AISM News Letter No 2/1/2008 Date : 2^nd May 2008

Principal’s Comment

Dear parents,

Welcome back to Term 2, another ten week term which will take us through to the mid year break at the end of June. Students have returned refreshed from their break and are now focused on their studies and the many enriching activities in the school program. During the holidays students in our ECA Dive group enjoyed a wonderful trip to Pangkor Island to put into practice their newly acquired skills and are looking forward to many other adventures in the future.

It has been a very active start to the term with a number of events and visitors such as Yang Sook Choi, a Korean author from New York who spoke to groups of students about the writing process. We also had inter school basketball, Anzac Day, Family Fun Day, UNSW Science competition and Year 12 Study retreat all in two shorts weeks.

ANZAC Day was commemorated last Friday 25^th April with a Dawn Service and an afternoon assembly. All Australian and New Zealand parents are invited each year to the Dawn Service hosted alternatively by the Australian and New Zealand High Commissions. This year it was hosted by the Australian High Commission and H.E. Ms. Penny Williams who spoke about recognizing the sacrifice of the Anzacs and other service men and women and the way in which this time of bonding has become a rare moment of reflection and national pride.

Our student leaders, school captains, sports captains and SRC, attended this very moving ceremony at Cheras Cemetery with their families. The Junior School Captains, Georgia Davis and Jack Catterall assisted the High Commissioners of Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain and The Ambassador of Turkey with the wreath laying on the memorial and the Senior School Captain, Edward Cheng, and Middle School Captain, Madeleine Howell, laid a wreath on behalf of the school. Most families went onto the traditional gunfire breakfast at the Australian High Commissioner’s residence before returning to school.

At the end of the day Year 2 -12 attended our annual Anzac Day assembly organized by Mr. Jon Suffolk. Our Senior and Middle School Captains explained the significance of Anzac Day and the school choir, trained by Ms. Lee and Ms. Magi, sang ‘Where have all the flowers gone’ and’ I vow to thee my country’. This year we had a very interesting and moving presentation by some of the participants of the school community excursion to Gallipoli. Our special guests, Major Matthew Wilson, from the Australian army, and Major William Keelan, from the New Zealand Army and who is also one of our parents, spoke on a personal level about the Anzac spirit, service men and women serving around the around the world today, the importance of family and mateship. These two

‘mates’ brought a very special quality to the assembly and the students enjoyed having an informal chat at the end.

The Parents Association annual Family Fun Day was once again a most enjoyable family event with lots of activities, stalls, sport, games, great food and good fun. Parent volunteers worked very hard beforehand and on the day to make this event a success. Staff and students assisted with or participated in the many sporting events and drama performance which was additional activity along with ‘sponge the teacher’.

Next week we have the Parents’ Association Mother’s Day stall and Middle School Assessment week followed in Week 4 by the Junior and Middle School camps and Senior School Half Yearly exam week.

Anne-Maree Armstrong

Principal

Assistant Principal’s Comment

It is always nice to hear from or about our ex-students. Recently the school heard from our School Captain of 2005, Joshua Soo. He is in his third year as a student in the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney. Joshua is part of the organising committee of Malaysia Festival 2008; an annual festival organised predominantly by Malaysia university students across New South Wales. It began in 1991 and will held at Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour in Sydney on 31 August of this year in conjunction with Merdeka Day. It is great to know that the mix of Malaysia and Australia that Joshua experienced at AISM is being carried on by him in Sydney.

I hope all who attended Family Fun Day on Sunday had a great time. I survived having wet sponges thrown at me by a variety of students. There seemed to be great interest in throwing sponges at the many members of staff who volunteered to be the “victims”. I enjoyed the parent’s cake stall as usual and will need to visit it less often if I wish to lose weight. I also enjoyed the senior students performing the Greek dramas which they wrote themselves. Thank you to the Parent Association for all the work that went into a very successful day. After two appearances Family Fun Day seems a definite part of the AISM calendar. It was a good way to commence our new term.

Wayne Wagner, Assistant Principal

WEBSITE UPDATES

This fortnight’s newsletter will be online this evening, weather permitting, in both .html and .pdf formats. www.aism.edu.my.

