FRIDAY FLYER-Issue 130
10 Nov 2022
Headmaster's Welcome
Dear Reader,
A very warm welcome to edition 130 of our Friday Flyer!
Can it really be the end of the week already?!
As the saying goes, ‘time flies when you are having fun’ and there has been plenty this week! If in doubt then just take a look at some of the week’s Instagram posts! HERE.
Speaking of fun, I know that I mentioned our Halloween party and Bonfire Night celebrations in the last edition of the Epsom Friday Flyer, but I cannot resist sharing these photos with you!…Especially this one of Mrs Garnett!!!
I would like to give a big shout out to Vino, our photographer, whose pictures are always a pleasure to behold!
Our Epsom Live Talk series continues and last week we were very fortunate to be able to host Tengku Taufik, the President and Group CEO of Petronas. It was our great pleasure to have him visit us in person and discuss with him on important topics relating to current affairs, the economy and the environment.
Our students were able to ask questions and really engage with the topics under discussion in this informal session.
We are also excited to welcome Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, former Minister of International Trade and Industry for our next Epsom Live Talk. We are so very grateful to these prestigious guests for their time and support of our students.
As you read on you will see that our Prefect team has been very busy as well as our Academic Societies. This week has been Humanities Week and the standard and quality of the presentations and discussions has been most impressive.
Our MUN (Model United Nations) team is making solid progress as they prepare for their first conference in February. This initiative is extremely important as it represents an opportunity for participants to engage with a very broad range of topics from an equally broad range of perspectives.
So, that is all from me so…Happy Reading and Happy Friday one and all!
Mr Matthew Brown
Headmaster.
A messsage from Mrs Avis Parker
Why is it never too early to think about your future?
In January 2023, students in Year 9 will start the process of deciding on the GCSE subjects they would like to study for the next 2 years. This is called ‘Options’. As the teacher responsible for this process, I often find myself saying to students ‘it is never too early to start thinking about the future!’ Whilst some students have a firm idea about what career they want to pursue, others often tell them they have no idea. We do spend some PHSE time exploring this with Year 9 students; in fact we are about to start lessons during this month.
One piece of advice which I always offer to students is to think about what you enjoy: what subjects, extracurricular activities or hobbies do you enjoy most? The second piece of advice is what are you good at or what do you have a talent for? This can often result in students telling me what they don’t like, but that’s ok! This is about the process of elimination sometimes and if a student tells you that they hate sport, they have eliminated quite a lot of careers by knowing that. Once a student has gained some ideas of things they enjoy doing (or don’t enjoy) and/or are good at, it makes it much easier to start to think about professions and careers that might be of interest to them in the future.
One very useful website that I will be using with Year 9 students over the coming weeks is: https://www.prospects.ac.uk. This is a UK website which helps students think about careers available to them. You can take a quick quiz by using their ‘Career Planner’. There are a series of sections on ‘Skills’, ‘Motivations’ and ‘Desires’. If students answer these honestly, then as a result of the quiz, the software suggests a number of career choices. You need to know, obviously, what level of qualification you are aiming to achieve to make it meaningful. Once the student has found some careers that interest them, they can drill down further and find out what subjects might be useful at GCSE, A level and degree; what training is required and for how long; and (sometimes most importantly) what they could get paid.
For many students having a goal is very important because they start to see the reasons why an education and good grades are important. Not only that, but often students see subjects with fresh eyes realising that it is an important subject for their career path. For instance, GCSE History is no longer about facts and dates, but an important stepping stone to the legal profession; being able to read about legal precedents and understanding why we have particular laws is based on History. On top of that being able to write reports, judgements and recommendations requires sophisticated writing skills which is something that is a goal of both GCSE and A level History.
So, it is never too early to start thinking about the future as goal setting and having a sense of purpose in life enhances your understanding of why school, education and achievement is so important.
Best wishes,
Mrs Avis Parker,
Assistant Headteacher, Head of Key Stage 3 & 4
A message from Carr House
It is not about the destination, it is about the journey!
