Welcome to New Students and Parents

Welcome to Alice Smith School.

Together with members of our Leadership Team, Christopher Draper, Richard Hayward and Trevor Spence, I would like to welcome you all to the Secondary School at Equine Park.

Having been established in 1946, eleven years before Malaysia’s independence, The Alice Smith School has been part of the Malaysia through some significant periods in the country’s history and has developed into a modern, vibrant, respected international school. 
Like Malaysia itself, it is a harmonious melting pot of cultures.  And like Malaysia, it combines innovation with tradition.  The secondary school builds upon a strong and well-deserved reputation locally and internationally but sets its sights firmly on the future.

The central part of the school is, of course, the students. We count ourselves privileged to have the opportunity to work with Alice Smith students.  They come from a wide range of countries and cultures and bring with them a wealth of wisdom and experience. They are energetic, articulate, motivated, confident, tolerant, caring and eager to make their mark on the world. 
We are also blessed with world-class facilities, which we’re continually updating and expanding, most recently with a RM2 million Performing Arts Centre, a new Art and Design building and an newly refurbished Design Technology Centre.  During 2008-09, we will be significantly enhancing our ICT provision to ensure a 21st Century education for 21st Century students.

My teaching colleagues are drawn from the best worldwide and the administrative and support staff are dedicated professionals. Together they make a significant contribution to the education of the students.  In such a context, we expect nothing less than all-round excellence.
One of the great strengths of the English style of international education that we offer here at The Alice Smith School is that such excellence involves all aspects of students’ moral, physical, emotional, aesthetic, social and academic development.  High standards are focused on each individual student’s personal best.  That personal best is achieved through superb teaching supported and complemented by the guidance of the form tutors and the student welfare team.

The joint emphasis on guidance, welfare and achievement is reflected in the leadership structure of the school, where an equal importance is placed on the roles of our senior colleagues.  Our three Assistant Principals work have specific responsibilities to connect student guidance and support to academic achievement, ensuring that each student is known socially and intellectually.  They work with our Faculty and subject leaders to ensure the highest possible standards of teaching and learning, supported by a programme of continuous professional development.

We are very proud of the range of co-curricular activities on offer. Our programme is one of the defining features of students’ school experience at Alice Smith.
Alongside the arts, culture and sport, there is also a strong commitment to active service and intercultural understanding through the INTERACT group and the International Award, which some of you may know of as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in the United Kingdom and the Award for Young People elsewhere in Asia.  These provide students with opportunities to contribute locally, regionally and internationally, preparing them for a future as responsible citizens and leaders in a global community.

Through these rich and varied experiences, students joining us embark on a journey to develop into resourceful, resilient, reflective individuals, able to take responsibility for their own lives and play their part in the rapidly changing world in which they live.

Academic success remains an essential part of that journey.  The Alice Smith School does not have an academic selection policy and yet students achieve extremely good examination results, well above English national averages and on a par with many selective UK schools. 
Most important, however, is that all students achieve their full potential.  To that end, we have a well established Curriculum Support Unit and we monitor the progress of each student very carefully and keep you fully informed through reports and parent-teacher meetings.

Once again, welcome.  To parents, thank you for entrusting your children to us. 
To students - we’re very much looking forward to your contributions to our community:  your skills; your talents; your enthusiasm; your energy; your creativity – they’ll enrich the lives of all of us here.  We’ll endeavour to enrich your lives, so that you become the very best that you can be.

Richard Dyer
Principal
Secondary School