A Totally New Media Experience @ SST

Chinese New Year 2012

2012-01-25T22:47:00.001+08:00

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!

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

SST Year 1 Orientation

2012-01-21T13:28:00.000+08:00

CCA Fair 2012

2012-01-16T15:59:00.001+08:00

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

SST Orientation

2012-01-11T00:14:00.001+08:00

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.

SST Ceremonial Move

2012-01-06T01:04:00.000+08:00

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

Food Donation Drive

2011-12-29T00:40:00.001+08:00

Food Donation Drive
-by Abu Ubaidah

Flyers, such as these, were distributed by students to the residents of Clementi

On the 9th and 27th of December 2011, SST students helped out in a community involvement project that was organized by the students as well. The community involvement project was targeted at the residents of Clementi basically and it was for an organization known as Food From The Heart(FFTH), which is an organization that helps the underprivileged people namely in Singapore.

Students who were present on the 9th of December helped distribute flyers with information and details about the food donation drive that SST was holding. It's purpose was to propose to the residents to donate non perishable food items such as rice, canned food, oil, and more of such goods. The good turn up of students allowed all the distribution of flyers to be less of a hassle for the students who went door to door to place flyers and the day ended earlier than planned for the goodhearted students who turned up.

Requesting residents for donations for ultimately a good cause

On the 27th December, There was a greater turnup of students and they were divided into different sectors to collect food items from door to door. The great show of students once again made everything easier than expected and everyone finished their duties earlier than planned. The kind people of the Clementi community donated a lot of food items indeed, some caring souls even donated many heavy sacks of rice and there were some elderly who'd give whatever that was in their hands too!

This community involvement project wouldn't have been possible without the students who planned it and without the people who signed themselves up to help out in this project. Community involvement (Caring and Sharing for society) indeed comes from the heart, and seeing that many people from SST freed their time for such events, I must comment that students from SST have very big hearts. I'm sure many people would have benefited from the good deeds that SST as a community has brought to the bigger society. In the future if we kept this up, we could also fulfill our goals of being A Globally Connected Institution of Science and Technology. Let us hope and pray that we have all helped someone less fortunate than us by involving ourselves in activities that support the community.

2011-11-08T23:17:00.002+08:00

On the 3rd November 2011, SST held a inter-class competition for the Secondary 2s. All 9 classes came up with 2 School cheers each and pitted their cheers against each other. With their hard work, the Sec 2s came up with marvelous cheers! Congratulations to the classes who qualified as the top 3:

1st - S2-02

2nd - S2-09

3rd - S2- 06

{

Best song Lyrics- S2-05:

SST all the way,
We'll fight fight fight, come what may
} x3

Hey you~ We'll rule the day
We'll be on top and show the way
SST is here to stay
Hey, Listen to what I've got to say

Don't put us to the test,
Cos we're king of the west,
We'll dominate the rest,
SST's the best

22nd October, SST's 3rd A Day @ SST experience !

2011-10-24T22:48:00.002+08:00

On 22nd October, SST held its 3rd A Day @ SST. A Day @ SST gives the potential SST students a chance to experience lessons in a typical SST classroom. The P6 students are broken up into 3 different sessions and a few different groups. Each group of students would be able to experience 2 different lessons together as a class.

The first session starts at 8.30am ad ends at 1025, the second session starts at 11.00am and ends at 12.55am. The last session which is the third session of the day, starts at 2.00pm and ends at 3.5pm.

As the P6 students arrive and go over to the registration counter, student helpers and teachers in various classrooms are getting ready for the arrival of their class. As more and more students arrive, our student ushers get busier and our classroom student helpers and teachers get more excited.

In the morning with a talk given by both the Principal and Vice-Principal for the parents of the potential selected students of SST. Kicking of the event, two students, Niklaus Teo of class S2-09 and Mavis Cheng of S1-01 shared with the parents their experiences in SST. Mrs Chew Wai Lee, vice principal of SST, gave a brief on filling in the option form to accept SST’s offer and the other scenarios of the procedure of selecting the preferred schools if they reject SST’s offer. Moving on, Mrs Chew touched on the school’s structure, learning style and the future campus. After the presentation, there was a Q and A session where Mr Chua answered questions posed by the parents. The parent’s session ended with a feedback form which will enable the school to further improve on the talk for future events.

While the parents were seated in the hall, the student leaders brought the students up to class, where they are greeted by the student helpers and teachers. After introductions, lessons commence. The students get to experience lessons such as English, Maths, Science and Humanities. After, students were required to complete a feedback form which would allow us to improve on our lessons.

In the English lessons which were conducted in Learning Oasis and Multi Purpose Room 2. The science lessons were split into Biology and Physics lessons. These science lessons were conducted in Multi Purpose Room 1 and the Physics Laboratory respectively. Maths lessons were taught in Classroom S106 and Classroom S107 during session 1 but one of the Maths lessons changed to be conducted in Design and Technology Studio room instead of Classroom S106. Last of all is the Integrated Humanities, Geography and History, which were conducted in the Earth Science Lab and Classroom S109 respectively.

In the english lessons, they have to arrange some procedures on pieces of paper in order then they have to follow it and do a self introduction with photo booth. For the next task, they were given a piece of paper, they have to copy down a set of instructions that will be read out by a teacher .They will follow the instruction they copy and create a iPhone ring tone using garage band. Last of all, they also have to upload to iTunes after completing the ring tone. During science lessons, the students were taught to use Google Sketchup to construct blood vessels like the arteries, veins and capillaries.

As the students leave, we all hope that we would be able to see them again next year, and that we have done an excellent job and had left a good impression.

