All-round learning at Sri Bestari

SOUTH Koreans are imbued with an inherent determination to succeed and are tenacious in their quest for knowledge and excellence. These traits are widely apparent among the small but growing Korean community at Sri Bestari Private School in Bandar Sri Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.

Local students, who form the majority, are at times awed by the South Koreans’ focus as well as their hard work and discipline.

The Koreans were also quick to pick up Bahasa Malaysia.

South Korean Judy Song, who was in Form 5 last year, was the head prefect.

Song had been with the school since primary level, and blended in so well with her peers that she became an automatic role model to many. She was a straight-A student and was active in co-curricular activities and sports.

“Sri Bestari is a place you come with a vision, learn with passion and leave with success,” she said.

As part of the curriculum at Sri Bestari, it is compulsory to take up a foreign language. Students can choose among Mandarin, French or Japanese.

This year, the Korean language was introduced as an additional foreign language and students’ response have been extremely encouraging.

Sri Bestari has engaged teachers from the YH Language Centre, helmed by Peter Song, who is incidentally Song’s father.

The Korean language certification by YH Language Centre is approved by the Education Ministry and Peter has assisted the school in rolling out the programme as his gratitude to Sri Bestari.

The expatriate student population at Sri Bestari is expanding in reach and enrolments. This could be due to that unique additional academic programmes offered on top of the national curriculum.

For instance, besides preparing for national examinations like the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah, Form Three Assessment (PT3) and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, students also have the option to sit for the Cambridge Checkpoint assessments at the equivalent of Year 6 and Year 9, besides the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) at Form 5.

As Sri Bestari is an approved centre to teach Mathematics and Science in English, attempting the Cambridge Checkpoint assessments and IGCSE is a seamless process.

Besides that, ECO and sustainability exposure and practices has been a hallmark in the school’s curriculum for the past six years.

Sri Bestari was awarded the Green Flag Award twice by the World Wildlife Fund and the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), Denmark, in 2015 and in 2017, making it the third school in Malaysia and the only school running the national curriculum to obtain the award twice.

Visit the school’s Info Day on March 10, or call Sri Bestari Private School at 03-62755888 for RSVP or visit www.sribestari. edu.my for more details.