Chronicles 2013 Issue 1 - Christ Church Secondary School

CHRonicles
A publication by Christ Church Secondary School, one of the nine schools under the Anglican Diocese (Singapore)
Issue 1 • M
ay
2013
Greetings CHRIANS & FRIENDS!
2013 ushers in the next phase of our development
as we begin the adventure of moving from being
good to great.
We had completed our Back to Basics Series
(2009-2012). Staff, students, parents, SMC, Alumni
and other well-wishers with the support of MOE,
have worked and prayed hard, walking many extra
miles. As a result, we are blessed with bountiful
harvests in many aspects of our CHR AOP
Curriculum.
The
Now we shall commence to examining
and tweaking what has been done so as
to enable us to deepen and expand our
school experience. Character development
and Citizenship Education remains the
backbone of our Curriculum.
May God continue to lead and guide
our CHR team in moulding the future of
Singapore. Amen.
Mrs Yeo Chin Nam
Principal
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a l’s M es sag
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School Visit by Zonal Director
Schools North 26th Feb 2013
On 26th February, Mrs. Lim Thian Loke, Zonal
Director Schools North, accompanied by Mr Loh
Leong Beng, Superintendent of N7 Schools,
visited CHR and was welcomed by Mrs Yeo, our
school principal, as well as various key personnel.
A walkabout was conducted around the school
premises to introduce Mrs Lim to the various
school facilities, some of which were newly-added
and enhanced.
The school then presented to her an exciting High
Elements lesson conducted at the rock-climbing
wall as well as an English lesson in 4T8 and
Chinese lesson in 1E1. This enabled her to
understand the learning processes of the
students.
A dialogue session was held in the newlyadded CHR Drop-In Centre to gain further
insights into the various programmes of the
school as well as the various departmental
initiatives.
NEWS!
CHR, an OEP Niche. DSA exercise
begins in May 2013!
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BB Me
l
T r i p (5
bourne
th
-12nd Jan 2013)
The Summer School programme was held
at Macleod College, Victoria, Melbourne. It
was organised by ‘The Australian Pipe Bands
Association and the people involved were either
bagpipers, snare drummers, tenor drummers or
base drummers from the different pipe bands
in Australia. The keynote tutors of this exchange
programme were, Richard Parkes, the Pipe major,
who is a bagpiper and drum sergeant, and Keith
Orr, the snare drummer of the Field Marshall
Montgomery Pipe Band in Scotland.
We would like to gain exposure to the pipe bands
in Australia, pick up good practices from them to
brush up on our bag piping, snare
drumming and tenor drumming
skills. During the programme, we
were assigned to classes based
on our standard and abilities. We
had to practise for long hours
with short breaks between the
lessons.
Jeremy Chang Cheng Phooi, 3E5
Malacca Trip (7th-9th Nov 2012)
28 students, together with 3 teachers and 6 NCDCC officers, went on a
learning journey to Malacca. This was also a reward trip for students who
performed well. They visited the Malacca Civil Defence Headquarters to
learn about their daily operations and had the rare opportunity of seeing
demonstrations of how the officers catch a snake. They even picked up
practical life-saving skills. They went on various other learning journeys to
the museums, Heritage sites and even managed to squeeze in some time
to visit Legoland.
Gunung Belumut
Xiamen Trip
(17 Mar-19 Mar 2013)
(14th-22nd Nov 2012)
6 teachers, 31 students, including one ex-student,
went on a 3D2N trip to Gunung Belumut. This trip
not only provides students with an opportunity to
experience the thrill and rigour of climbing, widen their
educational and social experiences but also helped
them to understand the importance of teamwork.
23 students, together with 5
Chinese Language Teachers,
went on an exchange
programme at Guo Guang
High School in Xiamen, PRC.
th
th
“Students had scratches from thorns of the leaves
as they climbed. The climb from the top to check
point 3 was treacherous, a 90 degree slope which
required students’ full focus and team work. Many
students considered the climb a success at both team
and personal level. Most of all, they demonstrated
perseverance and care in the climb.”
Miss Puah Mui Kiang, ST, Outdoor Education
India Trip (18th -24th Oct 2012)
We had the privilege of visiting Neerja Mordi School in Jaipur, North India,
last October. After the introduction of the school, we were invited to
interact with the students in their classes. Their classrooms were sparsely
equipped with wooden chairs and tables. We participated in the Nischay
Project and were shocked to learn that the students had to sit on the floor
to attend classes. We had an interactive time teaching them origami and
balloon sculpting. They paid attention and were eager to learn from us.
We had a great and fulfilling time teaching them. As we were leaving, we
passed them a bag of stationary hoping that this would help them in their
education.
