Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Chinese New Year 2012

10:47 PM Posted by Unknown No comments
On the 20th of January, SST celebrated it's first Lunar New Year in the new campus! Students were invited to wear red for the day to mark the yearly occasion. The day started of normal, with the main difference being the sea of red in the hall instead of the usual blue. Classes resumed as usual, until the real celebration began during assembly. 


At about 11 am, students were streaming into the hall, excitedly awaiting the start of the concert. Soon, the concert began. The curtains opened, and the audience were treated to spectacular renditions of Chinese New Year songs by the guitar ensemble. Led by their conductor, they certainly brought the concert to a great start. 


Carol Chen performing
Following which, Carol Chen from S3-09, performed a traditional Chinese song famous in China called 大地飞歌. The song started off with a technical glitch, but nonetheless, after it was resolved, Carol still brought a inspiring song. When asked why she selected that song, she responded, "因为我觉得这种歌是在中国很出名,也很流行。然后每一个名族的歌手都很希望以这首歌来出名,因为这首歌很高难度。之前我也学过大概几年的(类似),然后我觉得我可以handle了啦,这首歌,所以我就选者了这首歌。" In other words, she decided to sing this song as it is very famous and popular in China. As the song is rather difficult to sing, many singers use this song to make their mark. As she has learnt many related songs in the past few years, she feels that she can handle it well. When asked about her Lunar New Year wishes for the teachers and students, she responded, "老师可以工作顺利,同学可以学业进步吧." In other words, she wishes that the teachers would not have many problems in their job, and that the students continue to improve in their studies. 


Following that performance, the finalist team of the N.E-mation competition gave a presentation regarding their entry, hoping that out fellow SST students will vote for their entry. To vote, simply visit http://nemation.sg for more details.Their presentation brought lots of laughs to the audience. 
Kok Yin and Celine presenting for their N.E-mation entry
After that, the wushu CCA honed their skills with a spectacular and intense display of martial arts. They certainly kept the audience at the edge of their seats with their use of swords and weapons. When asked how he felt about this year's celebration, Preston from S3-08 and also from the Wushu CCA responded that, "I feel that it was a major success, all of the events that were planned for the celebration went very well, and the audience were great - they were very supportive. " He also reminds SST students to study harder and at the same time, make sure that they have better health. 


Wushu Performance
Following the wushu display, the students were into another treat of vocal talent. The SST Show Choir performed a re-written version of Gong Xi Fa Cai. The innovative twist to the song was definitely a refreshing change to the traditional song. 
Show Choir Performance
Following the Show Choir performance was one of the highlights of the show. The lion dance had begun. The loud noises accompanying the 2 lions and a man in a costume certainly wowed everyone, especially when they were on the floor interacting with the audience. It certainly brought the festive feeling up to another level! 
Photobucket
Lion Dance

Lions "playing" with students
Soon, the lion dance ended and that marked the end of the celebration. Ms. Alice Lim, the organizer of this event, feels that this performance is "refreshing apart from last year because we have a rather short time to prepare but everything actually come together very nicely. All the performance, the performers all put in their best effort and put on a brilliant show." When asked about her New Year wishes for SST Students and teachers, she responded, "I wish SST students and staff a happy Chinese new year, may all the wishes come true."


Overall, this celebration had been a spectacular one and with the lack of time the school had, considering how early the lunar new year is this year and our move to the new campus, it certainly made this celebration a much more impressive one. All of us, students and teachers had fun this celebration, and it was a great one to mark the first ever lunar new year celebration in our new campus. Congratulations to all involved in the celebration for the hard work put in! You certainly had outdone yourselves!

Students enjoying themselves watching performances
Written by Lee YuChong
Photos by Reuven Lim and Issac Lim
Vetted by Cherin Tan

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Monday, January 16, 2012

CCA Fair 2012

3:59 PM Posted by Keming No comments

  The SST CCA fair takes place once a year. It is an event where the Secondary 1 students of SST choose the CCA (Co-Curricular Activity) which they want to join. The Secondary 2 and 3 students, who already are in their respective CCAs, demonstrate and show what happens in their own CCAs and persuade the Secondary 1 juniors to join their CCA.



There all sorts of CCAs for the Secondary 1 students to choose from, ranging from Robotics to Taekwondo. The students and teachers of the different CCAs set up booths to promote and show off their CCAs in order to entice the juniors to join the CCA of their interest. Set-up began around 2 and the CCA fair officially begun at 2.30. Even during the set-up time, many Secondary 1 students had begun streaming into the Indoor Sports Hall (ISH) to take a look at the many different CCAs on display.


The Robotics' Club form of advertisement.

When the fair officially began, Secondary 2 and 3 students went around the ISH with their different methods of advertisement. The Robotics CCA had their very own remote-controlled robot going around the ISH and advertising the CCA. The students in the Taekwondo CCA sparred with one another in order to demonstrate what goes on in their CCA. Each CCA booth attracted groups of juniors to learn more about the different types of CCA in SST and to help them with their choice of CCA. Some CCAs went around with banners and displays promoting their CCA, and others went around giving out flyers advertising the various CCAs.


Members of the Taekwondo CCA spar with each other.
In the end, the juniors got an idea of what goes on during CCAs in SST and also had a better idea of which CCA they would join. Many seniors had shouted themselves hoarse at the end of the day in order to get the attention of the juniors amidst all the noise during the CCA fair.


