What we did last Raya...

I had a big group of students visited my house for Hari Raya celebration this year. it was a great fun as they learnt what's the meaning & how we celebrate Hari Raya because among all the students most of them are non-muslim. This event was proposed for P5 students that been arranged by our Malay teachers - Mdm Siti Badariah, Mr Shahrin, Mdm Zakiah & Miss Kaisha.

Even there was time constraint, we managed to visit 4 houses, but unfortunately not all of them could make it because they have to report back to school as we had scheduled earlier.

Thank you for all the teachers that made my Hari Raya the most enjoyable this year. Hope we could have it again next year or even every year....

shared by Mdm Asia (PSG Exco)

Oct 2007

My Internal Compass--by Dr Benedict Tan

Compasses are found in many boats. Other than giving us our sense of direction, sailing compasses also serve as tactical tools by helping us detect very subtle shifts in the wind direction.
There is a second compass on board, and that is the one within the sailor.

Improving Oneself versus Beating Others

I feel it is crucial to know why we do what we do. Do we compete to improve ourselves, or do we compete to defeat others? I feel that as we encourage competition in our schools and workplace, we need to be clear about this. People who compete simply to defeat others do not go far ultimately.

The most common mistake that sailors make is to race against another sailor – your greatest rival is not another sailor, it is the elements, namely the shifts in the wind. Sailors who are focused on beating a particular opponent very often miss critical wind shifts.
I compete to better myself, not to defeat others.

Be clear about our ultimate objective
Is the ultimate objective really to win an Olympic medal? If we hothouse a few individuals, and one of them wins an Olympic medal, what is the direct benefit to the country?
nIf we put in place a framework that sees thousands of enthusiastic young sailors competing and improving themselves, and building their characters through the sport, isn’t that worth a lot more to the country, even if not one of these sailors win an Olympic medal?
Hence, it is clear to me that the greater good is the participation and competition that comes from a sound framework, rather than the Olympic medal.

The Moulding Process
If you come to my home, you will notice that there is not a single trophy displayed. The reason is that the true treasure is not the physical trophy or medal, but the work process that I have so painstakingly moulded over the years, through repeated failures and painful lessons. My current and future performance is dependent on my work process.

Pushing the limits
My work process, if not appreciated and maintained through continued analysis and testing, can deteriorate and become redundant. I continue to accept challenges, to push myself, to test my limits, to keep learning, in order to improve my work process. There is much more to be done.

Enlightened Citizenry
To me, an enlightened citizen is simply one who sees the big picture and realizes that he or she is part of a web, and that web is society.
Society can thrive only if its citizens contribute to the greater good; the individual can thrive only if the society thrives.
There are critics who feel that Singaporeans are becoming self-centred. I wish, however, that Singaporeans are, at the same time, smart enough to realize that we must contribute to society and help our society to thrive, so that we may thrive.
This is similar to my training principle – I share with and help my sparring partners to improve, so that they can push me harder and help me improve.

Enlightened citizenry, to me, also means being pro-active, that is doing something about it. Singaporeans have learnt to be critical, but have not learnt to do anything positive to rectify the situation.
We complain, but when it’s time to do something about it, we leave it to others to do the job. This arises because many do not see that being part of the web means active, not passive, participation.

shared by Mrs Chew Lai Mun, Principal
2007

more infor & articles on Dr Ben Tan http://www.sma.org.sg/sma_news/3805/Whats_Up_Doc.pdf

http://www.singaporeolympics.com/p_ben_tan.php

Teachers Day Concert 28 Aug 2007 by PSG Exco

Video produced and edited by Parent Volunteer, Mr Roland Yap.

Coffee Talk on Disciplinary

Date : 12th Oct 2007
Time : 2pm-5pm
Venue: Training Room (Level 3)

Coffee talk session on disciplinary issues conducted by our parents facilitator, Mdm Anne, Mdm Sheila and Mrs Pauline.

Dialogue session with the Principal

Dialogue Session with the Principal (for mandarin speaking parents)

Date : 21/9/2007

Time : 6pm-7.30pm

News for parents

The latest education news, info for parents,
and features from schools and teachers.

http://www.schoolbag.sg/

Corporate Communications Division is pleased to announce the launch of Schoolbag.sg, a new online newsletter for parents (www.schoolbag.sg). Schoolbag.sg is revamped from Contact Online. The revamp arose out of a review of MOE’s and schools’ efforts to reach out to parents and the public.
2 Schoolbag.sg aims to keep parents informed of news and developments in education in Singapore, provide insightful school stories, and highlight pertinent parent and teacher matters. With Schoolbag.sg, we hope to enable parents to better partner schools and to make informed choices about their children’s education.
3 Stories in Schoolbag.sg are found in these sections:
* Education News – articles reporting on developments on the education front in Singapore, e.g., policies, MOE events
* Parents’ Corner – stories on school/MOE events that parents are involved in, tips for parents, contributions from parents
* In the Schools – school stories on school trips, school events, school programmes or projects
* Teachers Today – stories on teachers’ professional development and their work, e.g. work attachment, school counsellors, teachers helping students with special needs.
4. Schoolbag.sg will continue to feature stories contributed by teachers and schools for these stories give parents and the public insight into our teachers’ work and into the various interesting programmes run by our schools

Stress Mangagement and Tea Appreciation Workshop

A Stress Management and Tea Appreaciation workshop was organised for the parents on 25th Aug 2007. Richard and Serina from HeroTraining & Consultancy taught parents how to manage stress and the importance of time management. Participants also learned more about tea leaves and tea brewing from Mr Patrick. They were treated with the signature tea from Tea Chapter which is used to serve Queen Elizabeth during her visit to Singapore.

