Tunku Putra Celebrates Students’ International Exam Successes

Friday, 5 March 2010, Kuching – Having celebrated a 100% pass rate in PMR 2009 and a 96% pass rate in the UPSR 2009 national examinations, Tunku Putra School continued its streak of student success with the recent high achievements in four international exams.

In the Cambridge A-Level examinations of November 2009, Tunku Putra student Phoebe Yiin scored a grade A in Mathematics. In the Cambridge IGCSE exams, Shubhum Joshi scored 5 A* grades in Additional Mathematics, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics and one A for English Literature. Fellow student Michelle Ng scored five A* grades in Additional Mathematics, Mathematics, ICT, Business Studies and English Literature.

In the Cambridge Checkpoint exams for Year 9, Abigail Wong scored a perfect set of grade 6, the top mark, in English, Mathematics and Science, whilst Griselda Awanis, Chea Lee Onn, Cho Woorim and Kang Ji Yoon scored grade 6 in Mathematics. Meanwhile, students Ershad Rosli and Aden Yii scored As in English, Mathematics and Science in their Cambridge International Primary Year 6 Achievement Tests taken in November 2009.

According to Tunku Putra School International Secondary Coordinator, Ray Cooper, “The excellent achievements of our students in the international examinations reflect the high academic standards practised at Tunku Putra and the growing impetus towards making our school one of the best in Malaysia.”

Tunku Putra School, located in Kuching, offers National and International curricula for students at Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary school levels. With classes kept small, excellent teaching resources and facilities located at a 22-acre campus, Tunku Putra students are assured of quality attention as they gain a holistic education.

The School's student enrolment is now over 550-strong, made up of students from Malaysia, Korea, Australia, the USA, and Europe.

“This year has seen a 20 per cent increase in student numbers, demonstrating the high regard for the School’s reputation for excellent education. Many classes are now at their maximum capacity of 25 students. Keeping the classes at this number ensures that the quality of teaching and student learning is uncompromised”, added Ray Cooper.

Tunku Putra School Answers Call for Help

Friday, 12 February 2010, Kuching – Always willing to lend a hand to the needy in our community, Tunku Putra School put their fund-raising efforts into overdrive recently to help three needy causes in Kuching and overseas.

The School’s Red Crescent Society set up food stalls and organized a second-hand book sale to help raise funds for victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Families of TPS students were also quick to donate books and clothing to send to an orphanage in West Kalimantan.

Closer to home, the School recently organsied a fund-raising to assist the Meeting Needs charity which helps poor Chinese families with children who have disabilities.

According to Principal, Dr Suzanne Collins, “What helps to make Tunku Putra School unique in the wider community is the extent to which we are willing to help groups less fortunate than ourselves.”

Tunku Putra’s efforts to support the community were recently recognized by the Ministry for Social Development and Urbanisation at an appreciation event.
 

Tunku Putra scores 100% pass in PMR 2009

Thursday, 24 December 2009, Kuching – For the second successive year, Tunku Putra School has recorded a 100% pass rate in the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examinations. “These are wonderful results for the second successive year for our School which has just completed its second PMR programme”, said a proud School Principal, Dr Suzanne Collins, on the announcement of results today.

Four students scored straights As in the seven subjects taken at the recent PMR National school examinations.

Of particular significance was Tunku Putra’s performance in the English language paper where 100% of its students scored A in the subject.

Overall, approximately 60% of students scored A in Mathematics, Science and Geography.

The excellent results of PMR 2009 follow closely on the recent National Primary 6 UPSR examination results in which 95.5% of Tunku Putra students achieved 100% passes.

Tunku Putra Shines at UPSR 2009

Tuesday, 24 November 2009, Kuching -- Tunku Putra School joined in the delight of students and parents alike at the announcement of the recent Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) results last week in which the School garnered at 95.5% pass rate, putting it amongst the top 27 schools in Sarawak to attain a pass rate of above 90%. Over 50% of its Primary 6 student batch scored 5As or 4As+1B.

The success of the UPSR 2009 results follows closely on the heels of another school achievement. In August 2009, it was announced that Tunku Putra School is now rated as a ‘Cluster School’ by the Malaysian Ministry of Education. Introduced by the Government recently, ‘Cluster School’ concept recognizes schools that practise excellence in both management and student achievement, making such schools models of best practice for other schools to aspire to.

Tunku Putra Student Wins Spelling Wizard Challenge 2009

Wednesday, 21 October 2009, Kuching -- Tunku Putra School was proud to have one of its National Primary 6 students, Chris Chua, emerge as champion of the “Spelling Wizard Challenge 2009” competition held at Pustaka Negeri Sarawak on 17 October. Sixty students from 20 schools competed for the title.

In preparation for the competition, Chris spent his spare time studying difficult words from his dictionary. Chris made it through the preliminary rounds by correctly spelling three challenging words including boisterous, isolate and jargon.

In the final round of three students only, Chris clinched the title by spelling the difficult word “ventriloquist”.

When asked how he felt after winning the title, Chris commented, “I felt relieved and happy that I had made my school and my parents proud”.

Chris won for himself an attractive trophy and hamper, as well as a great honour for his school. The proud Tunku Putra School community will acknowledge Chris’ effort at an assembly this Friday.

Tunku Putra student awarded prestigious university science scholarship

Tuesday, 29 September 2009, Kuching -- Tunku Putra School is delighted to announce that one of its senior secondary students, Bong Yuet Ning, has been awarded a prestigious scholarship to undertake a Bachelor of Science degree at a top New Zealand university, the University of Canterbury.

On a recent visit to Kuching, University of Canterbury’s Head of the School of Biological Sciences, Professor Paula Jameson, was impressed by the calibre of Tunku Putra School’s secondary science programme and encouraged top students to apply for the scholarship.

With her excellent record of academic achievement, Bong Yuet Ning was pleased to be awarded the scholarship worth up to NZ$13,000 (equivalent o RM25,000) over four years of study.

According to David Hults, Deputy Principal and Head of International Secondary Programmes at Tunku Putra School, “Ultimately, our International Secondary programme has the fundamental aim of providing a pathway to university. Our staff and excellent facilities provide at us with overall success as proven by Ning’s academic achievement and scholarship”.

It is hoped that the scholarship will be awarded annually to a top Tunku Putra student who is interested in pursuing a degree and future career in science.

Tunku Putra School Parents ‘Labour of Love’ for Mothers’ Day

Friday, 8 May 2009, Kuching: Although it was a day to celebrate mothers, the close-knit community of Tunku Putra School received yet another “labour of love” from parents of students during its Mothers Day Special Assembly held today.

After the School’s kindergarten, primary and secondary students staged performances to show appreciation to their mothers, the students were delighted to see their mothers’ return the favour on-stage with several surprisingly skilful and entertaining song and dance performances of their own!

Over 500 teachers, parents and students attended the TPS Mothers’ Day Assembly to see 30 mothers of varying nationalities perform graceful costumed dance performances (traditional Malay dance and Korean folk dance), and Soprano singing.

The parents’ performances were organised by the TPS Parents Support Group (PSG). It was yet another demonstration of the strong bond of the Tunku Putra School community.

All year round, the School enjoys strong moral and financial support from parents of its 525 pupils. Whether for charity fund-raising, student extra-curricular activities or involvement in a major school event, Tunku Putra School can certainly count on the support of its Parents Support Group.

Tunku Putra School Food Drive for Perkata

Monday, 4 May 2009, Kuching: The students of Tunku Putra School showed their love for less fortunate children with a special in-school competition to collect food items for PERKATA (Sarawak Welfare Association for Intellectually Disabled Children).

All of the 2,850 canned and non perishable food items were handed over last week at their Petra Jaya campus to PERKATA Chairwoman Nancy Ho.

“This Food Drive was a small effort from Tunku Putra School to support the education and welfare of children at PERKATA. Our entire community of staff, students and families were happy to take part,” said Dr. Suzanne Collins, Tunku Putra Principal.

The classes that made the biggest contributions were International Primary 5, which donated 285 food items and Kindy 2, which collected 245 food items plus RM120.

The items were resold to raise money for PERKATA’s Annual Fundraiser on 3 May 2009 at Jalan Ong Tiang Swee. According to Perkata, Tunku Putra School’s contribution raised RM3,788.

Tunku Putra School is located on a purpose-built 22 acre campus in Petra Jaya, Kuching. It is a renowned leader in the provision of holistic education for international and national-stream classes in Kindergarten, primary and secondary levels.

For more information on Tunku Putra School please call 082-313900, and for more information about PERKATA please call 082-426 301.

Tunku Putra School Swimming Carnival 2009

Friday, 13 March 2009, Kuching – Tunku Putra School’s Swimming Carnival 2009, one of the school’s biggest annual sporting events, was held with great success at Kuching Golf Sarawak club to the enjoyment of the staff and students.

