April May Newsletter

The Dutch Stream children, teachers and parents cele-

brate the crowning of their new king,

Willem Alexander in a fabulous assembly.

Panaga School Newsletter

Inside this month’s issue: Page 2:

The Dutch Stream join their country-folk in welcoming their

new king Page 3:

P8 explore Singapore; The International Community

Day logo winner! Page 4:

OGDC give us a feel for sub-zero science;

Author, Allan James Wendt, visits Panaga School

Page 5 and Page 6: PTA News: Busking for Books

and the School Fair Page 7:

Early Years ideas exchange with St George’s School

Page 8: Southeast Asian adven-

tures of Elly the Elephant, update Page 9:

Language of the Month and Children’s Library;

Thanks for all you do, Lili Page 10:

P2’s terrific term two toys topic

Page 11: ‘In the Zone’ and on the

green; Remote Control Group; April 2013: Technology

ASA – Yep! Still building… Page 12:

Sports Days

Issue 40, April-May 2013

Quote for the month: “If content's a kingdom, I’ll

wear that crown.”

-Thomas Heywood

Newsletter designed and edited by Damian Brady

Message from the Headteacher of the International Stream

and Teraja site

Panaga School Brunei Darussalam Jalan Utara, Seria, KB3534, Brunei

Phone: +673 3372139 Fax: +6733373028

Web: www.panagaschool.com

This is my final newsletter front piece for Panaga School, so I would like to take this opportunity to share a few farewell thoughts. The decision to leave a school is al-ways difficult - Stephanie and I thought a great deal about it and decided it was the right time. Personally, it was important to me to leave the school in a strong position, particularly in terms of the learning pro-vision for all the children in the Interna-tional Stream. My primary aim in achieving that educational provision was to enable all children to achieve their potential in every sphere of devel-opment within a secure, happy environ-ment where individual efforts are val-ued and respect for gender, religion and race was safe guarded. Being part of the school and staff team that achieved ‘Mastering’ accreditation in the International Primary Curriculum is one of the highlights of my career to date. To the staff past and present, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all publicly for your profes-sionalism, commitment, dedication and outstanding pedagogical expertise in achieving this award. I have been fortu-nate to have worked with many col-leagues at Panaga who have em-

braced the shared school vision for learning and transformed the educa-tional climate of the school. For both Stephanie and I, it has been a pleasure to have been involved with the children of Panaga School. Day after day, they demonstrate an enthusi-asm and desire for learning both of us will miss immensely. To parents, the support and gratitude you have demon-strated to both of us over the years has been fantastic and truly humbling. Also, we would like to especially thank the teachers who have taught our own chil-dren so wonderfully well. They have had a truly happy, enjoyable and re-warding time at Panaga School and depart well equipped for the challenges ahead in Egypt. Life is all about the sum of the deci-sions you make. An old proverb says: ‘There is a choice you have to make, in everything you do. You must always keep in mind that the choices you make ….make you.’ I really believe that. You make deci-sions, but your decisions also make you. To everyone, the very best of luck.

Craig Heaton

More details on Page 2

Featuring this month:

Panaga School Newsletter Willem Alexander, King of the

Netherlands On the 27th of April 1967, at a hos-pital in Utrecht, a boy called Willem Alexander was born. When his mother became queen, he automatically became crown prince of Orange. He grew up in Drakensteyn Castle in the little village of Lage Vuur-sche. Willem Alexander studied history at Leiden, Sevilla, Spain. He met his future wife, Maxima, at a party in 1999 and the two got married on the 2nd of January 2002. In 2012, he visited Brunei and all of the Dutch children had the opportu-nity to see him, Maxima and of course, Queen Beatrix. On the 30th of April 2013, he be-came King of The Netherlands. In-side the palace in Amsterdam dur-ing an important meeting, Queen Beatrix put her signature to the pa-per which said that she will hand over the crown and all responsibili-ties that goes with it to Willem Alex-ander. After Willem and Maxima put their signature on it too, he officially be-came the King. On the balcony of the palace, the new king and his wife and mother showed themselves to the people on the square. They all cheered, Hurray! After that, they all walked to the Nieuwe kerk (the New church). Wil-lem Alexander wore a big, red mantle over his shoulders; the same mantle all the other kings and queens of the Netherlands wore in the past.

