Dear Teachers,
The CALSDA office is buzzing with activity presently with preparations for extending its working hours in order to provide you all with a higher quality of service.
We are happy to inform you that from the 14th of June 2010 our office will function from 8.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.We hope the extended hours willmake the process of handing over entries, collecting results, meeting with our office staff,purchasing past papers and other teacher support materialetc. more convenient to you.
CLOSING DATES FOR EXAMINATION ENTRIES
Closing dates for the Examination Entries for the second session are :
Practical Examinations -Wednesday 4th August 2010
Written Examinations - Wednesday 4th August 2010
PRACTICAL EXAMINATIONS
ENTRIES FOR THE PRACTICAL EXAMINATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED (AFTER THE OFFICIAL CLOSING DATE) UP TO SIX WEEKS PRIOR TO THE REQUESTED WEEK OF EXAMINATION. CALSDA EXAMINATIONS WILL GO ON TILL THE 17TH OF DECEMBER 2010.
WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CLOSING DATE FOR THE WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS WILL BE STRICTLY ADHERED TO.LATE ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED (AFTER THE OFFICIAL CLOSING DATE) ONLY UPTO TWO WEEKS. ENTIRES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS PERIOD, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WILL BE STRICTLY ADHERED TO IN 2010.
Please makeevery effort to bank the entry fees and ensure that the teacher’s name is written on the reverse of the Bank Credit Slip sent to us in respect of examination entry fees ( Practical and Written). This information is vital especially when the Bank Credit Slip does not accompany the entries. Please use one Bank Credit Slip for all your entries. We would greatly appreciate if you could avoid banking your candidates fees individually.
Teachers are requested to contact ‘Hemanthi’ at the CALSDA office and reserve dates for their students’ examinations. In order to process the entries and send the Admission Forms in time we kindly request you to hand over the entries without undue delay (at least 4 -6 weeks prior to the date of examination).
ANNUAL PRIZE GIVING
The annual Prize Giving was successfully concluded in two sessions on Saturday 20th March 2010 at the St. Joseph’s College Auditorium and on Sunday 21st March 2010 at the Bishop’s College Auditorium. Our chief guests at these functions were Mr. G.T. Bandara (Chairman – Royal Institute), Ms. Cheryl Cooray ( Vice Principal – Bishop’s College) and Ms. Romola Rassool (Senior Lecturer, English Language Teaching Unit – University of Kelaniya). The candidates who obtained the highest marks in their grades at the Examinations held in 2009 received their awards at these functions.
WRITER’S PROFILE
Shel Silverstein (1930 - 1999)
Shel Silverstein was a renowned American poet, playwright, illustrator, screenwriter and songwriter. He was born in Chicago on the 25th of September 1930 and was named Shelldon Allan Silverstein.
Best known for his immensely popular children’s books including ‘The Giving Tree’, ‘Falling Up’, ‘and A Light in the Attic’, Silverstein has delighted millions of readers around the world, becoming one of the most popular and best-loved children's authors of all time.
According to his biography, Silverstein never planned on writing for children. In the early 1960’s Tomi Ungerer, a friend whose own career in children’s books was blossoming, introduced Silverstein to his editor, Harper Collins’ legendary Ursula Nordstrom. That connection led to the publication of ‘The Giving Tree’ in 1964. This book sold modestly at first, but soon the gentle parable about a boy and the tree that loved him was admired by readers of all ages. Decades after its initial publication, with more than five and a half million copies sold,‘The Giving Tree’ holds a permanent spot atop list of perennialbestsellers.
‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’, Shel Silverstein’s first collection of poems, was published in 1974 and was hailed as an instant classic. Two more collections followed: ‘A Light in the Attic’ in 1981, and ‘Falling Up’ in 1996.
Both of these books dominated bestseller lists for months, with ‘A Light in the Attic’ shattering all previous records for its 182-week stay on the New York Times list. His poetry books are widely used in schools as a child’s first introduction to poetry.
Ticklish Tomby Shel Silverstein
Did you hear 'bout Ticklish Tom?
He got tickled by his mom.
Wiggled and giggled and fell on the floor,
Laughed and rolled right out the door.
All the way to school and then
He got tickled by his friends.
Laughed till he fell off his stool,
Laughed and rolled right out of school
Down the stairs and finally stopped
Till he got tickled by a cop.
And all the more that he kept gigglin',
All the more folks kept ticklin'.
He shrieked and screamed and rolled around,
Laughed his way right out of town.
Through the country down the road,
He got tickled by a toad.
Past the mountains across the plain,
Tickled by the falling rain,
Tickled by the soft brown grass,
Tickled by the clouds that passed.
Giggling, rolling on his back
He rolled on the railroad track.
Rumble, rumble, whistle, roar--
Tom ain't ticklish any more.
REMEMBRANCE
MRS. MARIE DHARMARAJAH
It is with great sorrow that the Board of Management, the Panel of Examiners and the staff of CALSDA remember Mrs. Marie Dharmarajah who passed away on the 22nd of March 2010.
Mrs. Dharamarajah was an active member of the Board of Management of CALSDA, a senior teacher and examiner of Speech, Drama, Effective Communication and allied subjects. She played an important role in our organisation from its incepetion. Her valuable contributions to CALSDA were numerous and her loving memory will be tresured forever.
TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIAL
Past papers, reading passages and a series of work books are available for sale at the CALSDA office. These books can be purchased between 8.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. Monday to Friday.
SOME INSPIRING SAYINGS
“The roots of education are bitter, but the
fruit is sweet.”- Aristotle
“Experience is a hard teacher because she
gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.”
- Vernan Law
“There is only one thing more painful than
learning from experience, and that is not
learning from experience.”
“Men talk of killing time, when time quietly
kills them.” - Dion Boucicault
“A man may die, nations may rise and fall,
but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance
without death.” - John F. Kennedy
“Success is a journey, not a destination.”
-Ben Sweetland
We thank everyone who contributed to the newsletter and welcome valuable contributions.
……………………… …………………………
Varuni Jayasekara Zulfika Musafer
Executive Director Director of Examinations
For and on behalf of the Board of Management