The Swimming Carnival 2009 was also an opportunity for students to display their personal development under Tunku Putra’s “Learn to Swim” programme, which ensures every child is equipped with all-important swimming skills.

A spokesperson said that Tunku Putra School’s philosophy of holistic education provides for a number of supplementary programmes in athletic, musical, cultural awareness and artistic development, to support the School’s strong track record of academic success.

It was with great fanfare that the teams – named after the rivers Santubong, Sadong, Salak, and Sibu - kick-started the friendly underwater competition, consisting of events in breaststroke, free style and relay events held according to age group.

The participants were students from Primary One up to Upper Secondary levels. Santubong House emerged the overall victors.

Thanks to a rapidly growing reputation for being excellent providers of education, Tunku Putra School has doubled its enrolment from 250 students at the beginning of 2007 to 525 students at the start of 2009.

Located at Petra Jaya, Kuching on a 22-acre campus, Tunku Putra School caters for kindergarten, primary and secondary classes under international and national curriculums. For more information on the School, parents may call 082 313 900.

Keeping Children Safe on the Road SALCO sponsors Tunku Putra School’s “BUCKLE UP” campaign Thursday, 12 February 2009, Kuching -- It is a fact – wearing seatbelts saves lives. This is why SALCO is supporting the “Buckle Up” community campaign for Tunku Putra School.

SALCO’s efforts to raise awareness of the importance of wearing rear seatbelts began in mid-2008. 

SALCO’s support was welcomed by Tunku Putra students and teachers who since May 2008 have been energetically reminding its small community to “Buckle Up”, to drive carefully and to cross roads with caution at all times.

SALCO is happy to assist this community campaign which can help save young lives and educate children about safety. “Feedback tells us the campaign is effective and that word has spread about how important it is to use seatbelts”, said Greg Rashford SALCO’s Acting Chief Executive Officer.

Retractable seatbelt sets have been installed in two school buses used by Tunku Putra to ferry its students from school to external locations. The seatbelts are easy to use and prevent children from slipping out of their bus seats.

The benefit of wearing seatbelts on the school bus extends to building the good habit to ‘buckle up’ when traveling in any vehicle. In the longer term, it is hoped that all Sarawak buses will have seatbelts as a standard requirement.

The reminder to “Buckle Up” is also carried in colourful, larger-than-life posters and signboards made of recyclable material standing on the school grounds.

As an added bonus, SALCO has brought the “Buckle Up” message to the public. The rear ends of Tunku Putra school buses sport a shiny weather-proof sticker as a reminder to everyone to stay safe!

Tunku Putra School, located in Kuching, Sarawak, has approximately 525 students.

Tunku Putra Scores 100 Percent Pass In PMR

Tuesday, 30 December 2008, Kuching: It was a very happy scene this morning for Tunku Putra School's first batch of students who sat for the recent Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examinations when it was announced that the School had scored 100 percent pass.

One student scored As in all 8 subjects taken, while many others scored As in Bahasa Malaysia, Science, English and Mathematics. Approximately 70% of candidates scored A in English.

"The excellent result of our very first batch of students who sat for the PMR national examination is testament of the quality of education at our School. The fact that our students excel in both the national and international examinations as well as do well in other non-academic areas proves that Tunku Putra's philosophy of providing a holistic education works", said Tunku Putra School Principal, Dr Suzanne Collins.


The School, located in Kuching's Petra Jaya, provides kindergarten, primary and secondary-level classes for the national and international streams.

The secondary national curriculum was introduced in 2006 to enable more of its students to continue their education at the School after completing the national primary school syllabus.

With classes kept small, excellent teaching resources and facilities at a 22-acre campus, Tunku Putra students are assured of quality attention as they gain a holistic education. The School's student enrolment is now 500-strong, made up of students from Malaysia, Korea, Australia, USA, and Europe.

Some class rolls are now full and the few remaining places in the National Primary and Secondary are filling up quickly. Interested parents should contact the School at 082 313 900 immediately to ensure a place for their child or to get more details on Tunku Putra School.