A lot of people came to Amsterdam to see him. During this little walk, his brother, sisters in law, his uncles, nephews and nieces and the rest of the fam-ily walked with him towards the church. A lot of other royal people joined the abdication at the Nieuwe kerk. The crown prince of the UK, Prince Charles was there also the crown prince of Brunei. Plus, the famous Dutch astronaut André Kuipers was there too. King Willem Alexander spoke to the people in the church and prom-ised to be a good king. After that, he had a party with a lot of important people. Then he went on a boat and listened to a special song for the king and waved to all the people. After the boat tour he went home, as the new King of The Nether-lands.

By Stijn Suk (DP7/8)

Enter the new King of The Netherlands

Congratulations to all Dutch Stream children, teachers and par-ents for recreating this momentous

occasion in Dutch history for the assemblies on both school sites.


International Community Day Logo Competition winner Congratulations to Anushree Konwar (IP6D) on winning the 2013 International Community Day Logo Competition. Anushree’s entry will now be the official logo for this exciting upcoming event. It will be reproduced into banners and posters that will appear across the school. Well done Anushree! International Community Day will take place on Friday, 28th June. Thanks to all parents who have supported preparations so far! By Damian Brady

By P8 reporter, Harris Rana

On Monday 6th May, the Panaga School P8s along with four teachers; Andy Ryan, Tim Walsh, Barbara Diepenmaat and Anna Sanderson, departed for Singapore.

“It was a great trip; fun and very educational. There were also activities which I wouldn’t be able to do on a family holiday,” said Tiger Ang, an 11-year-old P8 student.

The trip was scheduled from 6th May to 10th May and the activities included Night Safari at the Singa-pore Zoo and a visit to Sentosa including stop ins at the Merlion, Fort Siloso, Images of Singapore, a cable car ride and 4D and 3D cinema experiences. The P8s also visited Sin-gapore Art Museum, Changi Chapel, the Na-tional Museum of Singa-pore, the Civil Defense Museum, shopping malls, Chinatown and much more.

“I have never been over-

seas with school children before so it was an excel-lent experience. I also got to know the children bet-ter,” said Anna Sanderson.

The P8 Singapore trip not only aims for children to have fun but also learn more about Singapore. As International School stu-dents, Panaga P8s want to learn more about Singa-pore as they think it is im-portant to be internation-ally minded. Carlos Clemente, a 12-year-old student from P8 said, “I liked when we learnt about Singapore’s history and what WWII was like in Sin-gapore.”

The Singapore trip also builds personal skills by teaching students about staying away from home and the processes of trav-eling. The children even learnt to fill in their own customs departure and arrival cards, “It gives you good experience for life,” said Joost Van den Hemel, a P8 student. Wendy Shen also enjoyed the fun of be-ing away from home, “It was so much fun to share

a hotel room with a friend.”

During the trip the teach-ers encouraged children to be more independent in lots of ways. For some meals, children were given money and could choose whatever they wanted but it was their responsibility to buy proper and healthy food. Pocket money was also supplied for gifts and souvenirs, “I bought ac-cessories and clothes with my pocket money,” said Floor Kuijpers who had lots of fun shopping with her best friends Sophie, Kari, Heleen, Tina and Wendy at H&M and Ac-cessorize.

The P8s were also given meeting points and timings and it was their duty to be there on time, “Every one was up and ready in plenty of time,” said Andy Ryan when asked about morn-ing wake-ups.

The Singapore trip built on the children’s skills of be-ing independent and inter-nationally minded and was a fantastic way to cele-brate the children’s final year at Panaga School.

P8 tour Singapore

Panaga School Newsletter PTA News

By Anna Sanderson

If you see Teraja as solely a ves-sel for Maths, Literacy, IPC and playtime, you are selling it short! Teraja has the astonish-ing ability to transform com-pletely and it doesn’t even need the cover of darkness or a phone booth to do it! With trusty side-kick, the PTA, by it side, Teraja can become anything!