Interview with student helpers :

Wang Ruoyu S101 Student Helper for English language

Question 1. How do you feel about being a student helper for English in A Day@SST event ?
I felt that this was a great experience for me as i had loads of fun but at the same time learnt new knowledge, it also gave me a chance to bond and interact with my possible juniors.

Question 2. Share with us what are some of the interesting experiences during the A Day@SST event?
The whole event was exciting and fun, one of the most interesting experience was listening to the junior's Iphone ring tone ,as most of them were not very sure what to compose and the end results was very funny and random, i had a good time listening to the ring tones.

Question 3. If you had another chance to be a student helper again, what would you want to improve on?
I would try to be less awkward when talking with the juniors and also and not get too carried away when assisting the teacher with the task.

Q4 What was your favourite part of the whole event?

Actually, the entire event was great and all parts were interesting and fun, there is no specific favorite part.

Sebastian Denzel Supriyadi S105 Student Helper for Science lessons

Question 1. How do you feel about being a student helper for English in A Day@SST event ?

I feel honoured to be a student helper and to help to show lessons to the juniors and potential juniors

Q2. Share with us what are some of the interesting experiences during the A Day@SST event?

Some of the interesting experiences were teaching the P6 students on how to use sketchup and I'm surprised that they were able to pick it up so quickly

Q3. If you had another chance to be a student helper again, what would you want to improve on?

I would work on my confidence in teaching the students.

Q4 What was your favourite part of the whole event?

My favourite part was seeing the juniors that might be in our school next year

Ng Ying Liang S101 Student Helper for English language

Question 1. How do you feel about being a student helper for English in A Day@SST event ?

I felt honored and surprised. As my english is very poor,I am surprised that my teacher chose me.Also being chosen to help out in this important occasion,I felt honored as I am only a Year 1 student in the school.

Q2. Share with us what are some of the interesting experiences during the A Day@SST event?

During the activities,there was once they need to create their own ringtone. However one of the group is very mischievous and took the default ringtone as their own by just moving around and deleting some parts. My friends and I found it amusing.

Q3. If you had another chance to be a student helper again, what would you want to improve on?

I would improve by making sure every students get the help they need as we had limited students helpers then since some of them went home earlier

Q4 What was your favourite part of the whole event?

My favourite part was to guide the students through the end using the iMac and also seeing the youngest iPhone app developer in the class I was helping^^

Interview and article done by Genevieve Foo S104 and Mavis Cheng S101

SST's 2nd Track and Field Meet (Photos)

2011-10-21T15:52:00.001+08:00

Montage

Students getting ready for a race

Spectators watching the games in the stands

A determined student runs to complete the race

Teachers and Parents getting ready for their special event

Red House's representative with their inter-house champion trophy

Students playing an exciting "minigame"!

Teachers with their prizes

Teachers in their "special event"

Excited spectators watch the game from the stands

SST Teachers' Day 2011

2011-09-03T17:48:00.003+08:00

SST's 2nd Track and Field Meet (Video)

2011-09-03T07:06:00.000+08:00

SST's 2nd Annual Track and Field Meet

2011-09-02T22:28:00.001+08:00

On 31^st August 2011, SST held it’s 2^nd Annual Track and Field Meet. The meet, held at the Clementi stadium, started off with the flag-rising and the recitation of the Athletes Oath under the lead of Eugene. All the students were standing according to their classes before being dispersed into their respective houses and the competitors for the events held on that day.

A representative from each of the 5 houses ran in the torch relay with a genuine Olympic Torch, ending off with the representative from the red house, last year’s champion for the inter-house competition, to light the cauldron. Just before the lighting of the cauldron, a party popper bursting had taken everyone by surprise, lifting the mood of the school. Mr Chua Chor Huat, principal of SST, released the first pistol shot with a loud bang, kicking off SST’s 2^nd annual track and field meet.

This year, there were quizzes announced in between the events for the school to response to. In order to submit their answers, the participants are required to send their answer to a number within 7 minutes and the fastest one with the correct answer was the winner. Among the quizzes, quiz question 3 and 6 were meant only for teachers and parents.

The first event that took place was the 100m boys finals, followed by the 100m girls finals. Niklaus Teo (Red House) from 209 emerged as champion for the 100m boys final while Valery Tan (Black House) from 107 won the girls’ finals. Next up was the 800m Boys final with Jing Heng (Red House) from 208 as the champion. Prizes for the completed events including the field events and quiz winners was presented to the respective winners as they took to their places on the position podium after the first few events.

The events commenced right after the prize presentation with the 200m boys final, 200m girls final and 400m boys final. Once again , Niklaus from 209 clinched the champion for the 200m boys event, with Yan Jin (Red House) from 203 winning the 200m girls and lastly, Kim Allen from 103 winning the 400m boys finals. Proceeding, the spectators were engaged in the Inter-House Game as each of the house groups have to keep the beach ball up in the air for as long as possible.

After that Inter-House Game, the relay races began. The first two relay races that took place were the 4 X 100m Girls Final and 4 X 100m Boys Final. The red house team won the girls final and the yellow house clinching the champion for boys final after the disqualifying of the black and red house, where a runner had stepped out of the line.

What’s up next? The games for the teachers have started! The teachers were required to bit on a straw and transfer a bunch of rubber bands from one end to the other for the first part of the games, followed by the teachers securing their shoes on hard plastic board with raffia strings, forming a line and do the “caterpillar” walk together to cross the finishing line. for the second part of the games. All the students crowded around the teachers and joined in the fun by cheering their teachers on. Finally, after the stumbles and tangles, the teachers made it to the finishing line.