Written by Tan Keming
Photos by Issac Lim
Vetted by Cherin Tan

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

SST Orientation

12:14 AM Posted by Abu Ubaidah No comments
SST Orientation
-by Abu Ubaidah


The orientation programme 2012 for the Secondary 1 students was a great success. Students from different backgrounds come together to experience a new environment, that is, the new site of SST. Very exciting activities were carried out throughout the course of the orientation to bond, nurture values of SST and shape the students to their new learning environment. But let's take a look at the highlights of the whole orientation programme which made it a very pleasant experience for all the Secondary 1 students.

For the first day of orientation, obviously, Ice-breaking games were held out. These games helped classmates familiarize themselves with each other and overcome obstacles as a class. Students also named their classes and came up with a class cheer. They were also taught some cheers which were constructed by some of the Secondary 3 students and they displayed strong spirit and strength with the unity of their cheers.


The second day of orientation was focussed mainly on SST values such as the 10 Cs and what it meant to be an SST student. They had an SST Race, which was like an amazing race between classes to familiarize the new student body to SST. After that, they were briefed on the Concert @SST and Badge Ceremony and started rehearsing. After all, these two events were to be showcased to the parents of Secondary 1 SST Students. 
The third day of orientation was packed with games and activities. After the flag raising ceremony, a few energizing games were held out and Secondary 1 students set off to West Coast Park for a fun-filled race with some obstacles that they had to pass. Wet and dry games were held out and the purpose of all these activities was for the students to bond and get to know each other and have fun while going through the process, essentially.
The last day of the orientation programme consisted of the Secondary 1s constructing "Thank You" cards for their parents and preparations for the long awaited Badge Ceremony and Concert @ SST. After twilight, it finally begun. Students were presented with SST collar-pins/badges by our very own principal, Mr Chua Chor Huat, symbolizing their arrival to the SST community. Looks of awe were given by parents as students gathered for the final moment, as the Secondary 1s cheered with unwavering spirit as a batch of SST Students in unison. Much more happiness was received afterwards, especially from parents, who were teary eyed upon receiving "Thank You" cards from their children.

The orientation programme was very well planned and surprisingly, it was planned and mapped out by solely the Peer-Support-Leader(PSL) community of SST, not comprising of too much. This dedicated bunch of students made the orientation a success and their dedication to the whole event throughout the holidays is indeed admirable.


Friday, January 6, 2012

SST Ceremonial Move

1:04 AM Posted by Unknown No comments
With the start of the new year, SST students have one more thing to look forward to - a new campus. 3rd January 2012 marks the first day SST students will have their lessons in the new, permanent campus at 1 Technology Drive, and is also the day where we welcome new students and teachers to the SST family! Such important events have to be celebrated and that was exactly what the day was dedicated to. 

The day started off with anxious students meeting their classmates for the first time, at the atrium at the morning. Then, the flag raising ceremony began, with a 600 strong student body singing the national anthem and saying the pledge with pride. Mr. Chua, the principal, then addressed the students and gave a welcome speech, encouraging the student body to work harder. Following which, the Peer Support Leaders(PSL) involved the students and taught them 2 cheers, entitled 'SST Cheer' and 'SST Dynamite'. It wasn't before long that it was time to go up to class, to get to better know our form teachers and for the Year 1 and 3s, our new classmates.
Students paying attention to the speech by Mr. Chua
At 9, after class, the Year 1 students had their mass cheer session in the field, where they spent a good 50 minutes cheering and playing games with their fellow PSLs. The Year 2 and 3 students were not going to let the Year 1 students have all the fun! During the mass cheer session, the Year 2 and 3 students had their recess, where they spent time bonding with their new classmates. Before long, it was time to gather in the hall for the Formal Ceremonial Celebration.

Mass Cheer session
The Formal Ceremonial Celebration could very well be said to be the most exciting event of the day. Firstly, the Guest of Honor for this event is Mrs. Edelweiss Neo, the West Cluster Superintendent, arrived, and gave a speech, about our school's outstanding achievements and our unique education system. Formalities aside, the celebrations began.

Mr. Chua leading the GOH to the hall
SST Staff watching the ceremony attentively
A photo montage was shown of a compilation of photos from the temporary campus, relieving the memories of the campus in everyone's minds. Following which, a long anticipated event, was going to happen. SST's school flag was unveiled! At that very moment, S2-09 of year 2011 performed a cheer, with S2-02 of year 2011 going afterwards. The end of the cheers marked the end of the Formal Ceremonial Celebrations.


SST School Flag
Students enjoying the ceremonial items
While everyone were enjoying the celebrations, another event was taking place in the school. In the indoor sports hall, food was being packed by the Service Learning Co-ordinators. The food was collected during the December holidays by student volunteers, and packed for 'Food for the Heart'. We, as students, should always remember to give back to the community and the drive is a great way for doing so.

SL Co-ordinators packing the food
Overall, the first day of school at SST has been a meaningful one, with events ranging from the celebration of our school to giving back to the community. 3 January 2012 is a day to be remembered by all students, teachers and staff of SST. Kudos to people who put in tremendous effort to make the event possible!

Written by
Lee YuChong