Garden International School

Infobox UK school
name = Garden International School


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motto = Plus Est En Vous (There Is More Within You)
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established = 1951
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type = Mixed, Day British International School
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president = BK Gan
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head = Mr. Simon Mann
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founder = Sally Watkins
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country = Malaysia
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gender = Co-educational
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houses = Crest, Chancellor, Sultan, Queen
colours = Green and Blue
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website = http://www.gardenschool.edu.my
website_name = Garden International School

Garden International School (abbreviated GIS) is an international school based in Malaysia. It is one of the largest private, co-educational schools in Malaysia, offering education based on the British Curriculum.

GIS offers education for four major age groups: foundation years, primary education, secondary education and sixth form. The academic year starts every September and ends the following July. In addition to the usual British school holidays, the school shares the main multi-cultural holidays of Malaysia as well as the main Islamic holidays, such as Hari Raya.In 2006, the British "Guardian" newspaper listed it as one of the best UK-curriculum international schools in the world. [ [http://education.guardian.co.uk/publicschools/story/0,,1970352,00.html A guide to schools abroad that offer a British curriculum] , Education Guardian, December 12, 2006]

Campuses

The school has two campuses; the larger of the two is situated in Kuala Lumpur and the other on the east coast of Malaysia in Kuantan. In total, the school has students from over fifty nationalities.Fact|date=February 2007 Teaching staff are mainly recruited from the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries in and around South East Asia, but rarely from Malaysia itself.

Facilities on the Kuala Lumpur campus include a newly-constructed 7-storey Arts Centre comprising Art, Music, Drama and Modern Foreign Languages Faculties, 500 networked computers, seven science laboratories, a sports hall, assembly hall, sports field, basketball courts, a 25-metre swimming pool, all-weather courts and two cafeterias.

The curriculum in the Primary School follows the British National Curriculum, enhanced and adapted to meet local requirements. In the Secondary School, students also follow the British National Curriculum, which leads to the examinations of the IGCSE, using the Cambridge International Examinations Board, and a wide range of A-Levels subjects.

There is a full programme of co-curricular activities every day after school. English-as-an-Additional-Language facilities are available to students up to age 13. Special needs assistance is provided in both the Primary and Secondary Schools.

Kuala Lumpur campus

Garden School was established in 1951 by Mrs. Sally Watkins, in the Lake Gardens of Kuala Lumpur, before moving to Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, in 1955.

Between 1965—1966, secondary education was introduced into Garden School, and it moved to Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. During this time, Garden School was selected to be the first official school in Malaysia where students were allowed to sit for the O-level examinations. 11 students sat for the papers that year.

In 1973, the school moved to Jalan Pekeliling (now Jalan Tun Razak), the primary school initially moving first, before the secondary school in September. The previous location at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng was used as the new kindergarten.

In 1982, the school moved to a new location in Cheras, at a cost of MYR3 million. The new location was 4.5 acres large. The kindergarten moved from Jalan Yap Kwan Seng to Kampung Pandan. In 1985, the Мschool changed its name to Garden International School, reflecting its diverse set of nationalities.Fact|date=February 2007

The school transferred to its current location at Bukit Kiara in 1996, its kindergarten moving too. In 1988, it was announced that IGCSEs would replace the old O-level examinations. In 2000, it opened its sixth form.

In 2002, the school received accreditation by the European Council of International Schools (ECIS)Fact|date=February 2007.

In 2003, the school opened its new Arts Centre, which catered for the needs for art, music, drama and modern foreign languages.

In 2008, the school is set to upgrade the field to artificial turf, or astro turf. This is so that the pitch can be used in all conditions.

The school also recently installed SMART Boards which are touch screens. To date, Garden International School is a member of the Taylor's Education Group.