On March 20, Teraja rivaled Barce-lona’s famed Las Ramblas, when it transported visitors to a thriving ar-tisan community of street perform-ers. Gone were the P4 to P8s; in their place were Harlem Shakers, classical musicians, beat boxers, hip hop boy bands, human statues, Irish dancers, vocalists, fortunetell-ers and painters. Upturned hats grew heavy with the fruits of the first-time buskers’ labour, as they raised a healthy $2523.40 in just an hour and a half.

Luckily, our talented performers don’t fit the ‘starving artist’ stereo-type, so the money raised didn’t have to be spent on baked beans! As the name of the event suggests, Busking for Books was conceived to be not only an artistic outlet for our creative students but also to be a means of fundraising for books. The PTA is proud to announce that not a single cent of the $2523.40 has been saved! Our hardworking Literacy Leader for Learning, Teresa Lenihan, has been on a book spending spree and, in con-sultation with local teachers, has purchased reading materials for Sekolah Rendah Panaga, Sekolah Rendah DMS Dian Sukang, Seko-lah Rendah Melilas and St John’s KB.

Teraja

After a quiet spell (punctuated by IPC entry points, P4’s bake sale and of course lots of learning) May was made memorable when Teraja transformed once again, this time into a fairground. The fun of the fair included face painting, piñatas, car-nival games, races, prize draws, ‘Guess the Teacher’, temporary tat-tooing, ‘Beat the Goalie’, ‘Mini Golf’, ‘Slalom Hockey’, a secondhand book stall and plenty of delicious snacks and ice-cold refreshments. Those in attendance were also treated to live performances by the school choir and a group of talented young dancers coached by Prajna from the Indian Association of Brunei.

The Fair was a community event in the truest sense of the word. Par-ents and students from across the school worked together showing that many hands make the load lighter (and the hampers heavier!) by contributing to the prize ham-pers, secondhand book stall, lucky draw and the sweet and savoury snack stalls.

Panaga School Newsletter PTA News

There were also a large number of parents and teachers who jumped into the saddle (literally in the case of race coordinator, Matt Jones, who brought his finest fillies to the field for Teraja's very own Seria Cup!) by running games and activi-ties and manning the busy stalls.

Also after a piece of the action, were the Nerf toting P8s. With their 'weapons' locked and loaded and ample ammo on hand, they held the fort at Teraja’s own family friendly shooting range. Gracie Hammond and Sarah Seagraves from P5 also got in the spirit of things with their own enterprising fund-raising idea; ‘The Lollipop Stick Game.’

With so much on offer, bringing everything and everyone together was a huge task. Luckily, the School Fair Committee, comprising of Adrienne Brocklebank, Carolyn B r i e n , E l i z a b e t h M o -ras, Germaine Field, Li l in Wright, Christina Fenlon and Anna Sanderson, were on top of the job!

The Fair and the resulting fundrais-ing for the School Yearbook would not have been possible without their organisation, event manage-ment and good old-fashioned hard work.

Transformed

Panaga School Newsletter By Sidharth Raj and Mark Brocklebank

On Wednesday April 17h, a science team from OGDC (Oil and Gas Dis-covery Centre) visited Panaga School as a part of an educational exhibi-tion. The exhibition took place in the Teraja hall and went from 8.30am-10.30am. The exhibition featured four science ex-perts who showcased to children many science skills and personal goals. The exhibition included lots of exciting activities and experiments such as dropping objects into liq-uid nitrogen (which is -196 degrees Celcius). The children who were involved in the exhibition were from P7-P8. After some amusing experi-ments presented by Al-bert, a member of OGDC, the children were in-volved in a variety of vis-ual and kinesthetic activi-ties. Towards the end of the exhibition there was a challenge where children in a team had to create a sling shot to knock down ‘balloon squids’. All they were provided with was cardboard, chopsticks and elastic bands. Quite a few children managed to hit the target. Every child was given a prize for participating. The prizes were rubber snakes and lizards. The winners received a bar magnet.

All in all, the children from P7 and P8 had an enter-taining day of science!