*Nischay Project is started by Neeja Mordi School to provide education
to girls below the poverty line. Presently, there are 500 students in the
institute.
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Mohd Haziq 3E5, Christine Chong 2E3, Rachel Teh 2N7, Valone Siau 1N6
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(22n & 23
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1
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As part of the Christ Church
Secondary School Curriculum for Sec
1 students, the entire cohort participated in Chingay
Parade 2013. This is in line with the school’s thrust of
providing our students a holistic education and equipping
them with 21st century skills to service the nation and the
world.
Together with People’s Association Youth Movement (PAYM),
our students formed an 800-strong continent to put up ‘Fire
In The Snow’ opening number for Chingay Parade 2013.
This iconic event gave both students and staff the opportunity
to work hand in hand to contribute to the larger community.
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Feb 2013)
This outdoor programme was also integrated with
the academic subjects of English, Mother Tongue, Humanities,
Mathematics as well as Science.
As Performing Acts is one of our strengths, it is a wonderful
opportunity for our new Sec 1 students to start their first year
in school by being actively involved in such a vibrant performing
arts event. This opportunity allows them to derive a wide range
of enriching experiences through their learning process in their
involvement in the parade. Students are nurtured to be actively
involved, disciplined, and conscientious. They also develop the
ability to have good personal, social and time-management.
es i n ac t i o n) 2013
Earth Hour at North West
Graced by grassroots advisor Mr Patrick Tay
Teck Guan and member of Parliament for
Nee Soon GRC, CHR had been awarded the
GOLD award for the Green Living Awards and
received the award during the Earth Hour
2013 event at Nee Soon CC on 23 March.
A total of about 520 students participated
in the Earth Hour 2013 organised by North
West Community Development Council
(NWCDC) on 16th March 2013 from 9am to
12pm. They visited about 8700 households
in Nee Soon East and took on the role of
educators to pass on knowledge of energy
efficiency to the residents. They also played
the role of ambassadors by distributing
stickers and flyers to encourage residents to
sign up for the Reduce @ North West Energy
Audit Programme.
Our Boys Brigadiers also put up a bagpipes
performance held in Nee Soon East CC in
support of Earth Hour 2013.
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ew Y
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Chi
ea r 2013
On Friday, 8th of February, our school welcomed the
Year of the Snake by organising a variety of activities
to hype up the festive mood for Chinese New Year. The
various classes were involved in hamper-making, maskmaking as well as mascot-making competitions.
The elderly from NWCDC were also invited to our school to enjoy
performances by our students as well as participate in the games specially
organised for them. The Secondary four and five students worked
together with their teachers to make this day a memorable one for them
by creating goodie bags as gifts for them, serving them food and playing
games with them. Our visitors also received red packets!
Despite the hard work involved, our
students were gratified by the happy
faces they saw.
“Seeing the elderly smile, it was very
heart-warming.” Francis Ang (4E5)
“The smiles from the elderly made me feel our
efforts are worthwhile.” Leung Jingyi (4E5)
“I think my class and I benefited from this activity
because everyone had a part to play and
we learnt to be responsible in doing our
job well.” Nadiah (4T8)
“The activity has improved the
bonding among our friends as we
shared ideas and got to know one
another better.” Faesah (4T8)
CNY Prize
Winners
Champion Sec 1 Mascot
Fashion Runway 1E1
Champion Sec 3
Mascot Fashion
Runway 3N6
S ec 2 c l a s s c a m p
Champ
ion
Hamp Sec 2 Creati
er Des
v
ign 2E e
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In the first term of this year, all Secondary
2 students attended a 2D1N class
camp programme. Through the various
activities such as abseiling, hiking,
outdoor cooking, tent-pitching, Sports
Climbing Course as well as Challenge
Rope Course, students gained more
perseverance, social awareness, greater
self-awareness as well as relationship
management skills when they had to
work in teams.
The camp had helped me to know how
to handle my emotions better and good
teamwork.
CHAN SHU HUI, 2E2
The lesson on climbing taught me to
persevere and never give up no matter
how hard the process might be.
SNG SU EN GRACE, S2E4
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This camp made me realise that I can
actually endure hardships and persevere
in spite of difficulties. I am really grateful
that doing the hike had enabled me to
discover my own strengths.
CHUA SI YUNN, CELESTE, 2E4
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Chin
rt m e n
a
p
e
D
e
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t D r a m a P ro g r a m m e
For the second year running, the Chinese Department organised
a series of enriching activities for the students. Since Term 1,
all Secondary One Chinese students went through a module of
5 Chinese Drama lessons to equip them to be more confident
speakers. Not only that, it helped to stimulate their interest in
the subject.