Kuantan campus

The Kuantan campus was opened for children of foreign investors, located in Teluk Cempedak in 1992.

taff

The current principal of Garden International School is Mr. Simon Mann who succeeded Mr. Ray Davis in 2007. The current Head of Secondary in the Kuala Lumpur campus is Mr. Graham Wilson who succeeded Mr. Robert Lloyd. The current Head of Primary is Mr. Neil Smith. The school employs both foreign and local teachers. Primary teachers usually teach a whole class all the subjects, whereas Secondary teachers specialize in one particular subject. Many Secondary teachers also double as 'form tutors'. Each form tutor is responsible for a class, which is composed of students all in the same year, and also all in the same house. Students assemble in their respective form classes for approximately 30 minutes every day, before the start of classes. Form tutors use this time to take the register, view the daily bulletin and discuss PSHE, among other things.

Houses

There are four houses in GIS-- Crest, Sultan, Chancellor and Queen. Each house is a certain colour - Crest being yellow, Sultan red, Queen blue and Chancellor green.

There is intense competition between the four houses, and there are two main sports events that showcase the strong rivalries. These are Sports Day and the Swimming Gala. Along with these two, there are many other competitions between the houses, such as the attendance competition and the merits competition. In addition, there is also the debating competition and Interhouse Sports. Also, in 2008, the school held their first Eisteddfod. Sultan won this, and went on to win the 2007-2008 house competition. The house captains for the 2007-2008 academic year were:

Sultan--Mr. T. Smith

Queen--Mr. A. Storey

Chancellor--Mr. A. Boardman

Crest--Mr. I. Ruck

As some of the heads of houses are leaving the school, the new heads of house for the 2008-2009 year onwards are as follows:

Sultan--Mr. R. Fieller

Queen--Mrs. M. Bisby

Chancellor--Mr. J. Grierson

Crest--Mr. N. Wildgust

The winning house for the 2007-2008 academic year is Sultan, a fitting leaving present for the much beloved Mr. Smith. Queen were runners-up, Crest came in third, and Chancellor in fourth.

ports

Garden International School participates in a number of sporting competitions every year, including FOBISSEA, ISAKL and many more. The school has teams in many sports, including football, swimming, basketball, athletics and netball - among others. Sports day and the Swimming Gala are also two annual events that take place at Garden International School. Sports Day is an athletics competition within the school, and is a competition between the four houses - Crest, Chancellor, Queen and Sultan. For Primary school, this usually takes place within the school, however Secondary sports day is held at an outdoor stadium. The swimming gala is a swimming competition between the four houses.

Extra Information

chool Calendar

Garden International School begins the academic teacher at the beginning of September, although in 2009 it is set to begin at the end of August. There are three terms, and with each term there is a mid-term break of 1-2 weeks. These usually coincide with holidays such as Hari Raya Aidil Fitri and Deepavali in the first term, Chinese New Year in the second term and in the third term it does not coincide with any holiday. The full-length term breaks sometimes coincide with holidays such as Christmas in the first term, Easter in the second term, and at the end of the third term, the academic year ends for Summer. Christmas and Easter holidays are usually about 2-3 weeks. Summer, however is usually 6-7 weeks, beginning in mid-July and ending at the end of August or beginning of September. Sometimes school does not begin on a Monday, as there is a public holiday on August 31st, Hari Merdeka or Independence Day for Malaysia.

Exam period usually occurs in May and June, usually taking up one week for lower school (Years 7-9) and two weeks for upper school (Years 10-11) as upper school students take more crucial exams, such as GCSEs and IGCSEs. Primary school students take their exams around the same time.

Daily Schedule

Each school day begins with registration at 7:40am. Registration takes 30 minutes. At 8:00am, the first lesson begins for Primary School. Secondary lessons begin at 8:10am. Break time for primary starts at 9:20am and ends at 9:40am. Secondary break time starts at 9:25am and ends at 9:45am. Secondary students have 10 minutes between 11:00am and 11:10am to get from their second lesson to their third lesson. Primary lunchtime begins at 11:40am and ends at 12:20pm. Secondary lunchtime begins at 12:25pm and ends at 1:05 pm. Finally, both primary and secondary end the day at 2:20pm, with the Early Years Department ending at 1:40pm. If students have co-curricular activities (CCA), they will stay back up to 4:30pm.

References

External links

* [http://www.gardenschool.edu.my Garden International School Website]