Theatre Upgrades: The Theatre is just receiving its Phase 2 (out of 3) upgrades in the next few weeks, including a new stage surface, new sound and lighting installations and acoustic tiles, Phase 3 will hopefully start in 2014 with new DMX (robotic), lighting being installed and changes to the proscenium and stage lighting and air conditioning. We have used the new TV live streaming equipment to great effect during the Young Performers’ concert already.

Scholarship awarded to Nicole Year 12: Oxford Royale Academy is an organisation that offers summer courses for international students from around the world in a variety of subjects. Last year they welcomed over 1500 learners from 93 countries to the historic city of Oxford to study and take advantage of the outstanding leisure and cultural opportunities that the location has to offer. Six scholarships were offered to international students and Yen Yi (known to us as Nicole) from year 12 applied for one on the 'broadening horizons' course. I am delighted to inform you that Yen Yi was one of the successful applicants awarded a scholarship. In the words of Oxford Royale Academy "the standard of shortlisted applicants was extremely high and the scholarships panel faced the unenviable task of choosing just six winners from over 500 initial applications'. It is a real credit to Yen Yi that she was selected and I am sure she will benefit enormously from this outstanding opportunity.

Nexus Triathlon: Well done to all the participants of the Nexus Triathlon on Saturday. We had over 260 athletes from around KL competing on a tough course in Precinct 15. Special mention goes to our Nexus learners who did very well in the event. In the U6 category we had: Felix Waller, Charlie Sweeney and Emma Odendaal, who came away with the silver trophy after finishing 2nd for her age group (see photo). We also had learners in the U15s both Owen Huish and Lewis Sweeney competed really well in the sweltering heat.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers that helped make the Nexus Triathlon such a success. The marshalls did a fantastic job and we have received many emails of congratulations on how well you all did. Thank you!

Music News: Young Performers' Concert: A BIG well done to all the learners who performed in the Young Performers' Concert. It was a great concert with some stunning performances and it provided a great opportunity for the younger musicians in the school to perform in front of a live audience, with some doing so for the very first time!

Oliver! the Musical on Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th June @ 7pm: Rehearsals are going ahead full steam, including this weekend, to ensure that we have the best show possible for you in June. Tickets will go on sale next week and the seats in the Theatre will be individually allocated for this show.

If you have any props to lend us from the list recently sent out, then that would be really helpful.

ARTS WEEK FESTIVAL: Dates for your diaries
Learners' works of Art and ‘caricatures’ placed around the school campus.
Busking musicians around the school throughout the week at lunchtimes and break times.
Mural Design Competition - Read the rules and entry requirements (TBC)

PE Notices: Swimming lessons are still taking place on Wednesday and Thursday mornings 7.45 - 8.25. Please can all learners support this.

Calling all Parents/Carers & Guardians:

Year 5 parents: Year 5 parents are invited to a talk about the forthcoming residential trip in September, on Monday 20th May at 8:30am in the new Library (upstairs).

Here they have set up an experiment where they are trying to find out where snails prefer to live. They have set up 4 different environments and have some snails in each tray. The learners thought that they would leave them overnight to see where the snails prefer to go. They think that if they all go to the same place that will tell them what kind of location snails might prefer to live in in ‘Our World.

The learners report:
“For this we have had to be enquiring – asking lots of questions about how to make the test fair and how we could actually find out an answer to our question ‘Where do snails prefer to live?’

We had to be scientists making sure that we record what we are trying to find out, how we might find this out and what we think might happen. Once we get our results we will compare what actually happened to what we thought would happen, and then discuss this with each other to work out what this investigation actually tells us.

Year 2 Trip to Science Centre: On Tuesday Year 2 had an exciting trip to the National Science Centre.  We started off with a workshop where we tested materials to find out if they conducted electricity.  We used water to bend a straw and we made rainbows using water and nail varnish.  After lunch we explored the centre and tried different scientific activities.
The children had a great time.

Emma : "I learned how to make a rainbow."
Kamil : "I learned about electricity."
Javier : "I learned new words."
Ryan : "I learned that conductors let the electricity pass through."
Aireen A'isyah : "I learned that insulators do not let electricity pass through."

 

Athletics events: On Saturday Nexus is hosting the KLISS track and field event. Our primary learners will be presenting a very strong team and hopefully they will enjoy the day. Meeting time for Saturday is 8am at Nexus. All learners should wear their PE kits and bring the school athletics vest. Please also bring a water bottle, sun cream and a hat, as the event will be on the Nexus field. Finishing time for the event will be 1-30pm. All parents are encouraged to attend and support our learners. Food and drink will be made available on the day. Hope to see you all there cheering our learners on!

