2014-2015

FROM THE COUNCIL

The Council of Governors

PREFACE

The Head of School

SPOTLIGHT

British School Overseas Accreditation

Outstanding Gold Award

HM Queen Elizabeth II’s Official Birthday Poster Competition

CONTENTS

IN THE NEWS

The Lost Towel Project

KLASS Alumni In Action

PTA NEWS

ad astra is published annually for the Alice Smith community including alumni, staff, government, business

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Printed on 100% recycled paper

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WHAT’S NEW AT THE CAMPUS

Leading the Way in Campus

Development

COMMUNITY AND CHARITY

All For a Worthy Cause

WHAT’S ON AT THE PRIMARY CAMPUS

Activity Week - The Great Moon Exploration

Primary Productions

Busy Sporting Year

FOBISIA Primary Performing Arts Carnival

WHAT’S ON AT THE SECONDARY CAMPUS

FOBISIA Music Festival - Beijing

Senior Production - O What A Lovely War

Celebrating Diversity of Culture

Outstanding Media, Arts and Design Show

FOBISIA Games

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The Alice Smith School is one of the oldest and best regarded international schools in Asia. Our founder, Alice Smith, was a Californian zoologist who married an Englishman. At the end of the Second World War, seeing a profound need, she set up a stop-gap school in her living room in Kuala Lumpur with two simple principles – to serve the wider good and inspire learning. She set up the school as a not-for-profit educational foundation and it remains so today.

Two key aspects of the school foundation are that any surpluses are invested back into the school and the involvement of parents in the life of the school. Over the years, with the support of many teachers and parents, the Alice Smith School has grown to a school of 1,600 students from 50 nations.

The status of the school was reaffirmed in the results of the British Schools Overseas Inspection Report in November 2014 where both our campuses

achieved the Excellent grade. Thank you to all who have played a role in this. Thank you to the school’s leadership, teaching staff and non-teaching staff!

New Mission and VisionWith The Alice Smith School having reached the Excellent rating at both campuses, the School’s Council initiated a review of the School’s Mission and Vision.

This is our current Mission and Vision:

Our MissionTo provide young people with an outstanding British Education, preparing them for a successful international future

Our VisionTo be a consistently outstanding school which provides high quality learning experiences and opportunities, maximizing the potential of every learner.

The Council Of Governors

There was a sense that the School had already achieved its Vision and that it was now time to look beyond to higher aspirations. Much thought and effort has gone into this, involving the Council, School leadership, teaching staff, parents and students.

The Council is pleased to present to you the School’s new Mission and Vision:

Our Mission To provide an outstanding British Education for a successful international future

Our Vision To lead the pursuit of excellence in learning through nurturing, inspiring and enriching the lives and characters of young people

You will see that the new Mission is quite similar to the old Mission. The Vision has changed and now speaks more clearly about the better Alice Smith School we wish to see.

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We are hopeful that a new interchange on the MEX Highway will open at the end of 2015 as scheduled. This will certainly improve travel between the two campuses.

The school was honoured to play host to the British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Her Excellency Vicki Treadell CMG MVO, who visited both campuses. At the Secondary Campus, Her Excellency attended the annual Media, Arts and Design Show and was amazed by the outstanding quality of our students’ work on display.

In the review of the year, special mention goes out to the PTA. The PTA’s involvement in the social life of the School was evident. The many events organised, such as the Summer Fair, are hallmarks of Alice Smith and were great successes. Sadly, Morwenna Franssens, the Chair of the PTA will be leaving Malaysia after the end of the school year but the fruit of her considerable effort to reconstitute and revive the PTA will continue.

Thank you also to members of the Council of Governors who completed their service during the school year. They are Rory Doyle, Yvanka Jeffrey and our former Chair, Lorien Holland.

In 2016, the school that Alice Smith established will celebrate its 70th anniversary. There will be a variety of exciting events organised, leading up to the Big Weekend from 28 October 2016 to 1 November 2016, the highlight of the celebrations being a Platinum Gala Ball to be held on Saturday, 29 October 2016. I hope many of you will be able to join us for this celebration.