Next up, the relay races continue. The relay events were the 4 X 400m girls finals, 4 X 400m boys final and the Parent-Teacher-Staff 4 X 100m relay. For the 4 X 400m girls final, the Black House relay team clinched the championship, beating the Red House relay team by just 2 seconds! For the 4 X 400m boys final, the Red House relay team clinched the championship once again. And lastly, for the Parent-Teacher-Staff, Red House clinched championship.

As the end of the meet was drawing closer, the winners of the inter-house competition were announced. Mr Lam Hin Chew took the microphone and invited Mr Chua to present the trophies. Mr Lam started by announcing the 3^rd place winner, which was Green House. Green House members cheered for their house as the House Captain of Green House went up the the podium and received the third place trophy from Mr Chua.

Next up, Mr Lam announced the 2^nd place winner, which was Blue House. Louder cheers were heard from the Blue House members as their house captain went up to the podium and received the second place trophy.

Finally, the tension is high as Mr Lam was about to announce the first place winners. Finally, Mr Lam announced the first place winners, which were Red House. Loud cheers erupted from the members and the House Captain went up to the podium and accepted the trophy from Mr Chua.

At last, Mr Chua took the mic, gave a speech and officially ended the meet.

Interviews with some of the winners:

Ho Yan Jin, Red House, 203.

Question: How many trophies did you win?

Answer: I won 2 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze.

Question: How do you feel after getting all these achievements?

Answer: Actually, before the race, I was very nervous as I wasn’t very confident for the run, so I was just hoping for the best. I don’t think that it’s the achievements that you get that matters, I think it’s the running. I find running very fun. So it’s just competing with your friends and even if you lose, you know where you stand so you know where you could improve better.

Question: What is one word that you would use to describe the whole event?

Answer: Meaningful.

4 X 400m Girls Relay, Black House Team.

Question: Did you win? (Before the official results were out)

Answer: We are not sure we won. We just randomly formed a team and took part in this relay for fun. We didn’t expect to win.

House Captain of Red House, Chio Jia Le, 209.

Question: How do you feel after Red House won the inter-house competition once again?

Answer: I feel that we kind of expected Red House to win again. However, we did not let our guard down and held regular training for our individual events.

Question: How would you ensure Red House wins the championship again next year?

Answer: As we are going to have 2 categories for next year, I will make sure each category’s competitors train hard for their event. And thus, we are guaranteed to win again next year.

Red House 4 X 100m Parent-Teacher-Staff relay team.

Question: How do you feel after the race?

Answer: Quite tiring as I have not been running for a long time. (Mr Irfan)

Question: Was there any goal(s) you wanted to achieve before you ran the race?

Answer: The only goal was to have fun, not to win.

Question: How well do you guys think you fared as a team?

Answer: I think we did quite alright, despite the fact that we didn’t train at all.

Article and interview done by: Mavis (101) and Genevieve. (104)

Teachers Day Class Party & Performance

2011-09-01T12:19:00.001+08:00

Photo Montage

S202 Class Photo
(50mins Class Party)

Students serving the teachers
(201 Class Party)

Teachers watching student performance

(205 Class Party)

Students playing Games with teachers

(209 Class Party)

Teachers watching "Teacher's Day Performance"

(Performance by Guitarists with Mdm Zuraida guessing the songs)

(Performance by Wushu Club members)

Performance by SST students

Students talking during performance

Students giving gifts to the teachers

National Day 2011 @SST

2011-08-24T18:46:00.002+08:00

Singapore Presidential Election

2011-08-23T18:21:00.002+08:00

Earlier this year, was the Singapore General Election. Now its the Singapore Presidential Election.

With all these Elections going on, the people of Singapore have a say.

Since President S.R. Nathan has decided not to go for re-election, 4 new candidates have decided to take part in this four-cornered fight to be president.

They are Dr Tan Cheng Bock, Mr Tan Jay See, Dr Tony Tan and Mr Tan Kin Lian.

Wonder about their background? Here's a summarized version.

Dr Tan Cheng Bock

Tan Cheng Bock. (2011, August 23). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10:19, August 23, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tan_Cheng_Bock&oldid=446252134

Dr Tan Chen Bock is a medical doctor by profession. He became a doctor in order to help the old folks whom needed the care for. He decided to enter politics to ‘be a voice for Singaporeans’. He has a strong belief in speaking up for the ‘common man’, he plans to implement policies that will allow for those who are financially unstable or the average household to make less losses, financial wise.
He is also urging the “Think Singaporeans First” policy to the parliament.

Mr Tan Jay See

Tan Jee Say. (2011, August 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:51, August 19, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tan_Jee_Say&oldid=445548787

Aged 57 this year, Mr Tan Jee Say is a Singaporean corporate executive, politician and former civil servant. During the 2011 General Elections, he was contesting under the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).After the elections,he resigned from the SDP to stand as a candidate in this election.

His logo is in the shape of a heart, following his campaign "Heart of the Nation"

Dr Tony Tan

Tony Tan Keng Yam. (2011, August 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 04:30, August 20, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tony_Tan_Keng_Yam&oldid=445768916
Aged 61 this year, Dr Tony Tan is a mathematician, banker and politician. He was also Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s first choice as the new PM, but declined the offer.
His logo is a pair of spectacles and his campaign is titled "Confidence for the future"

Mr Tan Kin Lian

Tan Kin Lian. (2011, August 22). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10:20, August 23, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tan_Kin_Lian&oldid=446131276

Mr Tan Kin Lian, former CEO of NTUC Income, is one of the presidential candidates for the Presidential Elections 2011. He was also the only candidate to speak in the four official languages in his nomination day speech: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. His main reason for running as a candidate is to be a voice of the people in the government.
His campaign is titled "Voice of the people"

How is this election going to turn out? Watch out for that on 27 August 2011.

