Learning Works

I remember, I remember,

My scruffy old teddy bear,

It used to keep me company

When I was in despair;

I cuddled it while sleeping,

To prevent any nightmares.

But now, all I do with it

Is to throw it down the stairs.

I remember, I remember

My kind old nursery maid,

My mother wanted to sleep with me,

Yet I slept with her instead;

She told me the best stories,

Which made me go straight to bed,

And advised me to eat healthy,

So I would stay alive, not dead.

I remember, I remember

When my best friend got two cats,

I became a little jealous,

Because I couldn’t keep pets;

However, she shared them with me,

And played with me every day!

I have to admit, with that type of friends

You’ll always be okay.

~ Wong Chien Nee, 11

I recently went on my dream holiday to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. It was my dream holiday because the place is amazingly beautiful and you can visit lots of islands there. I stayed at Shangri-la Tanjung Aru Hotel. There are lots of activities there such as swimming, water slide, henna tattoo, hair braiding and many other fun games by the beach. They also serve very nice food and you can use their hotel car any time. I like to stay at Shangri-la Hotel because they have very good service.

The beach in Kota Kinabalu has a very nice view of sunrise and sunset. There is a lot of food to eat in Kota Kinabalu. There is steamboat, fast food, noodles and rice. My favourite food there is steamboat because there are lots of delicious foods inside such as crab, prawn, fried rice and many more.

I love Kota Kinabalu because there are a lot of souvenirs to buy at the market like key chains as gifts and soft toys. Travelling to the city is very convenient and you can spend the whole day there. But my favourite thing to do there is to go snorkelling to see all the corals and fishes. We chartered a boat to an island. However, there were many monkeys on the island, most of which came by our table to try to steal our sandwiches. I hate monkeys!

The weather during my stay was warm, although it did rain one night. However the rain did not last, so I love the weather at Sabah as it is perfect for outdoor activities.

I would love to go to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, again for my holiday. I hope it happens soon!

~ Kierstan Khoo, 9

Once there was a boy named Austin who went to Happy International school. He was the star student in class and the teacher’s pet but he had no friends at all. Many people wanted to be his friend. They tried to make friends with him but he refused to make friends with them because they were not smart. The others despised him because he was smart. He was lonely while the other kids had fun together. It was very sad for him. There were some who were mean to him too.

One day, he was running around in the field and he tripped on a rock. He fell and his knee started bleeding. He tried to call for help but nobody could hear him. He did not have a phone and could not walk. He started to cry. After a while, one of the boys that tried to make friends with him named Michael. Austin thought that Michael was going to walk away when he saw him but when Michael saw him he immediately called the teacher and they brought him to the nurse. Austin realised that even though Michael was not that smart they could still be friends. Austin asked Michael whether they could become friends and Michael said yes.

Austin became best friends with Michael. They were very happy. They promised each other to always be friends and never betray each other.

~ Brian Ong, 9 

Seriously?  Halfway through our trip, the car tyre went BOOM?  I walked out of the car and looked at the inflated tyre unhappily.

It was our road trip to Cherating.  We started, happy, in fact very happy at first, but the inflated tyre came along, and it was disappointing.  Very disappointing.  I don’t know about my family, but they, too, had a frown on their faces.

Fortunately, Dad had parked his car in the emergency lane, so we could call someone to fix the car tyre.

Maybe it was just our luck, because before Dad could fish out his mobile phone from his pocket, another car parked along the emergency lane.  The driver came out.  He wore a windbreaker with a black shirt underneath, with a black leather jeans to top it off.

He started to examine the tyre.  He said, “You have a nail in it.  I could change your tyre for you.  That is, if you have a spare tyre.”  Mom answered, “Of course we do!  We will be extremely grateful if you can help us.”  She added, “We also have a jack in our boot.” Mom gave him the supplies and the man bent to the task.

In 15 minutes, he was done.

“Oh, my!  That was fast!” I gasped.

The man smiled, “I’m used to it.  Happy to help!”

Mom offered to pay the man for his service. He said, “No, thank you.” And waved goodbye before disappearing into his vehicle.

We got into the car and continued our journey to Cherating.

~ Chen Li Shan, 9

By the Saturday morning Creative Writing Class at Learning Works

By the Saturday afternoon Creative Writing class at Learning Works

Bit off my tongue when I was three, hated the sun and the beach

Really liked the colour pink, tried to swim, I did sink

Got a phone when I was six, rubbed it in just for kicks

Childhood friends did not stay, they all planned to move away

Was a loner for several years, Naelle

Pulled into fandom, left and right, my answers were never right

Jaimie, Shi-Lin, Noelle, Evelyn, Ben, April

Contemplated suicide, realised I couldn’t, don’t know why

We didn’t do our homework

We were way too busy and far too lazy

We didn’t do our homework

No, we didn’t do it, now we’re paying for it

Kindergarten, Kaylee Gunn, Friends Forever, piano starts

Teletubbies, Power Rangers, High School Musical

Boil in my throat, operation, turned really blue right in the face

I start violin, Enid Blyton, brother won Sports Day

Hermione Granger, Dumbledore, Voldemort

Hong Kong best in subjects, Wizards of Waverley Place

Competitions, Nobel, bro goes to USA

Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Rick Riorda, anime

We didn’t do our homework

We were way too busy and far too lazy

We didn’t do our homework

No, we didn’t do it, now we’re paying for it

Harry Potter, Dr Strange, Insidious, Conjuring

Teletubbies, Totally Spies, Totoro, Dora

Wendy Darling, Winnie-the-Pooh, Finding Nemo, Tom and Jerry

School is starting, lots of exams, goodbye Paradise

We didn’t do our homework

We were way too busy and far too lazy

We didn’t do our homework

No, we didn’t do it, now we’re paying for it

by the Wednesday night Creative Writing class at Learning Works

Can be sung to the tune of Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire

The girl jumped because of the loud noise. The loud noise was coming from a bear. The bear ate the girl, Her parents were sad, her siblings were sad, her cousins were sad, her friends and neighbours were sad.

AND NO ONE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

EXCEPT THE BEAR 

~ Anya Lim, 9