Best wishes to all for the year ahead.

Sic Itur Ad Astra

Charles Lim Chair, Council of Governors

In addition, the school has adopted a statement of belief, which reads:

“At Alice Smith we believe that through generosity of time and our care and attention to every individual, we find a way to bring out the best in all people and create an enduring sense of belonging to something very special”

These will be themes that will drive us in the years to come and you’ll see this new Vision permeate the School.

At the Primary Campus, the new Dining Hall and One Stop Centre became operational and recently won a Gold award at the Malaysian Architecture Malaysia (PAM) Awards 2015. It has been well received and it is good to see our young children having a proper dining area to have their meals.

At the Secondary Campus, the North Wing (encompassing the English and Math faculties) became operational. More recently, the Administration wing and Modern Foreign Language facility have come online. The feedback has been excellent, with the most gratifying comments being about the positive impact on learning.

During the summer break, work will begin on the back playing fields at Equine Park. This will involve laying down a new high quality natural turf playing field with proper drainage. The highlight will be a world class 8-lane synthetic athletics running track.

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As the Alice Smith School approaches its 70th anniversary in 2016, it is a good opportunity to pause and reflect on another wonderful year for our community. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of our school. Many families have been part of our community for a considerable length of time and we value your loyalty and the contribution you make. Our continuing success is a result of the collective efforts of many people. It is a testament to the talents, abilities and determination of our students and teachers, the commitment and dedication of our support staff and the voluntary support of our parent body.

With two excellent campuses catering for sixteen hundred students, very high academic standards, a Sixth Form approaching two hundred and continuing improvements to our curriculum and facilities, the recent British Schools Overseas accreditation inspection validated the outstanding quality of our educational experience. The inspection team considers the welfare, health and safety of students as well as their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, they ask “How does the school enable students to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence?” and “Is the school effective in ensuring that students behave responsibly, show initiative and understand how they can contribute to community life?” It is reassuring to know from the inspection report that the care, attention and support for the positive well being of our students is laying the foundation for a positive and dynamic learning environment for every child and a successful holistic education.

“Behaviour in all phases is excellent. Students are highly motivated to work collaboratively with staff in all aspects of school life. In no small measure, their attitudes to school contribute outstandingly to their all-round success. Learners’ spiritual, moral, cultural and social development is outstanding and is reflected in the way this diverse, happy school community works together.”

We receive very positive parent feedback that our children feel safe and secure, enjoy being at school, experience a wide range of learning experiences and strive to do their best. Our school engages students in an expansive programme of wider learning and enrichment beyond the boundaries of the classroom and adopts a growth mindset to developing the skills in young people that will enable them to flourish in life.

It has been another terrific year with many highlights. As I pen this message, I am still on a high after watching the amazing Year 6 performance of We will Rock you. I have been thoroughly enjoying the experiences of our secondary students on their trips week through their tweets and I am looking forward to the many achievements we will recognise and celebrate through assemblies and graduations as our school year closes. Perhaps more than anything else, the images I have seen of our Year 9 students building a canteen for a school in Northern Thailand (supported through the Sixth Form Charity Dinner fundraising efforts) and the effort and commitment shown and generosity demonstrated at the recent Primary Campus Charity Days bring home to me the true ethos and culture of our school. A staggering total of RM 85,025 was raised at the Primary Campus, with the money being sent to

The Head of School

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the British School of Kathmandu who are supporting school rebuilding programmes for the long term benefit to the children and people of Nepal.

Earlier on in the year, the Alice Smith School awarded two full scholarships to bright and deserving post SPM Malaysian students enabling them to pursue their A Level studies. The scholarships commenced in January 2015 and will run until July 2015. The scholarships were presented by Chair and Vice Chair of the Council of Governors witnessed by families of the scholars and the management.

Scholarship recipients were identified through a stringent selection process. Apart from academic merit, Alice Smith also takes into account the candidates’ extra-curricular excellence and interview assessments.

