Gaonomics

I can’t believe time goes by so quickly and we are already in February 2010. And I have so many things I want to write about, but so little time, as my work is taking up all my time these days. Therefore I decided to get up at 5.45am today and start writing as soon as my children went to school this morning. And then I have called the posting “What’s been happening at Tenby International School lately”, so I can write about several things in the same posting rather than separating them out.

Parents Teacher Conferences

Term 2 started on 4th January 2010 and not long into the term, all parents were invited to see their children’s teachers for 5 and 10 minutes consultations depending on the child’s age group. Prior to the parents teachers conferences the students were given a paper with time schedules and parents had to write down the names of the teachers they wanted to see and then the students had to submit to the teachers to confirm the chosen time slot and the secondary students even had to see every teacher on the list to get their confirmation individually, which I thought was a great way to teach them responsibility and to be pro-active in obtaining the confirmation from their teachers. It may seem like a small thing, but in its essence it makes a difference, because the students learn that they can’t expect to be fed and that the adults can’t do everything for them, but they have to think ahead and take initiate and responsibility for their own things.

5 minutes is not a long time for a meet with each teacher, but the idea wasn’t to discuss problems or progress in details but just to touch base and meet the teachers and if necessary parents can always make another appointment at another time if they need to discuss in more details. I quite like the open atmosphere where several teachers were in the same room and parents came and went quickly, only I thought that parents should have waited outside until it was their turn, as it was quite noisy in the rooms, and although I have nothing to hide and didn’t have a problem with it, it did occur to me that some parents might have liked at bit more privacy from other parents listening in on their conversation with the teachers.

Apart from this, I thought the teachers did an excellent job. Emphasized on the positive qualities in my children, while still highlighting the things that they should work at and offered to help where necessary. And they were all very friendly and forthcoming and I felt so grateful that I can send my children to school every day knowing that they are in good hands with people who genuinely care about them. I hope the teachers will continue to be as committed and enthusiastic in future, but with the support of a good management, I am confident that they will.

Sports

Let it be no secret that our family loves sports and I can’t emphasize enough how much we appreciate Tenby’s focus on sports and the PE Department’s efforts in giving our children a wide selection of different sports they can do both in PE lessons during school hours and the many CCAs after school. The many teachers that are involved in the sports activities and especially the Head do an excellent job and my children are enjoying themselves tremendously, while making good progress.

The only downside is there is not enough time for sports, it being so enjoyable and my children would love to do more, but of course there should also be time for other subjects, which are also important. I am saying this because my children’s involvement in sports since they started in Tenby International School has had the single most positive impact on them, as they have participated in more sports activities, tournaments and competitions in Tenby in only two terms than they have done in all the previous years combined. And this is thanks to the great efforts and commitment of the Head of PE and the school’s support for sports. And we are truly and profoundly grateful for that, as it has made a huge difference in our children’s lives, as they are now fitter, slimmer and happier than ever before in their lives and now make greater efforts in improving themselves and their skills and stamina, so they can be better, stronger and faster in the sports they like.

And this will not only effect their abilities in sports but also improve other areas of their work and activities in and outside school, as with improved sports abilities, comes more confidence, self discipline, determination and harder efforts to improve themselves in all other areas as well, so that Tenby focuses so much on sports is truly a blessing in so many ways.

Primary Sports Day

During the first couple of weeks of term 2, Tenby had its Sports Day, which went really well. The thing I like most about it was that all students participated, and the parents were welcome to come and cheer and show their support. There were 4 different events and all the students rotated from one event to the next and it was really well organised. The children behaved well and had fun, while they did their best in each event. Congratulations to all winners and participants.

At last year’s Sport’s Day I actually wrote that I thought the school should include more disciplines at Sport’s Day, but I have changed my mind, as I see now that because Tenby is so active sports wise at all other times of the year, it’s not necessary to include more sports activities in the Sports Day, as the way it was planned and executed already involved the necessary elements like individual competitions, team efforts and support and rewards. And one day is enough to spend on a Sports day for primary, when they also do sports events outside of school when representing Tenby.

Secondary Sports Day

Also the secondary students had their Sport’s Day, which was on a different day than the primary students. This day also went really well and the students did their best, competed gracefully, supported each other and really enjoyed themselves throughout the day. It was really nice to see the students laughing and having fun while being physically active on the field. Congratulations to all winners and participants and thanks for being such good sports and making the day a memorable one.

What else has been happening?

The activities at Tenby are so many that it’s impossible for me to write about every one of them, but just this past week, Tenby went with several teams to a Futsal tournament organised by the German School and these couple of days are the Selangor State swimming competitions where Tenby’s students are also participating. I think Tenby has had other sport meets as well, but as my children are only involved in swimming and football for the time being, this is where I have my interest. For more news about Tenby’s sports activities, go to their website and download their newsletters.

And one more thing….

The Arts teacher had organised a fun day last Saturday for students and parents to join in some fun games and activities, and had we been able to attend, we would have, as we want to support the teachers’ efforts in developing a community around different activities and it really sounded like a lot of fun, when the Art teacher explained it to me. However because of the Futsal tournament, we couldn’t attend, but I hope he will organise something like that again, so we can join next time. Thank you so much to the Art teacher for his time and efforts in organising it and for spending his Saturday at the school together with the students and parents. I look forward to hearing how the day went.

This is all for this time. I will hopefully find the time to write again soon.

Take care and best regards

Ghita