Please note that this information is correct at the time of posting. Please let us know if there are any errors. All apologies for the errors occurred. Thank you.

Text by: Jerome, Justin, Genevieve and Cherin

Photo Collage

2011-08-17T10:37:00.001+08:00

Photo collage:Ng Ying Liang

National Day Celebrations - August 8 2011

2011-08-08T18:25:00.005+08:00

On the 8th of August 2011, SST celebrates its second National Day Celebration. The performance kick start with a flag march in ceremony by SST's Singapore Youth Flying Club members, who brought in the national flag and placed it on the stage. Thereafter, it was the singing of the National Anthem.

Excited students clapping at the march in

Principal Mr Chua Chor Huat then delivered the National Day message. The message highlighted some of Singapore's strengths and achievements over the years, and it serves as a reminder for us to move forward as one nation.

The funny game show made these students laugh and smile

Following the speech, the games commenced with the hosts of SST's very own "We are Singaporeans" game show making their appearance. Daniel Tan of S2-06 and Shakti of S2-02 were the host of the game show. They read out the main rules of the game: No cheating and the audience was not allowed to prompt the contestant with the answers if they knew. Then host Daniel began picking the contestants from the floor at "random", as he claims, and picked 3 students to partake in the quiz. The contestants had to choose the name of a teacher from the ones designated on the slide, and the chosen teacher would come forward and read out his/her question for the contestants to answer. The winner was decided after 5 questions and received a package of food as their reward.

"Ha ha, my teacher has been picked!"

The game show left this student deep in thought

Then came the "commercial break", an interesting video about how Singapore had overcome her problems in the past in order to become the best today. Some of the problems and issues addressed were housing problems, water problems, and tranportation in the past and present. Then came the Sing-along session with the Sec 2 NE Ambassadors with the song "We Will Get There", after which the 2 hosts returned and continued with their game show.

Singing along with the NE Ambassadors on stage

Student feeling happy that he was not picked for the game show

This time in the second part of the game, the stakes were upped a level when there are 6 new players, formed in groups of 2, that were newly selected by Daniel and Shakti. The questions also seemed to get tougher as for the first few questions, no one managed to get them right, in the end when all the questions were answered, everyone had the same number of points. The hosts came up with a quick tiebreaker, and the winner was chosen in the end, marking the end of the show for this year.

Next stop, the second video were footages of SST students and staff members wishing Singapore a happy birthday to the song "One People, One Nation, One Singapore". The NE committee gave out special SST funpacks containing a Singapore flag and the SST badge which had been made for the celebration, among other items. Armed with the national flag in their hands, everyone arose and sang to the tune of the next song for the sing-along, performed by Sec 1 NE Ambassadors.

A staff room... Drama club style! Performance on the Singapore Spirit

Afterward, there was a drama performance done by the SST Drama Club, based on this year's theme of "Majulah! The Singapore Spirit".

The drama club deserves the applause!

Amidst the humour of the performance, it taught us about the importance of the Singapore spirit and tries to define the term in the best way. Then, there was the performance by SST's show choir which performed the song "Where I Belong".

SST Show Choir 2 guitarists!

Finally, there was the placard presentation by each class and each of the school's teaching departments, each symbolising what the Singapore spirit meant to them. Then came the finale, the Sing along which included the students as well as the teachers, ending the day's performance.

But the day was not over yet. Everyone had to form into a heart shape in the centre of the hall and recite the Singapore pledge, sing the National Anthem, and a "Happy Birthday" song to Singapore.

The Pledge Taking Moment

In all, the celebration was a fantastic experience for everyone. Being the last celebration in SST's old campus and having to move to a new one next year, this celebration is going to be an unforgettable one.

Written by: Zhi Chao
Pictures by: Lee YuChong

SST I&E Bazaar

2011-08-08T13:25:00.001+08:00

Racial Harmony Day (RHD) Celebrations @SST

2011-07-24T20:48:00.006+08:00

A racial community provides not only a sense of identity, that luxury of looking into another's face and seeing yourself reflected back, but a sense of security and support. -Wentworth Miller

On 21 July 2011, we had our annual Racial Harmony Day Celebration. The day started off with a beautiful and harmonious performance by our school’s own Guitar Ensemble CCA team. They played cultural songs such as “Bengawan Solo” to promote the harmony and between different people from different races in our multi-cultural society.

Performance by Guitar Ensemble

Photo taken by Clarabelle

Next up, we had a series of “Cat-walks” of our secondary one students dressed in self-made costumes to promote multi-racialism. These costumes were all part of a fashion costume design competition where each class will decorate their own representative with cloth and paper. 103 arose as the grand champion for this competition followed by runner-up 106 and in third place, 109.

In the midst of the “cat-walk”, we had a special cultural performance from Lai Ziying from class 201. She performed a sensational belly dance which “wow-ed” the audience. Not only did she incorporate multi-racialism in her dance, she also showed great attitude and feelings in her movements.

Performance by Lai Ziying from S201

Photo taken by Tan Keming

Next up, we had Wei Chern, Ethan and Abu, representing the Show Choir to perform a beautiful song from the 80‘s. This phrase sparked the inspiration in Paul McCartney to write this song,“black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony, folks!” This piece of music is about the integration and racial harmony on a deeper level. Certainly, their magical talent in singing along with their tireless efforts put into this performance has impact our students. Well done!

Performance by Ethan, Wei Chern and Abu

Photo taken by Tan Keming

The prizes for the Kite Design and Poster design was then given out. For the kite design, 108 rose as champions followed by 107 then 103. For the Poster design, 202 turned out to be the champions followed by 207 then 205. Congratulations to all!

