PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING
Aaron Wise, Principal
As we approach Merdeka Day, it is timely to reflect on what it means to be part of a truly international school community. At AISM, our students come from many different countries and cultural backgrounds. We encourage each student to be proud of where they come from, to celebrate their language, traditions, and heritage. This pride in identity is a strength, giving our students a solid foundation on which to build their understanding of the wider world.
However, being internationally minded means going further. It means using that strong sense of self not as a barrier, but as a bridge to others. It is about recognising that every culture has something valuable to teach us, whether it be resilience, creativity, hospitality, discipline, or innovation.
This is why we encourage our students to embrace patriotism—the love of one’s own country and its values—while steering clear of nationalism, which can suggest a belief that one’s country or culture is superior to others. Patriotism inspires pride; nationalism risks division. At AISM, we remain politically neutral. Our focus is not on politics, but on cultivating a mindset of curiosity, openness, and respect.
By learning from the best examples across all cultures, our students grow into well-rounded individuals—able to collaborate, adapt, and lead in a diverse and interconnected world. On Merdeka Day, and throughout the year, we celebrate this spirit of unity in diversity, which is at the heart of both Malaysia’s story and the mission of AISM.
JUNIOR SCHOOL
Michelle Chaplin, Head of Junior School
Term 3 is flying past as we experience not just amazing achievements in learning in our classrooms, but also enjoy all the opportunities outside the classroom.
AISM is about opportunity plus – we have seen – teamwork, passion, enthusiasm, and participation from the Book Week activities to the Cross Country from students to staff to parents - all involved and all loving life at AISM.
It is a joy to be a part of such a vibrant community and to see our students flourishing in such a positive environment.
A few weeks to go - a few public holidays, the Year 5 production and International Day as the grand finale!
What a wonderful end to a fabulous term - be sure to come along whenever possible!
Book Week 2025: “Book an Adventure” at AISM
Ms Felix and Ms Kila, Teacher Librarians
Book Week at AISM was truly a blast! This year’s theme, “Book an Adventure,” came to life across our Junior School with a wonderful range of activities that celebrated reading, imagination, and community spirit.
Throughout the week, our library transformed into a hive of excitement. At lunchtimes, students gathered for Mystery Storytellers, with surprise teachers and staff dropping by to share their favourite stories. The buzz of wondering “Who will it be today?” made each session extra special.
On Thursday and Friday, our MPH hosted the Book Fair, where students and families browsed new titles, discovered fresh reads, and shared recommendations. Thank you to everyone who supported the fair, it was fantastic to see the joy on students’ faces as they picked out books to take home.
Friday brought one of the highlights of the week: the Character Book Parade. From the Very Hungry Caterpillar to The Wild Robot, from The Day the Crayons Quit to Inside Out, from The Secret Keepers to magical lands filled with fairies, dragons, and wizards! Our students, staff, and even some of our wonderful parents came dressed as beloved book characters. The creativity and enthusiasm on display were truly inspiring!
We ended the week with something new: our Outdoor Book Café. Classes rotated through a cosy café-style setting, where students could “taste test” a variety of books. Each table featured a different genre or theme: a Fantasy Forest filled with magical adventures, Page to Screen with books that inspired films, a LOL Corner for hilarious stories, Real Talk with nonfiction and realistic reads, and Myths and Legends from around the world. With baskets of books, and the open air, it was a perfect way to wrap up our Book Week celebrations.
A huge thank you to our teachers, staff, parents, and of course our amazing students for making Book Week 2025 unforgettable. Here’s to many more reading adventures ahead!
Year 3 Highlights: Stories, Costumes and Connection
Mr Jeremy Cox, Ms Jaesinthaa Kaur & Miss Vaneisha Madhavan
This term in Year 3 has been filled with creativity, collaboration and growing connections. Whether working as writers, artists, thinkers or community members, our students have embraced every opportunity to engage, explore and express themselves. Here are just a few highlights from our learning journey.
Seven Steps: Year 3’s Got the Write Stuff!
In Year 3, students have been building their writing skills through the Seven Steps to Writing Success program. This fun and practical approach breaks writing into clear techniques that professional authors use. Students have been learning how to hook their readers with exciting openings, build tension, create dynamic characters and use dialogue with purpose. Their hard work and creativity led to the publication of their very own storybooks, now proudly on display outside the Year 3 classrooms on Level 1 of C Block. With their storytelling confidence growing, students have now turned their attention to persuasive writing, learning how to express strong opinions, back them up with convincing reasons and write with real impact. It’s been wonderful to see them write with such purpose and pride.
Book Week: Door Display and Costumes
Book Week was a big highlight for Year 3, with students working on two fun and creative projects: decorating our classroom door and making matching costumes. We chose “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr Seuss, which meant 42 students dressed up as “Things.” To make sure everyone looked the same, each student wore a red t-shirt with a custom “Thing” logo and a bright blue wig. A thoughtful parent helped by preparing stencilled outlines on white felt, while students coloured in their own logos before attaching them to their shirts. It was a great team effort, and the final result looked fantastic.
At the same time, our classroom door turned into a two-week art and design challenge. Once the class agreed on the overall design, students worked in small groups to plan what they needed and create different parts of the display. Using cardboard, paint, tape, and other art supplies, they made the Cat in the Hat, a toy boat, a tray of milk, a coffee mug, mini books, a cake, a ball, a rake, and more. The finished door was bursting with colour and imagination, and it was clear how proud the students were of what they had created together.
Inquiry: Our Community and Beyond
This term in Inquiry, students explored the idea of community through our unit titled ‘Our Community and Beyond’. We began by asking what a community looks like, sounds like and feels like, using the See, Think, Wonder thinking routine to guide our reflections. These early discussions helped students build a shared understanding of how people experience communities in different ways.
