Dear Avid readers,
The 5th Speech day & Anniversary concluded with a buffet dinner accompanied by an amazing live band presented by the Honsbridge Band and Overdrive 11 made of Honsbridge Alumni and Beaconhouse students.
The preparation started in full swing since 2pm and by 4.45pm, the show was ready to begin. As with Malaysian timing, we waited for the audiences and started the show just after 5.15pm. The show started in full swing with an introduction by our Emcees namely Seyvaq & Shaun, O Level/ IGCSE graduates class G6.
A big thank you to Taylor’s University Lakeside, students, parents, teachers and guests who supported and attended the event. For those who miss the updates and photos posted online. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the photos on that day compiled by the Honsbridge Principal Committee and the teachers here.
As not all parents of the 19 O Level/IGCSE intakes since inception of Honsbridge will have been able to attend under. Here is the speech dedicated to parents, students, teachers and guests who have supported Honsbridge for the five successful years.
Speech by Ms Emma Furze, Principal of Honsbridge International, at the 5th Speech Day on Saturday, 21 June 2014, 5.15pm at the Taylors College University, Lakeside
Ms. Ee Hooi Cheng
Vice President, Business Development of Taylors College
Vice Principal, Teachers, Parents
My family,
Guests,
Alumnus,
Boys and Girls,
Good evening!
1. I am delighted to be here, to address all of you for the Honsbridge 5th Speech & Anniversary day.
2. For the past 5 years, more than 200 students and teachers have come to call Honsbridge their school and I have heard many who also call Honsbridge their second home. The school is the pioneer preparatory centre for O Level/ IGCSE in 2009, to all the parents and teachers who have joined since, I am proud to say we remain results driven when delivering a conducive learning and teaching environment for our students. This Speech & Anniversary Day is the most extensive annual event for Honsbridge. It would not be possible without the hard work and commitment of our Vice principal, teachers and the 2014 Honsbridge Principal Committee. Together, you create for our students a valuable and vibrant platform for life-long learning.
3. I want our students to have a holistic education. So I have designed our school experiences for students to acquire a broad and deep foundation for a life-long journey of learning. One of such rich experiences is Speech Day.
4. Speech day develops character and values, cultivate positive attitudes and strengthen people skills. Why?
This is because our students from the 19 successful intakes of classes since 2009, they are either a member of the School Student Committees, as emcee, performer, backstage official or just as supportive peer during the busy period leading to the annual Speech Day, when they interact with team mates and they overcome obstacles in pursuit of the goals that my teachers and I have set, the lessons learnt provide them a strong inner core to draw on in the future. In my view, the valuable trait that Speech Day develops is courage to excel, because you and I will soon witness my students and alumni give their all when being Emcees, giving speeches and performances. I believe in presenting awards and prizes to our deserving teachers and students, simply because when they receive their certificates of recognition and prizes, they will be encouraged to excel even more in life. Above all, Speech Day lets everyone to have a good time as one Honsbridge family.
5. Next, I will share with you highlights of the school this year.
At the recently completed Asia’s first O Level challenge in Feb, there were many stories of courage, discipline and eventual triumphs since my teachers and students started campaigning the Challenge in Dec 2013 during the Star Education KLCC fair. My capable and united teachers presented a series of interesting and challenging questions in the form of slide shows and challenge booklets. Student challengers in groups of 3 or 4 competed with good cheer and presented their answers for more than 100 questions. The top three teams won a total of RM500 cash/vouchers and all teams were recognized with certificates of achievement. It was yet another milestone for the school.
Most importantly, we can all be very proud of the school’s 5th consecutive year I in achieving outstanding O Level/ IGCSE results from the class of G8 in their Oct/ Nov 2013 exams. Our graduates achieved with an average of As and Bs across all six subjects namely Math, English, Add Math, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. We rejoice for the more than 70 graduates who have moved on to college and universities. With much faith and hard work from the teachers of the graduating class, G9 I believe the May/June 2014 exam results will be good, this is because I am always pleasantly surprised by the remarkable improvements achieved by our graduates. Their preparation between the Trial exams and their O Level exams made a huge positive impact on the final outcome. Needless to say, I expect the class of G10 to beat the G9 in achieving the most spectacular sets of O Level results for the school to complete 2014. Am I right, G9 & G10?
6. Each year, the Sportsman and Sportswoman tropies are presented by the school to the students who best exemplify the attributes of character, integrity, and sportsmanship on Sports Day. Amidst the recommendations of worthy athletes, I am heartened to announce that Shannon Khoo and Liew San Lom of the Year 11 G10 class, have received the honours this year. I wish all young athletes continue to train hard in order to receive the prestigious trophies next year. For the 3rd year running, the Honsbridge Sports curriculum have developed students in terms of character, comradeship, and mutual respect among players, supporters, and competing with other schools. This is because all students have opportunities to demonstrate character as players, supporters, and even as volunteers. Our teachers also get out of the classrooms to become spectators, trainers and organisers during the busy period leading to this year’s Sports Day at the Kelana Jaya Sports Stadium. Together, the school gains a sense of community and responsibility when parents, students, teachers and guests support one another to host the most successful sports meet 2014.