Last but not least, we had the “cream of the crop” left for the Grand Finale. Our teachers themselves wore traditional costumes of different races and countries to promote multi-cultures and multi-racialism. The teachers had their very own “cat-walk” down the aisle where all students were enjoying the moment.

After the concert, SST had it's annual Racial Harmony Day bazaar. Students from both levels gathered together to form a huge array of shops lining SST. The shops ranged from all sorts of creative games to food that suited even the sweetest of teeth. Students prepared their coupons and supported their favourite stalls.

S1-05's stall was a game stall which gave players to opportunity to hit an S105 member (or any other volunteer) with a soaked sponge. Thus began SST's first water fight with everyone joining in the fun. Everyone was drenched and some people even soaked the players by squeezing sponges over their heads for maximum effect!

Students in action at S105 stall

Photo taken by Clarabelle

S209's bubble tea stall was one of the most successful stores, quenching the thirst of everyone who needed the water. Soon almost everyone in SST could be seen with a cool glass of bubble tea.

One of the most unique stalls is the S208 stall. They sold out their popsicle sticks and decided to make as much profit as possible by selling ice. Yes, ordinary ice which they managed to sell very well, by carrying a huge box of ice around and giving people samples. Uses for the ice include: Running it down peoples' backs.

Overall the RHD bazaar was a great opportunity for students to learn the basics of business, and for the students to have fun. With stores which suited every need and everyone having fun, this is truly a Racial Harmony Day to remember!

Written by: Calvin Heng and Justin Lim

Racial Harmony Day Concert 2011

2011-07-21T13:17:00.000+08:00

Racial Harmony Day performance

2011-07-14T14:35:00.002+08:00

On Thursday, 14 July, in collaboration with Racial Harmony Day, SST invited the performers from ‘White Rice’ for an enjoyable and humorous skit on the importance of Racial Harmony . Not only that , SST was also joined by students and Educators from RDFZ Xishan School (人大附中西山学校 ). Filling into the school hall , they were welcomed by the loud applause of the SST student body and staff. After a quick speech by one of the educators and two of the student representatives, the performance commenced promptly. The skit conjured up a joyful atmosphere as there were plenty of laughs throughout . The positive messages , such as to not making fun of people from other races , conveyed through comical ways , will definitely stay in the student’s mind in a long time to come.

Be sure to catch the Racial Harmony Day concert as well the Racial Harmony day Bazaar happening next Thursday !

Emily

S2-07

14.7.11

SST-NTU Flagship Programme

2011-06-10T23:21:00.001+08:00

On the 6 - 8 June, All the Secondary 2s attended a camp held by the brilliant partnering institute with SST, Nanyang Technological University. The students stayed in NTUs newest Halls of residence, Halls 16C and 16D with air-conditioning and up to date facilities and they attended a programme of their choice out of 13 specially designed programmes by the professors of NTU and did up an Applied Learning Project based on those projects.

Day 1

On the first day of the NTU Flagship Programme, The students did very little compared to the other days but they attended five plenary sessions that were very interesting and covered a variety of topics that might affect the future of the world such as the importance of water, the revolution of microelectronics, nanotechnology and its applications, animation and disappearing glaciers with rising water levels. The students took down notes and penned down their thoughts for their future reference. At the end of the day, all the students interacted with NTU student leaders and played a few games that made them work together in their various project groups.

Day 2

On the second day, all the students split up to their various projects in various schools. Since there were 13 projects, I shall give a brief explanation on what each project did during the camp. I am quite sure that all the students had fun doing up their projects even though they were from different teams as from my experience, the professors and student leaders who I met were very engaging and friendly, they also gave spontaneous replies to any questions concerning their fields of studies. So here are the different projects.

-Project 1 - Digital Painting

The students who attended this project with mentors from the school of Art, Design and Media (ADM) learnt about how they could apply photoshop to their real life. They also learnt on how Art Design and Media can be applied in communication.

-Project 2 - Microscopic Analysis of Cells and Tissues and its application in Human Disease Diagnostics

Students who attended this programme by the School of Biological Sciences (SBS) learnt a few methods of histology, Namely Histochemical Staining, Immunohistochemical Staining and Fluorescent Dye staining. They learnt about how these methods of staining liver cells can be used to indentify diseases such as cancer.

-Project 3A- The fastest ball challenge

Those who attended this project by the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS) learnt all about the conservation of energy and their application in a scenario where they had to find the angle of a ramp that ensured the fastest speed for the ball to roll down, with and without oil, a lubricant. Interestingly, sometimes, oil can slow the ball down as it might increase the friction between the ball and the ramp.

-Project 3B- Extraction of Caffeine from beverages

Also by the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS), all those who attended this project had a fun time learning how to extract caffeine from packets of Lipton Tea. Other examples of alkaloids include cocaine (a drug of abuse), strychnine (a poison), morphine (a pain killer), piperine (found in black pepper) and quinine (used to treat malaria and added to tonic) and clearly, by attending this project, the students could understand and apply what they have learnt.

-Project 4- Control and Operation of a Large-Scale Distillation Column

This project, by the School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering (SCBE) showed all the students who attended it how to control a Large-Scale Distillation Column. They learnt about independent and dependent factors that affected distillation and how messing with any of these variables could mess up the whole process of distillation.

-Project 5- Water Tower Competition

All the students who attended this project had a fruitful time indeed. Mentored by the Professors from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering(SCEE), Students learnt how structures could vary the amount of load it could carry no matter how brittle the material. They worked to build a structure that was supposed to be strong enough to hold weights. Their strongest structure could hold 41 kg of metal weights!