We can look ahead to the future with great confidence. Next year sees the exciting development of new sports facilities at the Secondary Campus and the much anticipated opening of the link to the MEX (E20) highway that will be a tremendous support with the physical link between our campuses.

Recently, we adopted the following belief statement:

“At Alice Smith we believe that through generosity of time and our care and attention to every individual, we find a way to bring out the best in all people and

create an enduring sense of belonging to something very special”.

We hope your family feels part of something special at Alice Smith. Working together we will continue to flourish as we build upon the positive and enriching educational experience we provide for the learning and personal growth of our students.

Sic Itur Ad Astra.

Roger SchultzHead of School

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The Alice Smith Schools’ Primary and Secondary Campuses have been graded as ‘Excellent’ in the British Schools Overseas report by Tribal, a DfE approved inspectorate. With this established reputation for excellence and as a not-for-profit educational foundation, Alice Smith provides exceptional value for money, with all resources focused on the development and well-being of students.

Only a small proportion of international ‘British’ schools have been awarded the accolade of being one of the élite schools to have achieved special British Schools Overseas status, following a successful inspection. The purpose of the inspection is to provide information to parents, prospective parents, teachers, senior managers and the school’s owners on the overall effectiveness of a school and the standard of education it provides. A BSO report provides objective reassurances to current parents and to those considering British schools overseas for their children.

Alice Smith Ranks Top as British School Overseas

Comments from the team of inspectors reflect the outstanding provision across the school campuses at Alice Smith:

“The quality of education on both sites is reflected in the high attainment, academic success and excellent personal development of the pupils and students. In external examinations, both Key Stage 4 students and Sixth Formers successfully achieve the highest available grades. Those leaving the Secondary Campus mostly move on to their first choice of university and are very well prepared for their next stage of education. Primary pupils attain highly in basic skills so that they are at ease in accessing the secondary curriculum.”

“The provision for children in the early years is outstanding and successfully promotes children’s welfare along with their progress in their learning. Teaching across the early years is excellent. Staff work together as a strong and effective team to promote children’s interest and excitement for learning. Teachers have a good understanding of how young children learn and plan exciting well-structured activities that build on what they already know and can do”.

The Alice Smith School is the only school in Kuala Lumpur and one of only two in Malaysia who have undergone such an inspection and achieved the standards necessary to be classed as a British School Overseas (BSO).  

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Alice Smith Ranks Top as British School Overseas We are proud to announce that our new Dining Hall and One Stop Centre at the Alice Smith School Primary Campus was awarded GOLD at the Malaysian Architecture Malaysia (PAM) Awards 2015.

Lee Chor Wah, the architect from iPartnership and MvS Architects were very proud to have been selected by PAM. He shared, “It was particularly special as the award was reviewed by our peers. This project was the first to be delivered by this collaborative team and to get the highest level of recognition was a very pleasant and welcomed surprise! Even more so when we were selected to be in the top three for the selection of the Building of the Year Award. We would like to thank the entire extended design team, the contractor and all the consultants that contributed to delivering this project and the school for so enthusiastically embracing our innovative response to their design brief.”

New projects at the Alice Smith School are carefully planned for and phased in as part of a master plan for facilities development, the designing of the Dining Hall and One Stop Centre by iPartnership being one of these. Work on this project commenced in July 2013 and these new facilities have been in use since December 2014.

Alice Smith School Wins PAM Award

The Dining Hall is a ground level open air, bright, modern and comfortable all-weather area that seats more than 200 children. Arching over a sunken play area is the vertical circulation stack of the building that is made up of an architectural stair and elevator. On the first floor, the One Stop Centre houses a parent deli, administration offices for accounts and admissions, transport and catering offices, large meeting rooms and the uniform shop. There’s also a lovely roof garden on the top floor for educational purposes.

The jury’s citation: Very clever use of architectural elements and colour creates a whimsical and playful feel to the exterior of the school which accurately reflects the new approach to learning. This is further expounded by the myriad interactive spaces interspersed within the design as well as very sensible detailing in the learning spaces.