Professional drama instructors from The Theatre Practice, a local
drama production company, were engaged by the school to
conduct these lessons. Having worked with them a second time,
their professionalism was wonderful and the students loved the
way they engaged them. They looked forward to attending their
drama lessons every Friday. At the end of the course, they would
showcase their own production which would constitute part of
their formal CL assessment.
Miss Lee Han, CL Teacher
RMIT t eac h e rs (21
st
Jan - 8th Feb 2013)
Teaching at CHR has provided
me with numerous ideas and
teaching competencies that
I will be able to implement
back in Australia. I was also
extremely privileged to work
side by side with Ms Tay,
experiencing new teaching
methods and styles that have
greatly enhanced my own
teaching skills.. The slight
language barrier and large
class sizes were challenging
but learning to use effective
instruction and demonstration
helped me enhance my class management skills.
During my teaching experience
in CHR, I have learnt that use
of hands-on demonstrations
to teach my students were
more effective than solely
relying on verbal explanations.
Building a great rapport with
all the Physical Education staff,
especially the always smiling Mr
Azman, I began to feel as if I was
one of them.
Overall, teaching at CHR was the experience of a lifetime. The main
highlight was interacting and building rapport with the amazing
students at CHR as well as having the pleasure to work with the entire
PE department. It has provided me with invaluable teaching experiences
that have helped to develop my teaching competencies immensely.
I look forward to being placed in any teaching situation as I now have
the confidence in my teaching abilities to face any new challenges.
A big thank you to all the staff and students at CHR, and especially the PE
department for giving us an experience we will never forget.
Mr Ryan Penberthy
Seeing the strong emphasis
CHR has placed on outdoor
programmes and fitness in
students has inspired me to focus on this aspect in
future teaching placements. It has motivated me to
develop students physically and to equip them with the
knowledge, skills and attitudes to pursue an active and
healthy lifestyle.
I am excited at the prospect of teaching again and
I feel the skills I have learnt and developed in CHR
will benefit me tremendously in my future teaching
placements. A most enjoyable, challenging, and
educational experience, my time in CHR is something
that I will never forget.
Miss Rachel Irwin
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Pa r e
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C h o i r E xc h a n g e (14 th
Mar)
Sec 1 Algetools Workshop
(2nd Mar)
In the revised 2013 Maths curriculum, the freely available Algetool
software will be used as a tool to teach numeracy and algebra to
the Sec One students. This software was developed by the Maths
curriculum Branch of MOE and many resources including this
software are accessible to all students and parents at the MOE
edumall website. As the concept of negative integers and Algebra are
topics that students find most difficult to understand, this software
was developed to help address this issue. CHR has leveraged on this
software to conduct a workshop for parents who are interested.
Parents’ Feedback
‘This is a very good channel that helps parents to guide their
kids to study easily by different tools. Thank you for the effort!’
Parent of Lai Zheng De, 1E3
This local choir exchange programme with 9 other secondary
schools serves as a platform for students to perform in
front of a live audience, widen their appreciation for choral
music as well as to increase their exposure to the different
repertoires of music. This was part of their preparation for
the SYF Choir. There were around 500 student participants in
this exchange and approximately 100 parents who came to
support their children.
‘Your explanation on the necessary transition from model
problems to AlgeBar is very informative and it allows me to
understand the needs behind it.’ Parent of Isaac Pua, 1E5
‘Teachers, you have done lots of good work. I really like what
I see and hope to see more of these activities and updates. As
a working mother, I still like to participate as much as I can.
Thank you very much!’
Parent of Brendan Leck Ming Hong, 1E3
Note: AlgeBar is an application in Algetools software
developed by MOE Singapore and Learning Science
Lab
Band Exchange (9th March)
This musical exchange with 5 other secondary school bands
in preparation for SYF Band enables our students to gain
more exposure to other bands from other schools as well
as to hone their skills in performing before a huge audience.
N e w S c h o o l Fac i l i t i es
Thanks to the generous donations from staff,
chaplaincy, parents and friends, our new
Drop-In Centre will be officially opened on
21st April. Here’s a peek at the new facilities!
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The fully carpeted Drop-in Centre is spacious
and inviting with a lounge for students to
relax in, bond with friends or read the various
books and magazines. There is a stage for
students to hold their own performances as
seen in a mini concert held on 15th March.
Newly conceptualised Media Resource Library
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eme
v
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Ac
nts
National Awards
Football
National Champion at
National Street Soccer League
(9th Dec 2012)
Syed Muzamil 3E1, Shaqiel 3N7,
Danish Haiqel 3E1, Muhd Armi 2E5,
Harith Shazwan 2N6 Infocomm Club
Top 5 in Panasonic
“Kids Witness News”
Top News Productivity
Award
5 of our Infocomm Club (ICC) members from Sec 2 and Sec 3 were
sent to participate in Kid Witness News (KWN) programme. It is a
hands-on-video education programme established by Panasonic
and has reached more than 120 cities worldwide. This programme
spanned more than 3 months from storyboard writing to finally
video editing.