The much anticipated House Music Competition has come and gone but the life lessons that we all learnt from this experience remain. I often remind the Carr boys that in many situations, it is the journey that is often more important than the actual destination.
Through the process of preparing for the House Music competition, many Carr boys can now understand this concept a lot better. The many hours of rehearsals and preparation were often very tiring, took away lots of free time and added extra pressure to an already busy and stressful day. Yet, it was in these days of preparation that determination, patience and perseverance were exercised and strengthened in every Carr boy.
Through this process, I saw leadership skills in boys that I had never seen before; I saw Carr boys working together as one big team; I saw boys compromising selflessly; I saw boys developing in their skills with their musical instruments; I saw teamwork skills being learned as well as strengthened; I saw boys push themselves out of their comfort zones to step on to the stage. What I saw made me proud and ever so happy because the boys could see how important the journey is.
There were probably many more things that happened along this journey, which have developed and shaped the Carr boys, that I did not see.
Another common phrase I use with the Carr boys is: “It is not whether you win or lose, it is how you played the game”. Through their journey of House Music Competition this phrase was not just something they heard from me constantly but it has become a reality and a life lesson to them all. Carr boys played the game of preparing for the House Music Competition, in an excellent manner and journeyed well to their final destination of their three performances for the House Music Competition. I am so proud of them all.
In the words of Ernest Hemingway: “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
Have a great weekend,
Mrs Jenny Garnett, HMM Carr House.
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A Message from Rosebery House
From Rosebery, dear reader, a treat this time. Rather than me droning on, four of our juniors share some reflections on their first term.
This from Justina…
Epsom has numerous opportunities, diverse students and memorable socials, just several factors that shape Epsom to be as exceptional as it is. One of my favourite things about Epsom is how the boarding houses welcome students from all over the world and allow them to grow and experience new events, culture and meet new people. As a member of Rosebery (also known as the best boarding house), house events have been planned to strengthen Roseberians’ relationships with one another. An example of this is when family groups were established in order to have a close group of housemates to depend on. Family group names were inspired by powerful women: Serena Williams, Emma Watson, and Sanna Marin, for example. Starting from next week, family groups are going to socialise with one another after prep time. Future events include a Thanksgiving dinner and Secret Santa. I look forward to these events and hope that Epsomians will too.
Gabby has this to say:
Epsom has been good so far this term. Some highlights about being in Rosebery are some of the awesome socials that have been held. My favourite was when Maya and Teja’s parents bought some pizza for us to have after rehearsal for house singing. They bought lots of pizza and drinks and snacks for us to have and we were allowed to stay in Rosebery until 9pm. Also, when the sixth formers got their GCSE results, there was a celebration social where we got to put toppings on pizza, cook it and eat it. We also got to do some drawing/painting and watched a film and again we got to stay in Rosebery until 9pm. Rosebery has been like a family to me because my friends and I have become a family with children in Rosebery as grandparents, mums, aunts, cousins and fun stuff like that.
And these are Rania’s thoughts.
My first few months in Epsom have been very eventful. The things that I love the most about Epsom is the togetherness of Rosebery and how genuine it is. Everyone here has such a meaningful bond and all the seniors are very friendly and welcoming. Socials in Rosebery are arranged for us all to enjoy together as a house. An example of this is when a strawberry and sarnies afternoon tea social was held near the start of term to show and embrace the spirit of Rosebery. This was where together, we enjoyed the sandwiches that Ms Carol, Rosebery’s matron, Ms Shanthi and Ms Orpwood prepared for us. We are all looking forward to our next strawberries and sarnies which will be next week. My favourite thing about Rosebery is that we are all able to be ourselves and have fun. I look forward to the terms ahead and the many memories we will continue to make in Rosebery.
While for Siha, another highlight altogether.
Hello everyone! My name is Siha, a.k.a (also known as) Shasha. I am a year 7 girl from Rosebery and I’m going to explain all about our hard work making the Diwali decorations. Special thanks to everyone who helped!