NEWS FROM SENIOR SCHOOL

Our inaugural progress reports have gone home and I have heard no feedback, so I am assuming that all is well with them and that no news is good news.  I have unfortunately had to remind people about bringing valuable items to school, due to thefts.  I would like to follow that up with a reminder to students who steal, that you will be caught.  Other students are sick of it and you can be sure that the information will get back to me eventually.  Our exam week for Years 9 – 11 is in two weeks time, so our senior students should start getting into effective study habits now.  This means revising class notes, keeping up with homework.  I recommend sticking formulae, quotes, History dates etc, around the bathroom mirror, on the ceiling over the bed – anywhere they will be seen regularly.  It also means eating fresh, healthy food, getting enough exercise and sleep.  Our Year 12s are off on our first Year 12 Study Retreat where we will be talking about study skills with our students.  The mission statement is; “We have come together to focus on our learning and strategise for success.”  We will be running the following workshops; Time management, exam techniques, learning styles, self assessment, transition to university, relaxation & meditation, journaling and goal setting for success, and building positive relationships.  We are all really excited about this new initiative and I’m sure the students will benefit enormously.

Emma Oliver, Head of Senior School

NEWS FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL

Even with a holiday yesterday, it has been a very busy start to the term. Last Friday we remembered the fallen in our ANZAC assembly. The student speakers and performers did a great job and I congratulate them all for sharing their thoughts and singing with such passion.

School camp notes should and information should all have been distributed and notes returned. All payment information went out with Term Two billing and a separate letter was sent out via email. There has been a poor response for the China trip so far for the Year 7 and 8 students and the places remaining, about 15, will be opened up to Year 5 and 6 on Monday.

I have received no feedback from the parent community about the Term One progress reports. I can only assume that, “no news is good news”, and that all were happy with this new initiative, which was a direct action from the survey results last year. The opportunity extended to those parents to discuss their child’s progress with the teachers, by and large, was not taken up in the Middle School.

Perhaps it is a good reminder to all that emailing the teachers directly, or emailing me directly, is a good way to open up that communication.

Peter Syme, Head of Middle School

NEWS FROM JUNIOR SCHOOL

Welcome back everyone to Term 2. Last Sunday we had our annual family fun day and it was fantastic to see so many families taking time out from their weekend to come together for a day of fun and community building. I would like to extend a big thank you to the parents involved in the organization of this event, and to those teachers and students who helped out on the day, a job very well done.

Notes have gone home about the Year 3 and 4 camps to Eagle Ranch in week 4 and I would ask that they be returned as soon as possible. Camps offer students a very important opportunity for them to extend their learning beyond the walls of the classroom and school environment. It is an expectation that all students attend camp as it is part of the AISM education program. The Year 2 sleep over is in the process of being finalized and notes about it will be sent home shortly.

It has been a little while since we had our own Junior School Assembly due to a variety of reasons, but these important

gatherings will resume again next week, Week 3, with 3 G performing their class item.

Mothers Day is fast approaching and members of the Parents Association have been busy preparing some very exciting presents for students to purchase for that very special lady in their lives – their mummy. The parents association has been sending home information about this event, please check their latest newsletter for more details or contact Mrs. Julie Howell.

Our first progress reports were sent home at the end of last term and as this is the first time we have completed these interim reports any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated. Please remember that these are not full reports, they are intended to offer a small update on your child’s progress. If it was indicated that the class teacher would like an interview please contact the teacher concerned directly to set up a mutually convenient time and date.

Again I would like to offer everyone a warm welcome back. I am sure that together we can continue to build upon the fantastic progress made in term 1 and strive to be the very best we can be.

Damian Baynes, Head of Junior School

SENIOR SCHOOL CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Welcome back to Term 2. This Friday and Saturday our Yr 12 students will be attending the first AISM Yr 12 Study Retreat. The venue is the Prince Hotel and we have been busy planning a very stimulating schedule. The Yr 12 students have reached the half-way point of their HSC year and are in the process of receiving back their mid-year exam results. This can be a difficult and to a certain extent, a confronting time, so we are looking forward to having the opportunity to come together and reflect on the year so far and plan the next steps towards ‘achieving success’.

