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Message from the Principal Over the past weeks, many thoughts and conversations have been centred on the upcoming 2015 60th Anniversary of Uplands. Many of these conversations have taken place online between former pupils and staff on a range of social media platforms - and link Uplanders from the late 1950’s to present day. I recently had the privilege to meet Uplanders who attended the school in the 1960’s and are still living here in Penang and was given a fascinating first hand glimpse into life at the school on top of Penang Hill. The school is now forming a committee to plan, arrange and organise a series of celebratory events for the 60th Anniversary year under the banner “60 years of excellence, 1 year of celebrations”. The events will span the whole of 2015 and will include sporting, artistic, charity and social events. There will be a focussed week of activities around the school’s birthday, March 15th 2015, including an Alumni Dinner and Birthday Party for all children, staff, governors and alumni. A 60th Anniversary Book is also being commissioned to be part of our celebrations. We wish to connect with as many Uplanders; old and young, past and present; as possible during this year and are asking for all members of the Uplands community to spread the word of the upcoming celebrations. To help us connect to our alumni we are creating an official school alumni and are asking for all ex-Uplanders to connect with us via

[SIDEBAR TITLE] Contents Page No Message from The Principal 1 & 2 Secondary News 3 & 4 Retreat Week Year 11 4 Primary News 5 Chinese Story Telling 6 Trip to Taiping Zoo 6 Year 10 English Groups 7 Uplands Roar Sport 7 U15 Boys Basketball 8 Inter-House News 8 Year 10 & 11 News 8 Withdrawal Procedure 9 Uplands E-learning Access 9 UPTA Craft 10 School Calendar 11

Uplands School Weekly Newsletter

Term 1 Issue 7 - Friday 26th September 2014

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alumni@uplands.org so we can create a database to enable us to communicate with them directly to update them on the school and its news, and find out where the 1000’s of Uplanders are now and what they are doing. I am delighted to announce that this morning I received my first connection via Twitter from an Uplander that now lives in the UK! As we develop our 60th Anniversary Celebration plans we will share them with you via our newsletter, webpage, Facebook page and Twitter etc. It is going to be another exciting year in the history of the school! Your sincerely,

Matthew Bristow Principal @ispuplands

https://twitter.com/ispuplands

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Secondary News Today sees the end of Week 6 of the current academic year and it is hard to believe that it is actually the first full week of classes we have had in the last four weeks. I have just completed a proposed calendar for the Academic Year 2015-2016 and there has been a lot of discussion with Middle and Senior Management on ways we can avoid such disruptions. I look forward to publishing the calendar dates for next year very soon, as I know some families are already looking at booking their summer holidays. I was amazed last Wednesday at 5:45pm when I was chatting to a parent in the Refectory as she was watching her son complete his ECA. The Year 7 student had been up since 5:30am and had completed an early morning swim session which started at 6:30am in the School pool. Being a Wednesday, he then attended his usual nine periods of classes and followed that up with a double ECA of Basketball and then Football. I honestly don’t know where some kids get their energy from but I also strongly believe a good balance is required with all students. ECA’s are an important part of the curriculum here at Uplands, as we take a holistic approach in educating and nurturing our students to achieve their goals in life. Over the last two weeks I have completed some substantial reading about the importance of students participating in ECAs as part of their education. Many studies have shown that students greatly benefit from their experiences in such programmes, as they learn about important skills and values; for example: time management, team work, goal setting, commitment, work ethic and diversity. It is also very important that parents lead by example and encourage their family to also participate in such activities. Please click on the following three links for some more information in regards to the importance of ECA participation: Extracurricular School Activities and the Benefits The Importance of Extracurricular Activities and Teens Extracurriculars Matter - To You and To Colleges During this week we have had two very important university visits from New York University in Abu Dhabi and also the University of Colorado in Denver. Next Tuesday we host Drake University, based in Iowa, and they will be giving a presentation during lunchtime in B105. This weekend sees Uplands host the Anglo-Chinese International School from Singapore (ACS) for the third consecutive year. Our U15 boys and girls will compete against them, as well as other schools, in football, netball and tennis, Our U13 netball girls will also be involved. Best of luck to all of the students taking part and I am sure you will represent Uplands with great pride and passion.