-Project 6- The Chemistris Game

This interesting project taught students the basics of programming and they made a game that taught others the basics of atoms and molecules and how they could fit together. This project, by the School of Computer Engineering (SCE) taught all the students who attended it something that they could gain a lot from in the future.

-Project 7- Handheld device for speech-impaired patients

This interesting project by the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) made the students build a device constructed using circuits to allow Speech Impaired patients to communicate with basic commands such as “Yes” or “No” by pressing a button. Indeed something amazing which they could use for patients who cannot speak.

-Project 8- Automatic Outdoor Light Controller

This project, also mentored by the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), teaches students on how electrical resistors worked and how lights in the toilets automatically switched on and off when you entered and left respectively. Students learnt how transistors and diodes could be used to operate as a switch in this project.

-Project 9- (1) Virtual SEM
(2) Mechanical testing on various materials

(3) Composite materials processing

Project 9 had a mouthful of content indeed, they learnt how to use the virtual Scanning Electron Microscope, testing the strength and uses of different materials using mechanical devices, and enhancing materials to become stronger. This project by the school of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) was indeed one that taught the students a whole lot of knowledge.

-Project 10A- Battery charging from bi-cycle pedal power

This project by the school of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Taught students on how they could charge batteries that could power houses in Cambodia through cycling. Something really amazing that could leave less people without energy in the future.

-Project 10B- Automatic drink cans, glass/plastic bottles sorting machine

By the same school as the previous project, This project showcased how technology could be used to help the world in recycling materials that could deplete soon. They had to design a machine that could sort out recyclable materials. Something really applicable in the current world, where we are constantly depleting our own resources through burning which causes climate change and global warming through emissions of greenhouse gases.

-Project 10C- Energy Extraction from Rain Water

This project, Also by the school of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) taught students how they could use water to move a toy car. Interesting indeed as this project also suggests alternative sources of energy than typically burning fossil fuel. It is very applicable as it is estimated that in 2050, the worlds fossil fuels shall deplete.

At the end of Day 2, There were some interesting works by the school of Art Design and Media (ADM) that were indeed very interesting. They had good story lines and was quite intriguing to everybody.

Day 3

Day three was fun, because all the students were sharing what they had done on Day 2 using presentation slides and showcasing experiments. All of the projects were interesting and the students presented as though they were very well rehearsed in their projects. I would like to end this short report by thanking every single person who was involved in making the NTU-SST Flagship Programme possible as the students had a great time and learnt a lot about how they could go about choosing courses in universities based on their different interests. The student leaders of NTU were also amazing and they were a great help to all of us, I personally appreciate them to a great extent.

That is all,

Abu Ubaidah

Applied Subjects @SST

2011-05-21T10:24:00.032+08:00

Applied Studies @SST are divided into 3 sections. In the chemistry lab, there is the Fundamentals of Electronics. In the biology lab, we have Biotechnology and Environment Science and Technology. And finally, in the Design and Media Studio 1 is Media Studies and Design Studies.

In the chemistry lab, more and more students are flooding in with their parents right behind them. They all got seated on the chairs and are waiting for the presentation to start. Some parents are enquiring more about The Fundamentals of Electronics and the representatives from Ngee Ann Polytechnic are doing their best to answer all questions. After most of the seats were filled, the presentation starts.

Students and Parents listening attentively to the speaker

As the speaker, Mr Ong, shows the parents and student how to use the circuit application, students and parents listen attentively to him and does as he instructs. The other Ngee Ann Polytechnic representatives are helping the students and parents whenever they need help or assistance. It is mostly the students interacting with the computer and the application. Besides the application on the computer, they also have a little circuit board and the parts for the students to experiment with. Parents are helping their child with the circuit board. While the students are experimenting with the circuit board, the Helper Representatives are looking around and giving assistance to those who have problems.

A student trying out at the application

Another session of presentation and hands-on activity begins again as a lot of parents and students fill the room up. The chemistry lab seems to be the most popular as the flow of students and parents coming in never end and they always come in in 1 big group. Fundamental of Electronics seem to be very popular among students.

In the biology lab, there are not as much students and parents in the biology lab than in the chemistry lab. However, there are still parents and students flooding into the biology lab. As the parents and students are seated, they look around the lab and take a look at the machines and apparatus used in the biology lab.

A parent listening to the representative's talking

More and more parents slowly fill the biology lab as time advances. Students are interacting with the apparatus set up, and so are the parents. The Ngee Ann Polytechnic representatives in the biology lab are explaining the different set-ups to the parents and the students. As more and more parents fill the room with their child in front of them, the Ngee Ann Representatives start demonstrations and explanations. Then the parents and students are left to explore the biology lab by themselves.


A representative demonstrating something to the students and parents

More students and parents crowd round the two main tables. One has an explanation going on, the other is for the students and their parents to explore.Like the Design and Media Studio 1, the flow of people never end.

In the Design and Media Studio 1, more students flood in with their parents and interacting with the Media Representatives, also from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The Media Representatives are showing parents what they do and answering their questions.

Parents and students were interested in the work they have done. Some of the parents and students are watching the little movie the Media Team made to show Media Studies to the parents and students. And the others are listening to the Media Representatives' description and explanation of Media Studies and Design Studies.


A group of students and parents listening to a representative

More and more parents fill the room up and questions and answers are being said. Some students are scrolling through the work that the Media Team had done in other schools. The flow of people coming in never seems to end.

Gallery @SST

2011-05-21T10:17:00.030+08:00

Gallery @SST gives parents an insight to SST's curriculum and the future SST campus. Gallery @SST is broken into 10 sections ,which all revolve around SST's curriculum, applied subjects and focused learning. An overview of this can be found at the side of the hall, where two large boards stand showing parents the subjects and SST's programme framework.