—— Wednesday, 17th of April 2013: Today we hade a great science show by the OGDC (Oil gas dis-covery centre). They brought with them liquid nitrogen as they froze bananas balls and many more. After the show they had a small exhibit. After we had looked at the exhibition we had a competition. We had to make slingshot to hit bal-loons. By Boaz & Kari

Sub-Zero Science

Author, Allan James Wendt, visits Panaga School

On Wednesday 8th May, Allan James Wendt, au-thor of The Scarab Bracelet, visited Primary 7 to talk to them about his books. He was interviewed by the students and teachers about his life and ca-reer. He shared some chapters of his book with the stu-dents. This was to help the Primary 7 students im-prove their writing skills. Mr Wendt was visiting Brunei with his wife and Panaga School invited him to visit Primary 7. Primary 7 now knows further information about why he started writing and his past life. He writes about action and adventure because those are his favorite subjects to read about. Mr Wendt is writing a trilogy; ‘The Scarab Bracelet’ was his first book and ‘Lapinda the Promised Land’ is his second. He is in the middle of writing the third one.

Mr Wendt has given a copy of his book, The Scarab Bracelet, as a gift to the school. If you want to learn more about Allan James Wendt visit his web-site: thescarabbracelettrilogy.com

By Khoula and Raham (IP8)

Panaga School Newsletter Eight teachers from St George’s School in Bandar visited Panaga School in April. The aim of the visit was to share knowledge, ideas, theo-ries and good practice in Early Years education. The visit was a huge suc-cess! The Kindergarten teachers from St George’s School spent the morning un-dertaking a planned programme of events in Panaga’s Early Years Milepost. Sarah Josefsen, the Early Years Leader for Learning, held discussion groups and presentations, followed by time for the visiting teachers to observe high quality teaching and learning in action. This was a superb opportunity to exchange infor-mation on the latest methods and re-sources to maximise children’s learning in the Early Years and support children through this crucial stage in life. The Panaga teachers also learnt a great deal about schools in Brunei and had in-teresting conversations about the similari-ties and differences between the two schools. It was a good learning experi-ence for all! At the end of the visit Lily Sim, the Head of Early Years at St George’s School, pre-sented Panaga School with an engraved plaque to mark the visit and it is now hoped that the link between the two schools can continue in the future.

By Sarah Josefsen

Early Years ideas exchange with St George’s School

Earlier this month, Miss Anne's Pre-Nursery group had a lovely surprise when they found a baby owl sitting in the window of the playhouse in the play-ground. It was especially exciting as Pre-Nursery had just been reading the story, 'Owl Babies'. To everyone's delight, a sibling was spotted in the tree above and then a day later a third owl baby was found. So all three owlets (Sarah, Percy and Bill, as nick-named from the story) were safe in the tree and mum and dad have also been spotted bringing them food. It was certainly a moment to treasure.

By the Pre-Nursery team

Pre-Nursery receive a surprise visitor

Panaga School Newsletter Southeast Asian adventures of Elly the Elephant, update:

Ellie the Elephant, the official mascot of Ecole Yenzi School, Gamba, Gabon, continues to en-joy her travels to South East Asia. Over the past fortnight, she has entertained and participated in the learn-ing of classes across Teraja. She also continued to rack up even more air miles as P8 took her on their recent trip to Singa-pore. Meanwhile, our very own school mascot, Feathers, has been enjoying her

time in Africa by visiting the jungle, caves and the beach; plus of course the children of Ecole Yenzi School. Both mascots are a part of the Shell Schools’ Mascot Exchange Pro-ject; “an annual project to promote ICT skills and International Mindedness between Shell Schools.” For the many and latest photos and stories about both Shell School mas-cots, log onto the blog-site: shellmascot.weebly.com By Damian Brady

On Friday 3rd May, the P4s had an exciting and successful Exit Point to mark the end of their learning in the unit ‘On Tap’. During the unit, they learned about water around the world and dis-

covered that many people living in poorer countries don’t have access to save water, let alone have taps in their homes! Through research on the internet, they were able to find out how the char-ity ‘Water Aid’ helped people in these areas by raising money to buy taps, toilets and by teaching them skills which they could use to help them-selves. P4s decided to raise some money for ‘Water Aid’ by hosting a bake sale. They enjoyed making posters to advertise the sale and with the help of

their parents, they baked some delicious goodies. The P7s came to help with the actual sale on the Friday and we were grateful for their support and experience in this area. The P4s felt very proud and managed to raise $825.17. Thank you to all those who contributed: parents, P7s and both the stu-dents and adults on Teraja who remembered to bring their money and buy!