PSG Visit To Old Folks Home

Date : 3rd Sept 2007

Time : 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Venue : Tai Hwa Kwan Society, Toa Payoh Lor 5

The parents & children team played BINGO game with the old folks. The children helped to row out and track the numbers, put up large display sign of numbers called out, delivered little gifts like tissue, oilment, biscuits, etc as the old folk managed to strike a bingo. The parents in turn partnered the old folks with failing eyesight to cancel out the numbers on their card. the parent & children also cheered and applaused everytime the old folks striked a bingo. It's a really a heart warming scene. More and more old folks joined in the game when they saw the joyous mood. In particular, there was one senile old man who was not able to comprehend what's happening but he gamely joined in the fun and clapped his hands to follow what the parents volunteers are doing.

"little gifts"

"failing eyesight can't stop me bingoing"

"BINGO!"

Teacher's Day Concert Photo Gallery

Teacher's Day Concert 31st August 2007

PROGRAMME LIST


Show – 1 hour (12pm-1pm) and (1pm-2pm)

All must be seated by 11.45am (Teachers and Pupils)


11.55am - Commencing of Teachers’ Day Celebration

12.05pm - Opening Speech by Chairman of Vice Chairperson (5 mins)

12.10pm - Slide show “Make a Difference” (10 mins)
Creation: Mary & Craig Reynolds
Story by: Elizabeth Silance Ballard
“It will serve as an inspiration to us and also a much needed
reminder that we can make a difference to someone’s life with
simply words of encouragement and positive attitude. That’s the
primary role of Teachers. (“Tributes to all Teachers”)

12.20pm - Dance & Song items by students (10 mins)
2 performances

12.30pm - Dance by PSG – a Modern Indian Dance (5 mins)

12.35pm - Prize Giving – “Simply The Best” Award and “Best Dressed”
2 awards each for each sessions ( Total 8 awards)
AM session – Mr Malclom Woon
PM session - Mdm Shirely Soh

12.40pm - Thankyou speech by Mrs Chew (5 mins)
After the speech Mrs Chew remains on the stage

MC invites all the teachers to the stage. While they are coming
Towards the stage we get the prefects station at both entrance of
The stage. Play the remix song “Simply The Best”

12.45pm - Cake cutting


12.50pm - Grand Final – Get all the teachers to dance with Exco.
Play the Indian Song “DOOM”

1.00pm - TEACHERS’ DAY ENDS

Discussion Forum-Visit by Mrs Chew & Mrs Tan

Mrs Chew and Mrs Tan made a visit to the discussion forum session (despite a fully packed EV week) to thank the parents and particiapnts for being supportive of the school programs & activities.

Discussion Forum - Children program

Children program - muffin baking

23rd & 24th Aug

10.30-12pm

The discussion forum would not be possible without the support of another group of parents volunteers namely Mdm Jenny Tan, Mdm Ai Choo and Mdm Tan Hua Hua . These parents kept the children meaningfully occupied while their parents were either partipating or faciliataing the forum. Great teamwork!

Discussion Forum-Parenting Style by Parents Facilitator

Discussion Forum : Parenting Style

23rd & 24th August , 10.30am-1.30pm

Training Room @ 3rd level

Well done and great work ! Our hardworking and passionate parents faciliators, Mdm Rani, Mdm Sheila, Mrs Pauline and Mdm Anne pang have initiated & organised our 1st discussion forum for parents with the help of our lovely SFE cordinator, Cassandra. The particiapants found the session useful and are heartened to share parenting tips with each other. The faciliators fulfilled great satisfaction from running such session. As quoted from Mdm Anne Pang " Feeling very empowered & warmth by the participants' response to our discussion workshop, many like to have this type of platform to talk about parenting & children issues."

IT/Maths Workshop

IT/Maths Workshop for P1 & P2 Parents

22nd August 2007

7.30pm - 9pm

AVA room

Sharing in the use of LEAD E-learning portal by Richard from Learning Edvantage.

Sharing in the use of model to solve problem sum by Mrs Ng & Mrs Heng from GRPS.

Tea with Principal

Tea with Principal
7th Aug 2007
AVA room
5pm-6.30pm

Issues raised and answered by Mrs Chew :

How effective is han yu pin yin in learning chinese?
Rationale of P2 Speech & Drama class during curriculum time
Changes of teachers due to maternity leave, NIE training, etc
Dialogue session needed for mandarin speaking only parents