Tunku Putra School recently held a special Hari Raya Assembly filled with song, dance, and presentations by students of all age groups at its 22-acre campus in Petra Jaya, Kuching. Lessons Of Cultural Appreciation Kuching: Multi-cultural, multi-national Tunku Putra School makes inventive learning lessons out of every major cultural celebration in Sarawak , such as Hari Raya Aidilfitri. To Tunku Putra School , cultural celebrations are special opportunities to foster friendship between people of different faiths, races and nationalities as well as occasions to strengthen ties to community and heritage. Tunku Putra School recently held its annual Hari Raya Assembly for 500 students, 70 staff and 200 parents filled with traditional song, dance, and instrumental presentations masterminded by staff and students at its 22-acre campus in Petra Jaya, Kuching. “The celebration of Hari Raya Aidilfitri is more than a festive occasion - it gives educators a unique and fun way to cultivate appreciation and understanding of others' ways of life and values. Children most enjoy culture exposure from active and creative expressions of drama, music and art,” said Dr. Suzanne Collins, School Principal. “It is also a wonderful experience for expatriates to sample the occasion in true Malaysian style with all its hospitality, warmth and colour that stands out no matter where you are in the world,” added Dr. Collins. Tunku Putra School 's “expatriate student” population is approximately 25% of the School's 500 students. And as learning is reinforced in the home, TPS also involved parents in the decorations and food preparation for the “Open House” style buffet lunch held afterwards. Tunku Putra School makes it a point to commemorate every major cultural holiday by integrating academic and creative lessons for the entire school, regardless of race or religion. As well as children of international origin from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Indonesia, Brunei, Korea, China, India, USA, Canada, and Europe, the School comprises different religious and racial groups of Dayak, Chinese and Malay descent. Student Contributions To “Love In A Box” 20 October 2008, Kuching: Tunku Putra School engaged its entire community of staff, students and parents to gather 56 super-sized gifts for rural children in the annual “Love in a Box” gift campaign by SEDC this year. The School’s collections returned double or triple quantities of each child’s desired wish for a school uniform, a school bag, a stationery set, an item of clothing or a toy. In addition, all 475 students were involved, as each class had volunteered to “sponsor” several children of their own age, said Dr Sue Collins, Principal. “Tunku Putra School students made a great effort to make the recipients feel special, not only in upsizing the gift donation but also in making the presentation as personal and as nice as possible by designing their own gift paper, cards and messages. The gifts were really sent with love,” said Rebecca Risby-Jones, Community Relations Representative. “The response from our small community was wonderful. Children who had requested a school uniform or school bag each got two or three sets plus stationery, and to each baby’s request for clothing we added extra items of bottles, wipes, pillow sets, stuffed toys and diapers,” she said. Weekly School assemblies were a focal point for Tunku Putra School to encourage its students and fire up their enthusiasm for community work and adding value to society. Located in Petra Jaya, Kuching TPS is a forerunner in the provision of holistic education including academic, sports and the arts from kindergarten up to primary and secondary-level classes for both national and international students. HAVING FUN WITH SERIOUS LEARNING: Ms Annie Chong, TPS National Primary One teacher receiving attention at the First Aid training session. All staff attended in groups and over several weekends to complete the two-day training. The goal was to ensure that every TPS employee is equipped with First Aid knowledge in 2008. Making Serious Learning Fun At Tunku Putra School 20 October 2008, Kuching: All 70 employees of Tunku Putra School (TPS) recently underwent a First Aid course, in support of the Malaysian Red Crescent Society’s (MRCS) aim to have “A First Aider in Every Home.” Child safety in the home, school and community is a top priority for all TPS employees, who were rewarded with certificates after successfully completing the MRCS’ one-day Basic First Aid course. “It is vital that all our staff are trained in basic first aid. No matter how safe a school campus is, accidents can occur and all teachers must be trained to deal with them,” said TPS Principal Dr. Suzanne Collins. “We are also very glad to have added 70 more people to the community who can potentially help to save lives. We want to extend our sincere gratitude to the Malaysian Red Crescent Society for providing such a valuable course at minimum cost towards building safer communities,” she said. Teacher feedback showed the First Aid course to be of excellent value and a fun way of learning. “The First Aid course taught us valuable skills that, hopefully, we will never need to use, but which those of us who work with children know we need to have,” said David Hults, Deputy Principal. Participants learned how to help victims of burns, heart attacks, poisoning, broken limbs, and general injuries, as well as the Emergency Response Procedure (ERP), Cardio Pulmonary Response (CPR), and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Tunku Putra School regularly engages its 70 staff in professional development courses. Located in Petra Jaya, Kuching, TPS provides kindergarten, primary and secondary-level classes for the national and international streams. Tunku Putra School students are assured of quality attention as they gain a holistic education.   Tunku Putra Does Cultural Exchange With Japanese Students 5 September 2008, Kuching: Tunku Putra School today hosted an enriching exchange with 26 Japanese university students eager to engage in a “Culture Swap” with a school in Sarawak while in Kuching to do community work for Habitat for Humanity. For most of the Japanese youth – students of International Relations, Law and Political Science at Ritsumeikan University, in Kyoto, Japan – the visit to Kuching was a new experience. “We wanted to share Japanese dance, music, games, art, culture and lifestyles with the children and learn about the diverse ethnic groups and customs of Sarawak,” said a spokesperson for the Ritsumeikan University students. The Japanese students are in Kuching primarily to build homes for low-income families under international organisation, Habitat-for-Humanity. Angelina Tong, Habitat-for-Humanity’s Kuching Office Manager said that Habitat periodically hosts volunteers from schools and organisations from Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Europe. “For student volunteers, we organise short visits to local schools during rest days. On this occasion, we recommended Tunku Putra School as it has good facilities and an international student population to make the visit more interesting,” said Angelina. Tunku Putra School Principal Dr. Suzanne Collins said the cultural exchange added a valuable dimension of cultural sharing to the international student mix at Tunku Putra School. “As an international school, Tunku Putra places a premium on understanding, respect, and tolerance of cultural differences. Opportunities for our staff and students to engage in cultural exchanges are always valued. All students and staff benefit from being able to learn more about other cultures and from being able to share aspects of their own. As a school community, we applaud and support the efforts of Habitat for Humanity,” said Dr. Collins. The Japanese students arrived in Kuching at the end of August for a two-week stay. Eight days of their visit will be spent building a home for a low-income family at Kampung Senibong in Singai, Bau, with other Habitat-for-Humanity volunteers. Tunku Putra School, located in Kuching’s Petra Jaya, provides kindergarten, primary and secondary-level classes for the national and international streams. With classes kept small, excellent teaching resources and facilities at a 22 acre campus, Tunku Putra School students are assured of quality attention as they gain a holistic education. The School’s student enrolment is now 500-strong, made up of students from Malaysia, Korea, Australia, USA, and Europe. Santubong House - the champion team Tunku Putra School Athletics Carnival Tunku Putra School held its Athletics Carnival 2008 in July, bringing the best out of the School’s student athletes and upholding its holistic approach to education. Track races were held at the Sarawak Stadium on 11 July 2008, while field events - shot put, javelin, long jump and high jump - were held at Tunku Putra School’s Petra Jaya campus a week earlier. Ian Yeo, Physical Education Teacher and one of the organizing committee members, credited participating students and Tunku Putra staff for their “outstanding effort and dedication in producing such a wonderful and successful competition.” Strong performances by Santubong House or “Green House” resulted in their overall victory at the Athletics Carnival 2008. Part of Tunku Putra School’s holistic approach to education aims to increase student involvement in sports in order to build good health and shield students from unhealthy activities. Tunku Putra School has established football, netball, basketball, badminton and swimming teams. Apart from the annual athletics carnival, the School holds an annual swimming carnival and has begun taking part in inter-school tournaments for football in 2008 and netball, starting 2009. Tunku Putra has several noteworthy student stars including a tennis player ranked in the top five of Under-14 tennis players in Asia, State bowling representatives (Under-12 Division) and chess representatives for Kuching and Sarawak (Under 12 Division). Tunku Putra School Offers International Education close to home 24 August 2008, KUCHING: Parents who wish to explore options for international-standard Secondary education while keeping their children close to home are invited to Tunku Putra School’s Information Evening on Wednesday 27th August at 7pm at the AV Lecture Theatre at the Petra Jaya campus. David Hults, Deputy Principal and Coordinator of the International Secondary Program at Tunku Putra School, cautions parents about sending their secondary school-aged children overseas to study at too early an age. “There is no doubt that overseas education can broaden the mind and provide enhanced educational status. But the key question is at what age should that journey begin? Based on my experience, pre-university students are really too young and immature to cope with the adult responsibility of living overseas while still in secondary school,” he said. David’s view is based on five years experience in Perth, Western Australia, where he was responsible for 150 international high school students from various locations in the Asia-Pacific, including Kuching. He possesses 16 years of experience in international education within 35 years of experience as an educator. “Secondary school students should not have to travel overseas to receive a top education. Here in Kuching, students can have the best of both worlds – they opportunity that a quality international program can provide coupled with the attentive care of their own family,” he said. One of the most critical decisions parents will make for their children is the choice of schools and programmes. According to David Hults, “Parents all want to provide children with educational success. Simply put, good education will ‘open doors of opportunity’ to students.” Tunku Putra School’s gold-standard Cambridge International Curriculum is an integrated curriculum spanning both primary and secondary education in a nurturing school environment, which links to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education in Year 10 and 11 and to the Cambridge A Level programme. “Cambridge A Levels provide the student with a highly personalised study programme that provides wonderful opportunities with the widest entrance acceptance by universities around the world including Australian, New Zealand, American and British universities as well as Malaysian institutions”, he said. “TPS also accepts local Malaysians as well as expatriate and overseas students into our international program. The Ministry of Education will approve local students wanting to study in our International programme subject to meeting certain entry conditions”, Mr Hults advised. "True to Tunku Putra School’s belief that well-trained and experienced teachers are essential to good education, the School’s Cambridge programme faculty, which consists primarily of overseas trained and expatriate teachers, ensures student centred, modern and effective teaching practices within the international programme." Tunku Putra School’s educational philosophy embraces a holistic approach which focuses on the academic, physical, social, emotional and ethical development of each child according to his or her unique learning needs. For more information, contact 082-313900. Producing active, independent learners By Marilyn Ten (As published in TheSundayPost on Sunday, 17 August 2008) EDUCATION is the most important gift for a child. And while there are many ways to provide proper education, there is the question of motivating the child to learn. Dr Suzanne Collins believes to do this, it’s important to value a child’s academic, social, emotional and physical development. The principal of Tunku Putra School (TPS) at Petra Jaya here has implemented a ‘contemporary’ education system to produce active and independent learners — who are self-directed about learning — through integrated lessons that give students room to participate actively in the learning process at the school. This learned educator from New Zealand recently shared her thoughts with thesundaypost on educating students and why motivation plays a big role in encouraging a child to learn. Q: Can you tell us something about yourself? A: Well, I have over 35 years experience in education. I spent 25 years teaching in primary schools in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. These included 11 years working in special education with students with physical, intellectural, emotional and behavioural disabilities — both in mainstream classrooms and specialist educational facilities. This was followed by 10 years in teachers training and professional development at Christchurch College of Education, New Zealand’s largest teachers training institution. I worked three years in pre-service primary teachers training and seven years in the School of Professional Development with other teachers to upgrade qualifications for Bachelors and Masters degrees. I was also involved in the development and delivery of many distance learning courses for teachers during this time. My major academic qualifications include a PhD in education from University of Canterbury where I worked for five years with the internationally-acclaimed emeritus professor, the late Graham Nuthall, on his ground-breaking classroom-based research into how children learned and experienced in the classroom. Then, the opportunity to work in Kuching came up and I’ve been here for about two years now. Q: How is your transition from New Zealand to Sarawak? A: Since I’ve been here, we’ve grown from 250 students to nearly 500. If anything, managing this sort of exponential growth has really been challenging. For me, it was coming up here to a new education system, a different culture and managing students from three