional African singing, dancing and drum playing. The children were also involved in helping to make the fantastic scenery for the Milepost Concert ‘Oh What a Knight’. Everyone enjoyed these experiences and the students put a great deal of effort into each activity. Each team was awarded extra House Points for being able to demonstrate Cooperation, Resilience and Communication throughout the morning. During the final assembly, the teachers had a so many special mentions for students who had shown these Personal Goals that the assembly almost ran overtime! It was a great Challenge Day that was enjoyed by both staff and students. Well done to all who took part! By Miss Katy and Miss Nicci
December 2014
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine All the World’s a Stage...on Teraja
By Nathan Edwards "All the world's a stage" is the phrase that begins a monologue from William Shakespeare's As You Like It. The speech compares the world to a stage and life to a play. Our students were introduced to the theme at the opening assembly on Teraja where the school choir performed ‘Adiemus’ by Karl Jenkins and Freek Zevenbergen performed AC/DC’s hit ‘Back in Black’. Rock band sensations ‘The Specialists’ also rocked the assembly hall with ‘Welcome to the Jungle’. However the students stole the show with each house competing in a dance off on the stage. Each house demonstrated some backbreaking moves that should not be tried at home. To bring some decorum to the opening assembly were Miss Teresa, Mr Matt, Mr Muz and Miss Barbara who performed exquisite arabesques in the teachers’ ballet. After the entertaining opening, students in each house competed for points in a variety of engaging activities. Included were activities such as making theatrical masks, painting movie backdrops, learning dance moves through jump jam, singing from famous musicals and students choreographing their own dances from other countries. It was clear that the students had a thoroughly entertaining morning but there was a serious side to all this with house points up for grabs. The final scores were as follows:
Team Red
Points 575
Yellow Green Blue
574 573 569
December 2014
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
Nomadic Lion takes some rest in Panaga to meet our P8s to the far southern tip of Sarawak. The focus of their walk and documentary is ‘positive projects’ taking place on the island. They want to visit organisations and projects which are working to help the people or environment prosper in any way on Borneo. They are also interested in meeting local musicians for a number of collaborations and musical projects. They have visited already a number of national parks, conservation centres, animal rehabilitation centres, artistic centres and community empowerment projects.
David Atthowe, from the UK, along with his walking companions, Yusepe "Pesuy" Sukmana and Gilang Ramadhan, both from Indonesia, are currently walking across Borneo as a group known as Nomadic Lion. David spent a few minutes with our P8s last month on his way through Panaga.
2,500km journey to raise awareness of positive environmental and humanitarian projects.
They were walking all the way around Sabah, starting in Tawau on the 22nd of August before travelling to Lahad Datu to Sandakan, Mt Kinabalu, Kudat and Kota Kinabalu before seeing us in Brunei. Now, they According to their website, Nomadic are going through Sarawak, down Lion are currently walking their sec- the coast past Bintulu and Sibu, then ond project; Walking Borneo, a continuing on to Kuching and finally
The reason they chose Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei for this their second project was because: “Borneo contains the world’s oldest rainforests, an abundance of natural beauty and an incredible diverse mix of ethnic groups. With so many tribes, cultures, different ethnicities and positive projects there will be no shortage of exciting stories to illustrate this wonderful part of our planet to other people in the world,” they said. FOLLOW NOMADIC LION: https://twitter.com/nomadic_lion
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
Panaga’s collaboration with local schools This term has been a busy time for the teachers of Panaga School who are sharing their professional knowledge and skills with local teachers from Bruneian schools.