Subjects @SST

The boards at the side display the current curriculum of SST. It includes: Language Arts, Mother Tongue Languages, Mathematics, Science, Integrated Humanities, ADMT (Art, Design, Media, Technology), Sports and Wellness, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Character Education, ICT (Information, Communication, Technology). A clear description of each subject and the learning objectives that it would achieve is stated below the subject's title. Beside it, an iPad is fitted next to it, parents get to scroll through the iPad's picture gallery to view SST students' past experiences in the subject!

Parents viewing the Subjects that SST provides.

Learner Centered

This section provides parents and future students with information and examples of how we apply what we learn in SST in real life. The slides include on where students/parents are put in a situation where they must choose which football player will be their team's striker. Using skills like 'Mean, median and mode', the parents/students would understand how applied learning works.

Process-Focused Learning

In this section parents learn on the projects that SST students engage in. Ranging from animation to the written proposals of performance tasks, parents get to view them all! Ushers give parents a clear description of the work SST students do, and parents get to view the whole process of the animation made by our very own Sec2 cohort.

Parents browsing through some written proposals for performance tasks.

FutureSchools @Singapore

Parents are provided with a clear view on the future schools of Singapore and the learning techniques they adapt. Using ICT tools (iPad, Macbook etc. ) in schools to help students study and learn better, future schools would adapt techniques like these to engage students in applied learning. Ushers here explain to parents what is it to use ICT tools to learn in schools.

Lai Zi Ying showcasing FutureSchools @Singapore

Active Learning

Active learning is one way of applied learning in SST. The Science performance tasks of the Sec1 cohort are displayed here. Clear explanations of how students use what they had learnt in their Science lessons to create these contraptions. The ushers are from they very Science teams that had created these contraptions! Active learning is one way of applied learning in SST.

One of the Science performance task being showcased!

Applied Subjects @SST

A board showcasing the applied subjects SST provides is located directly opposite the hall. The subjects are: Biotechnology, Media Studies, Design Studies, Environmental Science and Technology, Fundamentals of electronics. Teachers brief parents about how SST provides these subjects for students and parents can also read up on the description of these subjects.

The board which displays the applied subjects offered in SST

Student Development

SST aims to achieve civic minded students who can help to change society for the better. This section shows parents how the use of technology allows students to do so. Being both a Singaporean citizen and a netizen (Internet citizen), we must always be self-conscious of what we say and do. The learning devices on the showcase blocks show the framework of student development and what students learn in their Innovation and Entrepreneurship lessons.

Talent Development Programme (TDP)

This section shows the framework in which how SST aims to nurture the talent some students have for a certain subject. Ranging from field trips to special lessons which trainers are brought in, the talent development programme would help to achieve SST's goal in making a group of 21st century innovators and learners through the programme.

An usher saying 'Hi' at the Talent Development section.

Authentic Learning

Authentic Learning is when students learn about real world events and what they can do to help society. This year, the Secondary 2 students had to construct a toy that might benefit or help society. The plans of these toys are showcased in this section, a brief description of what the toy does and how it helps the new generation learn while having fun playing it. Other methods of authentic learning are using statistics skills that they learnt in Mathematics to construct charts to represent data from the real world.

Integrated Learning

Through Integrated Leraning students would be given a project and they would use skills they learnt from other lessons like statistics from Mathematics or inferring from lessons like History or Geography. The projects' presentations are shown on the learning devices in this section.

Arthur explaining Integrated Learning!

Community-Focused Learning

Community-Focused is using the social media as tools for studying. Facebook, Twitter, Wallwisher, all these tools are used for communication and studies. Students can easily reach each other through Facebook and can ask simple short questions on Twitter.

Partnership

Here parents can see SST's fellow partners. Ngee Ann Polytechnic, A* Star and much more! SST has many friends in Singapore and out of Singapore! These partners can definitely lead SST to success!

Music @ SST

2011-05-21T08:48:00.007+08:00

Singapore
At the Music @ SST, located in the library, members from the Guitar Ensemble dressed in uniform practiced the pieces they will be performing hourly during the open house. They practiced again and again, perfecting their music pieces. The seniors played 'The Entertainer' and 'La Cumparsita' . The juniors played 'Polka' and 'Song of Bohemia' . One of the members commented, "It would be an awesome performance." True enough, it proved to be amazing. Thus, it is no surprise that our guitar ensemble won sliver in this year's SYF, Youth Festival. Anyone who attended their performance would be awed and rendered speechless by their musical talent. Not bad for a bunch of newcomers right?

Parents Seminar 2011

2011-04-25T21:05:00.004+08:00

On a tranquil Saturday morning, Who’d ever expect SST to be reaching out to its next cohort on such a beautiful day? Well, It was on two Saturday mornings, 9 April and 16 April 2011 when SST held its Parents Seminar to showcase our amazing school to the parents of the future students of SST. So “How did such a day start like?”; you may ask, so read on to find out more interesting facts on the success of the Parents Seminar, Information about SST to keep us reminded on what SST is still all about and some Parents opinions.

Well, For this event to be such a success, It would have taken a great amount of planning, So there were Ushers from all levels to guide the parents into the hall, where the Parents Seminar would be held. They arrived at 7:30 just for the sake of this event, so I presume without them, Many of the parents would be lost or would have found the event not as serious, so a big thank you is due to them.