Their project entitled “Plastic Tsunami”, reports the amount of
plastic bottles consumed by a school in a month. In September,
their team together with the help of the entire ICC went around
the school everyday to collect plastic bottles from all recycling
bins and clean them for filming. At the end of the month, they
managed to collect approximately 14,000 bottles.
Willy Lau 4E1, Amir Khan 4E1, Loh Jia Jun 4E2, Jedrek Lim 3E3,
Koh Jun Kai 3E1 , coached by Mr Elken Lee, became one of the top
contenders for these nominations:
• The KWN Top News Production Award
• The Spotlight Award’
• The Journalist of Tomorrow Award (Willy Lau)
Boys’ Brigade
Gold for JM Frazer Award
(7th consecutive year)
Girls’ Brigade
International Awards
Boys Brigade Pipes & Drums
Festival (1st Dec 2012)
Gold for Company Award
Choir
High Silver Award in International
Arts Festival @ Genting Highlands
(Secondary Schools Category)
2nd in Drum
Soloist
Competition
(Keith Pang, 4E4)
Pipe Band New
Comer Award
School Awards
• Sustaining Toilets as Restrooms
(STAR) awards-Gold
• NWCDC Green Living Awards-Gold
NCDCC HK OEP
(25th - 30th Dec 2012)
2 cadets (Gordon Ng 3E4 and Nur Azra 3E5)
were selected by NCDCC HQ to go to Hong
Kong for an exchange programme from
25th-30th December 2012. Azra shares her
experiences.
These five days had been very meaningful
for me. The first three days spent at the
campsite were very enjoyable. We had
the opportunity to go hiking with the CAS
(Civil Aid Service) cadets. I really love their
enthusiasm. We also managed to visit the
Government Flying Service, Fire Services
Department and CAS headquarters to learn
more about what they do.
The most unforgettable moment was visiting
the elderly home. It was my first time visiting
an elderly home and seeing their smiles
really touches my heart. I enjoyed this trip
a lot and hope to share the knowledge I had
gained with my juniors back in Singapore. I
would like to thank all my Sirs and Madams
for making this trip enjoyable and successful!
Nur Azra 3E5
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F
STA F
T ES
U P DA
Mr Chan Sau Choy
Desmond,
Mathematics & CPA
NIE t
ra
i n es s
w staff !
ly welcome our ne
m
r
a
w
e
W
Mr Ang Jiunn Jye
Joseph,
Mathematics
& Chemistry
th
10
th
(25 Feb-
E xc e e n
ce in
P u b l i c S elrlv
i c e Aw
a
rd
Mr Roger Leong,
new OE coordinator
May)
Wedding b
Back row:
Mr Tan Zhuo Guan,
Mr Musa Shukor,
Mr Firdaus Yasin
Front Row (left to right):
Miss Isabella Tay,
Miss Nicolette Ng,
Miss Hayati
Miss Liyana,
Miss Hafizah
My experience teaching in Christ Church Secondary has been an
interesting journey. I would like to thank 1E3, 1E5, 3E2, 3E3, 3E4, 3E5
for being such a delight, and to the amazing teachers, Ms Ashreena,
Ms Anya, Mr Roy, Mr Sng, and Mdm Betty Koh, who continue to
provide us with the support and guidance to excel further.
Mr Musa
ells
Ms Ng Hui Ling
with her groom
2 June 2012
Mr Iwan
with his bride
20 Oct 2012
I would like to express my gratitude towards Christ Church Secondary
School for being a gracious host during my practicum stint. The school
has widened my horizon and rewritten my definition of a holistic
education with its plethora of outdoor activities and beneficial
student centric programmes such as the ‘One student, One mountain,
One Country’ school promise.
Ms Nathania Chan
with her groom
24 Nov 2012
I would like to specially thank my cooperating teachers, Mrs Ram
Naidu and Ms Lesley Leong for their guidance and their valuable
advice. They were willing to share their experiences and teaching
strategies to aid me in my journey to become a competent teacher. I
also enjoyed teaching 1N7, 3E3, 4E5 which are really fantastic classes!
Mr Firdaus
We thank and bid farewell to the following staff
Mr Zhang Ruiyuan—returned to China
Mdm Brenda Woon Lea Lan—retired
Ms Nurul Ayn Bte Abdul Razak—transferred to Nan Chiau High
Miss Janette Tham Voon Mee—returned to Malaysia
Ms Ashreena
with her groom
10 March 2013
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