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Finally, just a quick reminder that Secondary Progress Reports will be distributed on Friday 10th October and that we will be holding our first Parent-Teacher Conferences on Wednesday 15th October between 8:00 – 3:30pm. This is a very important opportunity for you to meet and also speak with your child’s teachers so please ensure you save this date in your diary. There will be more information about this in next week’s newsletter. Have a great weekend Craig Skinner Head of Secondary School craig.skinner@uplands.org http://blogs.uplands.org/hos/ Follow us on Twitter: @UplandsSecSch

Retreat Week - Year 11 in Langkawi This year’s residential trip to Langkawi was truly an amazing and unique experience. It had a vast mix of educational and leisure activities, enabling us to learn more about the Island but still keeping it fun and exciting. The members of the Jungle Walla team taught us a great deal about the different wildlife and forests all around Langkawi and they were very kind supervisors. My personal favourite activity was the Amazing Race which the supervisors had organised for us. It consisted of several smaller cultural activities such as: local traditional fishing, weaving, learning and understanding the history of farming in Langkawi and a short role play of a legend story set on the island. Another great experience was the mangrove tour which is very popular amongst tourists visiting Langkawi. It showed us a part of the different types of wildlife in Langkawi and how they adapt to their environment. Overall I have significantly enjoyed this trip and hope to go back very soon. Vanessa Gehrig 11i

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Primary News It has been another busy week for both students and teachers in Primary. Our first Sharing assembly for this academic year was hosted by Year 2 on Monday afternoon. Congratulations to all the children who contributed. I was impressed by the confidence they showed when speaking in front of a large audience. Well done! On Tuesday Kim Sir entertained Year 5 Mandarin students with his captivating story-telling and on Wednesday a group of 16 teachers from Kedah visited Primary classes to observe good teaching practice. On Wednesday evening parents with children in our Reception class were invited to school to learn about phonics and reading programmes. Year 6 students tried their hand at batik making on Thursday along with the parents who joined this trip. We look forward to seeing the completed products! As October approaches, the calendar continues to be filled with many events. Swimming: On Wednesday 1 October, there is a swim meet at Uplands between 3:30 – 5:30pm. On Friday afternoon, 3 October our swimmers will travel to KL to take part in a swim meet hosted by ISKL. Hari Raya Haji: On Monday, 6 October School will be closed in lieu of Hari Raya Haji which falls on Sunday, 5 October. An Introduction to the PYP: For those parents who are new to the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, an introductory information session will be presented by Ms Zeynep Dincer, our PYP Coordinator, on the evening of Wednesday, 8 October. This will begin at 7:00pm in the Primary Drama on the first floor – E101. The session will last approximately one hour and be followed by light refreshments. We hope that parents who are new to Uplands will join us to learn more about our Primary Programme. Primary Hallowe’en Party: This much enjoyed annual party will be celebrated on Thursday, 30 October on the campus between 5:30pm and 7:30pm. All Primary children and their parents are invited as we celebrate in style! More information to follow but please mark this date on your calendar! Ali Nicholson Head of Primary

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Chinese Story Telling When the story teller walked in, I was very excited. He then told us that he was going to tell us a story in Mandarin! I was shocked because I do not understand much Mandarin! He made it easy and interesting with his expressive actions and repetition of words. It was very fun and we all enjoyed it very much. – Izdya 5s

My Adventure to the Taiping Zoo by Elli Mason, Year 3i

I arrived at school very excited about our trip

to the zoo.

We all boarded the bus and started on our way.

Two hours later we arrived at the zoo.

We saw lots of

animals.

My favourite animal was the swimming tiger and the

scariest was the crocodile.

I enjoyed the trip very much.

It was awesome!!

Thank you Miss Sylvia and Miss Sharmila for this fantastic adventure.

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Year 10 English Groups Due to the unprecedented demand for places at Uplands, an extra Year 10 English class will be opened from Monday. This will mean that there are five, rather than four, sets in Year 10. Smaller groups will mean more individual attention for students, and will also ensure that any new students to the school can be placed in the correct ability group. In order to facilitate the change, some students will move from their current English group. I appreciate that some may feel that they are being moved to a lower ability group, and have therefore failed. This is not the case: the moves are for logistical purposes, and to ensure a better teacher: student ratio. Students will still be entered for the same two IGCSE courses - First Language and Literature - as in their previous group. I am sure that the students will settle quickly in their new groups, and continue to progress in English. James Allen Head of English Faculty Uplands Roar Sport This week has seen a range of teams in action; O15 Football (Boys & Girls) U15 Basketball (Boys & Girls) and U13 Netball. This has seen almost 70 of our students tasting competitive action. And the weekend is no less busy with our Uplands Invitationals taking place. This is our 2nd year of hosting these tournaments with this year U16/U14 Netball, U15 Boys Football and Tennis taking place. With ACS Singapore, and other schools from Penang taking part, it is a great chance for our students to taste some early season competition. Thanks in advance to all the coaches, student volunteers and the UPTA for their assistance in making this event possible. For more detail regarding our competitive sport programme please go to: www.uplandsroarsport.webs.com And/or follow us via twitter; @UplandsSport Dean Metcalf Head of PE Faculty