When Ms. Orpwood, Rosebery’s Housemistress, told us all about the Deepavali decorations, I knew that I was meant for this job. I love creating and making stuff, so this got me pretty excited. My best friend, Yoolim, and I decided to join this activity because of our common love and interest in arts and crafts. Being so eager to start this project, and after testing our patience, we decided to ask Ms. Orpwood about when we could start this. Ms. Orpwood told us that we could start it on Thursday. So on Thursday, we asked our friend, Dana, about when and what we should do, and she told us to meet in the day girls’ room. (Please forgive me if I didn’t remember correctly!!) And so we started; I made flower garlands with Sutri, Rania, and Dana. Sutri found a video for us and after she described how we could make it, we all began making the garlands. Sehee and Yoolim made the Diwali banners. We started this at about eight thirty and stopped this work at about nine. Because of our busy schedules, we didn’t have much time to finish. Besides that, Dana is a day student, and Yoolim and I have to hand in devices at nine, so this made it even more complicated. But through this hard work and sacrifice, we finally finished the flower garlands. The next day, Dana brought more materials from her home, which was really helpful. We had a bunch of materials left from the House Unison, since Rosebery made flowers for the hair. But other than that, we didn’t have much. Thankfully, Ms Carol Peters had put the light decorations in the basket, too, after Dana. Without their help, Rosebery wouldn’t have made such fabulous Deepavali decorations. Anyway, at lunch break, Dana, Yoolim, Sehee, Sutri, and Rania came to do the decorations on the Rosebery stand. I painted the lanterns while Dana and the others did some other important stuff. At dinner time, or maybe before or after, I’m not sure-but anyway, around that time, Mr. Devan gave us forty minutes to finish the decorations. I finished the last few touches on the lanterns alongside Keith, and Dana arranged the flower garlands. Sutri, Rania, and several other girls did the colored rice as well. Rania painted the photo frame and so did Yoolim. Yoolim and I also put the lights around the whole decoration so it looked even more gorgeous than it was before. Someone printed a photo of the whole of Rosebery to relish the memories. And so, this is all the hard work Rosebery did for the Deepavali contest.
With juniors like these, it’s no wonder that Rosebery is as optimistic as it is. We leave you with a selection of photos, of Deepavali and Hallowe’en. Enjoy!
Kate Orpwood
HMM Rosebery
A Message from our EAL Department
EAL at Epsom
It has been a busy term so far for students studying English as an Additional Language (EAL) in Epsom. Pupils studying English face a wide range of challenges at many different levels but how fitting for them that we have just had the opportunity to celebrate the Halloween festivities.
Why, I hear you ask? It is because of zombies and how much they love the passive tenses in English. It is useful to know about zombies no matter how high your English level is and also important to be able to use the passive tenses.
First of all, what are the differences between active and passive sentences:
Active: I ate an apple.
Passive: An apple was eaten by me.
Active: Recently, she has been telling lies.
Passive: Recently, lies have been being told by her.
Active: The prefects are going to have planned all of the Christmas activities before the end of next week.
Passive: All of the Christmas activities are going to have been planned by prefects before the end of next week.
The passive can be more confusing and is certainly more wordy but it is useful for sounding more formal or if you don’t know or need to know who is doing the activity. It allows us to focus on the important topic: parents might prefer to hear that you have finished your homework but teachers would choose to hear that the homework has been finished.
So, what about the zombies?
They can help students recognise if the sentence is in a passive tense: if you can put ‘by zombies’ behind the verb, you are probably using the passive. Perhaps, an apple was eaten by zombies and lies have been told by zombies, and perhaps the Christmas activities are going to have been planned by zombies too.
I wonder if this Friday Flyer will be read by zombies as well…
Happy Friday!
Mr Dean Jones, HMM Granville House and Head of EAL
Special Events and Prefect Initiatives
Momovocal
Dear all,
Happy Friday Everyone!
We are the KS4 Academic Prefects, Woorin and Damon!
As explained in the assembly earlier in the week, this event features two songs that will come in handy in your school life, and you are given a chance to sing them for as long as you want to!