In October, 25 teachers from local schools attended the ‘Talk for Writing’ presentation and many signed up to come to school again to observe how Literacy here is taught. In the Early Years, we’ve seen the differ-
Continuous Provision Areas— Sekolah Rendah Panaga
ence sharing expertise can make. On a recent visit to Sekolah Rendah Panaga, we saw how learning spaces have been transformed by the addition of continuous provision areas and literacy working walls, modelled on those from Panaga School. Teachers from Sengai Tereban have visit-
ed Mendaram to see how the Early Years provision is organised and can be adapted
Phonics and Literacy Working Word Wall
and 16 local teachers attended a workshop on ‘Learning Through Play’. Local schools close in December but plans are already underway for collaborative projects in the new year with more teachers working in partnership with local Bruneian teachers by sharing skills and knowledge in all curriculum areas. By Rachel Marsden
Da Vinci Art Area
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
Sally Crabtree rounds off Authors Abroad with a flying visit Rampayoh and Mendaram were treated to a literary feast from 14th - 16th November as Sally Crabtree made a flying visit to Brunei. A published author, with many great books for younger children, Sally entertained Panaga School children with clever word play, amazing lyrics and fantastic ideas.
All classes had the opportunity to work with Sally and the results, as can be seen in their Literacy books, can only be described as outstanding!' By Mr Peter Anderton Editor’s note: Well done to Peter Anderton and Sarah Sargison, Literacy Leaders for Learning, for organising and rescheduling Sally’s visit. It was sure worth the wait!
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
NTC Panaga School: Dutch Language and Culture I am proud to introduce the NTC. Panaga School started last year to provide this Dutch Language and Culture programme. And since the beginning of this academic year, lessons have been organised for all year groups (P1-P8). The NTC is funded and monitored by the Dutch Ministry of Education for our Dutch speaking children in the International Stream. They receive up to 3 hours of tuition per week, one hour during school time and 2 hours after school. This is a formal curriculum and children are taught and assessed in the acquisition of their language skills, thus increasing their knowledge and understanding of their home language and culture while preparing them for a return to the Dutch school system when required. Miss Gerda Bunskoek
These little “Sinterklazen” made their dear friends, the Peters.
Of course we also celebrate the coming of “Sinterklaas”. In NTC, P4, P5 and P7 children gave each other presents and made beautiful rhymes. One of our favourite games to increase our Dutch vocabulary is being the King or the Queen. Our NTC kings and queens will never forget these words again!
A big spider visited us at P1 and made a big web. We had fun learning all about these scary animals!
Part of the NTC Curriculum is learning about Dutch culture. On the 11th of November we celebrated Sint Maarten. Sint Maarten is an old traditional event in some parts of Holland but also in Germany, France and other parts of Europe. As soon it gets dark, the children of P1, P2 and P3 go door to door with handcrafted lanterns made of paper, singing songs such as "Sinte, Sinte Maarten," hoping to receive candy in return; similar to Halloween. It celebrates the end of the agrarian year and the beginning of harvesting. Sint Maarten is known as a friend of the children and the poor.
Making the lanterns with parents’ help!
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
Children and parents from our Omani Community were seen in their elegant and glamorous traditional costumes on Tuesday 18th November to celebrate Omani Day. It was such a lovely sight all day in school witnessing the children all dressed up, talking to their friends about this special day. To celebrate the occasion, we invited the children to talk about what Omani Day means to them in an assembly and then we wished all of them a “Happy Omani Day 2014�. By Miss Joanne
Omani Day celebrations on Rampayoh
December 2014
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine Panaga School Penan Shoebox Appeal 2014
Friday 14th November on Teraja and Friday 21st November on Rampayoh saw the launch of this year’s Panaga School Penan Shoebox Appeal. The appeal has now concluded and we are looking forward to distributing your very generous shoeboxes of gifts to the Penan, a people very much in need of some help and festive cheer. For those new to Panaga, the Penan are a nomadic, indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei. They are one of the last such people remaining in the world. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary. Most Penan were nomadic huntergatherers until the post-World War II missionaries settled many of them. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter.