and a half years old to those studying for A levels. Q: Can you share with us your views on intelligence? A: The nature of intelligence is a contested field and there are many views on it. Of course, students who are very knowledgeable and highly perceptive are intelligent. But then, all people have intelligence. Education and intelligence have a close relationship but it’s simpler in the public arena to talk of developing children’s abilities. The role of schools is to develop students’ academic abilities along the lines of the established curricular and to achieve a school’s goals of developing good citizens with sound social and other skills. What I want is for children to come out here confident, articulate and able to manage and take responsibility for their own action. I don’t think there’s any education institute around where its mission is not to develop children into confident, self-motivated, and self-directed learners. But then, you look at how many authentic opportunities are given to develop their skills. They’re not going to fully develop by following to a prescribed curriculum where what they have to do is fill in the blank or copy information from a board to a box or from one page to another. The children would say that’s not learning … that’s copying. They know the difference. Teachers should let the children discuss what they’ve just learnt and give them the opportunity to share that. For instance, why not let them become an expert in a particular aspect and teach the others? Suddenly, the social dynamics in the classroom would change because for that one child who sits around in the corner … wow, look at what he knows about sharks … his self-esteem goes up and the other kids show him greater respect and they learn something. Q: Are there better ways to gauge a student’s intelligence? A: There are lots of ways to assess children. One is through IQ tests but these cannot predict a child’s performance. The only thing they can predict is the child’s performance in the IQ tests. They are not a good measure. When I was doing my Masters of Education, we had a look at how an intelligence test was constructed. It was quite scary because a lot of the older ones had such a cultural bias that if you entered the same culture or the same economic status as people who were developing the tests, then they would be testing you on all sorts of topics outside of your experience. So you have to be very careful about cultural bias. Some children will do very well if they share the same culture and same economic status of the people designing the tests. Q: Poor students can improve their grades by studying hard but what can be done to lazy but intelligent students capable of more but lack the drive? A: School and other academic achievements are a combination of abilities and efforts. Those who by their own efforts improve their grades can hardly be called poor students and will make very good employees and citizens. At TPS, we have a good number of very able students and we work with them to achieve high goals, thus motivating them to attain success. My principle is not everyone can be the best but we can all be the best we can be. Our job as educators of TPS is to do just that — help individual children be the best they can be. Then we will have achieved our goal. Q: How do you motivate an intelligent youngster to aim higher when he or she has no drive? Studies show those around 18 and nearly 20 lack drive, being at the crossroads of their life. A: It might be true with some children but there are many from 18 to 20 doing really well in their studies and when they come out to work, they do really well in their profession as well. But for those who lack motivation, it could be they simply lack maturity or have not yet found a profession that combines their interests with their abilities. In my experience, I think children are motivated when given tasks with elements that are relevant, interesting and challenging … and achievable with an element of choice and fun. I had interviewed hundreds of students for my doctoral research and it didn’t matter where they were from — New Zealand or Malaysia. If we’re going to motivate them to engage in a task, those are the elements they must see. First of all, they must see relevance. If it’s not relevant, they can’t use it. I’m thinking back to my own time when I was a 16-year-old doing geography in New Zealand and was given a map of America to locate all of the states. I spent months memorising all the states. Why? It wasn’t a test of my knowledge but of my memory. It was a test to see whether I was privileged to have my parents sit and take an interest in me night after night to ensure I knew where these states were. It had absolutely no relevance to me. As soon as I passed the exam, the information did not get committed to my long-term memory. It just went out the window. Fortunately, I was able to stand the stress of the exam and give them what they wanted but it was just useless information. That’s why I think people in charge of curriculum really have to think about what is relevant. And when it’s relevant in curriculum, it benefits the children. I’ve read in local newspapers a lot of students are de-motivated and they spend their weekends loitering. What initiatives are there to get these kids motivated? Are there good co-curricular activities at schools? What is there to get them motivated and involved in the community and not just hang around at the waterfront? Young people need good parental support — parents with the resources and time to take them to sports activities and libraries or wherever to keep them involved. Children with parents who take a real interest in their education are really lucky. And those children I mentioned earlier — they are de-motivated because they know no one’s taking an interest in them. Q: What do you think of an exam-based education? Are exams a good gauge of a person’s intelligence? A: I would agree there has to be some form of assessment and to be fair to the children, in all exams — whether internal or external — there has to be some form of moderation - that is to make sure all students are marked to the same standard, regardless of what schools they go to. Exams are only one important element of this inter-related process. In terms of gauging a person’s intelligence, school achievements are a combination of abilities — which you could call intelligence if you like — and efforts. The role of exams is not simply to gauge a person’s intelligence. It’s also to report the learning and achievements of the students to their parents, schools, communities and the government so that everyone is satisfied that good quality learning has taken place. That’s the main role of exams. For me, if we give children exams, they will have the opportunity to what find out whether they have understood and learnt what has been taught according to the curriculum or the question set. I think that’s where national exams can be a little ‘hit-and-miss’. If a child happened to be away on the day a particular aspect of the topic was being examined or if the teacher hadn’t covered that part of the curriculum, then the child would automatically be disadvantaged. But it’s not to say the child is any less intelligent. It’s just that on the day, the child wasn’t able to learn to answer that very specific question. That’s why I’ve real reservations about any system that relies entirely on one external exam. Maybe the child was not well at the time or something might have happened to upset the child and yet, the child was still subjected to the exam … so he or she was not able do well on that particular day. That’s why we would favour a much broader assessment. I’m really delighted the Malaysian system is moving into an assessment to be made by the school. That’s what we have in New Zealand for many years now — 40 percent internal exam and 60 percent external exam. That’s a much fairer way to gauge a person’s ability or what he or she knows at the time. Of course, this whole notion of intelligence is highly contested now. We used to think intelligence was something fixed at birth. I’ve worked with many children labelled ‘special needs’ or with special needs. It’s just that they couldn’t have the same opportunities as pre-schoolers in terms of access to good quality pre-school education. They might not have books at home, they might be from a really poor family who could not take them out to experience things. Q: What about progressive exams and assignments given regularly to test a student’s level of understanding of the subject. Is this a better gauge? A: Progressive exams and regular assignments are very good ways to gauge a child’s learning performance. They currently form an integral part of the learning process, especially in diagnostic teaching, to help teachers identify areas needing improvement. They can also play a part in the year’s final percentage mark or grade. But one problem with this approach being used on its own is that it does not guarantee common standards or moderation to ensure an A or B in one school is of the same value as those in other schools. Here at TPS, I defy any teacher to prove to me that they have taken a learner from point A to point B if they have not established where point A is for the learner. That’s why the focus is on finding out what the children know before you start teaching. And so often, research would tell us that something like 60 percent of what we plan for children to learn, they already know. There is no research to show that a teacher can teach 30 children anything simultaneously because all of the kids are coming in with different starting levels. I’ve said to these teachers, you can waste a whole lot of time teaching things that are irrelevant or that the children already know… and you lock them into a unit of six weeks of teaching. I think they can get de-motivated because they already know what the teacher is teaching. For example, young kids today, when they come home and you ask them what they learned in school and they’ll say ‘nothing’. That’s why teachers have to be very careful and once they know they’ve established the level of the learner, they can then take the learner up the next level. The other really important assessment is the on-going assessment. It’s too late at the end of the year — the kids have worked a long time to get to the end of the year and they get pre-exempted and they fail. What does that tell us? That the child is rebelling. But it’s too late to do anything because they’re pushed through to the next year. There has to be a much broader system to deal with such a situation. Q: Here, parents tend to send their children for tuition right after school. What are your thoughts on that? A: Our school day is a long day. For those who finish school during lunchtime, that might be different. However, for a lot of students, they have to wake up really early in the morning and to think these poor kids have to go from school to tuition and then are expected to do homework after that. If I had my way with primary schools, I would throw out homework. I won’t have any homework. If the kids have worked hard during the day, then let them have their own time to be children. Let them go out and kick a ball or learn a dance or just read a book. That takes a huge pressure off the children. What I see now is that the children are so tired and de-motivated. The other major concern I have for tuition — apart from the time it takes away from the children — is that unless the tuition teacher is teaching in accordance with the curriculum, all it does is confuse the student. Unless the tuition teacher knows what the curriculum is and where the children are currently, they can do so much harm. They can really undermine a child’s confidence or they can confuse them. Then the child would come to school and say “but my tuition teacher said to do it this way.” The child would go to an external exam and show the wrong method … they might have the right answer but they show the wrong working. As far as I’m concerned, I just feel really sorry for these kids who have to attend this type of tuition. Tunku Putra School’s “A Celebration of Learning 2008” It was a busy and productive day for Tunku Putra School on Saturday, 9 August 2008! Visitors from the school’s community of parents, teachers, students as well as the public flocked to Tunku Putra on Saturday morning to see the a showcase of the school’s finest in academic presentation, drama, art and music. Artistic Flair: The Tunku Putra School Art Exhibition was a glorious platform for budding student artists to shine. Paintings were put up for sale to raise funds for the school. The most expensive painting sold that day was RM600.     Fundraising Efforts: The Parents Support Group organised Tunku Putra School’s fundraising activities at “A Celebration of Learning 2008”. Seen here are parents lending support to the International Food Bazaar and jumble sale. Drama and Music: Secondary and Primary students from International and National programmes gave wonderful performances infusing local and international cultures to conclude “A Celebration of Learning 2008” with great fanfare! The pieces included choir renditions of contemporary music and African tribal songs, two pantomimes of Sarawakian and European legends, orchestra performances, a French mime act, and a traditional Melanau dance. HELPING AUTISTIC CHILDREN: Tunku Putra School fulfilled the 'Wish List' of Kuching Autistic Association with a donation of RM6,000 worth of classroom equipment, educational aids, books and furniture raised at Tunku Putra's "Celebration of Learning 2007". Dr Yao Sik Chi receives items from TPS Parents Support Group coordinator Jen Wilkes, while Mina Sayog, Head Teacher of KAA and Rebecca Risby-Jones, TPS Community Relations Representative, look on. Tunku Putra School: Helping Autistic Children Friday, 25 July 2008, Kuching: Tunku Putra School today visited the Kuching Autistic Association (KAA) to hand-over various educational items for autistic children valued at over RM6,000 on KAA's 'Wish List'. On hand to receive the items was KAA President Dr Yao Sik Chi, who thanked Tunku Putra School's teachers, parents and students for their interest in helping autistic children. "We are grateful to Tunku Putra School and especially its Parent Support Group for actively fundraising the money needed to buy the equipment and for helping us to create more awareness of autism," he said today at the KAA Educational and Vocational Training Centre at Jalan Bampfylde. "Tunku Putra School's donation, which was fundraised through its "Celebration of Learning 2007" Open Day event, has been a great source of help to the KAA in its efforts to help autistic children," he said. TPS Parents Support Group coordinator, Jen Wilkes, said the equipment included computer desks, books, furniture, special visual learning aids, and other classroom resources for autistic children. "Tunku Putra School and the Parent Support Group are glad to be able to do our little bit to help," she said. The Kuching Autistic Association, formed in 1998, provides education and training for 40 autistic children. Autism is a developmental disorder of the brain that may be indicated by hyperactivity, speech problems, and unusual response to touch. Autism affects 1 in every 500 newborns. For more information, go to www.saa.org.my or call 082-255759. Tunku Putra School offers both national and international-stream classes for primary and secondary students in addition to 3 years of kindergarten classes. Actively promoting a holistic approach to education, Tunku Putra's curriculum is supplemented by a range of co-curriculum activities including weekly swimming, drama, music, IT and physical education.