We will hold two separate events for KS3 and KS4/5s
- Where: GC (Grayling Centre)
- When: Wednesday 16th of November for KS3, Thursday 17th of November for KS4/5s
- Time: 8 PM to 9 PM for all Key Stages
The Pi Song (Memorize 100 Digits Of π) | SCIENCE SONGS
The Periodic Table Song (2018 Update!) | SCIENCE SONGS
- How?
- Form a group of three or fewer (the more the merrier, but the maximum is three!)
- Memorise either one or both songs above
- Fill in the Google Form that we sent out attached to sign up!
- Points are recorded depending on the duration of singing (1sec=1point)
- Judges (Mr Bevan, Mrs Sankey, Mr Cheng) will judge your performance based on categories such as vocal, accuracy, and entertainment
- Whichever team has the highest total point will win!
The winners will be given a Large box of pizza and a bottle of fizzy drink of choice!
We will send further details through email, so please check your inbox often! We greatly appreciate your participation. We are looking forward to seeing you all there 🙂
Best wishes,
Damon and Woorin:)
Creative Writing at Epsom
We are very fortunate at Epsom in that we have teachers who are passionate about their subjects. One such teacher is Miss Kitchin, who runs the Epsom Creative Writing CCA.
Miss Kitchin, along with her colleagues in the English Department, has launched a creative writing competition and the winners will be entered into the FOBISIA Creatifve Writing Competition.
Don’t be shy, give it a try!!
Another fantastic opportunity for students to shine is the The Blue-White Dot Short Story Writing Competition to embark on a literary journey towards achieving the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)!
Entry closes on 31 Dec 2022.
Write a 2,500–3,500-word fictional story centred around the themes in the SDGs to stand a chance to get published and earn royalties!
Epsom Language Society
A Presentation by Teja (Y12)
Hey you! Dah makan ke?
On the 4th of November, the Language Society held its first session for the 2022/23 ECiM academic year. We presented the“Top 10 Malaysian Slang Words You Should Probably Know By Now”.
Malaysian slang is confusing. Each region has its own slangs, because slangs are special to specific groups of people within a certain context. Yet, this colloquialism marks a Malaysian–someone you know has spoken using slang at some point. And if you frequent the mamak like most students here, you’ll understand the depth of its significance.
Of course, you cannot let people go about as they please once they wield the Malaysian slang superpower. We introduced “pocket guidelines” to slang usage. Slang is used in informal settings with your friends, and should be avoided in conversations with your elders or people of authority.
We sadly cannot address all the slang words in the presentation, so we picked on some audience favourites. Many enjoyed “potong stim” (cut steam) which actually means “mood killer”. Another one many liked is “cincai” or “belacan” (it resulted in teasing the audience members). Don’t misunderstand, belacan is a Malaysian trademark, but the process of making it can get messy. Which is why we use cincai and belacan to describe unintelligible written work–it’s likely it holds amazing content (equated to delicious belacan flavour), but the process of creation looks less than desirable. Seriously though, do try belacan!
To end the presentation, we introduced a phrase familiar to Malaysians–nay, to people across many cultures.
“Dah makan ke?” is part of the Malaysian greeting, asked to the person you’re talking to as part of saying “Hello”. As a Malaysian, I can tell you no one truly knows how this emerged in Malaysian culture–one idea centralises mamak culture in the Malaysian experience, so our conversations revolve around food. Another one considers Malaysia during early development, where large areas experienced varying degrees of poverty. This meant that meals were uncertain, thus the question “Have you eaten yet?” became commonplace.
But our favourite interpretation was simple: maybe we all just care for each other. That is why you find this culture with all Malaysians, but also with Koreans, and those from Chinese speaking countries, and any groups where community is sacred–we inherently care for one another. And when we were asked by our Headmaster, Mr. Brown, what typically came of the conversation if someone replied “No, I haven’t,” the unanimous response was a variation of “Oh, I’ll treat you to food!” It warms the heart the way food warms the soul.
It’s strange to see how Malaysian slangs became a profound lesson for those present. But it makes you realise how kindness and empathy is a language of its own–maybe, the easiest one to date.