By the P4 team

P4 Bake Sale - a huge success


Many children had fun in April learning to speak some Arabic words, our focus Language of the Month, and many of our Ara-bic speaking children were very helpful with pronunciations! You will have noticed that we have now changed the Language of the Month boards to a new lan-

guage…Norwegian. So if you have any links with Norway, please send in any books, photos, arti-facts, etc, to your child’s teacher to share with the class. As you are aware, at Panaga School, we encourage our bilin-gual children to read in their Mother Tongue at home as much as possible. We would like to intro-duce you to this website, which consists of many online books written in different languages: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ “The mission of the International Children's Digital Library Founda-tion (ICDL Foundation) is to sup-port the world's children in becom-ing effective members of the global community - who exhibit tol-erance and respect for diverse cul-

tures, languages and ideas - by making the best in children's literature available online free of charge. The Foundation pursues its vision by building a digital li-brary of outstanding children's books from around the world and supporting communities of children and adults in exploring and using this literature through innovative technology designed in close part-nership with children for children.” The ICDL Foundation is a non-profit corporation.

Not all languages of our school are currently represented on the web-site, but please have a browse, you may be lucky and find some inter-esting books in your language.

By Vanessa Clee and Perminder Sanghera

To watch the Language assembly, click on to the link on school website:

panagaschool.com/school-events-2012-13.htm

Language of the Month and Children’s Library

Recently, some children of Teraja performed in a Language assembly. They were demon-strating songs and games in their mother tongue. We would like to thank Lili, one of our par-ents, for her help with the Taga-log and Bahasa Indonesian per-formances. Mr Rorie and Andie Millie of IP7K talked to Lili about her experiences with language. Lili K. Agapay is a second mum and an aunty to many students at Panaga School. Coming from Samar inda , Eas t Bo rneo /Kalimantan, Lili has spent much of

her time in Brunei helping many people from different communities feel a sense of family. “Assimilating into a new commu-nity can be very difficult for many students and families…I try to build a sense of belonging. Working with the new students I try and give them the self-confidence to be part of the culture of this area.” Knowing many languages helps Lili with her tasks. She speaks Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesian, Ma-lay and English. Her local dialects of Banjar and Kutai also allow her to be that second mother. Andie Millie from P7 knows first hand all the amazing work Lili does within the school and greater com-munity. She is a focal point of the Indonesian school commu-nity. Andie said that one of the best things about Lili is “her caring nature and how she is able to give

them tips about growing up.” Lili is also the class mum to IP5P, Mr Philips class. Working with the stu-dents in class on reading and IPC topics, as well as extra work on school concerts and International Days, is her love. Within the community, she is ac-tive on National Days with the In-donesian community such as cele-brating their national hero, Kartini, on April 28th, 2013. We at Panaga School are very lucky to have Aunty Lili: always there to offer a helping hand, a kind word or some good advice. From all the Panaga School com-munity, thank you very much Lili.

By Mr Rorie

Thanks for all you do, Lili

Panaga School Newsletter Although it seems a while ago now, Term 2 was another excit-ing term, and another exciting IPC topic was explored in IP2. It all started in January with a story...a Toy Story. After watching Toy Story 4, the children came to school dressed as their favourite toy. And, in the role of these characters, they in-vented their own stories. What scrape would Woody get himself into? Would Buzz Lightyear come to the rescue? Would the princess find her prince? Only the children had the answers! Then, the children boldly entered a new world: a world where aliens beamed toys into outer space. Af-ter getting into role and acting out an alien toy story, the children be-came authors and publishers, pro-ducing their own books. From space we returned, but only to beam somewhere else: back in time. From space travel to time travel! All just to learn about toys in the past. The children met an old man, Mr Alfred…or was it Mr Dave in dis-guise? He told them about his fa-vourite toy from his childhood. Then the children produced their own non-fiction information text about toys. After this, it was time to play some games. Some helpful and kind par-ents came to school to play vari-ous games from around the world with IP2. Using these games as a starting point, the children designed and made their own board game. They even wrote instructions for it. Fi-nally, they invited their parents to school to play it with them.

