IBAN CULTURAL DAY

Gawai Dayak is a very important festival for the Ibans and Bidayuhs who are the major group of people in Sarawak. We have Ibans and Bidayuhs children in our school and with this festival coming up on the 1st of June, we did a special topic on Gawai and held an Iban Cultural Day in school. The objectives of this topic were to learn about the people who celebrate Gawai Dayak, to learn about the Iban culture and traditional crafts. We encouraged children to come to school in the Iban and Bidayuh traditional costumes or bring something from their cultures.

Here are some of the children in the Iban costumes, and others brought :- a rattan bag, terabai, a 'parang' ie sword, wore shirts or dresses made from the 'pua' design materials. We also have an Orang Ulu and a Kadazan.

Looking pretty in the Iban costumes. And the guys ~ looking tough with the Iban hat, an Iban necklace and a rattan basket. An 'Iban lass' - dress made from 'pua' design cloth, with a pouch, a necklace and hat. Traditional Iban material 'pua kumbu' for the ladies skirts. Look at the beautiful motifs on the cloth. The 'pua' were hung in the classroom. The Ibans are famous for their fine bead work ~ look at these necklaces made from beads. The crafts for this special topic were in line with the Iban theme, to develop the children's fine motor skills, maths skills and creativity. J2 - Beadwork project : NECKLACE made from tubular pasta and beads. The centre part is made from paper and pasted with sunflower seeds in a flower pattern. The children were required to count the number of sunflower seeds needed. The children were also doing a theme on 'gardens'. The teacher incorporated the Iban handicraft project with the things from the 'Garden' theme. The completed necklace ~ gold beads, pasta and a centre of sunflower seeds. J3 - Making a bracelet with the beads and tubular pasta. In this project, the children learned 'patterning', fine motor skills and counting.

The girls were very proud of their bracelets.
J1 - the class project was to make the 'tarabai' - the Iban shield. They coloured and decorated their 'tarabai', pasted a hornbill and attached colourful streamers.

The 'tarabai' of J1.

J2 Green Apple made a mobile of 'tarabai'.

J3 -Learned some of the traditional musical instruments of the Ibans. One of them is the 'engkerumong' - these 'engkerumongs' are actually made from scraps of paper and 'styrofoam fruits containers' (painted black). The children drew the Iban motifs after looking at the designs on the 'kain pua'.
We asked the children to bring in some of the snacks or 'kuih' that are normally served during the festival. Here are some of them : penyeram

kuih jala

kuih sepit (rolls) and kuih cap.

The snacks are mostly made from rice flour. We had these snacks for our break time.

The children also listened to the traditional music and learned to perform the 'ngajat' - the Iban traditional dance. In fact, we have learning the 'ngajat' in our music and movement class for this month. Ms Anissa showing the steps of the 'ngajat'.
All the children doing the 'ngajat' ................... and it did not matter what traditional costumes they were wearing on that day! The children were able to identify ~ the Iban costumes, handicrafts, music, dance, the snacks, learned a Gawai song and how the festival is celebrated.

Thank you to parents who have contributed in many ways to make our Iban Cultural Day a success.

Selamat Ari Gawai to all our Iban & Bidayuh parents and children of Tadika Astana.

'GAYU GURU GERAI NYAMAI'

GAWAI GREETINGS

To all our parents, friends and visitors who will be celebrating GAWAI DAYAK ~

'Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai'

May you have an enjoyable Gawai with your loved ones and friends.

TEACHER'S DAY 2011

Here are some of the cards and notes that we recieved.

And from our ex-students ~ Irdina and Daniel . That was very lovely of you ~ thank you for remembering us. You are always in our hearts and our prayers!

And we received many gifts from the children and parents.

And lots of cakes, all very lovely and delicious! To all our parents ~ we thank you very much for the cards, the gifts and cakes.

THANK YOU ! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

We actually planned to celebrate Teacher's Day with the children on Friday 13 May with lots of games at the play ground. BUT it rained! Undaunted by the weather, we changed our outdoor games to indoor games. It was quite crowded inside, but we still had lots of FUN with the children.

Here are some of the photos showing what we did on that day ....................

Sporting MUMS who joined us !

After all that, time to put up our legs and have a lovely lunch!

A Song For Mum and Dad

This group project was done by the 6 years old for Mother's Day ~ they drew pictures of their parents and wrote the sentences of the song 'Mummy Daddy I love You'.

J3 Visit To Petroleum Museum

In conjunction with Miri City Day, Junior 3 did a special topic on Miri City. The discovery of oil is very significant to the development of Miri into a city. And there's no better place to learn the history of Miri than a visit to the Petroleum Museum.

The children also learned and made a lot of discoveries regarding the petroleum industry.

Photo of the Petroleum Museum.

The first oil well in Miri .......... and in Malaysia !

Entrance to the museum.
The development of Miri from a small village to a city is depicted in the murals around the Grand Old Lady. Here, Ms Norleha is pointing something interesting to the children.
The children studying the pictures in the mural. The murals also show the types of oil extraction on land and in the sea from the early days of oil production. Ms Sutina and her group.Ms Norleha and her group. The 'donkey' is behind the children. The staff of the Musuem welcoming us.Now the children are recording things that they have seen outside.Recording the facts and drawing the 'Grand Old Lady'. Ms Norleha and her group in the museum.

A thank you card from all of us.

Thank you and good bye!