Everyone’s in a hustle and bustle as the end of 2011 quickly approaches. Christmas is coming, the New Year is dawning, and alas it’s the festive holiday season that we’re all looking forward to. For schools, it’s also that time of the year where they get ready for some of their biggest school events on their yearly calendars.

So what’s in store for schools at the end 2011 and what goes on behind the event?

Cheering for Christmas

The Christmas Cheer is proudly written on elc International School’s calendar. Being held at the school for the third time running, the Christmas Cheer is an event organised by the elc Interact Club, the parent body being the Rotary Club of Damansara, for various orphanages around Malaysia. Approximately 8 – 10 orphanages are invited to join in the Christmas Cheer and the event brings close to 200 orphans, aged between 5 – 15 years old, to the school.

“The main aim is to show the orphans a good time. To let them unwind and relax with other kids around their age,” says Rajan Kaloo, Director of Services at elc, “Inspiration [for the Christmas Cheer] comes from the happy faces in the photos of all the previous events and Xmas is always the theme! We have gifts, games, events and food all organised for them. There is no income [and] all donations and gifts are handled by the Rotary Club of Damansara, elc International School and elc Parents.”

Date set and invitations sent out to the orphanages, preparations for the Christmas Cheer starts from as early as 6 months before hand, however, the bulk of the planning only commences in October. Some matters that the school needs to consider includes the transport and logistics, food and drinks, games and, of course, Santa Clause!

“It’s always difficult to get a good Santa. Our last Santa looked like he had been on a diet and lost all his weight! So a little more time is going to be spent on securing a Santa Clause this year!” remarks Rajan, “The Rotary Club of Damansara handles the invitations and logistics of the various orphanages and are on hand should the Interact Club run into any difficulties. The Interact Club of elc handles the decorations, the games, the food and the prizes.”

“[Last year] we had great food, great games, great gifts – but the unexpected highlight was when some of the orphanages asked if they could sing for us; in a way to thank us for the day. One group in particular got up and sang about family… for orphans to be singing about that topic was particularly moving.”

This year the invitation only event is going to be held on the 3rd of December, with rotarians, interactors and elc staff and student volunteers helping out to ensure that everyone has a great time.

A Buzzing Bazaar

The Alice Smith School is buzzing with excitement with their Christmas themed plays, carols and charity events planned for the end of the school term; however, it’s their Christmas Bazaar that takes the limelight, having a history that dates back 20 years and possibly further to the establishment of the school in 1946.

Organised by the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA), the Christmas Bazaar helps to gives the expatriate community in KL a feel for Christmas away from home while aiming to foster the spirit of Christmas amongst the Alice Smith community. The bazaar also aims to raise funds to support some of the improvement works in the school as well as PTA selected charities. Well attended by students, parents, staff and invited guests, it is one of the school’s most eagerly anticipated events.

“The main highlights [from last year’s event] which are the favourites amongst the community are the Santa Grotto, the Themed Gift Baskets (the gift basket donated by each Year Group for auction) and the festive entertainment by the talented students of the Alice Smith – this is always a big hit with our parent body,” recalls Aishah Strong, PTA Chairperson of The Alice Smith School.

“PTA will kick start the planning and brainstorming session for the event at the beginning of every new academic year in September,” explains Aishah, “The PTA will form various committees and positions to run the event – food and beverage, sponsorship, publication, marketing of the stalls amongst others. Other parents and key school staff become involved once the initial planning has taken place.”

During the planning, various activities are carried out such as getting the year groups started in organising the themed gift baskets; recruitment of parents and teachers as volunteers for the event; marketing of stalls; and managing the event logistic. “The biggest challenge is getting the right mix of stalls which will offer the best Christmas shopping experience,” say Aishah.

This year the Christmas bazaar is a little different, “The bazaar which has been traditionally held during the evening [..] will now be held for the first time during the day at the weekend. Hopefully the new timing will make it even more accessible for our parents and students, thus providing a total different Christmas experience. [There will also be] a not-to-be-missed photo opportunity with the Grinch!”

