Alice Smith School Celebrates 70th Anniversary Day

KUALA LUMPUR, 1st November 2016 – As the oldest international school in Malaysia, The Alice Smith School is proud to celebrate 70 years of providing a rich British educational heritage with its community of students, staff, PTA and Council.

This special day is a reflection of our rich history and truly resonates with the values our school is founded on and the ethos created over 7 decades.

We were honoured to welcome the Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia, H.E Rod Smith PSM. His Excellency unveiled our Heritage Wall at the Primary Campus to open our anniversary celebrations.

The school also welcomed former Principal, Joseph Eales and were delighted by a special surprise from our alumnus, John Fletcher who arrived from the UK, making this anniversary day  an unforgettable and joyous occasion.

Head of School, Roger Schultz summarised the significance of the Wall and what it represented, “Our Heritage Wall tells the wonderful story of the Alice Smith School, from its humble beginnings with one class in Mrs Smith’s house 70 years ago to where it is is today. The school has grown tremendously, with great facilities now providing an excellent education to almost 1,600 students on two fantastic campuses. There will be many more stories as the future unfolds for our school. Today though is very special, as we all come together and celebrate this historical occasion”.

H.E. Rod Smith commended Alice Smith’s well-earned reputation as a provider of high quality education with hands-on parent involvement. “All the indicators of a successful school demonstrate how important and what a difference it makes when parents get involved in their children’s education and the school creates a sense of real community – that’s a hallmark of the Alice Smith School, and something Alice Smith can be very proud of achieving”.

The occasion was made especially poignant when Mr Joseph Eales, former Primary Principal, Mr Eales, regaled students with stories from his time as the Principal from 1984-1992. He reminded the students to be rightfully proud of their school and the contributions Alice Smith has made to the education landscape.

“I can tell you schools in the UK and Australia will welcome any student that has come from the Alice Smith School. It has a wonderful tradition of quality education, and I hope this tradition will continue not only for 10 more years, but whenever education is needed in Malaysia, Alice Smith will be the very top,” Mr Eales convincingly shared.

To the student’s delight, a special screening of anniversary greetings by the grandson of the school’s founder, Cameron Fairfield-Smith and great granddaughter, Rosemary Fairfield-Smith was viewed during assembly. The students could barely contain their excitement for the burial of the 70th Anniversary time capsule, with all classes contributing items to its contents. Students enthusiastically helped to lay the capsule to rest amidst excited cheers, with photos and videos captured for posterity.

There was no better testament to the emotional attachment Alice Smith can have for people than for an alumnus to fly halfway around the world to celebrate this occasion. That was precisely what alumni John Fletcher did, arriving from London to attend the school’s anniversary events. John, from class of 1969-1976, reflected on how much the school has paved the way for his progress in life.

“When I think about the friends that I had and I see where they are now, I’m so impressed with the quality of education we received here and the ability of people who have taken that education and gone out into life and made successes of themselves. They have contributed to society, and turned out to be really genuinely warm-hearted kind human beings and that’s been a fantastic thing to see”.

To commemorate the momentous occasion, a dedicated social media campaign was also launched in aid of the Lighthouse Children Welfare Home Association, a safe home for children.

The Alice Smith 70th Anniversary Tweet Greet campaign will see the school pledging 70 cents for every unique tweet it receives bearing the hashtag #happybirthdayAliceSmith and #klass70. The campaign will run until 14th November 2016.   

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