The students will be required to be at the Prince Hotel by 9 am on Friday May 2^nd and will be dismissed from the Hotel on Saturday May 3^rd at 11.15 am. Please remember that transport is to be arranged by students and their family. If there are any last minute questions, please address them to myself on the email address below.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms Teresa Choong, Mrs Marilyn Grimes, Ms Emma Oliver, Mr Harman Harrison and Mr Rob Slider who have prepared sessions and assisted in the organisation of this special event.

In Week 4, May 12^th – 16^th the Yr 9, 10 and 11 students will have their Mid-year exams in all subjects. A letter has gone home in the last few days with an exam schedule. The exam schedule is also at the back of this newsletter. The letter details the school arrangements for each year level for the exam week. For Yr 9 & 10 the school day will be as normal and students will participate in ECA, however Yr 11 students need only be in attendance for an exam and they must return the cut-off reply at the bottom of the letter to their Home Room teacher. ECA is optional for Yr 11 students in the exam week; however Yr 11 students who travel on the school bus must let the front office know well in advance, of their bus arrangements.

On Thursday of Week 4, May 15^th we will have the Parent Information evening. The Senior School focus for the evening will be the presentation of information on the University Admission Index, commonly referred to in NSW as the UAI calculation. Please place the date in your Planner and come along. This in formation is very important to all parents in the Senior School and assists in making informed choices. The Parent Information evening will be held after the Yr 12 Parent Teacher interviews in the AISM Auditorium.

Fiona Sayner, Senior School Curriculum Coordinator

Library and Information Resource Centre News

Last Wednesday and Thursday Korean author and illustrator Yangsook Choi visited AISM. Ms Choi’s sessions included workshop with the Year 11 and 12 Art Students, a writing workshop with Year 8 and performances from Prep – Year12.

The students were very receptive to Yangsook talking about her life as a writer and illustrator. They particularly enjoyed her segment on sketching dinosaurs and mystical creatures. Unfortunately the parent session was not well attended.

Ms. Choi who now lives in New York was very impressed with our school and students.

This term we will be trialing Click View which is an excellent online video library. Click View has an extensive range of clips and movies directly relating to our curriculum.

Book Donations

Thank you to the Ho family for all the wonderful books. Jason Kam, 10G has also kindly donated a very informative book about Gallipoli.

Denise Miller, Librarian

Junior School Awards

In the Junior School congratulations are due to the following people for achieving a Positive Referral in the last two weeks. Well done!

Kinder: Akane, Alexander, Taiitsu, Alif, Man Aadesh, Nadim, Marcus Ho, Samad Al-Atabi, Marnix, Syamel, Navleen, Daniel, Julian, Washington, Taasia, Sydney Maynard, TrisSten Oh.

Year 1: Sebastian Fransisco, Adam Muhammad, Silindile Ngobane, Leo Langridge, Caitlin Tucker.

Year 3: Jason Kamps, Hazlam Sulaiman.

Debbie Fitch, Junior School Welfare Representative

Drama Report

28^th April 2008

The Drama students have been very busy during April, most notably the Year 9 and 10 Elective students who prepared performances for assessment and Family Fun Day. Following on from their Greek Theatre research project the class was divided into small performance groups and adapted a Greek myth or legend into a 10 minute performance piece. These pieces had to employ the essential elements of Greek Theatre such a chorus, mask and specific character status.

I would like to congratulate Year 10 students Nellie Breen, Paige Casey, Jason Kam, Kate McQuinn, Sharul Mohd Nasir, Mohd Razlan Yuysof and Rachel Khoo and Year 9 students Alexander Fitch, Emily Fraser, Cathleen Howell, Yu Kudo, Abisheck Michael, Alana Miller-Foote, Maddi Shaw, Maria Yanagisawa, and Jordan Miller for their excellent performances to the festive crowds at Family Fun Day and look forward to seeing these young performers on stage again at AISM.