So really; have you eaten today?
Written by: Teja (Y12) – Language Society Secretary
Humanities Week at Epsom
The Humanities Society has hosted a ‘Humanities Week’ this week (7th to 11th of November), where we held a series of educational and social events on the theme of Humanities for students.
The schedule was as follows:
TUESDAY 8th
During a lunchtime session on ‘Malaysian Mother Citizenship’ Rachel & Pei Wen examined perceived injustices within the bodies responsible for officiating Malaysian citizenships where, unlike children of Malaysian fathers (without a Malaysian partner), children of Malaysian mothers (without a Malaysian partner) may be denied citizenship. This presentation included examples of how this has impacted people, and further explored current measures that are being undertaken to tackle this problem.
WEDNESDAY 9th
During a lunchtime session on ‘Mount St. Helens’ led by Keia & Woorin we gained insight into ‘Mount St. Helens’, the most active volcano in the United States. We looked through the timeline of Mt St. Helens’ volcanic eruptions and its devastating impacts, with a short feature of how it has contributed to the developments of safety precautions.
THURSDAY 10th
During Sixth Form Assembly, Lana,Vash, Hitesh & Nanako discussed the ‘Menendez Brothers Trial’ Forum. Later there was a lunchtime Session on the ‘Itaewon Stampede’ led by Tiha and then came the event we were most thrilled for – an evening social/contest based on the trivia game show Family Feud/Jeopardy, which required students to sign up in advance in order to take part as contestants. Winners received FREE Tealive drinks! The trivias were(obviously) centred on the Humanities.
FRIDAY 11th
We enjoyed a lunchtime Session on the ‘Correlation of Domestic Violence Rates and Football Games in the UK’. This session was organised in collaboration with the Sports Society led by Jenson & Xin Ling.
Thank you all for your support!
The Humanities Soc:)
Marvelous Music
I would like to share with you about my performance in the SSYO’s year end grand concert on Saturday 17 Dec 2022 at 8.30pm at The Platform, Menara KEN, TTDI. I will be performing solo for Vivaldi’s Autumn First movement from The Four Seasons at the concert 🙂 Other repertoire includes :
Overture from Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach, Slavonic Dance No.8 by Dvorak, selections from Four Seasons Violin Concerto by Vivaldi, Intermezzo (from Cavalleria Rusticana) by Mascagni, selections from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky and more.
Feel free to share the below with friends who may be interested to attend :
Tickets are on sale now
Presenting you our Year-End Grand Concert performed by one of the premiere youth orchestras in Malaysia – the Selangor Symphony Youth Orchestra (SSYO). This concert will also feature 4 violin soloists from the members of the orchestra, in which each soloist will perform a movement of the all-time-favourite Four Seasons Violin Concerto by Vivaldi. Come, support, and witness the 45 outstanding young Malaysian musicians to take centre stage on a one-night-only concert!
CONCERT PROGRAMME:
– Overture from Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach.
– Slavonic Dance No.8 by Dvorak.
– Selections from Four Seasons Violin Concerto by Vivaldi.
– Intermezzo (from Cavalleria Rusticana) by Mascagni.
– Selections from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky.
– 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky.
– plus others.
Secure your tickets at
Thanks and regards,
Anna Ruth
Powerman Success -Well done Nurfatiha!
Recently Nurfatiha participated in the Powerman Competition on 29th October 2022 at Putrajaya and she won 1st place under category 13-15 years ( 2km run – 8km cycle – 2km run).
We wanted to know more about Nurfatiha’s training schedule and so asked her some questions as follows:
- How do you prepare for events like this – how often do you train, how do you train, where and who with?
I always ensure that I have enough rest prior to competition and adequately train leading up to events. How do you train, where and who do you train with?
I have been a member of the M3X Triathlete Club, Putrajaya since 2019, where I train every weekend starting 7am in the morning until 11am. The training consists of running, cycling and swimming.