The income generated from last year’s bazaar was collected to provide a better sound and lighting system for the Primary Campus’ school hall. This year, the income will go towards upgrading the stage at the Secondary Campus while a generous sum will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

A Christmas Celebration

Nexus International School is celebrating the end of the school term with a Christmas Celebration focused on how the day is celebrated across the globe, in recognition of the school’s international mindedness and diverse student population. Organised by teachers, parents and students, the day is planned with music and dance performances for the whole school’s enjoyment. Planning for the event starts 2 months beforehand when the theme of the celebration is considered and performances are thought out, practiced and finalised for the big school celebration.

Last year, the school enjoyed an Eco-friendly Christmas theme with Christmas trees made out of recycled items such as plastic bottles and stars made out of CDs. This school term, students are also putting on a Popeye Pantomime for the whole school to enjoy before the winter break begins.

Bonding with dad

What better way to celebrate the end of the school term, but through fatherly bonding? Every year in November, The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) hosts a unique event for fathers and their children to celebrate their special relationship together. Organised by the ISKL Elementary School Counselors, the Father and Child Breakfast is focused on recognising the role of fathers and the positive impact they have on their children’s lives.

“The purpose of the Father and Child Breakfast is to give busy fathers and students a chance to honor their special relationship by spending a special time together, if only for a breakfast at school,” says Uma Esvaran, Elementary school Counselor’s Secretary at ISKL. Not only limited to dads, this year, “some of the children attended with grandfathers, uncles, friend’s fathers, [while some], with the help of our wonderful tech department, invited their fathers into the event by ‘Skyping’ with their dads in faraway places.”

“It takes about 3 – 5 months to plan the whole event. We need to look for sponsors, set up the menu, send invitation, plan the theme and decorations, send confirmations, arrange [the] Skype [sessions] for fathers who can’t attend physically and organize volunteers.”

During the fun-filled event this year, lots of family photos were taken and raffle ticket holders stood a chance to win prizes donated by the various sponsor – all this in addition to ISKL children enjoying a unique breakfast event with the special men in their lives. Every year, the funds collected from the Father and Child Breakfast are donated to a selected charity. This year all proceeds were donated to the Thai Red Cross Society to aid their country after the recent devastating floods.

“The faculty and staff of ISKL are very supportive,” there weren’t any major obstacles, Uma recalls – however, “trying to fit all the students, their fathers, grandfathers, uncles and friends into the studio can be a challenge.”

Needless to say, the main highlight of the Father and Child Breakfast is “for the child to enjoy breakfast with their busy dad. As one of our students said, ‘I didn’t win anything, but hey, it was fun. I got to spend time with my dad, eat a lot of good food and we raised money for charity, I’m good’ – That about sums it up.”

Inspired by Myanmar refugees

The biggest 2011 yearend event planned at Garden International School (GIS) is their annual Christmas Party, inspired by the Myanmar refugees that the school works with on a regular basis.

“The Refugee Christmas Party was inspired when our school started working with Myanmar refugee centres in Kuala Lumpur. There is an estimated 55 refugee centres in Kuala Lumpur alone and we currently work with about 9 of them throughout the year by bringing 50 students in 4 nights a week for student led English classes,” Rhian Adlam, Community Service Co-ordinator at GIS, explains.

“The Christmas party just seemed like a great opportunity to do something additional which would have a huge impact,” Rhian says. Besides holding English classes for the refugees, GIS also works with and helps out at some of the centres during their annual Discovery Week.

Both students and teachers are actively involved in organising and participating in the event which showcases a range of performances and activities for the refugee children who attend. “At the Christmas party, our school community really works together and last year our Japanese community made origami for each of the students. The PTF paid for lunch for each child and some of the other parents clubbed together to ensure each child had a party gift when they left school. It really is a group effort and would never be a success without the generosity of the students, teachers and parents of GIS.”

This year the annual Christmas Party will be held on the 10th of December, but before the special day, Santa’s Grotto will be open for visit from students; however, there is a twist to this traditional Christmas experience. Instead of the students receiving presents from Santa, they will be Santa’s little helpers, donating gifts for the Myanmar refugee children who will be present during the school’s major event.