Earthquake relief campaign: The “Earthquake Victims of China” handover was held on 4 July 2008.

Friday, 4 July 2008, Kuching: Developing caring individuals amongst students at Tunku Putra School as important as developing their minds.

Recently, students and staff raised RM4,261 through two student-lead fundraising events which were part of a disaster relief campaign held for the earthquake victims of the province of Si Chuan, in China.

The amount was handed over to the Consulate of the People’s Republic of China (Kuching office) today during a School Assembly.

Students were moved to help after watching television reports of the destruction caused to the Si Chuan province on 12 May 2008.

“The fundraising events were largely driven and executed by the students, with just a little guidance from teachers and parents. The idea was to empower the students in organising projects and Doing Good for other communities,” said Kindergarten Coordinator Rebecca Risby-Jones.

She added that the fundraising events included sale-of-work of homemade baked goods and a “Casual Dress Fundraiser Day”, a thematic event based on the upcoming Olympic Games 2008, to be held in China.

Consul Liu Haibo extended his thanks on behalf of the Consulate to Tunku Putra School’s students, parents and faculty during the handover ceremony.

“Earthquakes and other natural disasters are merciless, but love has no boundaries. This charity donation organised by Tunku Putra School shows an outpouring of sympathy. This represents how East Malaysians have been expressing their love and friendship to the people of China,” he said.

“To the students, parents, faculty and EXCO of Tunku Putra, my heartfelt gratitude and respect goes to you for your generosity and kindness,” he said.

Currently, disaster relief efforts in Si Chuan have reached the stage where relief workers have begun relocating survivors of the earthquake to “safe zones” and started the long journey of rebuilding the community.

Dato’ Sri William Mawan (2nd right), TPS Principal Dr. Suzanne Collins(3rd right) and teachers toasting the upcoming Gawai holiday.

Tunku Putra School Promotes Culture in Education

Friday, 23 May 2008, KUCHING: Schools that regularly engage students in celebrating and learning about cultural festivals - such as the State’s upcoming Gawai festivities – promote cultural bonds and create “Messengers of Sarawak”.

Dato’ Sri William Mawan Ikom, Minister of Social Development and Urbanisation said this today at Tunku Putra School’s Hari Gawai Special Assembly held today, which received turnout of over 700 students, parents and teachers in attendance.

“I think creative cultural assemblies of the kind regularly undertaken by Tunku Putra School at Chinese New Year, Gawai and Hari Raya are wonderful. To engage students at this tender age promotes togetherness as well as helping them to relate to our customs and culture,” he said.

“At international schools, these assemblies become even more significant because they are experiences that will be with the students for a long, long time after they have left Sarawak - the students will become messengers of Sarawak for the world, “ he added.

“It creates a wonderful impression of what Sarawak is all about. I’m sure that seeing it, experiencing it, and participating in it through such assemblies will mold young people’s perceptions and value systems, having lived in a multicultural population such as Sarawak,” he said.

“Other schools should emulate these kinds of cultural assemblies like the kind done at Tunku Putra School, during Gawai time and any other festive occasion,” he concluded.

Tunku Putra School’s Gawai Special Assembly showcased staff and student performances (Kindergarten up to Senior School levels), celebrating folk dances, song and cultural presentations to honour the Iban, Bidayu and Orang Ulu indigenous groups.

Principal Dr Suzanne Collins said, “These cultural assemblies, which we hold year-round, are so much more than student performances but a way for us as educators to provide children with ways to appreciate and learn about other ways of life.”

She said such Assemblies –conceived, coordinated, created and presented by the students and staff – were rich learning experiences that promoted understanding of others and harmony.

Tunku Putra School offers both national and international stream classes, in addition to 3 years of kindergarten classes. National Primary and Secondary Stream students follow the National curriculum, which is supplemented by a range of co-curriculum and activities programmes including weekly swimming, drama, music, and physical education.

Tunku Putra School’s new purpose-built campus is located in Petra Jaya. The new campus offer clusters of classrooms, laboratories and recreational facilities of the highest international standard.

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Primary level students parading their traditional costumes to mark the upcoming Chinese New Year festivities.

Chinese New Year Festivities

Friday, 1 February 2008, Kuching: Tunku Putra School’s Chinese New Year Special Assembly held today received an overwhelming turnout with over 700 students, parents and teachers in attendance.

The Chinese New Year Special Assembly was held in English and Mandarin Chinese with 14 performances including folk dances, choirs, and cultural presentations performed by students from Kindergarten up to Senior School levels.

The Assembly’s outstanding turnout was due to a huge boost in enrolments at Tunku Putra School within the last 14 months pushing the student population up by 64 percent to 430 students.

Principal Dr Suzanne Collins said, “Our increased student body has only enhanced Tunku Putra School’s standing as a living example of cultural diversity in our multi-national student body. These cultural assemblies, which we hold year-round, are so much more than student performances but a way for us as educators to provide children with ways to appreciate and learn about other ways of life.”

She highlighted the fact that such Assemblies – which are conceived, coordinated, created and presented by the students and staff – were rich learning experiences that promoted learning, understanding of others and harmony.

Tunku Putra School offers both national and international stream classes, in addition to 3 years of kindergarten classes. National Primary and Secondary Stream students follow the National curriculum, which is supplemented by a range of co-curriculum and activities programmes including weekly swimming, drama, music, and physical education.

Tunku Putra School’s new purpose-built campus is located in Petra Jaya. Set on 22 acres, the new campus offer clusters of classrooms, laboratories and recreational facilities of the highest international standard.

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Tunku Putra Achieves 100% Pass For Fourth Successive Year

Friday, 16 November 2007, Kuching - The release of the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) results today marked an extra reason to celebrate for Tunku Putra School. For the fourth consecutive year, Tunku Putra achieved a 100% pass rate amongst its students who sat for UPSR exams in September.

In addition to the excellent results, Tunku Putra is proud of the high percentage of A passes gained by students in many subjects. 86% of students scored A in English, while 81% scored A in Bahasa Malaysia (Ujian Penulisan), and 71% scored A in Mathematics.

Principal, Dr Suzanne Collins, is not surprised by the result. “Our National Stream Coordinator, Eric Chung is an exemplary leader. With our highly trained and experienced teaching staff, our commitment to small class sizes, innovative, gold standard international curriculums, and international standard facilities, we do expect our students to achieve academic excellence”.

Tunku Putra School’s reputation as a top educational institution has resulted in the School enjoying unprecedented enrolment growth. In the past 12 months the total school numbers have increased 50%. There are now waiting lists for three National Stream Primary classes.

It is expected that Tunku Putra’s Kindergarten will also have waiting lists by January 2008.

There are still limited places available for students wishing to enroll in the International Primary and Secondary Streams and in the National Secondary Stream. Interested parents can contact the school (T: 313900) to arrange interviews and assessment tests for prospective students up until 22 December 2007.

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Tunku Putra School holds Kindy Graduation Ceremony

Tuesday, 13 November 2007, Kuching – Tunku Putra School today held a Graduation Ceremony for their Kindergarten children with a celebration of colour and medley of musical acts.

