CONGRATULATIONS

Our heartiest congratulations to Mr John Redman for his appointment as Assistant Headteacher and Phase Leader for Phase 1 (FS) as of 01 January 2010. Mr Redman is very experienced and his expertise in ICT will certainly benefit the children and school. We wish him all the best and every success in his new role of Assistant Headteacher.

WELCOME

A warm welcome to children who joined this this term - Theresa-Marie McLean and Kevin Rai in Year 2 Ruby and Asim Magar in Year Year 6 Maroon. We hope Theresa enjoys her time with us and we are so pleased to have her in Hornbill. Likewise, we extend a warm welcome to Mr Gyanendra Banks, who is our new Nepali Specialist Teacher in Year 1. Mr Banks brings a lot of experience from Nepal and is a man of many talents especially in music. Our children and school will certainly benefit from his experience and talents. We are very pleased to have him in our staff and hope his stay and experience working in Hornbill School is wonderful.

Family Learning Programme (FLP)

Our first Family Learning Programme (FLP) for this term was  held on Wednesday 13 January at the Main Site from 1700 - 1745 hours for parents whose children are in Phase 2 and/or Phase 3 (Year 1 to Year 6). The main focus of  the session was our 21st Century Curriculum. The session was led by Mr Craig Gill and assisted by Nepali Specialist Teachers. Parents who attended the evening got opportunities to develop further understanding of the curriculum as well as ask questions. They even contributed their ideas on various human values which form the important component of our curriculum.

Saraswati Pooja Day Celebration Assembly

The Saraswati Pooja Day Celebration Assembly led by Year 2, was held successfully on Friday, 22nd January. Children spoke on the importance and various aspects of the celebration in the assembly. They also performed a special catwalk to demonstrate their African costumes designed by themselves. They also sang an African song and played African drums.

Family Learning Programme (FLP) on Maths

We had a very successful Family Learning Programme (FLP) on Maths(Calculation) on Wednesday, 3rd February 2010. It was led by Mr Colin Hunter (Maths Subject Leader) and assisted by Nepali Specialist Teachers. The main purpose of the evening was to familiarize parents with various calculation methods that their children learn at school. Those parents who attended the evening were very excited to try on some hand on activities set for them. It was attended by more than 45 parents. Here are some of the comments from parents:

‘This session was very useful for all parents.’ – Mrs Bindubala Subba

‘This learning evening was very useful and beneficial for all the parents. Thank you very much and hope more will be held in future. I would like more sessions on problem solving.’ – Mr Shane McLean

Expressive Arts Week 2010

We had a very successful and exciting Expressive Arts Week from 15 – 18 February 2010 at Hornbill. We started it with a special launching assembly on Monday 15 February where parents and teachers were invited to perform and share their singing and dancing talents. The children gained so much inspiration from the various performances and workshops. We thank Maj Yam Bahadur Rana MVO GM for 2 RGR Khukuri Dance Team, 2 RGR Pipes and Drums, Mrs Debbie Hunter, Rhythmic Arts, Chung Hua Middle School from Kuala Belait for the Lion Dance, Mr Gyanendra Banks, Mrs Bernice Rai, Mrs Helen Cowlan, Mrs Liz Measom, Mr Govinda Gurung, Mr Sarvagya Mani Pradhan, Mr Rajesh Thapa, Capt Brightwell, Lt Buckley, Mr Colin Hunter and The Downloads (from Heaven) for their fantastic performances and the workshops. Special thanks go to Mrs Liz Measom and Mr Craig Gill for organising the Expressive Arts Week. The children participated in exciting activities like guitar, African drumming, dancing, Khukuri dance and art and craft lessons. This superb art week was concluded with a closing assembly on Thursday where children from each year group were invited to share the work they had done and what they had gained from the Expressive Arts Week.

6th Annual International Conference 2010

Hornbill School successfully organised its 6th Annual International Conference on Friday, 19th February 2010 at Hotel Sutera Biru Plaza in Kuala Belait. The theme of the conference was ‘Leading the Leaders of Tomorrow’.  It was attended by 90 participants from 12 different local and international schools from Brunei and Malaysia as well as officials from the Ministry of Education, Brunei. The conference was inaugurated by His Excellency Rob Fenn, British High Commissioner to Brunei and led by Mr Peter Batty, Senior Lecturer, University of Cumbria, UK. The conference focussed on effective teamwork, leadership and the importance of effective communication for an organisation and also for our leaders of tomorrow. The whole day turned out to be very interesting, highly motivating and thoroughly enjoyable for all the participants. Please, click here to go to the download page.