Sunday, November 16th - Pusat Promosi Kesihatan FUN DAY!

I'll be there with my students after our preview recording for our Children's Drama under the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union!

Hope to see familiar faces there!

Pic taken from www.ranoadidas.com

What are you gonna do when you see a monster?

Murano - *You had me at hello!*

Several teachers in Brunei Darussalam have expressed mixed reactions towards the full implementation of the "SPN 21"

The Brunei Times interviewed local teachers who spoke of their readiness with adapting to the new system and the challenges that have yet to be considered before the full implementation in 2009.

Remy Salleh from Sayiddina Hussein Secondary School, 27, stated that it was time Brunei adapted to a new system. The Drama cum Geography teacher stated that Brunei is set back by 15 years already and is thrilled at the prospect of dropping their titles as teachers and acting as primary facilitators of classrooms instead.

"Gone is the chalk 'n' talk system. Where we used to treat students like parrots, we are now looking at 10 per cent of teacher roles in classrooms, the rest will be by the students, we act as guides, hence, we are the facilitators," he said.

He stated that him and his peers have already started implementing this system long before it started. He stated that he also teaches Geography and is never in the classroom and encourages research. "They are now learning for the sake of learning. They have fun," he said. However, with all great systems there are also flaws that need to be considered. He stated that there are still issues of catchment areas that need to be considered.

"The SPN21 is geared towards student centred teaching. Given Bruneian schools, itis not shocking to hear that there are 30 to 40 students in a class. Bear in mind, in pupil-centred teaching there cannot be more than 25 pupils in the classroom," he said.

He stated that he teaches four classes in which the biggest number of students he had is 47.
"If there are a huge number of students, it will reduce your focus and we will lack the time to monitor students properly," he said.

Although he hopes for the building of more schools, he stated that a more realistic idea would be for the authorities to consider reducing the catchment areas. "Give options for other schools to get students from these high catchment areas as well," he said.

Norizzah Hj Othman, a teacher from Sayiddina Hassan Secondary School also stated that they have yet to receive standardised textbooks from the Ministry of Education (MoE) that should be outlined so that there is a clear method for module preparation as well as assessment. "The curriculum department has to work hard on this so we are able to give proper assessments and set up a syllabus and such," she said.

She said that at the moment, there were no current textbooks, so teachers are to often scurry around for material everywhere for their students' notes. She also said that all schools are coming up with their own notes. "Form teachers are taking their notes from everywhere just to make preparations," she said. She also said that each school has different sets of syllabus notes which might not be properly aligned with the syllabus.

Noorhayati Hj Tuah, from Dato Mahawangs a Lambak Primary School, also stated another challenging factor of the new system which is how the students will be able to comprehend each syllabus and be able to effectively understand them.

She stated that the syllabus is focused more on the proficiency of the English language and for some students this might pose as a major problem in terms of understanding. She also stated that the MoE will be handing out the syllabus in December and also stated how there is still no transparency in the handling of the syllabus. "We haven't seen the syllabus yet and the teachers are still not prepared. They don't even really know what they will be teaching," she said.

She also stated that it was too early to see the effectiveness of SPN21 and predicted that in the six months after its implementation, it may not work. Marienah Hj Umar, 33, also spoke of the syllabus in terms of updating them. She stated that relevant authorities need to revise the new syllabus because it is in need of a new face. "Some of them are not up to date and irrelevant to the current times," she said.

However, she stated that these were minor problems that needed to be ironed out and stated that there was actually no problem in transparency when it comes to the new system and hopes that by working with MoE they will be able to overcome these challenges. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

So So So In Love! *Cant Wait!* - "Twilight"

Edward Cullen's Quotes from Twilight:

"Do you trully belive that you really care more for me than I do for you?"

"Of course, keeping you safe is beginning to feel like a full time occupation that requires my constant presence"

"So you never met anyone you wanted?"

"They don't understand why I can't leave you alone"

"I told you - you don't see yourself clearly at all. You're not like anyone I've ever known. You fascinate me"

"People are predictable. But you... you never do what I expect. You always take my by surprise"

"It's too easy to be myself with you"

"I promise.. I swear not to hurt you"

"Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin"

"Bella, I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt you. You don't know how it's tortured me. The thought of you, still, white, cold... to never see you blush scarlet again, to never see that flash of intuition in your eyes when you see through my pretenses... it would be unendurable. You are the most important thing in my life now. The most important thing to me ever"

p.s. That's all for now. Will share with you more in my next posts. Enjoy!

Now, PSR results will come to you via SMS!

GETTING the results of this year's Primary School Assessment (PSR) will be at parents' and guardians' fingertips as the Ministry of Education are collaborating with DST Communications Systems Sdn Bhd, B-Mobile Sdn Bhd and Mach Telecommunications to bring a value-added service to the receiving of examination results via Short Messaging System (SMS).

The ministry yesterday held a briefing for headmasters and headmistresses of both public and private primary schools nationwide at Rimba I Primary School. Relaying information regarding the new service were the Acting Director of Information Communication Technology, Hj Abd Rahim Derus, and Acting Director of Examinations, Hj Muhd Masa Masdi Muhd Sa'idun.

They spoke of the background of the service as well as its terms and conditions for the public interested in subscribing to it. Parents and guardians who want to get a hold of the results as soon as possible can register for the service through the ministry's portal on www.moe.edu.bn. DSTCom users can also do so through SMS. In both cases, subscribers need to make sure that both centre numbers and candidate numbers are accurate.

During the briefing, participants were reminded to pass on the information to parents and guardians through circulars and memos. After registration, which begins tomorrow (November 10), the personalised results would then be pushed to mobile phones via SMS as soon as permission is granted from higher authorities.

Compared to previous years where parents and guardians would approach the ministry and pay $10 for a diskette with the results, the service costs only $3.During the briefing, Hj Abd Rahim explained that diskettes will no longer be made available to the public.He said that the results via SMS was made an option as it would have almost 100 per cent penetration to the public. He added that in the future, the same services may be extended to other public examinations.

During a question and answer session after the briefing, he acknowledged that with the ministry promoting the use of ICT in schools, there is a possibility that results may also be sent via emails in the future.

It was clarified yesterday that the ministry would not be held responsible for delays or unsuccessful delivery of SMS results due to the mobile phone being switched off, network failure, network congestion or natural catastrophe.

Among the terms and conditions included that the forwarding of the SMS result is not permitted.

14th - 16th November - DST Group Open Day Carnival @ DST HQ! Be there!!

November 6th 2008 - Latest Pics of Dato' Seri Siti Nurhaliza (=

Photos taken from: www.murai.com.my

Attention to all Bruneians: TWO GIRLS MISSING LAST SUNDAY!

Please email to your friends!

Someone out there may be able to help Ms Diddy Lim to locate her nieces.

Dear Friends,

My sister has lost two of her lovely daughters last Sunday and we are very desperate to find them. Therefore I decided to forward out the mail to all my friends and would appreciate that you can give us a helping hand.

My nieces' details:

Sarah Lai WanJun, 13 yrs old, about 160 cm

Cory Lai Kai Li, 8 yrs old, about 130cm

Please forward out this mail with all the pictures attached and keep a look out if you have seen any of them. A million thanks to all.

Thanks and Regards.

Jessica
Tel: 333 4444

Irene Tan
Security Documentation Unit
Tel: +6732656483 / +6732658048
Fax: +6732656482 / +6732651912

Study in UK Education Fair - November 11th, 2008 @ Centrepoint Hotel - Be there!