Head of School, Roger Schultz said, “Investing in excellent facilities and resources for our community is an integral component of an Alice Smith education. This helps us to create a positive and enriching environment for current and future students and families, enhancing our school community and ensuring that we deliver on our mission to provide an outstanding British education.”

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To commemorate HM Queen Elizabeth II’s Official Birthday this year, a special poster designing competition was held by the British High Commission, Kuala Lumpur. We are delighted to announce that five students from the Alice Smith School won the award for the Year 6, 7, 8 and 9 categories.

Students were required to create an imaginative artwork piece that explored “Creativity is Great” under the following themes: London/UK Landmarks or British Icons.

The winning entries were selected by the British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Her Excellency Vicki Treadell CMG MVO and the Deputy High Commissioner, Paul Rennie. Gioia Migliarina, in Year 6 shared, “My poster design idea came from researching on the Queen’s life - what she owns, for example the QE boat and jewellery, and I used those as icons to create my poster. I also added in British landmarks and colours.” The winning entries will be used in a 2016 calendar, which will be made available to all international schools and other organisations to be sold, with all proceeds going to the #UKMYunite campaign.

#UKMYunite is an ongoing flood relief campaign providing assistance to the devastated areas and families of Kelantan. The British High Commission is working alongside various UK associations and the British community in Malaysia, in supporting this ongoing relief work.

Creativity is Great!

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In due course, copies of the artwork will be sent to Buckingham Palace in London to be received by the Royal household. “We are really proud of our students having won in so many categories. From over 300 entries, there were some very impressive and creative pieces. Entries were judged on the originality and creativity of their design and their imaginative response to the themes,” said Roger Schultz, Head of School.

The High Commissioner held a celebratory tea party at her Residence where she viewed the winning entries and awarded certificates to the students. During her speech, she encouraged the students to nurture their artistic talents, commenting, “The vibrant colour, talent and creativity shines through from each piece of artwork on display today. Nurture and develop these aspects of your character, they are skills that will be invaluable to you as you reach adulthood”. As one of the oldest British international schools in South East Asia, staff and students at Alice Smith are always willing to support and participate in events organised by the British High Commission.

In April 2011, we joined in the celebrations of Britain’s Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton by participating in the Royal Wedding Card competition. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee that followed in 2012, was celebrated on a grand scale at both campuses. The Alice Smith School strongly believes in focusing on achieving very high standards in all areas of the formal curriculum and supporting the participation of its students in outstanding wider learning opportunities such as this design competition. We nurture and encourage students to be independent, responsible, and engaged with the community around them.

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It was a great honour to welcome prominent social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir to the Alice Smith School in April to launch a unique new initiative, The Lost Towel Project 2015.

To support this project, parents at the school are encouraged to purchase a swimming towel from the school uniform shop in their child’s house colour and the Chin refugee ladies will embroider their name on the towel. The towels can also be purchased online from the project website. Towels come in a lovely waterproof bag.

“As a parent, I can truly relate to this project. My child was frequently misplacing items when in school. With this, parents do not need to label their child’s items anymore. The best projects are those that marry a need with a cause,” said Datin Marina.

Stay Dry and Help a Refugee

All proceeds from this drive were fully channelled back to the Chin women community to help them support their families using their sewing, knitting and other handicraft skills.

Working behind the scenes to help promote this worthy cause were twelve Alice Smith parents supported by three very capable Year 6 Challenge Award students. The Year 6 Challenge Award is an opportunity for Year 6 students to tackle new challenges, improve teamwork and organisational skills as well as encouraging community based service.

One of the students, Millie Baltzer shared, “I came up with the ‘Stay Dry and Help A Refugee’ slogan for this project. We then made posters and displayed them around school.”

As for Zac Connell, this was his second Community Service project. Zac and Margaux Sidhu both also helped with distributing flyers, getting towel orders and ensuring the timely delivery of the towels to purchasers.

To ensure the longevity and sustainability of this project, a new non-profit organisation called PINK (Parents’ International Welfare Association of Kuala Lumpur) was set-up. This is just their first initiative. Their next big project is The Lost Food Project where they will collect and distribute food items to orphanages, refugees and other needy groups.

