A shorter week but nevertheless a busy one. Sports contests, Economics competitions, Year 1 excursions, EYC Parent Information Session, IGCSE exams in Secondary and today Staff Appreciation Day.

Yesterday I witnessed our under-11 boys win another competition in football, and our girls participating and dominating in volleyball. I watched the boys for a while and they certainly had slick one touch passes that made them as a team very hard to beat. Congratulations to all and well done to the PE Department for coaching these teams.

Onto academics, last Friday we had 58 contestants from our school who participated in the Kijang Economics Competition. This is organised by Kijang Economics Malaysia with the collaboration of Ministry of Education. The duration of the competition was 1 hour and each student was provided with 30 MCQ questions to answer. The top 10% score will receive medals and all participants will receive certificates.

The objective of the competition is to develop students' potential with logical thinking and problem solving skills in Economics. While, simultaneously, boosting students' creative thinking and curiosity by discovering new ideas and solutions. More information can be found in Kijang Economics. Our aim was to get all of our economics Year 11 to participate so that they will at least get a certificate as recognition. The results will be announced by the organisers on the 10th May. I would like to thank Miss Roshini for taking the initiative on this.

Since today is Staff Appreciation Day I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my staff working at TIS Puchong and it was so good to see so many parents attending the celebrations on Friday and by doing so saying thank you also. The staff at TIS Puchong are great.

I can tell you that I see their determination and dedication and industry as I walk around, and this emboldens me to say with confidence that this hard work and positive attitude are having an effect now and will pay dividends in years to come. So next time you see the guards or the kitchen staff, our teachers, our Administration staff, or our cleaners maybe say thank you. Overall, I hope that you will agree with me, there are more positives than negatives. This is not to say that we are not working hard to overcome the negatives, we are, but also that recognition should be given the fact that improvements are being made constantly and the right attitude is present.

What I see overwhelmingly, every day, is that our students, your children are by far safe, happy and are learning. I want to say how grateful I am to the lovely group of people who are TIS Puchong employees for their earnestness and their endeavours. I am truly fortunate to be working in a school such as this. So I say thank you to all. Not just today but every day.

Lastly, a reminder to all that at the end of the month we have Eco Week, when as much as possible we are urging everyone at TIS Puchong to be mindful of the environment, to be aware of the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse & Recycle. Therefore, I am and will be urging people to bring in less plastic, to bring in their own utensils for that week, the cafeteria to serve using less plastic, and as much as possible to have a lower carbon footprint that week and hopefully thereafter. There will be a series of events and activities all centered around awareness of our environment and its fragility. If you, dear parents, would like to get involved or have some great ideas, please do get in touch with me and we will see how they can be applied to the school. I am very open to suggestions and the environment is something close to my heart – for 10 years I lectured on this topic for the Open University in the UK. Part of my longer-term vision for the school is to make it as green as possible. Please do come and see me if you have any interest in this area.

Thank you.

Kind regards
Stefano Piumatti
Principal of Taylor’s International School Puchong