International Food Fiesta

What a fantastic day we had on Saturday. I would like to thank everyone who came to support this charity event; teachers (for organising, and administering), students (for cooking and selling), parents and relatives (for cooking, driving, and encouragement) and everyone for buying the food and playing the games. I certainly had too much!

The response from everyone was superb and we sold more coupons than we did two years ago (and at this point I would like to apologise to those people who came later and had to wait for our additional coupons).

We are still collating the accounts, so I cannot give any definite figures but we have raised a good sum of money for charity. In a future newsletter I will give news about how much money was raised and where it has gone.

I would like to give my special thanks to the Performing Arts club for keeping us entertained. What a great display of musical and dance talents we experienced. Even one of our Japanese exchange students joined in and gave us a song in Japanese!

I am sure that these photographs say more about the day than I can.

  

     

 

 

 

 

 

Examinations

UPSR and PMR exams are fast approaching (not to mention school assessments), and the school has organised many seminars to help the students understand more about what is expected of them in these examinations. Please look at the section newsletters to see the details of what is being offered.

Here are some simple ideas to help with preparation for examinations. I will repeat this periodically over the next few weeks.

• Plan, plan, plan The key to revision is planning time properly. That means making a revision timetable and sticking to it. Cramming is not fun and never works. Plan for half-hour sessions or an hour at most. Any longer and it is likely that nothing more will sink in. Take a short break in between sessions.
• In the evenings after school, plan to revise one or two subjects only. Leave some time for relaxation.
• Plan to revise specific topics in each subject, not everything at once.
• Ensure that each session starts by tackling the most difficult bits.
• Plan to cover each subject several times and revisit each one near to the exams.
• Revising with the TV or radio on or with loud music is not a good idea. Having their favourite music in the background may help.
• Reading is not generally enough. Making brief notes in either words or pictures helps them to remember.
• Surf the net. The internet has many useful study aids to help you out during exam time. Google a topic for suggestions. Unfortunately remember that Facebook + Twitter + YouTube + Blogs = FAIL. If you are using the Internet for revision, you MUST be disciplined and keep to the revision topics. Leave the social networking to your leisure time
• Have all the books they need to hand so they don't have to go off looking for information.
• Working with a friend can be useful because it allows them to test each other and to talk about the work.
• Help: If things are really getting you down then speak to a parent or a teacher - don't feel embarrassed, they've gone through it before too you know!
• Parents:

- recognising how important these exams are and how much time your son/daughter will need if they are to do as well as they can;

- not asking them to do too many chores or look after younger brothers and sisters;

- encouraging the rest of the family to help by not disturbing revision;

- securing a quiet place for study, where their work can be safely kept;

- encouraging relaxation time (too much study is not helpful);

- praising hard work;

- emphasising the need for plenty of sleep;

- helping them to forget about each exam as it is finished;

- reminding them that it will soon be over!

The exam

• Prepare: Do you know what room the exam will be in? Have you packed your pencil case? Get these worries out of the way the day before - you don't want to be looking for your ruler in the morning. Leave plenty of time for the journey and don't forget to have breakfast.
• Make your mark: Look at which questions are worth the most marks and spend more time on those. Many people make the mistake of spending more time on the first question and neglecting the others. You could look through the whole paper first, see which questions carry the fat marks and do these first.
• Answer the question: A lot of people go wrong in exams because they somehow end up not answering the question that was asked of them. Underline the key words and check with yourself that you know what is being asked for.
• Check your paper: Proof reading your work could make the difference between a C and a B.

Peter Wells
Sri Garden Kuala Lumpur