The project co-ordinators hope that this initiative will be a great success and will be introduced into other schools and invested organisations.

This project is not only a great opportunity for the Alice Smith community to support and empower the Chin refugee women, but also an opportunity to nurture our young people to demonstrate initiative, independence and responsibility to support others in the wider community.

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KLASS Alumni in ActionWe are proud to announce that KLASS alumnus, Ben Proud recently won Gold medal in the Men’s 50m Fly at the Barcelona leg of the Mare Nostrum in June. Ben beat Olympic Champion Chad Le Clos into 3rd placing. This is a major meet for this year as the worlds’ elite swimmers prepare for this summer’s World Championships in Russia. Congratulations and good luck, Ben.

Congratulations also to Alumni, Rikigoro Shinozuka and Sharmini Ratnasingam for their recent win at the 2015 SEA Games.

Riki clinched the Silver in the men’s triathlon event, finishing the race in a respectable time of 2:5:35s. Rikigoro, who is of Japanese-Malaysian parentage, added that he is eager to continue making a name for himself and the country.

In the equestrian showjumping event, Sharmini put on a flawless display with her horse Arcado L to win the SEA Games Gold medal. Sharmini also participated in the team event, where Malaysia earned a Silver medal. Sharmini, read Investment and Finance in Property at Reading University and then continued to complete her Masters in management at Imperial College Business School.

Well done, Riki and Sharmini.

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It has been another busy year for the PTA. They started

the year with the Halloween Scream Fest in October,

hosted the popular Christmas Bazaar at the end of

Term 1 and finished the year with the Summer Fair at

the end of June. All of the PTA events helped to bring

together our school community.

KLASS PTA Welcoming Group continued their work

throughout the year, welcoming new families into the

school community both at the Newcomers Coffee

Mornings held each term and at the newly introduced

informal drop-in coffee mornings.

Throughout the year the PTA has continuously been

supporting the school at various school events selling

merchandise, as well as snacks and drinks at sports

events, supporting the annual Sixth Form Charity

Dinner and providing refreshments at the Christmas

Busy Year Yet Again for the PTA

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Carol Service in St Mary’s Cathedral and at the recent

Summer Concert.

This year the PTA will be supporting charities nominated

by the parents. A proportion of funds raised during the

year will be donated to the following charities:

Tasputra Perkim - a day care centre in Kuala Lumpur

looking after babies through to adults with multiple

disabilities. The facility gives respite to parents and

teaches vital skills to enable clients to improve their

mental and physical well being.

Sahabat Support Programme (SCC) - a home schooling

facility in Ampang for refugee children from many

countries in the Middle East. As well as home schooling,

SCC also runs a vocational training centre for refugee

mums to learn new skills such as sewing.

Both charities are related to children and young adults

which dovetails with the ideals of the school’s charitable

focus.

The PTA has also supported the purchase of an electronic

scoreboard for the swimming pool at the Primary

Campus. The new system makes running swimming

events more efficient and the meet administration

smoother.

Thank you, PTA!

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The Alice Smith School continues to have very

exciting developments on both campuses,

highlighting our proactivity and commitment to

continue to be an outstanding school.

New projects are being carefully planned and

will be phased in over the next five to seven

years.

Work commenced in July 2013 at the Primary

Campus on the Dining Hall and a One Stop

Centre for parents and these new facilities have

been in use since December 2014. Design of

this building was also recently awarded GOLD

at the Malaysian Architecture Malaysia (PAM)

Awards 2015.

At the Secondary Campus, the expanded

and improved teaching and learning areas

for Mathematics, English and Modern Foreign

Languages (MFL) provide spacious learning

Leading the Way in Campus Development

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space for students. It has been pleasing to see students

and staff making full use of our new and renovated

facilities since December 2014. There’s also a new

adjoining building for the Reception and Administration

areas.