Jon Suffolk, Drama Teacher

Author Yangsook Choi's Visit to AISM
Last week, on the 24th of April, Yangsook Choi, an author, came to A.I.S.M to speak to us about her books, her drawings, and her daily inspirations.
She informed us that she enjoys writing, reading and of course, drawing. She grew up in Korea, but now is in New York to publish her illustrations, and stories.  She sometimes goes for walks and when she sees something that inspires her, she takes out her special ideas book and draws or writes it down, so she remembers her idea. She writes in English most of the time so her brother will not steal her ideas.

She told us about her newest book called "The Name Jar". It was about a girl with a name that meant "bucket". She got teased when it rained or when there was a leak. So she had an idea for her peers to suggest alternative names for her, which were placed in a jar, "the name jar". Yangsook Choi showed us the process involved in creating, editing and publishing her story and illustrative ideas. "My favourite part was the reading," said Cassidy, referring to the time Yangsook Choi read part of her story to us.

Yangsook Choi presented a few pictures of her notes and illustration, with red circles, arrows and a lot of criticism from her editor. She showed us her desk and wow, was it a mess!
At the end she drew us a picture and we had to guess what it was. She started off with a line, then a dot and started to build on to it. At the end, it turned out to be an ice breathing fire dragon. "My favourite was the dragon drawing," said Celeste.
I think having Yangsook Choi come was a great experience and everyone had a great time. Yangsook Choi is a great writer, awesome illustrator, and someone who accepts criticism. She's one of the best authours too! We will be looking for The Name Jar and other books in our library.

Sarah Yap and Retu Ramamurthy, Year 5G Students

Anzac Day Assembly

Friday, 25^th April 2008

On Friday 25^th April the school commemorated Anzac Day with a special assembly. A large number of parents attended this most significant event in the school’s calendar as well as the teaching staff, administration staff and students from Years 2 to Year 12.

The assembly was hosted by Senior School Captains Edward Cheng and Mikhala Kang with the support of the Junior School Captains Madelaine Howell and Johan Arif who read “The Ode.” The School Choir sang “Where have all the flowers gone” and “I vow to thee my country”, and students from the Greece Turkey trip made a special presentation about their visit to Gallipoli. I would like to thank Ms Magi and Miss Ping for their work with the Choir and Mr. Grimes for his work in coordinating the student presentation on Gallipoli.

Special guest at the assembly were Major Matthew Wilson of the Australian Army and Major William Keelan of the New Zealand Army, both posted here in Malaysia. They gave interesting and moving insights into how they celebrate Anzac Day and its significance to them personally. Major Matthew Wilson commented on the assembly as follows: “That was really great yesterday, I wasn’t exaggerating when I said it was one the nicest things I have done on Anzac day to date.” 

Below are the speeches written and presented by the Senior School Captains at the Assembly and also a poem read by Timothy Read (9G) that he read as part of the Gallipoli presentation which he chose as an expression of how the visit to Gallipoli impacted on him.

Senior School Captain Edward Cheng’s Address to the Anzac Day Assembly

“Why do we commemorate Anzac Day”

“As the moon waned, the boats were swung out. The Australians received their last instructions, and these men, who only six months ago were living peaceful, civilian lives, began to disembark on a strange, unknown shore, and in a strange land to attack an enemy of a different race”.

Those were Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett’s words, a war correspondent for the Daily Telegraph: he was on a warship with 500 ANZAC troops who were part of the first landing at ANZAC Cove (Gallipoli), 25^th April 1915, exactly 93 years ago.

Welcome everyone. Our assembly together this morning is to commemorate ANZAC Day.

For those of you who are not aware, ‘ANZAC’ is the abbreviation for the ‘Australian and New Zealand Army Corps’, combined Australian and New Zealand troops that went into World War I. The term has since become a collective name for all Australian and New Zealand troops who have served in wars and conflicts that followed.

This morning -- let’s all ask ourselves the question: “What makes the 25^th of April so important?”

To answer your question I would like to present to you all an account of the battle at Gallipoli I have found written by an ANZAC.

Upturned boats, gear of all description, and dead men littering the beach - the noise - one continuous roar of rifle and shellfire mingled with the cries of the wounded and dying.

That was what it was like to be there. And it is very sad that so many young lives, like most of us here in this assembly, were cut short and dreams left unfulfilled.