Additionally, I also sign up for swimming lessons twice weekly at D’Swim Academy, Aquatic Centre Bukit Jalil. Every lesson lasts for 2 hours in the evening and I have been doing this since 2019.
I also train every weekend for Underwater Hockey at Whale Swim and Diving Academy from 6.30pm until 9.30pm. I started this training in 2021.
For every lesson that I take part in, I am under the supervision of my respective Coaches together with other athletes in my age group.
- How did you become such a successful sportswoman?
I remain very committed and focused with rigorous training schedules, I maintain my discipline during the training, and take training very seriously. I always set targets and goals in every competition that I participate in but I am never pushed to the limit.
I always ensure that I take balanced meals daily which consist of sufficient carbohydrates and protein to meet my daily training requirements.
- What were the highs and lows of the Powerman event?
In some events, I lost to older competitors in my age groups but that never deterred me from being more competitive.
My mother and father always motivate and encourage me to perform better in future events.
- What advice would you give to anyone thinking of taking part?
Be fully prepared in terms of training, and dietary requirements.
Get proper support from your parents as their involvement in sports means a lot of sacrifice in terms of time, money, and energy.
Epsom Co Curricular (CCA)
The Term 1 Co Curricular (CCA) programme has been up and running for nearly 10 weeks now and the students are enjoying the wide range of activities on offer. It has been great to see and hear about everything that has been going on.
Mr Bevan and the students working towards their Silver and Gold International Awards have been busy planning and preparing for their trips. As part of their preparations; this week, the nurses kindly delivered a first aid session focused on dehydration, insect bites/stings, broken bones and CPR. Furthermore, Gold Award students are planning to cycle to and from Melaka for their assessed trip. As a warm up they will soon be cycling to Port Dickson, where they will camp close to the beach overnight before cycling back the following day. Meanwhile, the Silver Award students are currently planning a journey to Hulu Langat, where they will be camping next to a river, visiting waterfalls, river swimming and completing rope circuit courses.
Mrs Parker and her chefs have been cooking up a variety of dishes from across the globe with Cauliflower mac and cheese on the menu this week. Other highlights so far include Chapathi pizzas, Enchiladas, American pancakes, Pesto chicken sandwiches, Pasta bake and Pineapple fried rice. Places in Cooking CCA are in high demand and you can understand why!
Making use of the World Class Hockey pitch here at Epsom Ms Madeley has been introducing students to Hockey every Tuesday and it has proven very popular. We will be looking to put on more sessions in Term 2 for more age groups.
Every Wednesday the student-led STEM & Coding CCA meet with the aim to help students develop their IT skills. Over the half term break a number of them entered the Malaysian Coding Competition, which was open to all students studying in Malaysia and Malaysian students who are studying abroad. A big well done to both Afifah Binti Abdul Azmil and Ammar Bin Anaz on achieving Bronze in the Senior Category. As medallists, they have been selected to participate in the qualifying rounds for the Malaysian Coding Olympiad (MCO) 2023, which aims to select Malaysia’s representatives for the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).
Every Tuesday and Wednesday Mrs Calder and Mrs Garnett are hard at work getting the students ready for the upcoming and much anticipated end of term festive performance. They are remaining tight lipped about the script but it is sure to be a great show!
Football CCA has also been a big hit this term with both girls and boys, so much so that we now have U15 Girls and Boys, U13 Boys and U19 Girls and Boys teams. Oasis International School recently travelled to Epsom for fixtures. Notably the eight of the U15 Girls played their first ever football match. Well done girls!
Both the U15 and U19 Girls and Boys now turn their attention to the BISP (British International School Phuket) Soccer 7s Tournament in just a few weeks time. Epsom will be sending 39 students to compete across two days. The students are very much looking forward to experiencing a new country; representing Epsom; meeting new friends from across the continent and making great memories, on what will be the first international trip post-pandemic.
I am sure you will join me in wishing them the best of luck.
Look out for a full write up about the BISP Tournament in an upcoming December issue of the Friday Flyer.
That’s all for now folks – enjoy your weekend!!
Ms Alice Back
CCA Coordinator