Their way of life, and still for some their nomadic existence, has for many years been suffering dramatically at the hands of illegal loggers and multinational palm oil companies. Many of the Penan’s settlements remain in quite inhospitable conditions, let alone contain ‘household’ needs. Your shoebox donations will prove vital. Thank you for your donations of stationery, small games/toys, clothing and footwear, stickers and accessories, toiletries, tea and coffee; among many other items. Some of the best, more practical shoeboxes featured fishing hooks, lines and nets. Special thanks goes to Miss Rachel Clark, Miss Emma and Mr Dermot for their organisation of the appeal at school. Also too, thank you to Miss Adrienne and Miss Lilin for launching the appeal this year and addressing both the Teraja and Rampayoh assemblies. Much needed smiles will sure be put on many Penan adults’ and children’s faces. By Damian Brady
December 2014
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine Helmet safety and awareness
Over the past few weeks, we have been monitoring the number of people who are/not wearing helmets while riding their bikes to and from school. The data gathered reveals that a high number of adults and children are still not wearing helmets. As a BSP facility, we take HSSE seriously. Please think about the safety of your children and others when riding to and from school by wearing a helmet.
Numbers Each Day 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Adults with
Children with
Adults without
Children without
December 2014
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
Health and Fitness in Panaga The Health and Fitness ASA club have been learning about staying healthy and keeping fit. This term, the students have focused on the importance of taking care of their bodies - inside and out. This includes eating a balanced diet, exercising and getting enough rest. Through fun activities and games, the students have learnt about many aspects of nutrition essentials. They have been introduced to the food pyramid and the healthy plate and made their own fruit smoothies, which is a great alternative to sugary drinks. They have also been made aware of how various foods benefit different parts of the body and provide us with a source of energy. The club will be offered on Teraja next term so that other children are able to join in. There will also be a healthy lifestyle workshop in the Early Years in the coming months. Stay safe and keep fit! By Nicole Ebert
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
‘Learning through play’ presentation The Pre-Nursery were pleased to welcome parents and many local teachers from a variety of schools to a presentation on ‘Learning through play’ on Monday 24th November. We explored the power of play, our curriculum and how, through play, children learn and develop in all 7 areas of our curriculum. Play that is carefully planned offers children opportunities to develop important life skills: curiosity, imagination and an attitude to learning where they are willing to take risks and ‘have a go’. Parents and teachers had the opportunity to talk about play in their own childhood and how children play today. We focused on different ways of playing and the explicit learning that takes place. At the end of the presentation, the participants had the opportunity to find their inner child and ‘play’ with a variety of mediums that we use on a daily basis play dough, gloop and moon dough. The feedback from the participants was very positive: ‘It helped me to understand how children learn through play.’ ‘I liked details about how each type of play impacts learning.’ It was good to see such enthusiasm and a great turnout. We will be running this workshop again in January, so please look out for details if you are interested in joining us.
By Miss Yvonne and Miss Louise
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine A baker visits Mendaram
On Tuesday 28th October, the Nursery children welcomed a baker to Mendaram. The baker, dressed in an apron and tall white hat, brought a basket full of currant buns with cherries on top. Each child was able to buy a currant bun for a penny and comments from the children included: ‘It’s yummy’ and ‘Delicious’. The visit introduced the Nursery children’s ‘Talk for Writing’ text, Five Currant Buns in a Baker’s Shop, linked to their IPC unit, Food. After learning the song and actions, the children progressed to ‘innovating’ it by changing the characters, the items in the shop and the bun toppings. The Nursery staff and children would like to thank the baker for visiting and building the children’s enthusiasm for this text. By the Nursery staff
December 2014
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
Communication and Cooperation in IP1 This term in P1, we have been focusing on the values of Cooperation and Communication. The skills of listening to and working with peers are part of the UK EYFS Curriculum as well as the IPC Early Years strands and are key skills for children to attain at this age. With this in mind, the P1 teachers have been providing a variety of teacher led and independent activities to allow children to demonstrate and develop these skills. One of our most successful activities in IP1JV this term was ‘The Big Draw’ where children worked in groups with an adult to create a life size painting of a person. The adult facilitated discussions on size, colour of hair, skin colour and who would paint where, encouraging children to discuss together and share and act on each other’s ideas.