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U15 Boys Basketball The U15 Boys basketball team played a training/friendly match against Straits International School on Tuesday. The boys were fantastic ambassadors for the school helping the Straits students to learn how to shoot both set shots and lay-ups before playing a match. Having won the tip-off and scoring within a few seconds, the boys took it upon themselves to practice their skills whilst still offering Straits a challenging game by not piling on the points. Some great team work from the boys allowed them to try new defensive strategies as well as a few new set plays in attack. More pleasing however, was the spirit in which the game was played with both teams acknowldeging moments of invididual brilliance and showing great sportmanship throughout. The boys are now looking forward to their first competitive fixture of the season next Tuesday against POWIIS. Tip-off is at 5pm and the game will be finished at approximately 6pm. Students will need to make their own way home after this game. Inter-House news The inter-House competitions really took off this week as all year groups had the opportunity to be involved in sport. The Year 7 & 8 boys played out a fierce football competition in which saw all Houses win one match and lose the other. The winners on goal difference were Hill House, 2nd were Crag and in third place, school. In the Year 9 & 10 basketball, Crag stole the title after a narrow 1 point win against School in the final match which saw School House secure 2nd spot. Hill House came third. Next week, the Year 7 & 8 girls have a chance to show off their Netball skills whilst the Year 9 & 10 boys play football and the Year 11 - 13s play basketball. Good luck to everyone! Year 10 and 11 News This week students spent time during the PSHE lesson on Monday morning working through their new Academic Log Books. The Log Book is aimed at supporting the students in planning S.M.A.R.T. targets as well as helping to organise their time by outlining coursework deadline and other school events. Please encourage your child(ren) to go through their targets with you as the more support they receive, the more they will benefit from this process. I would like to congratulate Oliver M, Vanessa G, Jasmin, Isobel, Jens, Kengo, Oliver R, Mahon, Amandeep, Shinta, Jia Wen & Karen who have all been selected to represent Uplands at the Phuket Football tournament in November. Well done!

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Congratulations also go out to both Amandeep and Omar who came joint 3rd at last weekends Tennis Championships. A fantastic achievement of which you should both be very proud! Ian Driscoll Head of Year 10 & 11 + Secondary PE Withdrawal Procedure Admissions would like to remind families who may be relocating in the near future to take note of the School's withdrawal procedure for refunds. Prior notice, in writing, stating the date of leaving must be given to the Admissions Office via email admissions@uplands.org or completion of the online withdrawal notice form at http://www.uplands.org/UPLANDS/Withdrawal-Notice-Procedure. The form must be filled in according to the following dates for students not returning:

24th October 2014 for students not returning in January 2015 24th April 2015 for students not returning in August 2015 The School will send an acknowledgement once we receive the Notice of Withdrawal. If you do not hear from us within two days of your submission, please contact the Admissions Office at extension 106. Janie Chung Admissions Uplands E-learning Access Upland School e-learning Portal Access all subjects from one address Study any time, any where, with any devices Please bookmark this address on your home computer http://blogs.uplands.org/ and Scan this code into your smart phone

Robin Liao Head of ICT

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School Calendar Mid-term break – School is closed for half-term break between 19 – 26 October. Normal classes resume on Monday, 27 October. Upcoming Fixtures/Events Saturday 27th September - Uplands Invitationals (Football, Netball & Tennis) 8am to 2:30pm Tuesday 30th September - U15 Boys Basketball vs POWIIS Wednesday 1st October - Primary Swim Meet Wednesday 1st October - O15 'B' Boys Football @ Dalat (General College) Thursday 2nd October - O15 'A' Boys vs POWIIS Thursday 2nd October - O15 'B' Girls @ POWIIS Friday 3rd October - U11/U10 Football vs Dalat Saturday 4th October - ISKL Swim Meet4 Primary Events Primary Sharing Assembly – Monday, 27 October, hosted by Year 5 Primary Curriculum Evening – Wednesday, 5 November. Year 6 Langkawi Residential – 18 – 21 November Primary Christmas Concert – Wednesday, 17 December

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