“The Graduation Ceremony is to mark the occasion of two classes of our Kindergarten 3 students who will now be taking their next big step into Primary 1 next year," said Tunku Putra School Principal Dr Sue Collins.

The Kindy 3 Graduation Ceremony was celebrated by Kindy 1, 2 and 3 classes who put on an entertaining student show. Musical acts performed included “Big Chief Red Feather” by Kindy 3, “The Timid Hare” by another Kindy 3 class, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by the young ones of Kindy 1, and a catchy dance by Kindy 2 entitled “Putting On The Ritz”.

A host of proud parents were in attendance to cheer on their children's performances.

Tunku Putra School recently relocated to its new purpose-built campus in Petra Jaya. The new campus, set on 22 acres of land, offer clusters of classrooms, laboratories and recreational facilities of the highest international standard.

Tunku Putra School offers both national and international stream classes from Primary up to A-levels, in addition to 3 years of kindergarten classes.

The National Curriculum is supplemented by a range of co-curriculum and activities programmes including weekly swimming, drama, music, and physical education.

International Stream kindergarten and primary students benefit from the interactive, innovative International Primary Curriculum, while senior International Stream students follow the Cambridge International Examination programme.

Enrolment is still open for 2008. For enquiries, contact Tunku Putra School at 082 313 900 (T).

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Tunku Putra Celebrates Learning

11 September 2007, Kuching: Tunku Putra School's inaugural “Celebration of Learning” Open Day last Saturday, 8th September saw an overwhelming turnout of close to 1,500 people at the School's new campus in Petra Jaya.

The event raised close to RM30,000 through food fair sales and raffle proceeds, part of which will be used to fulfil the Sarawak Autistic Society's request for new educational and training equipment.

Hundreds of parents came to see Tunku Putra School's “classes-in-action” and to observe how students and teachers interact in a real class-setting, visiting classes from Kindergarten to senior secondary.

“Our Celebration of Learning was a great success and we are proud to say that we will be delighted to be able to purchase the items from the Sarawak Autistic Society's Wish List, thanks to the teachers and parents whose hard work made this possible. We received a great deal of positive feedback on the quality of the teaching and the learning programmes, the facilities, and the strong sense of community spirit,” said Principal Dr. Sue Collins.

Tunku Putra School's Parent Support Group, led by Jennifer Wilkes, offered a great International Food Bazaar of Chinese, Malay, Indonesian and Korean fare; while there were plenty of games for children.

“Each year, we will hold a celebration that highlights a particular aspect of the learning that goes on here at Tunku Putra. Next year we are planning to hold a festival to celebrate the arts at the school, with a portion of the profits going to support education related causes in the community,” said Rebecca Risby-Jones, Kindergarten Coordinator.

Also featured were performances by the School's many and varied bands and a raffle with over RM10,000 worth of prizes including a Sony Vaio laptop, an Apple I-Pod, various restaurant vouchers, health and beauty discounts, return air tickets to Kuala Lumpur, and an all-inclusive weekend holiday at a local five-star resort.

Tunku Putra School offers curriculum for national and international streams from Kindergarten through to A-levels. The School relocated to a new purpose-built campus in Petra Jaya in March this year.

Tunku Putra is still offering RM500 discount off the first-term's tuition fee for new students starting in 2008. The offer ends October 15, 2007. For more information and enquiries, interested parents can call 082-313 900.

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Tunku Putra School celebrates National Day

Thursday, 30 August 2007, Kuching: Tunku Putra School students today commemorated the Nation’s 50th Merdeka Day celebration with a special National Day Assembly aimed to educate as well as instil national pride among children.

National Day holds special significance for Tunku Putra School which was named after Malaysia’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, who is also reknown for bringing Malaysia together under one flag.

At the Assembly, Tunku Putra students combined historical learning with patriotic singing of “Jalur Gemilang”, “Berjaya” and “Tanggal Tiga Puloh” as well as a Jalur Gemilang flag medley dance which emphasised Malaysia’s multi-racial harmony.

In other news, Tunku Putra School is extending a warm invitation to the public to attend its annual Family Fun Day, themed “A Celebration of Learning”, on Saturday 8 September 2007. The event will be held from 10am to 1pm at its campus in Petra Jaya.

Among activities planned that day will be the “classes in action”, enabling parents to see first-hand the quality of teaching and learning that takes place at Tunku Putra.

A range of fun family activities will happen later that morning, including RM10,000 worth of lucky dips and raffle prizes up for grabs, children’s games and activities, and an international food bazaar with Chinese, Malay, Indian, Korean and Indonesian fare.

Money raised at this year’s Family Day will go towards the purchase of new school equipment. A significant portion of proceeds will also be donated to the Sarawak Autistic Society, said Kindergarten Coordinator Rebecca Risby-Jones.

“We are firm believers of fostering a community-centred culture where Tunku Putra is able to give back to society. We are happy to be able to do that by holding events such as “A Celebration of Learning”, she said.

Interested parents wanting to enrol their children at Tunku Putra for next year may also pick up special promotional flyers entitling the bearer to a RM500 discount off their first terms’ tuition fees for new enrolments.

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Tunku Putra School's New Campus Official Opening

Kuching, Tuesday, 17 July 2007 – With the dotting of the eye of the hornbill on a specially produced art mural by the students, the new campus of Tunku Putra School at Petra Jaya, Kuching, was officially opened by the Chief Minister of Sarawak here today.

The new RM20 million purpose-built campus comprising 37 spacious fully air-conditioned classrooms, science laboratories, drama, dance and computer workshops, music specialist rooms, a multi-purpose hall and other sports facilities currently accommodates 350 students from 10 countries. The School, which began ten years ago offers kindergarten, primary and secondary curriculum in both the National and International-streams. A-Levels were introduced to the curriculum.

Some 500 guests and parents attended the official opening ceremony graced by the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, and Datuk Amar Hajjah Laila Taib.

In his speech, the Chief Minister of Sarawak urged the State and Federal Governments to do more to create opportunities for Sarawakian children to receive a more holistic education, similar to the philosophy adopted in Tunku Putra in which it was recognized that children learn best through what they are genuinely interested in. According to Pehin Sri Taib, “Interest will drive our future workforce, and we must cultivate this interest among our children as early as possible.”

Meanwhile, Tunku Putra School Principal, Dr Suzanne Collins explained that access to quality education was the key to unlocking a child’s potential. “The facilities at Tunku Putra set a new benchmark for teaching and learning excellence in the region.”

The new campus of Tunku Putra School was completed in March this year allowing the School to move from its former smaller campus at Jalan Nanas in Kuching. Development of the new campus was carried out by conglomerate Cahya Mata Sarawak as its biggest Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contribution to the society. According to CMS Deputy Group Managing Director and EXCO Member of the School, Tuan Syed Ahmad Alwee Alsree, “CMS’ investment in Tunku Putra is part of our Group’s effort and investment to do good for society as we believe that a business entity must not only do well in business but do good for the community.”

Tunku Putra School’s new campus is located on 22 acres in a woody suburb at Petra Jaya, Kuching. With an architectural design that is based on child safety, the campus houses clusters of single-storey classrooms, marking a new beginning in high-quality education that showcases Tunku Putra’s state-of-the-art amenities and curriculum. The design further enhances the building of social networking, demonstrating Tunku Putra's commitment towards building unity in Sarawak's multi-cultural community.

 

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Tunku Putra School: New A-Levels Programme

Friday, 22 June 2007: Continuing its tradition of being one of the State’s educational innovators, Tunku Putra School has been promoting its brand-new Cambridge A-Levels curriculum to both existing and prospective parents and students.

The A-Levels programme was implemented in June 2007 and is under the tender care of new Deputy Principal Mr. David Hults, who brings almost 35 years of experience in education with him from Australia.

Apart from being key to university entrance in the UK, the Cambridge A-Levels are also recognised for entrance to universities in Malaysia, around Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the European Union, Canada and USA.

“Tunku Putra now offers a seamless pathway to “international education” from kindergarten to pre-university level. Starting from existing Cambridge Primary to Secondary programmes, the new A-Levels curriculum will complete the pathway,” said Principal Dr. Suzanne Collins.

Tunku Putra School held an ‘A Levels Information Evening’ on Wednesday 28 March 2007 to introduce the two-year programme, which is facilitated by qualified, specialist subject teachers and offers Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Business Studies and Art & Design.

One interesting info-byte is that one of the current A-Level students is a mature student, returning to further her education. “We’re keen to be able to accommodate students with unique needs. That’s something which I believe is a hallmark of Tunku Putra – we don’t have a one-size-fits-all mentality,” according to Deputy Principal, Mr. David Hults.

“At the moment, our intake is still small so students are benefiting from virtually one-on-one instruction. Therefore, it would not be a problem to take in more students as late as July,” he added.