Children then reflected on the task talking about who had listened to them and if they thought they had worked well together. Their paintings were pretty amazing too! By Miss Julie (IP1JV)
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine A (k)night to remember, forever
On Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd December, Milepost One saddled up and whisked their parents away on a hilarious musical journey. Featuring a ‘castle’ full of colourful characters, some with names very familiar around these parts - Coffee Bean (Uthman), Cocoa Bean (Hope), Princess Minimeewah (Eva), Princess Tea Leaf (Isabel), to name but a few - MP1 enthralled and made their ascendants and siblings constantly giggle for over an hour with wonderfully witty one liners, proud singing, energetic dancing and confident acting. Set in Camelot in the year 531, A Knight to Remember follows Coffee Bean as he is expelled from Knight School, then reluctantly becomes Merlin's new apprentice. Trouble is never far away from then on as Camelot Castle collapses into chaos. Merlin has shrunk and lost Excalibur, King Arthur's daughters have been kidnapped and his brave knights are turned into chickens, cows, fish and horses!?! Can Coffee Bean and friends save the princesses, defeat the Black Knight and pull the missing sword from the scone? Of course he does, but only with the help of an energetic and enthusiastic fellow cast and a plethora of talent off stage as well. Special mention goes to Milepost One Leader for Learning, Mr Dave Jefferys, for his magnificent directorship and script editing. Also too, Miss Christine Simpson for her fantastic piano playing. Congratulations to all of the other MP1 teachers and parents who did themselves immensely proud by providing magnificent sets and props, glorious costumes and an incredibly wellrehearsed cast of talent. Well done Milepost One children on a production you are sure to remember forever too. By Damian Brady
December 2014
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Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
Technology ASA: Building our Future Again this year, our Technology ASA played host to budding architects, designers, quantity surveyors, artists, sculptors and engineers visionaries all, designing and building our future! By Mr Dermot
Shaun and Tristan’s rotor head assembly On Thursday 27th November, during Technology ASA, Shaun and Tristan built what amounted to a working rotor head assembly. It is certainly one of a kind and one which cranked up some mo-
mentum using a battery-powered electric motor as its energy source - to tie in per-
fectly with the ‘Bright Sparks’ IPC unit we were studying at the time!
Chocks away! stop: Anduki!
Next
By Mr Dermot
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine Run sheep, run!
On Monday 3rd November, the children of IP5 enjoyed being chased by a hungry pack of wolves! This P5’s their unit les.
was a part of introduction to ‘Talk for Writing’ on Warning Ta-
Each class member played the role of a wolf or a sheep in a game of chase. The object of the game for the sheep was to be the last surviving sheep and the object for the wolves was to capture as many sheep as possible by pulling off their tails. From each class, the most successful wolf and sheep received either a “golden leg of lamb” medal or a “golden cool sheep” medal. Everyone had great fun taking part and it proved to be an exciting and fun introduction to the ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ Warning Tale that we were learning. By Rue Smale
December 2014
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Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
DP5/6 and IP5 IPC Exit Point: Rainforests and Collaboration DP5/6 have been joining IP5 for IPC lessons on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. They have been split among all the classes and have worked collaboratively with different students on research tasks such as: finding out about the animals that live in rainforests, tribes that live in rainforests and the different foods we eat that come from rainforests all around the world. They have also enjoyed learning about the many aspects of rainforests from pollination to deforestation.
To celebrate and share this learning, all of IP5 and DP5/6 joined in an Exit Point event on 13th November. Smoothies were made using fruit from rainforests, henna designs were painted on - some of them were traditional tribal designs - and faces were painted. Everyone had a good time! We would like to thank the P5 teachers, Miss Lili and all the parents who came to help make this a great event. By Miss Carolyn
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine Temburong: what an adventure!