These bright, modern, spacious areas provide flexible

and technology-rich teaching and learning spaces. The

adjoining break-out and social/recreational areas are

also a tremendous new resource for students and staff.

Excellent facilities are an integral component of an

Alice Smith education and design and development

planning has already commenced for the next phase of

improvements at both campuses.

As a not-for-profit school, Alice Smith invests in facilities

and teaching resources to create a positive, motivating

and enriching environment for current and future

students and staff. This commitment to continuous

improvement supports a high quality, holistic education

for our community and the excellent and dedicated team

of teachers and support staff.

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Every student and staff at the Alice Smith School understands

their position in society and has a burning desire to help others

less fortunate than us. We hold many charity events throughout

the year with several main highlights.

All For a Worthy Cause

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At the Primary Campus, we had the Primary Charity Days, Jeans

for Genes fundraising day and the School Council Shoebox Present

appeal.

This year, the Primary Campus Charity Days raised a staggering

total of RM 85,025. Everyone from Pre-school to Year 6 should be

congratulated for their commitment and hard work which reflected

the real charitable spirit of our school community. The money raised

was sent to the British School of Kathmandu who are supporting

school rebuilding programmes. These projects will benefit children,

are related to education, and we know they will give long term

benefits to the children and people of Nepal. As well as the above

amount, we also raised an additional  RM5,000  for our Nepalese

guards.

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At the Secondary Campus, events included the annual Fun Run, House Charity Days, Sixth

Form Charity Dinner, Trips Charity Week and community work from the Interact and Youthact

Clubs.

The KLASS Charity Dinner held at the Shangri-La Hotel was an outstanding event and involved Sixth Form

students serving and entertaining guests throughout the evening, with a raffle and auction to raise money for the

charities supported on Trips Week at the end of each academic year.

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Over an action-packed, two day period during Activity

Week, students excitedly explored, researched and

investigated the moon, what it is, what it does and

what makes it so special to so many people.

We were honoured to also welcome Malaysia’s first

astronaut, Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor to a

special assembly. During the inspirational assembly,

he set the challenge for us to make a ‘JB Moon

Documentary’. This was followed by a dramatic

recreation of the first ever moon landing!

The Great Moon Exploration

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Productions, Productions, Productions

Hans Christian Anderson’s story of The Emperor’s New Clothes gave Year 2 inspiration for their production of

‘Queen Victoria’s New Clothes’.

Set in the Victorian Era, Queen Victoria had asked the

Prime Minister to find her the most beautiful dress to

wear for the opening of the Great Exhibition Hall. He

was promptly persuaded by a group of wronged factory

weavers trying to make a quick shilling that their special

(invisible) material was the best on the market. The story

was connected showing different aspects of Victorian

life, from a bustling market place to the fun of the seaside,

onto a strict school classroom and then grimy factory.

Each class enjoyed showing their depiction of this era

with amazing costumes, songs and dances. It was a true

step back in time!

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What a ‘rocking’ performance! With an exciting blend of rockin’ rhythm and dramatic scenes, colourful costumes,

an intriguing storyline together with combined effort by students, teachers and an army of parents, the production

of We Will Rock You was an overwhelming success. Well done, Year 6!

This year, the Year 4 children proudly presented their interpretation of Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes. The

audience were wowed by their spectacular singing and skilful acting. In addition to their wonderful acting, the

children proudly presented their artwork and fairy tale character portraits as these formed the stage backdrop.

The Year 4 students and teaching team worked tirelessly to produce a wonderful performance!

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This year’s FOBISIA Games was a

resounding success for the KLASS

Lions. Our 44 children started their

training early ready for the games in

May. Training and preparation was

vital as we knew the competition

of the other A1 class schools would

be tough as many of the schools

are bigger.

We finished in 4th position overall

for the athletics event and excelled

to win 1st place in the swimming

meet. Fantastic wins for our A

team and a third place from our

C team lifted us to 3rd placing

overall in the Tee Ball competition.

In football, we were in 3rd placing

overall with division champions

for the Girls A team and both

boys’ teams finishing 3rd on the

podium with very little separating

the quality of the top three place

winners.

