PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING
Simon Brooks, Principal
Welcome to the new school year at AISM!
I am delighted to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new Principal for the Australian International School of Malaysia. It has been wonderful getting to know many of the students, staff and families of our magnificent school over the past few days. What an amazing school we have! There is a palpable sense of school spirit, excitement, care for one another and a joy for learning in the air! I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome our new students and families to our school community. I know that we will all make them feel very welcome.
If schools are to be rich places of thinking and learning for our students, they must also be rich places of thinking and learning for the adults who work there too! With this in mind, our whole team at AISM came together at the start of the year to reflect on our theme for 2022, ‘Thinking for Learning’. Together, we reflected on one of the most important questions of education: “What do we want the children we teach to be like when they are adults?” Amongst the many ideas that emerged, we decided that we wanted our children to be happy, mindful, caring, curious, open-minded, analytical, creative, good listeners and critical thinkers. We also want them to become lifelong learners who are passionate about learning. It was truly energising and inspiring to explore these important ideas alongside such a professional and committed team of colleagues.
At the end of last week we were delighted to be in receipt of the Higher School Certificate examination results for our class of 2021. I am pleased to announce that they are the best examination results in the history of our school.
Here are the HSC highlights for 2021:
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AISM is now the top-ranked Australian International School in the world for HSC
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AISM is ranked in the prestigious Top 100 of HSC schools globally for the first time
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50% of results in the top two bands (Subject Score above 80)
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36% of students placed on the Distinguished Achievers List (Subject Score above 90)
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1 student awarded Top Achiever and placed 2nd globally for English Extension 2
These results are a testament to the hard work of our students, who are to be congratulated on such an amazing achievement even in the challenging circumstances of the last two years. I would also like to acknowledge the great work of all staff who have contributed to the education of these students over many years, and to our HSC teachers for guiding them through their HSC courses with such expertise.
Finally, one of the great strengths of an Australian education is the opportunities it provides for student leadership. At AISM, this is enshrined in our Purpose Statement: to educate the youth of the world to take their place as leaders in the global community. This week, we celebrated the achievements of our Junior School, Middle School and Senior School Captains and Vice Captains at a special event for AISM at the Australian High Commission of Malaysia, by invitation of the Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia, His Excellency Dr Justin Lee. Our students were delighted to be awarded their Leadership certificates at a reception hosted by Dr Lee, who also took the time to explain the work of the High Commission and his own role as High Commissioner. I was highly impressed at the maturity shown by our young leaders, who asked a number of thought-provoking questions and engaged in interesting discussion with Dr Lee on many topics, including climate change. During our visit, we were also very pleased to witness ‘Lights Up’, a projection of digital artworks including works produced by Malaysian and Australian artists including talented students from our own Junior School here at AISM, onto the Australian High Commission facade. What an evening it was, and I would like to congratulate our student artists and leaders for their outstanding achievements.
Here’s to a wonderful 2022 at AISM for our students and families!
JUNIOR SCHOOL
Michelle Chaplin, Head of Junior School
Week 1 has certainly seen our campus come to life with the joy and excitement of a new year of learning, meeting new friends, reconnecting with peers and getting to know all about 2022 at AISM. Our students have quickly come to know the routines of a new year level or for some a new school - and have enjoyed their first full week on campus in 2022. It has been a joy to see the connections between teachers and students and indeed to be a part of that joy in the mornings as students leap from the car, greet us in the breezeway and hustle to class.
A very warm welcome to our 40 new families and our five new staff members- Ms Melissa Lee, Mr Matt Brown, Ms Joanne McIntyre, Ms Nicki Taylor, Ms Ai Lyn Chew. I am sure our community/class reps will be in contact to ensure you have a smooth start as part of our community. Please don't hesitate to be in contact should you wish to raise any concerns or suggestions please make a time to meet with me, Michelle Chaplin(michellec@aism.edu.my)
The Junior School has refreshed our approach to the LOTE program with this program now being a part of every day with a 30 minute session and across all year levels from ELC to Year 5. Research tells us the best way for students to learn a language is through daily exposure hence the change in this program - very exciting to see the results of this program as we progress through the year.
As we launch into the new 2022 academic year, one of our goals is to foster independent, self managing, self motivated and empathetic life long learners - particularly after such long periods off campus in 2021. Play Is The Way, is an exciting new program we are using in the Junior School to explicitly teach awareness of self and awareness of others. So if you hear your child sharing that they 'played' an exciting new game at Junior School, rest assured, their personal and social capabilities have been challenged through play!
Our running theme for the year is ‘Thinking for Learning” and already I have heard from our student leaders their thoughts for different events throughout the year and ways to do things! Year 4 and 5 will be learning all about leadership as they put forward their nominations for House Captains and the Think Tank and across the whole Junior School we will be on the hunt for our new SRC Representatives.
Wishing all our families a Happy and prosperous Chinese New Year and some moments to cherish with family and friends.
MIDDLE & SENIOR SCHOOL
The Middle and Senior School has been a hive of activity and energy during the first week of term, as students and teachers begin to settle into their routines.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new teachers to the Middle and Senior School:
I would also like to offer a warm Selamat Datang to all the new students and families who have joined us this year, and to everyone in our AISM community. I know we are all looking forward to a wonderful year of learning together!
WHOLE SCHOOL
TEK Distributors
Online sale for uniforms have begun. We strongly recommend orders are placed in advanced to ensure uniforms are made available before the new academic term begins.