That was one of the two reasons ANZAC Day is so important.

Today we remember the horror and the carnage of war. All wars!

The second reason is best explained with an example: the legend of Simpson and his donkey.

John Simpson Kirkpatrick, an ANZAC at Gallipoli tirelessly rescued his fellow ANZACs on his donkey, bravely walking through shellfire to take them to safety. In total he had rescued about 300 lives.

Australians remember his courage and compassion, rather than skills with a weapon.

Today we remember the spirit of ANZAC troops, living or dead, who served in World War I, and other wars that followed including the Vietnam War, Gulf War and the recent Iraq Conflict.

So essentially, we are here to remember the tragic nature of war and honour the ANZAC spirit – not to mark any military victory or the defeat of some enemy, but to remember those qualities of courage, compassion, endurance, mateship, and self-sacrifice.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning: we will remember them – the truly honourable men and women who for our tomorrow gave their today.

And that is the significance of ANZAC Day, Thank you.

Senior School Captain Mikhala Kang’s Anzac Day Assembly

‘THE Role of Women in War”

Ladies and gentlemen! Today I am standing here to talk to you because I am a woman; I would like to tell you this afternoon about the role of women in the First World War.

During the First World War, women did a lot of honourable things for Australians in the war. They tried to encourage men’s strength and confidence. Their brave sacrifice made a huge contribution to the war effort. They fought as men did by supporting the troops overseas.

Women joined together in many organizations such as the Red Cross, the Australian Army Nursing Service, the Australian Women National League, Australian women service corps, the Women peace Army and many others: helping with nursing, cooking, knitting huge quantities of socks for troops, stretcher bearers, motor car drivers, interpreters, and munitions workers …many war-related activities. Women also pushed men in Australia to join the army and defend their country.

No one pushed the women to go there. No one asked them to get involved. It was work that was entirely voluntary and this is what made it an honorable job – the women who volunteered to help their country in times of conflict. The government did not allow women to participate in the war at the time.

These women who volunteered themselves for the benefit of their country…are people who should always be remembered alongside the ANZACS, I am very sure that most of the girls in this auditorium, they will agree with me. These women have the value for glory, honor and respect. Today is ANZAC day, may we remember and remind ourselves about the role of women on this significant day. Thank you very much.

Timothy Read’s Reading at the Anzac Day Assembly

Today I am going to read you an exert from the poem, for the fallen by Laurence Binyon. This exert reflects my feeling I felt at Anzac Cove.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres, there is music in the midst of desolation and a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle; they were young, straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; they fell with their faces to the foe.

Jon Suffolk, Performances and Events Coordinator

Sports Report

Sport Report

A lot of sport is happening this term and is listed below.

Senior Basketball v Mont Kiara

Our senior basketball team competed recently against Mont Kiara in a friendly exchange at Mont Kiara. It was great to see our students finally participate in a competitive game and do so well. Congratulations to all students involved and to Mr Unsworth for coaching and managing the team.

Swim Meet at Alice Smith - Week 3 Wed 7^th May

Senior Basketball v ISKL - Week 4 Wed 14^thMay

House Meetings - Week 5 Fri 23^rd May

Middle/Senior School Swim Carnival - Week 7 Fri 6^th June

Biathlon at Japanese School - Week 7 Sat 7^th June

Junior Athletics Carnival - Week 9 Fri 9^th June

ISAKL Athletic Director/Sport Coordinators Meeting

I will be attending the annual ISAKL sport coordinators meeting on Friday 9^th May to start planning for semester 2, 2008 and for semester 1 in 2009. This is a great opportunity to meet representatives from the other schools and to start scheduling matches. I will report back through this newsletter on the outcome of the meeting, as soon as possible.

Family Fun Day Sports Fest!!

A big thank you to all the parents, students and staff who took part, officiated or supported all the sporting events on our Annual Family Fun Day last weekend. It was great to see so many activities taking place. A big thank you to parent Carol Fraser for coordinating the sporting events and to teachers, Mr Middleton, Mr Thorpe, Ms Petzer and Mr Unsworth for organizing the teacher teams so well. They are already talking about pre fun day training and selection trials for the teacher teams next year!! Go Teachers!!