P7 and a band of brave teachers ventured into the Temburong rainforest from Tuesday 14th October until Friday 17th October 2014, thrived and survived! During our visit, children and staff were warmly welcomed into an Iban village, where Apay (the tribal leader) and his family introduced us to local customs and traditions. This included an invitation to the Long House to meet local children and listen to local stories about head-hunting heroes! Our amazing experience continued with a myriad of daytime activities that widely ranged in demands and skills that are often underutilised but were clearly latent within the children. These included: river rafting, jungle trekking, cooking bamboo chicken, face-painting and dancing. They also marched up and down 1000 steps wholeheartedly, taking in their stride the mammoth challenge of climbing to the summit of an 80 metre high canopy walk where they were rewarded with an amazing panoramic view of the National Park. The children really developed their Personal Goals with an emphasis on Communication and Cooperation. The festivities continued into the evenings where the children drew upon their social skills to participate in a range of activities including: dance, drama and storytelling. One of our favourite evenings was hosted by Miss Cindy, aka the Boss of Rampayoh, who hosted Panaga Has Talent; featuring guest appearances from Justin Bieber (Mr Nathan), Mr Bean (Mr Muz), Nicki Minaj (Miss Grace), Katy Perry (Miss Sarah), MC (Miss Shelagh), Michael Jackson (Mr Zaim), Lady Gaga (Miss Haniza) and last, but not least, ‘The Rock’ (Mr Andy). Finally, we arrived safely back home on the Friday afternoon, weary and tired - and that was just the teachers! By Mr Muz
December 2014
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
P8 Cell Cake Sale The P8 Cell Cake Sale was on Tuesday 11th November 2014, outside the P8 classrooms. We enthusiastic P8s brought in cakes and also jelly and pizzas that we made as a part of our Science topic on plant and animal cells. Each item cost one dollar and the money raised from the sale will be used to pay for our Graduation Ceremony. When the clock hit half nine, children came roaring across the playground wanting snacks. All of our scientific cakes were also sold at lunch and at the end of the day. Overall, we had made over $450! We had lots of fun selling the snacks and learning new things, for example, learning how to not put sticky stains on yourself and much, much more. Why were we making cakes or other snacks as part of Science? Our home learning task was to make a snack to represent a plant or animal cell studied in our Science lesson. The only rules were that every piece had to be edible and we had to include the main parts of the cell, which are the nucleus, cell membrane and cytoplasm and for those who did plant cells, a vacuole and chloroplasts and a thick cell wall. We all did a good job in explaining the features of both cells and were told to research more to enhance the learning that had already taken place. Most of us could list and explain the functions of the key features when we brought our snacks in to our lesson. We know that all cells have:
A nucleus that controls everything that happens in the cell so it’s basically the brain.