Students then turned their attention to their own lives, thinking about the people, places and routines that shape their everyday experiences. Each student created a photo presentation, sharing meaningful images from home or their neighbourhood, and explaining how each one represented their sense of connection and belonging.
Through these reflections, students discovered that communities are shaped not only by where we live, but by the values, relationships and responsibilities that link us to others. Whether through family, culture, friendship or kindness, our students recognised that strong communities help us feel safe, supported and valued.
We are so proud of how much our students have grown this term. Their willingness to collaborate, think deeply and support one another has been a joy to see. We look forward to building on these experiences next term as we continue learning and growing together.
Celebrating Eric Carle in the ELC
Ms Manpreet Kaur Puarr and Miss Bianca Chep, ELC Homeroom Teachers
“Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? I see a red bird looking at me...”
This much-loved rhyme has become part of our daily routine in the ELC, with our youngest learners joyfully repeating it over and over. As their interest in the story has grown, we saw a wonderful opportunity to connect their passion for storytelling with Book Week at AISM.
To foster a love of stories and books, the ELC delved into the colourful world of Eric Carle, which was also chosen as our Book Week theme. Each day, we shared one of Eric Carle’s stories, linking them to literacy, numeracy, and art lessons.
After reading, the children discussed the main events, identified characters, and explored new vocabulary. For those beginning readers in our group, there were special moments where they proudly read aloud the book titles to their peers. Eric Carle’s stories are simple, relatable, and meaningful, making them a perfect match for our youngest learners.
In numeracy, we counted fruits and foods eaten by the Very Hungry Caterpillar, matched the days of the week to the foods, and counted the animals seen by Brown Bear. We explored the order of ingredients in Pancakes, Pancakes! and discovered how many times the chameleon changed colours in The Mixed-Up Chameleon.
Inspired by Eric Carle’s bold, colourful illustrations, our children then took their learning into the art space. They created their own artworks, drawing from Eric Carle’s unique style, which we proudly displayed as part of our classroom door decorations.
For our learners, Eric Carle’s stories are more than just books – they are windows into creativity, imagination, and the joy of storytelling.
MIDDLE & SENIOR SCHOOL
Dr Nick Duggan, Head of Middle & Senior School
As Head of Middle & Senior School at AISM, one of my key responsibilities is to ensure that every student experiences a high-quality education built on a clear and consistent curriculum. Parents often hear the terms taught, learnt and assessed curriculum, and I would like to explain how these connect and why they are so important for assuring quality learning.
The taught curriculum is what our teachers deliver in the classroom — the lessons, resources and experiences that bring knowledge and skills to life. The learnt curriculum is what students actually take away — the understanding, skills and attitudes they develop as a result of their engagement. Finally, the assessed curriculum is how we measure this learning, through a variety of tasks, projects and examinations that demonstrate progress.
At AISM we strengthen this process through the principles of Visible Learning. This means that learning intentions and success criteria are made clear to students from the outset, enabling them to understand not just what they are learning, but why. Students are also encouraged to reflect on their progress and take increasing ownership of their learning journey.
When the taught, learnt and assessed curriculum is closely aligned and supported through Visible Learning, we can be confident that every student is both challenged and supported to achieve their personal best. This alignment assures parents that their child is receiving a rigorous, transparent and future-focused education at AISM and my task is to monitor the alignment as close as it can be between the taught, learnt and assessed curriculum.
Year 7 Languages Fashion Show
Mrs Gayatri Unsworth, Head of Language Acquisition Faculty
Our MSS Year 7 language learners took centre stage during the recent MSS Assembly, showing off their vocabulary and designer flair in the Languages Fashion Show whilst highlighting the language learning undertaken in the Year 7 French, Chinese, Bahasa and Intensive English programmes, where students have been exploring topics such as shopping, clothing, and cultural identity.
The runway came alive with colour, confidence, and creativity as students modelled a diverse range of outfits, from sporty streetwear and stylish casual looks to traditional cultural attire such as the qi pao, happi coat, and yukata. What made the event truly special was that the outfit descriptions were written by our Year 7 language students themselves and commentary was delivered live, in multiple languages, by our older language learners who confidently narrated in French, Chinese, Bahasa and English.
The show not only highlighted our learners’ developing language skills, but also their ability to embrace their own unique personalities and interests. From quirky and imaginative creations such as insect-inspired costumes to elegant cultural garments, the students’ fashion choices reflected both individuality and cultural awareness.
Congratulations once again to our Year 7 learners for their enthusiasm and flair on the runway, our talented narrators for their eloquent delivery and our dedicated language teachers for inculcating a love of languages in our students.
WHOLE SCHOOL
Influenza Vaccination Day
Ms Denise McFarlane & Ms Alice Law, School Nurses
Health Services, in collaboration with NK Medic, recently provided on-site influenza vaccinations for our school community.The initiative aimed to promote health and well-being among students and staff ahead of the flu season.
We were delighted to welcome Dr. Renugah, who demonstrated exceptional care and professionalism, especially with our younger students. Her positive engagement and warm demeanor were greatly appreciated. It was a pleasure to have her visit our school.
Holiday Camp – Save The Date
Arrowhead Skills
September Daily Menu (2 September - 4 September)
Cezars Kitchen
Exclusive Enrolment Privilege for Our Families
We’re delighted to offer our AISM families an exclusive enrolment privilege for siblings joining us in the upcoming intakes. It’s our way of saying thank you for continuing your family’s journey with us. To find out more, get in touch with our Admissions Team at admissions@aism.edu.my.