Senior Swimming Carnival

Theme: ‘Beijing Olympics at AISM’

Preparation is well under way for this year’s Senior Swimming Carnival which will take place in week 7. Students should commence their training for this event now, aiming to swim 2 or 3 times a week to build up their speed and stamina.

This event is another opportunity for House Captains to ‘rev up’ their House Members and focus on maximizing participation and house points. With the theme being the ‘Beijing Olympics’, students will also be able to sign up for events such as ‘Bird’s Nest Relay’, ‘Olympic Sail Boarding’ and ‘The Ice Cube Race’. More information to come on the program and these novelty events.

Remember, the more participants, the more points your house will gain.

Biathlon Championships at Japanese School KL

A further reminder that JSKL will host a biathlon this year on Saturday 7^th June. Students and parents are able to sign up for either the solo or teams event. Please collect an entry form from Mr Agg, which must be returned to him by Thursday 15^th May.

Race Categories are:

Category A(Solo/Parent and Child relay)

Elementary School Grade 1 & 2 (Boys & Girls)

Distance: 50m Swim + 500m Run

* (Arm Floats & Parent/Guardian Supervision permitted during the Swim event in this category)

Category B(Solo/Parent and Child relay)

Elementary School Grade 3 & 4 (Boys & Girls)

Distance: 100m Swim + 1km Run

Category C(Solo/Relay)

Elementary School Grade 5 & 6 (Boys & Girls)

Distance: 200m Swim + 1.5km Run

Category D(Solo/Relay)

Junior High School Grade 7 - 9 (Boys & Girls) + Adults

Distance: 400m Swim + 3km Run

Category E(Solo/Relay)

Senior High School Grade 10 - 12 (Boys & Girls) + Adults

Distance: 750m Swim + 5km Run

Gary Agg, PDHPE Teacher /Sports Coordinator

ECA Scuba Divers Trip to Tenggol Island

On the 5^th till the 8^th of April we went to Tenggol Island to complete part of our junior open water diver’s certificate. We had been doing Scuba as an ECA for all of first term on Wednesday afternoons. All of our sessions at school were theory because unfortunately every single Wednesday it rained and for safety reasons we could not go in the pool. We had one session on Sunday the weekend before we went off to Tenggol. The Scuba class went to the island in two groups of about 7 families. The first group went on the first weekend of the April holidays and the second group, the weekend after.

In order to get to Tenggol Island we had to drive up to Dungun town which is in Terengganu, where we stayed for a night and then caught a ferry over to Tenggol Island. On the first day there, we mucked around for a few hours then we went over to the dive shop and got all our scuba equipment and got ready to go on our first dive out at Turtle Point.

Our first dive out at Turtle Point was interesting. There were loads of clown fish (NEMO) and other sea life. After our first dive we had a feast at the resort restaurant. There was traditional Malay chicken curry and traditional beef curry and it was EXTREMELY delicious. After dinner we mucked around on the beach for a while and went to sleep excited about the next day; luckily we had air con in our rooms.

We did many other dives after that, we also went snorkeling a lot as well. On one of our dives we went down to a boat wreak and touched a depth of about 18m. This was a rather fun experience because there was this fish who decided to catch a ride on Aimen and myself. Besides a fish that had an appetite for our wet suits and fins we came close to about 20 black tip reef sharks. This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

Besides many other dives this pretty much wraps up our trip. We would like to give a ‘Very Big Thanks’ to Brian Knight and Zol, our instructor and organizer, and we hope to see them on another dive soon!

Also special recognition to the students who were involved in the Scuba Course, not all of whom got to go on the trip to

Tenggol Island:
Patrick Kortum, James O’Brian, Aiman Ahamad, Jordan Miller, Bianca Akhurst, Samuel Jones, Jack Daniel, Amelia Kortum, Victor Windt, Ayesha Hassan, Stacey Barret, Katherine Emery-Hall, Erman Abdul, Erwan Adbul, Cameron Gray, and Venessa Windt .

