Monday July 2, 2012
Westlake to hit Kampar
By FOONG PEK YEE
pekyee@thestar.com.my
Photo by RONNIE CHIN
AN international school is shaping up in Kampar and is set to open its doors in January 2013.
The pioneer batch of about 100 students from Westlake International School (WIS) will comprise mainly locals and children of lecturers from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) which is located just next to it.
This is the second international school in Perak, after Tenby International School in Ipoh.
WIS executive director Hew Fen Yee said the school, with a capacity for 1,000 students, would eventually cater to students from the primary level to A-level.
The first batch of 100 students would be secondary students for years 7, 8 and 9 (secondary 1, 2 and 3).
Soon to be ready: A model of the new Westlake International School at Kampar. The school offers the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) curriculum that is recognised worldwide, he added.
Hew said the facilities in WIS includes on-campus boarding, multipurpose hall, swimming pool, football field, a fine arts centre, auditorium and library.
He said the monthly school fees would be between RM1,100 and RM1,400 for secondary school students and about RM700 for those in primary school.
“The fees are affordable, and the rate is at least half of those charged by other international schools.
“Besides, we can provide equal, if not better facilities for the students,” he said in an interview in Kampar recently.
Regarding the on-campus boarding, Hew said the RM5,000 boarding charges for four months would include all meals, laundry and supervision by a house guardian.
Only secondary school students could opt for full boarding, he added.
As for primary school students, Hew said they must be accompanied by their parents or guardian who could opt to rent a fully furnished apartment at RM1,200 a month.
On the first intake of 100 students next January, he said some 10% of them would be foreign students who are children of lecturers from the United States, Pakistan and India.
The remaining students would be mainly from Kampar, Teluk Intan, Sitiawan, Cameron Highlands and Ipoh; and also children of local lecturers from Kuala Lumpur, he added.
Hew said his four children who were studying in Kuala Lumpur would also be joining WIS next year.
He said students must sit for an entrance examination in English prior to their entry to the school.
For students who need to im-prove their English, they would have to undergo a three-month intensive English course at the school’s language centre prior to the January intake, he added.
Application for the first intake is open now. Hew said the school which is built on a seven-acre-plot have the capacity to increase its capacity over the years.
“We have the capacity to increase to 3,000 intake eventually,” he added.
WIS student services and administrative director Sara Wong said there would be up to 25 students per class for the secondary level and not more than 20 for the primary level for better attention from teachers and interaction between teachers and students.
Academic director Sherry Ann said classes would be between 8am and 3.30 pm from Monday to Thursday, and between 8am and 1pm on Friday.
She said there would be “reinforcement classes between 3.30pm and 4.30pm for students if there was a need for them to undergo such classes, adding that it would be provided at no extra cost.
To a question, she said the classes would be conducted in such a way that there was no need for them to attend tuition classes.
Meanwhile WIS finance director Hew Fee Voon said workshops themed “English in Action” would be opened to children aged between six and 14 years for free.
The next workshop will be conducted at the Grand Kampar Hotel, Kampar, during the school holidays in August.
For enquiries, call 05-4667777.
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