At the close of the 2006 school year, Tunku Putra School had an enrollment of 270 students. Now in June 2007, the student numbers stand at 350 which represents a 30% increase. The school is confidently expecting to start the 2008 school year with an enrollment of 400. This would amount to a 50% increase in twelve months – a remarkable result in itself.

Another benchmark of success is reflected in the 100% pass rate achieved by Tunku Putra School in the 2006 UPSR Examinations. This outstanding achievement within the National Primary section of the school was acknowledged officially on 21 June at the Perayaan Hari Guru Ceremony. It shows that within the Kuching division, TPS was one of only 19 schools out of more than 200 schools that achieved this perfect result.

On July 17, Tunku Putra School will hold the official opening of its newly-completed purpose-built campus in Petra Jaya. This significant milestone in the life of the school will be celebrated in the presence of our Chief Minister.

For more information on the School, please call +6 082 313 900.

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Tunku Putra School celebrates Gawai festivities

Friday, 25 May 2007, Kuching: Tunku Putra School celebrated Sarawak’s rich cultural diversity with over 450 students, parents and teachers today in conjunction with the upcoming Gawai festival.

Faculty and students from Tunku Putra honoured the State’s rich cultural diversity with performances and traditional costume shows from the Bidayuh, Iban and Orang Ulu ethnicities.

The student population, numbering 350, were also treated to a colourful musical performance with traditional instruments such as the sape by students as well as professional musicians from the Ministry of Social Development and Urbanisation.  

Principal Dr Sue Collins said “Gawai is such a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the cultural diversity we have here in school. Tunku Putra is an excellent place for both international and local children to be exposed to different ways of life.”

She highlighted the fact that although children could grow up surrounded by different communities, it was not necessarily the case that individuals would truly learn one another’s unique customs and ways of life.   

 “Our role as educators regarding the wealth of cultures here, is to have it, to celebrate it, learn from it and appreciate it,” she added. 

Tunku Putra School, comprised of National and International streams, is a living example of cultural diversity from across the globe with students from Malaysia, Australia, Korea, the United States and Europe among others.

TPS is currently conducting the mid-year intake for A-Levels and enrolments for their new school term coming up June 11. 

Tunku Putra School recently relocated to its new purpose-built campus in Petra Jaya. Set on 22 acres, the new campus offer clusters of classrooms, laboratories and recreational facilities of the highest international standard.

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Tunku Putra School Swimming Carnival 2007

Monday, 7 May 2007: Tunku Putra School’s Swimming Carnival held 5 May 2007 was a resounding success. Students, teachers and parents donned their gear and flocked to Stampark Swimming Pool to take part in one of the School’s biggest annual events.

The teams – named after the rivers Santubong, Sadong, Salak, and Sibu - gathered on a drizzling Saturday morning to kick-start the friendly underwater competition, consisting of 17 events in breaststroke, free style and relay events held according to age group.

New events introduced this year were the “Fun Games” open to all primary-school students, and the “100 metres” event that put the more talented swimmers to the test.

In the Carnival’s annual tradition, events ended with an exciting Staff-Parents Race for which Santubong clinched the gold. Repeating their winning performance of 2007, Santubong collected 121 points with both the students and Staff-Parents events under their belts.

All teams put in an excellent effort, which is a reflection of Tunku Putra’s “Learn to Swim” programme which ensures every child is equipped with all-important swimming skills.

The events involved students from Primary One up to Upper Secondary levels.

The School sends a special thank-you to the parents who spent their Saturday morning with their children and the school.

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Tunku Putra School to hold ‘A Levels Information Evening’

Monday, 26 March 2007: Kuching – Tunku Putra School is inviting members of the public to attend an ‘A Levels Information Evening’ on Wednesday 28 March 2007 at its new campus at Jalan Stadium, Petra Jaya.

The evening will centre on the Cambridge A Levels curriculum and examinations for students between the 17 – 18 years age group. Apart from being key to university entrance in the UK, the Cambridge A Levels are also recognized for entrance to universities in Malaysia, around Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the European Union, Canada and USA.

Tunku Putra will be starting implementation of the A Levels programme in June this year. Qualified, specialist subject teachers will lead the two-year programme for students. Six subjects will be offered - Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Business Studies and Art & Design. In the first year, students sit for core AS (Advanced Subsidiary) Level examinations. The higher level papers are taken at the end of the second year curriculum.

The A Levels has five passing grades, from A to E. Entry to universities normally requires a minimum of two pass grades, whilst the more established and popular universities in the UK may require three passes of grade C or higher.

According to Dr Suzanne Collins, Principal of Tunku Putra School, “The A Levels will allow our current group of IGCSE students to continue their education at our School and capitalize on our specialist teachers’ knowledge and excellent new facilities.”

“With the introduction of the A Levels programme at Tunku Putra, our School will be able to provide the complete educational programme for students from kindergarten-level through to university pre-entry”, added Dr Collins.

In January 2007, Tunku Putra announced the excellent results of its students who sat for the 2006 IGCSE O Level examinations held at the end of last year. A high percentage of students achieved A* and A grades in the School’s first complete running of the 18-month IGCSE coursework for students aged 15-16, thereby reinforcing Tunku Putra's highly regarded educational programme.

Overall, students achieved 100% passes in all papers taken. The results in Mathematics and Science were particularly outstanding. Three students scored the highest possible grade of A*, 2 scored A in Mathematics paper, whilst in students scored 3 As and 1 B in Chemistry.

Tunku Putra School recently moved to its newly completed purpose-built campus in Petra Jaya. The School, which operates kindergarten, primary and secondary classes in both national and international streams, saw student enrolment increase 25% this year.

The ‘A Levels Information Evening’ will begin at 7.30 pm. Interested parents, both of current and prospective students, are invited to attend. The talk is free. For more information, please contact Tunku Putra School at tel 082 313 900.

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Tunku Putra holds “School Warming” party

Monday, 5 March 2007, Kuching – There were hot dogs and balloons. There were fire crackers and a lion dance. Most of all, there were hundreds of parents and students roaming around the new campus at Tunku Putra School’s “School Warming” party held last Saturday afternoon.

The recently completed purpose-built campus, set on 22 acres in Petra Jaya, will soon be filled with students when the School moves to its new premises in mid-March, in time for the start of the new school term.

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Academic accolades continue for Tunku Putra School

Thursday, 25 January 2007, Kuching -- Tunku Putra School in Kuching is proud to announce the excellent results of students who sat for the 2006 IGCSE 'O' level examinations. Hard work and determination resulted in a high percentage of students achieving A* and A grades, reflecting and reinforcing Tunku Putra's highly regarded educational programme. This was the first complete running of the 18-month IGCSE coursework for students aged 15-16, concluding with students taking the final examinations at the end of 2006.

A 100% pass rate was achieved by the students in all papers taken. The results in Mathematics and Science were particularly outstanding, with 3 students scoring the highest possible grade of A* and 2 scoring A in the Mathematics paper. In Chemistry, students scored 3 As and 1 B.

Outstanding individual results were achieved by Ning Bong (4As, 3 Bs); Vijal Chokshi (3As, 3 Bs); Muhammad Farshad (2 As, 4Bs) and John Tok (2As, 3Bs).

Tunku Putra has presently 32 students involved in the 'O' levels programme (Foundation and Standard). The School is currently finalizing the IGCSE 'A' levels programme which will commence in June 2007, enabling Tunku Putra to provide a complete educational programme for students from kindergarten-level through to university pre-entry.

Tunku Putra School Principal, Dr Suzanne Collins, is delighted with the results, stating "These results are tangible proof of the quality of teaching and learning at Tunku Putra. Our secondary school teaching staff, under the capable leadership of the international school coordinator, has been pivotal to the success of our IGCSE students.”

The solid foundation for successful and life-long learning at Tunku Putra begins in kindergarten and is built on throughout the primary years. Upon reaching secondary level, Tunku Putra’s small classes enable highly qualified specialist teachers to provide individual attention, close monitoring, and additional support for the IGCSE students.

“The 2006 IGCSE results demonstrate our readiness to implement the 'A' levels programme in June this year which will equip our students with the prerequisite skills and knowledge to succeed and ultimately attend their university of choice”, added Dr Collins.

Dr Collins and staff of Tunku Putra School are pleased to discuss their Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary programmes with interested parents and prospective students. Appointments can be arranged with the School at tel 082 313 900.

Tunku Putra School will move to its newly completed purpose-built campus in Petra Jaya in March. The School, which operates both national and international curriculum programmes, saw student enrolment increase 25% this year.