There are many more highlights for instance, the Honsbridge New Launch in Jan and the complimentary eye and dental screening services at the Segi University in May. All school events and initiatives were organised with the support from teachers and parents with the aim to give various platforms for our students to learn.
7. Onto teacher recognitions, David Butler, a capable Debate Coach, Sports Coach, English Teacher and the longest serving staff, has helped the school to achieve many milestones. I will like to take this chance to present David, the Sports and Debate Coach of the Year Trophies. Let’s welcome David to join me here. Congratulations to David for receiving double accolades from Honsbridge.
This year, I am pleased for many teachers’ achievements. For instance, Farah Hussin has held the 2nd successful History projects and Satya Moturi has organised the 2nd successful Math Competition. Next Speech day, I look forward to nominate both Satya and Farah to receive accolades in anticipation of the next successful History projects and Math Competition. Not forgetting to mention the excellent effort and planning by Catherine Wong to organise outside of classroom trips for 2 consecutive years to impart Biology lessons. I am sure my students will agree with me that they have had a lot of fun learning and sampling (I have not verified this by the way!) at the Guinness Anchor Brewery study tour in May this year. Last but not the least, there were many innovative Chemistry, English, Physics, Business & History projects powered by Samantha Kho, Michelle Toh, David Butler, Yvonne Kong, Sabeeta Singh and Dominic Hon despite his busy schedule as Vice Principal. Our teachers aspire to inject a lot of fun for students reading these subjects. Cheers to the recognition for our teachers’ creative teaching methods and patience to impart knowledge.
8. Moving on, I like to share with you what I have learnt from my teachers, students and their parents in these fantastic 5 years at Honsbridge. I have learnt from my students, teachers and siblings included that I am often forgiving but not always forgetful to collect their homework J. And although students, parents and teachers may disagree with me at times, but I have always received immense support from everyone and for this, I am so blessed and grateful for the good faith that everyone has. For instance, how many students, teachers & parents here remember the major change from smart casual student attire for 4 days to Honsbridge polo student attire for 4 days? I still remember vividly the heated debate between the students and teachers. I learnt that a change in school policy is never easy for students to deal with immediately. There will always be a transition period of getting used to and eventual understanding of the cause behind the change. As my students have shared with me, “We are teenagers and have raging hormones. The freedom of wearing smart casual attire is one of the ways for us to keep our raging hormones from getting the best of us.” I have also learnt from many of the students’ parents, “I fully support the school for implementing school uniform so that I don’t have to worry about my girl wearing too revealing tops, or my boy coming to school in shirts, discipline is lacking somehow!.” My teachers especially welcome the change because they did not need to correct students as much for inappropriate attire. So for 5 years and counting, I have learnt that implementing changes, teaching Math, Add Math, Physics and Chemistry, executing events old or new such as the Sports Day, Cross Country, Career Bazaar, Tree Planting, O Level Challenge and Debate Challenge and interacting with teachers, parents and students take courage, preservation, tenacity and most of all passion in order to achieve the best results for the school. So thank you so much to all of you for giving me these invaluable lessons to learn.
Last but not the least, let me share with you my wish list for the next 5 years at Honsbridge. Before that, I hope that Mr David will not mind, he once said to me this “I couldn’t wait for one of you, he was referring to me, Mr Dominic and Miss Alicia by the way to become parents.” I gathered that he meant when that time comes, there may not be event after events! To be honest, we all hope to find out what will happen when that time comes J In the next 5 years, I will remain dedicated to work hard, to assist my teachers and students to continue breaking boundaries, building bridges and exceeding expectations of themselves. I wish the school will have more success by building on the solid foundations that have been laid for 5 years. I believe my dream will come true because the Honsbridge family has delivered strong growth and O Level results year on year. I like to finally add my teachers’ wishes, “Happy 5th Anniversary, Honsbridge! 5 years still going strong.”
In closing, I want to thank you especially Ms Ee Hooi Cheng, Vice President, Business Development of Taylors College and her team for all the assistance given to the school for this Speech Day. Not forgetting to mention that Honsbridge has accepted the Taylors College Study Tour invitation on the 4 July 2014. The school looks forward to continuous collaboration with the esteemed college university. Let’s give a round of applause for Ms Ee to join me here as I give her the school’s token of appreciation.
And to the dedicated and creative Vice Principal, Mr Dominic, to the best Counsellor, Miss Alicia, teachers, teacher assistants and respected parents, for your dedication and service to the school, thank you so much for your unyielding support for our students. I hope that every family receives a copy of the 198 limited 5th Speech Day souvenir files prepared especially for you. To my family and hubby for their understanding and help from the early mornings to late nights, thank you so much. To all the Honsbridge O Level graduates and alumni, congratulations on completing your high school and best of luck for your future academic and personal pursuits. You have the last homework from me J, find the 5th Speech Day flyer (on the reverse of the flyer) in the Speech Day file, read & enter the Honsbridge story contest with your original O Level success story. There are attractive prizes to win such as RM500 in cash, 16 Peter Marvey Magician Show Genting Showroom Tickets & 16 GSC Movie Tickets. The deadline to enter the story contest is on the 30 Aug 2014. To all my students, your homework today is to let your hair down and have an enriching 5th Speech & Anniversary Day.
Let’s all have a very happy Honsbridge family Day! Thank you.
