PUNGGOL SECONDARY SCHOOL 培道中学 From the Principal s Desk

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1 PUNGGOL SECONDARY SCHOOL 培道中学 From the Principal s Desk May 2016 Dear parents and students, In May, students prepared and sat for their first semestral assessment. After the exams and script checks, the post exam programme commenced, with varied activities for the students, in alignment to our effort to nurture them to be achievers with character, the 21 st century jun zi (gentleman or lady). Highlight in the Month of May PSS implements a reading programme in which every student reads at least two books a year, covering various genres and topics. In 2014, 50 stories from my life by Mr. S. R. Nathan was introduced to all students and staff. The book was well received as it gave insights into the life of Mr. S. R. Nathan and the struggles Singapore experienced to become a Nation. I have learnt from Mr S R Nathan that we have to push ourselves in order to achieve greater heights. Even if it may be of little possibility to achieve, we should always try and put in our best, because nothing is impossible. (Elfreda Lim, 4A)+ I learnt that sometimes you need to think of the benefits of the country, not just your personal gain. (Goh Joon Wee, 3C) We will not have what we have right now if the founding fathers of Singapore had not tried and built up our country. (Gordon Goh, 4N1) Presenting our gift to Mr. Nathan All students were involved in sharing their reflections on the book. The school selected 50 of our students reflections consisting of poems, letters and sketches. These works were compiled into a collection titled 50 Gifts from Punggol Secondary School 培道五十声 and presented to Mr. S.R. Nathan this year as a gift from the school. Mr. Nathan graciously made the effort to visit our school on 5 May to personally thank the students and staff who had contributed to the creation of this gift. During his visit, he answered questions posed by students and spent time sharing with the latter valuable insights and perspectives on Singapore. Following are selected reflections by students on the dialogue with Mr. Nathan: Students interacting with Mr. Nathan 1

2 Character and Citizenship Education Singapore Diversity Week May was the Singapore Biodiversity Week. In conjunction with this event, our Environment Club organised a Biodiversity Exhibition at the canteen on 19 May. The exhibition featured Singapore's large variety of animal and plant species such as dry land tropical rainforests, mangroves and coral ecosystems. Students and staff also had a chance to participate in a quiz. Uniform Group Camp Food Donation Drive As in previous years, the UG Camp includes a food donation drive, which involves the entire school in helping to donate food items in support of needy families. This donation drive was carried out in collaboration with a Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO), the Realm of Tranquility. The UGs target was 220 food packs. With both parents and students support, the school is proud to announce that in the end, we collected a grand total of 396 food packs. Our UG members personally transported 290 food packs to areas such as Buangkok, Tampines, Punggol, Woodlands and Marsiling. The remaining food packs were given to the organisation to distribute to other areas. Students reading the exhibition Project Green Wave As is the tradition in Punggol Secondary since 2013, the 2016 Secondary 1 cohort were given a tree to plant in the school s ground. This tree symbolises the students planting their roots in Punggol Secondary, and being nurtured over their 4-5 years in the school. The tree is traditionally planted in the month of May to also commemorate Singapore Biodiversity Week, to celebrate the diversity of plant life in Singapore. Through this experience, we learnt to contribute back to society and help the less fortunate. As we help others, we also learn values such as responsibility and self-respect. Not only has this camp brought the uniform groups together, it has also brought classes and the school together as we worked together to meet the target set. - Joshua Teo and Ong Liang Ka from 3N2 2

3 World Ocean Day In our April newsletter, we featured posters created by our students to commemorate Earth Day which was on April 22. We are pleased to share that Resort World Sentosa requested to showcase 12 of our students posters from 17 to 20 June at the S.E.A. Aquarium in celebration of World Ocean Day Two of the selected posters are showcased in this newsletter (Ngiam Kai Li, 2 D & Muhammad Israfil Ridhwan, 5N2) NE ambassadors shared stories and conducted learning activities for the Sec 1 students Chinatown Trail This is the second year that PSS designed and conducted a Chinatown Trail for the Sec 1 students, who made their way to Chinatown by MRT. Our NE ambassadors were the storytellers and the designers of this learning experience. Chinatown was chosen because it tells the stories of our forefathers who first landed in the area. With many of the old-world buildings conserved, students have a glimpse of history through this heritage site. Through this learning journey, we hope both the NE ambassadors and the Sec 1 students will be able to appreciate better Singapore's heritage and the importance of keeping memories and history alive. 3

4 Secondary Two Values in Action (VIA) Projects Our Secondary Two students carried out with their VIA projects on 20 and 24 May The students displayed initiative and put in much effort to plan for their projects since January Class Organisation/Programmes Reflections 2A, 2N2 2B 2C 2N3 Bright Hill Everygreen Home Greendale Primary School (Lorong Halus) SOSD Dog Shelter Volunteer & Donation Singapore There was a moment of happiness and success. I could feel the love and warmth in the elderly's heart. - So Cheng Yi Augmen, 2A I felt a sense of accomplishment when the Greendale Primary School students understood and learnt something from us. - Fu Xinyi There was a feeling of success when we helped to clean the place as we helped to give the dogs a better living environment. - Brenna Goh, 2C 2D HDB Ambassadors Initially, I got nervous when approaching people but once they acknowledged me, I could share with them about good neighbourliness. I learnt that Singaporeans do value having good neighbours. Caleb Nyam. 2N1 Lions Befrienders It was very fun and exciting as we cooked for the elderly and I was happy that we gave the elderly good memories to hold on to. - Oh Jun Wei Ethan 2T1 St John s Home My friends and I were laughing together with the elderly and I think we brightened their day with joy and laughter. - Muhammad Akid Bin Mohamad Affindi 2N2 at Bright Hill Evergreen Home: playing checkers with the residents 2N3 at SOSD Dog Shelter: interacting with our furry friends 2N1 cooking up a storm with the elderly 2C learning about our responsibility to animals 4

5 Sports Carnival In view of the dry weather and hot spell, the school decided to replace Sports Day with Sports Carnival. The PE department re-designed the annual sports carnival to be bigger scale and to involve more students. A variety of games were organised, including flooball, basketball, and captain ball. Students represented their houses and had friendly matches with other houses. Academic Programme Besides sports and other character development activities during the post exam programme, Punggol Secondary also implemented its annual Math Game Day for the 2016 Secondary 1 cohort. Students were actively involved in games to challenge and apply their mathematical understanding and knowledge. The games included a scavenger hunt using geometry and forming various shapes using a tangram. At the end of the activities, students reflected on what they did when they met a setback: I tried my best to come up with ideas, Tried to find another way to solve it, We worked together on the problem, I re-tried all the steps over and over until I could get a correct answer, We tried our best to analyse the question in different ways. The students responses demonstrated a growth mindset, team work, willingness to persevere and resourcefulness to find alternative solutions. 5