It was a fantastic 3 days! As stated

in a quote from the recently

published FOBISIAN Newsletter:

“ The team from Kuala Lumpur’s Alice Smith School had perhaps the most successful championship, with victories in 4 of the 10 team disciplines.”

FOBISIA Games 2015 - Shrewsbury School Bangkok

Busy Sporting Year

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Forty-three students participated in the inaugural

FOBISIA Swimming Championships hosted by

Shrewsbury International School, Bangkok in

February 2015. Many fantastic FOBISIA records

were set and personal bests recorded.

Inaugural FOBISIA Swimming Championships

Congratulations to two original Sporty Girls’ Netballers who won the Most Valuable Players for U12 and U13 at the

recent Alice Smith School Sports Awards dinner.

Sporty Girls Netball is a Saturday morning Netball Club for girls aged 6-12 years old. Successfully run by a group

of dedicated Alice Smith parents, the club is open to girls from all other international schools in Kuala Lumpur.

Sporty Girls Netball Malaysia

In the Combined Teams event, Alice Smith was Runners Up

out of 18 participating schools.. In the age 13-14 boys’ and

girls’ competition, we were Runners Up; in the age 11-12 boys’

and girls’ section, Alice Smith team were Champions and in

the 9-10 boys’ and girls’ competition, Alice Smith finished

third. We were Champions amongst the visiting teams to

Bangkok for the championships, a fantastic achievement.

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Our enthusiastic secondary students participated in the FOBISIA Music Festival in Beijing. Everyone was a

credit to the school for their positivity, energy and enthusiasm, and all came away buzzing - all the way home!

Congratulations for all they have achieved, musically in particular, but also socially and culturally. The merry team

were Andrew Thiagarajah, Aqila Arimurti, Isabel Schnitker, James Chong, Jun Fung Ip, Mathilde Bernard and Sarah

Cumberland.

FOBISIA Music Festival - Beijing

Our Performing Arts Carnival was hosted by Shrewsbury International

School, Bangkok. Sixteen students had an amazing experience

sightseeing, participated in awesome performing arts activities and

at the same time prepared their pieces for the big concert in their

sectionals. It was exhausting but the students had so much fun!

FOBISIA Primary Performing Arts Carnival

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Marking the centenary of the outbreak of World War

One, O What A Lovely War is a musical play that

documents the events that triggered the war and

the horrendous consequences of the battles of what

was dubbed “The war to end wars”.

 

However, as bleak as the war was, the play staged

by students at the Alice Smith School Secondary

Campus was a hilarious satire of the Generals and

politicians who made the decisions and a loving

memorial of the ordinary people who cheerfully

volunteered to do the fighting in the trenches.

 

It was a truly spectacular, and visionary production

which involved nearly 100 students. There was great

team effort from everybody involved, with some

remarkable individual and ensemble performances,

all contributing to a great evening of musical theatre.

 

O What A Lovely War

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International Week has always

assumed the renowned schedule of

having one day per week dedicated

to a continent of the world. However,

this year, themes of International

Awareness were assigned to each

day to educate students about issues

affecting the wider global community

and raise a more appreciative

understanding of world current affairs.

Interact students were involved with

the planning and construction of

every event that International Week

hosted, with our two International Understanding Committee Directors - Lena Fricker and Naomi Haeger -

having dedicated huge amounts of

time and effort towards making the

week a success.

International Week

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The successful week would not have been

made possible without the contributions

from parents, staff and students, especially

the Sixth Formers who worked tirelessly

behind the scenes to organsise and lead the

week’s activities.

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What a fantastic Media, Arts and Design Show this year at the Alice Smith

School Secondary Campus! The school was honoured to welcome the

British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Her Excellency Vicki Treadell

CMG MVO, as well as the CEO of Boh Plantations, Caroline Russell, as the

special guests.

Both were thoroughly delighted to be present at the show and were

amazed by the outstanding quality of work on display. The show had

an overwhelming turnout of students, parents, teachers and the general

public. Several renowned professional artists, photographers and

architects were also present to view the students’ work and share their

experience and expertise.

