Bukit Sunrise School, A Wonderful School

By : Mr Bernhard

Everything is still quiet as I walk into the front building of Bukit Sunrise Primary School this Thursday morning. Everything? Not entirely. Mr Arifin, the school’s janitor, is sweeping the courtyard in the lower primary. Ms Wedi, the lady in charge of the cleaning staff, is walking through the canteen in a brisk gait jingling a set of keys in her hand, while Mr Anto, the school's engineer, is busy fixing a hose tap.

I have been teaching here for the past 18 months. The school was first conceptualised in January 2013 and opened its doors to the public in its present location in June 2014. The educational  facility’s heraldic motto of STAR; an acronym standing for Smart, Talented, Attentive and Responsible, makes it clear that at BSS, the education, safety and moral standards of the students are of paramount importance to the founders of Bukit Sunrise School. The children are  from all walks of life and nationalities,  from Russia to Brazil and from France to Australia, with their age ranging from two to 12 years old. 

Even though it is only 7:15 in the morning the air is already hot and humid. My way to the primary teachers’ room leads me past the school’s swimming pool. The water is crystal clear and inviting and the thought of a quick dip is a pleasant one. Bukit Sunrise School also features an open-air soccer pitch, a basketball court and an indoor gymnasium. The outdoor facilities enjoy enormous popularity among the students during break times.

The school hours are Monday to Friday from 8:00 am until 14:50 pm, with 15 minutes for morning tea break and 40 minutes for lunch. Students can buy nutritious food from Mr Jaya or Ms Made, the school canteen’s service personnel. Alternatively, parents may send food to the students. Indomie and soft drinks are not allowed to be sold in the canteen. 

I start teaching at 8:00 am on Thursdays. English in Primary 5B. A cohort of lively, clever and interesting students. Like most children, my little charges love playing games, so I usually kick off the morning with a game as a warm-up. My students greet me enthusiastically as I walk into the classroom. We play a letter guessing game by which I introduce the word, verbatim to the kids. After that, it is pretty serious work for 60 minutes. But everyone works hard and does their best. The children at Bukit Sunrise School are really wonderful to work with and remind me what it is I love about teaching. It is a wonderful profession. 

It is 10 minutes past nine as I thank the class for their attention, pack up my books and head back to the teachers’ room. I do not have any classes until the afternoon, so I have ample time to prepare for the sessions ahead. I will be teaching Science after lunch. It is not my favourite subject but the students like doing experiments or creating things out of refuse material.

The kids enrolled in this school really are an interesting bunch.  Around 70 percent of the registered students have at least one parent who was not born in Indonesia. These are children of travellers, adventurers and entrepreneurs. It seems that somehow these youngsters share a common bond in the knowledge that their lives and way of growing up are not conventional ones. 

Ms Desy, our principal, has placed a roster on the wall in the teacher’s room with members of staff scheduled to supervise the children during break times. Being a Thursday, it is my turn to supervise the students at the canteen during lunchtime. It is my duty to walk around the mess hall and break up looming food fights, open the odd stubborn water bottle lid, to remind the students not to play too rough in the playground, or to render any assistance that may be required of an adult during lunchbreak. 

I watch as lower primary teachers pray with children from all kinds of different faiths. Religion does not seem to play any role in the venerations of these little people. The only thing that seems to matter here is to evoke a sense of gratitude for things which make our lives worth living and enjoyable.

Religious bigotry and racial discrimination seem to be completely alien to the clientele of Bukit Sunrise School. Christians play and work with children being brought up in the Muslim faith. Hindu kids chase Buddhists around the soccer pitch just to tackle each other, roll around in the grass and have a good laugh together.

  Teachers, as well as students of different skin colour and ethnic groups, work and play together in our school without animosity or prejudice of any kind towards each other. I would love to invite people and politicians of certain countries to have a look at how life can be lived. No doubt they could learn a lot here.

It is 12:30 and time to go back to work. I have three periods to teach, back to back in Primary 6A and 6B. We are talking about electrical circuits at the moment. I have ordered an experiment kit from Shopee which I received this morning. Primary 6B has only one period. I won’t have time to do anything else with them other than the experiment. Primary 6A on the other hand has two periods, so after building series and parallel circuits, we are going to do some work in the work book.  

It is 14:15 as I wrap up the show in 6A, thank the students and head downstairs to the teachers’ room. I have a fair bit of prep work to do for the following day, and to finish a unit test, so I am going to stay until 16: 00 or 16:30. It is 16:45 when I finally turn off the computer and printer, change into my street clothes, and put my books away. It has been a long and busy day. Things are quiet again as I walk towards the exit of Bukit Sunrise School. My Bukit Sunrise School, what a wonderful school.