At the end of the topic, it was IP2D’s turn to run an assembly. It was their own magic key adven-ture. The Magic Key took Biff, Chip and Kipper back in time, where Magic Grandma showed them around Panaga in the past. They met the teachers when they were children. Miss Christina and Miss Laura were having a skipping race, Miss Sam was playing on a rocking horse, and Miss Teresa was arguing over a doll with Mr Andy! Who says learning can’t be fun? Especially when you spend a whole term learning all about toys!

By Mr Dave J

P2’s terrific term two toys topic


‘In The Zone’, sponsored by the Panaga School PTA, has been successfully running since No-vember 2012; providing fun and educational activities at lunch-times for Teraja students.

The ‘zones’ ranging from ‘Craft’ through ‘Get Fit’ to ‘Games’ en-sures that all students can enjoy stimulating, safe places to play in allocated zones around the school during lunch. The zones’ great work could only be possible due to the dedication of the Play Leaders and Zone Rangers of P8. Responsible, ma-ture students, interviewed in early October, promising to generously give their time. ‘In the Zone’ has been an amazing success be-cause of the time and patience of these leaders. Fittingly, for their enthusiasm and drive, they were thanked by the PTA with a delicious lunch and a spot of lawn bowls, overlooking the South China Sea. Escorted by Ms Kathryn and Mr Rorie to the Panaga Club, the students had a very enjoyable afternoon. Upon entering the lawn bowls pitch, many were surprised to discover it wasn’t the ‘dog recreation area’

they all predicted. After a short in-troduction to the basics of the game, the competition com-menced. After many ends, and a lot of competition, I think the game may live on, in the adults of tomor-row. Thank you to the inaugural ‘In the Zone’ leaders.

By Mr Rorie and Miss Kathryn

‘In the Zone’ and on the green

Remote Control Group Friday 3rd May

Boys (Big & Small) and Girls with their Toys!

…Mr Tim has a go!

April 2013: Technology ASA – Yep! Still building…

By Mr Dermot

Panaga School Newsletter By P8 Reporters,

Sidhu Raj and Mark Brocklebank The Panaga School Sports Day for pupils from P4 to P8 took place on the morning of Friday May 17th. The event was held on the Panaga Padang and provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the chil-dren’s sports skills. There were five different sporting ac-tivities including a tug of war, a three-legged race and a 100m sprint which were contested by students repre-senting their houses: Earth, Fire, Wind and Water. The teams com-peted for the top place by displaying not only their sporting prowess but also their personal goals such as co-operation, resilience and adaptability. Tim Walsh, PE teacher at Teraja, or-ganised the event with the help of class teachers who ran the various activities. “It was great to see the children work-ing as a team. The event ran smoothly; it was like a ‘well-oiled ma-chine’. We were also lucky to not get the full Brunei heat,” said Anna San-derson, a P8 teacher. The event started at 8.00am and ended at 11.30am. “It was a very ex-citing and exhausting event,” said one tired P8 student. Parents played a big part in the event, as they were on hand to sup-port the children. “It was nice to see people participating and supporting in the right spirit,” said Tim Walsh. Par-ent, Adrienne Brocklebank, agreed; “I thought it was a great event and es-pecially enjoyed cheering on my chil-dren’s team in the tug of war.” All the children loved Sports Day and can’t wait for it to come around next year. The points and Sports Day tro-phy will be awarded at Friday’s spe-cial Sports Assembly.

P4-P8 Sports Day

Scenes from the Early Years and MP1

Sports Days

Documents

April May Newsletter