On her tour of the school campus, Vicki was ‘wowed’ by the quality of

the students’ art work. In her address, Her Excellency said “Don’t just

look at the finished piece without reading the accompanying journal. I

was amazed by the level of detail - the different angles, perspectives and

thought processes - the journey which led to the final image.”

Caroline Russell also commented, “The quality of artwork was outstanding

and it is good to know that the Russell family’s support for the Arts in the

school has played something of a role to encourage and support.

An Outstanding Media, Arts and Design Show

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Held annually, the Media, Arts and Design Show is a great opportunity for the

school’s highly talented students to share commonality in their work in the

subject disciplines of Media, Art, Photography and Design and Technology.

The standard of the show this year was outstanding and the quality was

reflective of professional practice, with examples of work ranging from

painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, video and installation, product

design, graphic design and textiles. Some of the work produced by the

students has been successfully commercialised by renowned companies

and is a testament to the talents of our students.

“A lot of time and effort has been put into the show and the quality of the

exhibition is outstanding. The stunning display is a testament to the creativity,

talents and skills of our students. The Alice Smith School has a reputation

for offering an exceptional educational experience for our students and

our staff, by providing a learning environment that is supportive, enriching

and challenging. This is evident in the high quality of work on display.

This year, in support of the Nepal

Earthquake Appeal, limited edition

reproductions of the artwork will

be available for sale” said Roger

Schultz, Head of School.

In her speech, the High

Commissioner also praised The

Alice Smith School for the high-

quality British education it offers

to Malaysian and International

students. “A British education

such as this is sought after, not

only because it is renowned for

its progressive approach, but

because critical thinking, creativity

and innovation is valued as much

as the acquisition of knowledge.

Emphasis on good character and

strong values contributes to a

well-rounded experience.”

The Alice Smith School believes

in nurturing the talent and

creativity of its students,

supporting them to reach their

full potential and preparing them

for a successful international

future. The importance of a high

quality learning environment and

opportunities for maximising the

potential of every learner are at the

very heart of the school’s ethos.

34

Students participate in the FOBISIA Games

annually. The U13 FOBISIA games were hosted

by Garden International School (GIS) in Kuala

Lumpur in March 2015. Close to home and

without the added travelling, the team were

in high spirits at the start of the tournament.

Athletics and swim meets were held on

the first day. KLASS had some outstanding

performances in the athletics, especially by

the girls, winning numerous gold medals

on the track and on the field. The team had

an amazing afternoon in the pool, finishing

second overall.

The following two days saw the boys and girls

compete in basketball and football. Many of

the football matches were draws or decided

by 1 goal and the basketball was the same.

The U13 FOBISIA Games

After the round robin formats, final standings were quite often

tied and therefore positions had to be decided by head to head

results or goal differences.

The squad worked hard in extremely hot conditions and they

should all be proud of the levels of skill and determination they

displayed over the tournament. Congratulations to all who

competed and we wish you all the best with either the transition

to U15 FOBISIA next year or selection again at U13.

35

The U15 FOBISIA squad travelled to

Singapore for this year’s games, which

were hosted by the Tanglin Trust

School. This year was the first year that

the A1 schools would compete in a new

format where swimming was removed

from the programme and replaced

with more athletics events on the first

day of competition. Despite some long

thunderstorm delays the games were a

success and our young sportsmen and

women came away with some pleasing

performances.

The U15 FOBISIA Games

The FOBISIA squad were a very young team comprising mostly of Year 9

students. All team members competed with true grit and determination,

putting a 100% effort into every event. Our boys and girls basketball teams

were highly competitive, with matches in their pool games that came down

to the final basket to decide the eventual winner. While a medal placing

finish eluded the teams this year, the experience of close competition games

will stand them in good stead for future competitions. Both boys and girls

football teams played excellent football in very wet conditions, coming away

with bronze medals in a close and strongly contested competition.

Throughout the games, the KLASS squad bonded together and showed

great character under some hard competitive conditions.