Cytoplasm - a jelly like substance where most of the activi- of the structure of plant and animal cells, but it also helped us ty in the cell happens. in our Numeracy lessons where we have been learning about different methods of handling and interpreting data. We col A cell membrane - controls what goes in and out. lected lots of information throughout this activity to help us draw conclusions about effective ways of raising money for a Plant cells have as well: good cause. Before the Cake Sale we measured the weight of Chloroplasts to capture energy from the light. our snacks. After the sale we counted how much money we earned and the total number of people that bought cakes. A vacuole to store food for the plant. We used our data to start calculating the range, mode, median and mean. We also estimated the cost of our ingredients, Some confident pupils could even explain additional features compared that to the results of the sale and could calculate that were not taught in our Science lessons, for example, the the profit made. nucleolus, mitochondria, both the rough endoplasmic reticulum We could identify the commercially (un)successful bakers – if and the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. the baker/student had to spend $24 for a single cake and the There were some fantastic creative ideas for recreating an cake was sliced into 12 slices, the baker/student would only animal or plant cell as a snack. Some of the pupils used green gain $12 whereas the cake’s cost was double that. This is a fondant, food colouring, fruit or candies to represent the chlo- great LOSS for the baker! roplasts of a plant cell. A lot of the people had icing for their As mentioned, we had made over $450. The weight combined cell membrane and cell wall. of all the goods produced was around 7.8kg! We made 5.8 One unique individual used jam for their cell membrane in- cents for every gram of snack made. The cakes, which looked stead. Some pupils used the cake itself, jelly or icing for the the most aesthetically pleasing, were the most successful. Facytoplasm. Gummy worms were a popular choice for rough vourites also included: Valeria’s jelly-filled watermelon and endoplasmic reticulum. Manikya’s superb cake with its blue gelatinous glaze. Finn’s Our snack sale not only helped us develop our understanding colourful lightweight creation made us a lot of money, making it a highly efficient profit generator!
A cell wall to keep plant cells firm.
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine
December 2014
P8 Cell Cake Sale In our Literacy lesson, we collaborated to produce this article and also to produce a set of instructions for future snack sales in Panaga School based on lessons learned during our sale. We also produced a highly persuasive letter for Mr Tim and Mr Andy R on the positive impact this exercise had on our learning – just in case they ever need reminding when the P8s of the future come looking for permission to do the same task!
Perhaps it would be best to wear gloves or use a knife that’s made for cutting and serving cake. Another note, no matter how good your frosting looks, DO NOT lick it off of your HANDS – or cake!
Make sure you know what is in your snack/cake, in case someone has an allergy. Slicing your cake is a bit dangerous, so make sure to cut your snack/cake, somewhere away from Some of the advice we would give to the organisers of another your customer, especially when you’re selling to younger P4s (or use a plastic knife)! It would be best to slice it beforehand. snack sale at school includes: 1) Choose a theme related to the topic you are studying: We all really understand the structure of plant and animal cells now – it really helps with securing your learning. 2) Tell people about the sale: Advertising is important because this can get more people involved with buying your snack/cake. Using special, catchy words will attract attention. 3) Be creative and make use of cheap ingredients to make the most profit: We advise, when making a snack, that you keep it edible! Also, make sure it doesn’t contain pork or nuts and try to keep it healthy.
4) Think of the practicalities: Make sure to make a shape of cake which is easy to cut and transition onto a plate/napkin. This will come in handy when you have many people raiding you and asking for cake or a snack. Make sure you bring the plates/napkins as well. Put tables in a long row so that everyone is not crowded together and make sure there are several bins for rubbish and a box to keep the money safe. 5) Prices: You need to make sure you’re making an acceptable amount of money and not losing money. Make the portion sizes reasonable for $1. Be sure you have change, there will be a great chance that someone will approach you will $5 or $10. If you charge 75 cents, you will need more change. We think ‘everything for a dollar’ makes life easier! 6) Safety: Before you even start selling your cake, make sure to keep your hygiene at an appropriate level. Wash your hands before touching your snack/cake. People don’t want to eat food that’s been where your hands have (especially if you have been to the bathroom)!
Issue 48
Panaga School Magazine BJSL Netball and Touch Rugby
This term, students competed in Girls Netball and Boys Touch Rugby for the BJSL competition. Panaga School was able to field teams in the P5, P6 and P7 categories for the respective sports. Students worked hard throughout the term with most students practising twice a week. This accounted for the success and improved results from last year achieved in both sports at the end of season tournaments held at JIS. A special congratulations goes to the Boys Touch Rugby teams for being equal overall winners at the end of season tournament. Well done to all who participated, as well as to those who continued to train and develop their skills despite not making the teams. We hope to see the same enthusiasm next term with the BJSL sports being Athletics, Football and T-ball. By Mr Andy and Mr Nathan
December 2014