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Tunku Putra School New Campus Completed

Friday, 29 December 2006, Kuching  –  Physical construction of the new purpose-built campus of Tunku Putra School at Petra Jaya has been completed, and is now undergoing final finishing touches before the School's official move to the campus in March 2007. The new campus is located at Jalan Stadium, opposite the Kasuma Resort condominium.

According to Tunku Putra's School Principal, Dr Suzanne Collins, "Finishing touches are now being made around the new campus to ensure all our excellent facilities, such as the science laboratories and workshop, will be fully equipped, tested and operational." The move is targeted for the school year mid-term break in the middle of March.

Tunku Putra recently hosted officials from the Ministry of Education Malaysia who visited the site and were greatly impressed with the quality of the sprawling 22 acre campus and excellent facilities available.

These include separate single-storey classroom clusters, spacious fully air-conditioned classrooms for a maximum of only 26 students per class, well-equipped science laboratories, workshop and specialist rooms, a large playing field and an impressive multi-purpose hall.

The location of the national-stream classrooms adjacent to the international-stream classes was among the features which impressed the officials as testimony of Tunku Putra's commitment towards building unity in Sarawak's multi-cultural community.

In other news, Tunku Putra begins the new school year with growing numbers of students and teachers. Student intake for the new year is up 15%, which will be supported by the recent recruitment of an additional team of highly experienced and qualified teaching staff.

As part of the continuous improvement of teaching resources, Tunku Putra recently took delivery of an internationally recognized, innovative, International Primary Curriculum. This unique curriculum along with additional resources for both the National and International secondary programmes will be incorporated into the system in the new school year.

Tunku Putra School operates both National and International stream classes for boys and girls in Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary level. Enrolment is still open for all streams, including for Malaysian students to join the International stream classes. A bridging programme is available for Year 7/8 students, whilst Year 9/10 students take the popular International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) programme.

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Academic excellence sustained at Tunku Putra

Thursday, 16 November, 2006, Kuching – “Our outstanding UPSR results confirm that academic excellence at Tunku Putra School has been sustained”, commented Dr Suzanne Collins, the School’s Principal, on the results of the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) 2006 which were released today.

A high percentage of 95% of Tunku Putra’s Primary 6 students scored A in the Bahasa Melayu Penulisan subject; 90% scored A in English; whilst 75% of its students scored A in Science.

Overall, the School saw 100% of its students pass the public examination which took place in September 2006, with 20% attaining straight As in the 5 subjects taken. This marks the third consecutive year that Tunku Putra had achieved 100% pass rate amongst its students. This success was reaffirmed recently when Tunku Putra received the Academic Excellence certificate from the Ministry of Education Malaysia for its UPSR performance in the previous year.

The success of Tunku Putra’s students in the National curriculum follows on from similar high achievements of its students in a series of international examinations. In October 2006, Tunku Putra celebrated the excellent results of students who took the University of New South Wales International Competitions and Assessments for Schools examinations.

Tunku Putra School operates both National and International stream classes for boys and girls in Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary level. The School will soon move to a purpose-built campus in Petra Jaya. Enrolment is now open for all streams, including for Malaysian students to join the International stream classes. Tunku Putra currently still has places available for local students to join classes in which the international curriculum is taught. A bridging programme is available for Year 7/8 students, whilst Year 9/10 students take the popular International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) programme.

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Tunku Putra Students Excel in International Exams

Friday, 13 October 2006, Kuching – Tunku Putra School celebrated the success of its students who excelled at the recent University of New South Wales International Competitions and Assessments for Schools examinations.

Of the 168 students who took the English examination, 16 students scored High Distinction and Distinction. In Mathematics, 170 students sat for the examination and 15 were awarded High Distinction and Distinction results.

The achievements this year were the best yet for Tunku Putra which makes all students from National and International Primary 3 and above sit for the recognized international examinations. Papers taken are in Mathematics, English, Science and Computer Skills.

According to Tunku Putra’s new School Principal, Dr Sue Collins, “These external examinations are a test of a student’s general knowledge of the subject. Their results are an important indicator of the standard of education that Tunku Putra provides for our students which shows that it is comparable to international standards.”

The examination results also provide the School with individual diagnostic reports on each student’s strengths and weaknesses. This enables teachers to adjust their coaching levels and styles for each student during the school year.

Tunku Putra operates both National and International stream classes for boys and girls in Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary level. The School will soon move to a purpose-built campus in Petra Jaya, well before the start of the new academic year in January 2007. Enrolment is now open.

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New Campus Construction - Latest pictures
(PDF format, 1.5 mb)

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Tunku Putra School's Art Exhibition

Friday, 11 August 2006, Kuching -- Some 300 works of art by students ranging from kindergarten to secondary level were put on display at the recent Tunku Putra School Art Exhibition.

Held in conjunction with the School’s 10th Anniversary Celebrations, the event also aimed to raise funds for future art projects. Many works were purchased over the 3-day exhibition, with the highest price paid being RM2,000 for a sketch of a young girl by a student of International Primary 3.

Tunku Putra, which operates kindergarten, primary and secondary classes of the national and international curriculum, conducts a visual arts programme to nurture the creative and artistic spirit within each child.

Under the vision of Art teacher, Adrian Chan, students learn to experiment, develop and work on their skills. “Varied and unique”, commented Adrian when describing the students’ work, which comprised drawing, colouring, painting on canvas, batik, digital art, twirled paper craft, marbling, straw blowing, clay work and hand wired sculpture.

Interested members of the public may still purchase the art pieces, of which a small percentage of the proceeds will be given to the artist as an incentive.

Tunku Putra is currently located at Jalan Nanas, and is scheduled to move to a new purpose-built campus in Petra Jaya before the start of the new academic year in January 2007.

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Tunku Putra Leaflet on moving to new location

Please click here: Leaflet Page 1 and Leaflet Page 2.

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Tunku Putra’s Family Fun Day 2006

Saturday, 17 June 2006, Kuching – It was food, games, music, balloons, laughter and all round good fun everywhere at Tunku Putra School’s Family Fun Day 2006 gathering held at the School this afternoon.

Over 500 parents, students and friends came to support the School’s annual lively event, which comprised stalls set up by the different classes. On sale were various items such as potted plants, beads, books, toys and food. There were also stalls promoting games, and even a bouncy balloon castle for the younger ones to enjoy.

The atmosphere of the Family Fun Day was made more energetic with entertainment provided by the students themselves, much to the delight of the parents.

Apart from being an enjoyable gathering of parents, students and teachers, the Family Fun Day set out to raise funds for the School. Many students took to becoming convincing salespersons for the day, getting parents and visitors alike to buy things on sale, some at a premium, but all in the name of raising funds.

Tunku Putra School, which operates kindergarten, primary and secondary classes of the national and international curriculum, celebrates its 10^th anniversary this year. The year-long celebration to commemorate the milestone began with the swimming carnival last May, followed by the Family Fun Day. A host of future events is also in the works.

The School is currently located at Jalan Nanas and is scheduled to move to a purpose-built campus in Petra Jaya before the start of the new academic year in January 2007. Comprising a modular concept of single-storey buildings, Tunku Putra’s new campus will be located on a 22 acre site opposite the Kasuma Resort. Its facilities will include fully air-conditioned classrooms, specialized labs and rooms for the sciences, computer and languages, as well as indoor and outdoor sports facilities. 

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Tunku Putra’s Swimming Carnival kick-starts 10th year anniversary celebrations

Monday, 8 May 2006, Kuching -- Tunku Putra School’s 10th anniversary celebrations as a leading educational institution in Sarawak got off to a rousing start with its annual Swimming Carnival held in Kuching recently.

Students from the ages of 8 to 16 were grouped into four houses to compete in 12 race events for the coveted Chairman’s Cup. In the end, Sungai Santubong house emerged as champion. Apart from student races, one of the highlights of the Swimming Carnival was the parents, teachers and former students 25 metres relay event.

Tunku Putra started its “Learn to Swim” campaign 10 years ago aimed at developing each student’s ability and confidence in the water. Beginning from kindergarten level, the swimming skills programme is an integral part of Tunku Putra’s weekly sports activities.

The Swimming Carnival is just one of a series of activities lined up for the year-long 10th anniversary celebrations of the School. A family fun day will be held in June during which students, parents, teachers and the wider community will participate in an afternoon of games, food and entertainment. A major art exhibition featuring the students’ work will be held in August, whilst a special and highly entertaining musical evening is planned for September.

Tunku Putra School currently operates kindergarten, primary and secondary classes of the national and international streams at its facility at Jalan Nanas, Kuching. The School will move to its modern, state-of-the-art, purpose-built campus located in Petra Jaya by the end of the year, in time for the start of the 2007 academic year.

Enrolment for the 2007 academic year is now open for registration. More information on the School can also be obtained from its web-site at www.cmsb.com.my/tps.