On Tuesday 21st May 2013 it is the primary school athletics day. All learners have now signed up to the events they'd like to take part in on the day. PE kits MUST be worn with the suitable footwear for taking part. As usual, all parents are encouraged to attend. The Athletics day will start at 9am and finish by 12-20pm. As the event will be held on the field, all learners must bring a water bottle and a hat. Shade is provided in holding areas, but not the whole field. Hope to see you there for another great event in the Primary calendar!
Mr Harvey & Mr Andy

Swimming:  Morning swimming classes are continuing every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning between 7.45am and 8.20am. We ask that all learners continue to support this.

Private tuition for EAL learners (Part 2):

What should my child learn in private lessons?

Again, it depends on the individual child. The two major areas of focus for private help are: subject support and general English development. In subject support the child is helped with work that has to be done in subjects such as science, math or mainstream English. This can be a good use of private tuition time, provided that it is correctly taught, because it deals with a child's immediate needs. Tuition that focuses on developing the child's general English proficiency can be also useful but it will probably take quite a while before any benefits are noticed in the classroom.

Once again, the person in the best position to tell you what kind of tuition, if any, would be most beneficial for your child is his/her EAL teacher.

Who should be my child's private tutor?

In general it is desirable to have a teacher who has been trained in teaching a foreign language and, best of all of course, would be a teacher with training and experience in teaching English as a second/additional language; i.e. an EAL teacher!

However, if you mainly want your child to have some extra practice in English conversation, any native-speaker teacher could do a good job. Alternatively, if your child needs help in a specific subject, such as math or science, then a teacher of that subject would be a good choice. Another source of subject help could be an older student who has completed the same course and has the same first language as your child.

Whoever you choose, it is very useful if the private tutor can make contact with your child's EAL teacher in order to get a clear idea of how best to help.

Tuisyen peribadi untuk pelajar EAL (bahagian 2):

Apakah yang patut anak saya belajar dalam kelas peribadi?

Sekali lagi, hal ini bergantung kepada pelajar. Dua perkara utama yang ditumpukan untuk pertolongan peribadi adalah: sokongan mata pelajaran dan perkembangan umum Bahasa Inggeris. Dalam sokongan mata pelajaran, pelajar akan dapat bantuan dalam subjek seperti sains, matematik atau Bahasa Inggeris. Jika diajar dengan cara yang betul, ia dapat menangani keperluan segera pelajar. Tuisyen yang menumpukan perkembangan kemahiran Bahasa Inggeris pelajar juga amat berguna, namun memerlukan masa yang lebih panjang sebelum faedahnya akan diperasan dalam kelas.

Sekali lagi, orang yang berada dalam posisi terbaik untuk memaklumkan mengenai jenis-jenis tuisyen, untuk memberi manfaat kepada pelajar adalah guru EALnya.

Siapa harus menjadi guru tuisyen peribadi anak saya?

Secara umum, ibu bapa harus memilih seorang guru yang sudah dilatih untuk mengajar dan pandai mengajar bahasa asing. Guru itu harus mempunyai latihan dan pengalaman dalam mengajar Bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa tambahan, contohnya seorang guru EAL!

Walaubagaimanapun, ibu bapa yang mahu anak mereka membuat latihan yang lebih dalam perbualan Bahasa Inggeris, guru penutur asli yang mana-mana pun sudah memadai. Sebaliknya, jika pelajar memerlukan bantuan dalam subjek-subjek tertentu, seperti matematik atau sains, seorang guru pakar subjek tersebut adalah pilihan yang bagus. Sumber bantuan lain yang dapat membantu pelajar ialah pelajar 'senior' yang telah menjalani kursus dan mempunyai bahasa ibunda yang sama dengan pelajar.

Ia adalah sangat berguna jika guru tuisyen peribadi pelajar dapat berhubung dengan guru EAL untuk mendapat idea yang lebih jelas tentang cara terbaik untuk membantu pelajar mereka.

Last weekend the boarders spent Saturday morning working as marshals at the Nexus Triathlon. In the afternoon they had an enjoyable time at paintballing:

As the bus pulled up to the paintball ground I felt my heartbeat rising and adrenaline pumping. We went through the simple but effective tutorial of paintballing and then the teams were decided. We were up against a Year 10 team and then through deep discussion we decided what game mode we would be playing. We decided on center flag, which meant that a flag would be placed in the center of the map and then we would have to capture it.

As we looked at the map we made a quick plan that we would send a diversion flank on the left side and then a small crew of about 2 people up the right flank. This meant that out of almost 7 people only two were covering. During the intense battle I got shot painfully in the head and became really scared that I would get hit again.

The next round, Alex one of my teammates, made a plan that as soon as the game started we would run as close as we could to the flag. It turned out that it actually worked, we set up a cover spot close to the flag and then we sent a small team to just run and get the flag. As for the final round I was in, I hid behind a wooden board and then covered for the people who were attempting to take the flag. We lost the final round as the other team was much closer than we thought to the flag. After a busy day of paintball shooting we went back to boarding, tired but happy, with a stop off at Burger King for some refueling.

Amirul Ayman, Year 7



                                                         

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