Written by,

Patrick Kortum & James O’Brian. Year 10 Students

UNIVERSITY OF NSW COMPETITION DATES FOR THE REMAINDER OF 2008

The remaining three competitions are in term 3. Please note for your diaries:

THURSDAY JULY 24^TH : MATHEMATICS

TUESDAY AUGUST 5^th : ENGLISH

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 2^nd : COMPUTING SKILLS.

Martin Peters, UNSW Coordinator

AISM Family Fun Day

Friendly Soccer Match

Staff VS Parent

5 - 2

The recent Family Fun Day saw another football match between the parents and teachers. While all previous encounters were draws, we saw a result for the first time, with the teachers taking this game by a couple of goals.

Once again, the game was played in good spirits with the emphasis on having a good time. Numbers were a bit lower than previous games, but thankfully there were a few of the senior students who chipped in and had a run, after the legs of some of us stopped wanting to run!

Everyone played well and there were some fantastic long range goals scored on the day, as well as some short range John Arne Riise style goals.

A big thanks to everyone who stayed behind to participate, the students for helping out and the many spectators who cheered both sides throughout the game.

Paul Dack, Middle School Teacher

The AISM Community Tour to Greece & Turkey ‘08

After leaving KLIA at 3.30 am on the morning of the 4^th of April, we happy band of adventurers and culture vultures all, arrived in Athens, via Doha.

To our amazement, our first meal was at a Chinese restaurant [!] opposite the ancient Temple of Zeus.

We then proceeded to the Acropolis – high city – and the Parthenon, THE site to see in modern and ancient Athens!

Greece proved to be a favourite part of the tour for many as we took in further ancient places of interest, including the site of the ancient Olympic Games at, yes, Olympia – where we ran on the original track!

Delphi, the temple compound of the ancient oracle, had to be seen to be believed – set high in the hills, with snow-covered mountains in the distance…not to mention ancient Mycenae, the theatre at Epidavarus and its amazing acoustics and medieval monastries set precariously on mountain rocks…!

The only ‘hick – up’ of the tour, occurred when crossing the Greek-Turkish border. Clearly, neither side was talking to the other and we were stranded – happily- in no man’s land for over an hour, waiting for a bus that could take us 300 meters through the check-point area.

Our first full day in Turkey was spent on the Gallipoli peninsula, visiting those sites sacred to Australians and New Zealanders, in particular – Anzac Beach; Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair.

Nothing can prepare one for such an experience, for a visit to the places that have long lived in the individual and collective consciousness of many of us.

The next day we continued on our fascinating journey through Turkey, visiting Troy – and just missing Brad Pit – finally reaching Istanbul, the medieval Constantinople – after visiting a carpet & leather making facility & taking part in a fashion parade; ancient sites… and standing in awe and wonderment inside Saint Sofia, the Bazantine cathedral of Wisdom; the Blue Mosque; shopping the Grand Bazaar; with at least one of our party partaking of a Turkish bath!

It was truly an adventure for all to remember!

John Grimes, Tour Leader

Photos courtesy of the Fraser family…

Student Environment Committee

Thank you to those people who supported the second hand book stall at the Family Fun day last Sunday, by way of donations and purchases. A total of RM650 was raised.

Thanks again!

"Preventing Local Concerns Becoming Global Issues!"

Angela Barnes, SEC Coordinator

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Don’t forget that school photos (Class, Individual & Special Interest groups) will be taken on the Tuesday and Wednesday of Week 9. Mark it in your diary!

PHOTOS round SCHOOL

If you have photos you’ve taken at community / across school events (e.g. Cross Country, Family Fun Day) that we can use in the Yearbook or website, please contact Lesley Lee . All photos used will be acknowledged.

AISM TERM 2 Calendar, 2008

5^th May – 9^th May	Mon to Fri	Middle School Assessment week
9^th May	Fri	Parent Association Meeting
12^th May –16^th May	Mon to Fri	Middle / Junior School Camps
12^th May –16^th May	Mon to Fri	Senior School Exams
12^th May	Mon	Class Parent Meeting
15^th May	Thu	Parent Information Evening
15^th May	Thu	Year 12 Parent Teacher Interviews

Next Newsletter is on Friday 16^th May