Interested parents registering for the event

The day started for the parents with a few snapshots of SST, mainly the events that had been conducted by the Secondary 1s and the Secondary 2s that signified SST’s unique teaching process and our uniqueness as a school. Shortly after, Mrs Chew gave a very insightful speech to the parents on how SST is different and why their child should give SST a shot. So here are some interesting details on SST that you probably knew already.

1) SST is the 4th Specialised Independent School in Singapore together with the Singapore Sports School (SSS) School of the Arts (SOTA) and NUS High (NUSH).
2) SST is the 6th future school in Singapore.
3) SST students learn with Information and Communication Technologies(ICT) and are not passive learners.
4) SST students are Interactive learners
5) SST uses Applied Learning as their main teaching process. Applied Learning is learning by doing as the students here in SST are mostly kinesthetic learners and tend to work well while by doing something (i.e Conducting an experiment, Writing down understood concepts, being taught through real world concepts, etcetera.)
6) SST students like being challenged, like figuring things out and they ask “why?”.
7) SST students are University Bound.
8) All SST students are given opportunities to go for the Global Citizenship Program (GCP)
9) SST has unique subjects such as Art, Design, Media and Technology (ADMT), Innovation and Enterprise(I&E) to train us to creatively solve problems and programs to suit the students for their caliber such as the Talent Development Program.
10) SST has partners that have helped us a lot in our journey so far such as NTU, NP and Apple.
11) SST has small class sizes.
12) SST has handpicked teachers and students, through 100% DSA.

“Whoa”, you might go after reading these facts about SST; I, who have been here for 1 year and 4 months approximately was astounded as the words Mrs Chew said reminded me of how all these have been incorporated to my daily school life that I almost take it for granted. Well, After Mrs Chew’s speech to the parents, there was a great round of applause for her amazing speech and there were student volunteers who answered a bunch of questions from the parents. They were unscripted and were natural speakers on the stage.

To conclude from what the parents said about SST,

"Yeah, definitely, because he’s dreaming about this school since he was in Primary 5.", said Mrs Sunithadin in response to letting her child choose SST.

"I hope that my son can get in, just like you.", said Mr Leong.

"The course which is provided, especially the applied science, but actually at the moment I do not fully understand the whole thing, but I feel that it is quite suitable for my kids. ", said Mrs Chow on the one thing about SST that impresses her the most.

They also liked that there were a lot of new friends and they mentioned that SST imparted in them life-skills such as confidence and good relationships with their peers. Some even defined SST as “dreams come true”

Our principal Mr Chua concluded the sessions on stage with a short message, that was to show how SST is progressing and the most significant differences between SST’s curriculum compared to other schools. SST is a 4 year O level course, we all know and must remember that we can choose up to 2 Applied Subjects.

I talked to a few parents afterwards. They really liked and complimented the volunteers who went on stage for their bravery and confidence enough to speak onstage.

On the experience of helping out in this parents seminar,

"I think the experience is very eye-opening because I have always wanted to be an usher for events such as this. Also, I get to represent the school as how I behave will actually be the first impression on the perspective parents who come to the parent’s seminar. So, I think it was a really great honor for me to be here.", said Eunice, a student usher.

"... It lets me have a sense of responsibility that I am in-charge of helping to let the parents know where they are supposed to sit ...", said Jonan, a student usher.

Kudos to all those who helped make this event successful, all the teachers, students and staff involved in planning and rehearsals as well. To finish off this report, I must say; My, aren’t we amazing planners?

Do visit this page to find out more about SST!
http://www.sst.edu.sg/template02.dwt.php?page=18

Written by: Abu Ubadiah
Additional reporting by: Clarabelle and Jie Min

Track and Field Meet Day 2

2011-04-19T09:34:00.001+08:00

It was Day 2 of the heats for the Sports Track and Field meet. The events for that day were the Javelin Throw and the Shot Put. After the briefing, the teachers-in-charge, Mr Dennis Lam and Mr Aidil, led their candidates participating in the Javelin Throw and Shot Put respectively to the basketball court. Some of the candidates warmed up along the way to get their heart pumping. Both events were occurring at the same time.

At the basketball court, the heats was kicked off with the girls doing their tryouts first. At the Javelin Throw, the candidates were giving all their all. They first started running and then throw the Javelin before a line with all the momentum they gained in the run. The Secondary Twos were an exception. They had to stand at a closer distance to the line and throwing the Javelin without moving much. Determination was written all over their faces as they tried their best to throw the Javelin as far as they could. Here are the results for girls Javelin:

Name	Class	Distance
Davina Ling Li Xin	S2-09	19.77m
Sandy Khoo	S1-01	15.96m
Chua Jia En	S1-02	15.53m

At where the Shot Put tryouts was being held, metal shots sailed through the air one after the other. The girls were extremely lucky as there was only 8 girls participating in the Girls Shot Put event so they had already earned points for their houses. They put all their effort in the tryouts and the results are below:

Name	Class	Distance
Carrisa Lew En Hui	S1-07	6.83m
Teoh Yun	S2-02	6.38m
Grace Tan Soo Woon	S2-01	5.62m

After the girls’ tryouts, it was time for the boys to go for the heats.

At the Boys Javelin Throw, ‘ooh’ and ‘aaahhh’s were heard as the boys threw the Javelin with all the strength they could muster. The rules for the boys are similar to the girls. Everyone gave 100% determination and were satisfied and some elated with the overall results:

Name	Class	Distance
Ng Kai Chek	S2-01	27.17m
Marcus Au	S2-06	24.47m
Karan Sarat	S2-02	23.65m

The candidates at the Boys Shot Put was also trying hard to get a place in the semi-finals. They basically have to push a metal shot forward as far as they can. They must achieve this without stepping out of a circle. Unfortunately, many boys committed fouls, but through it all, they put all their blood and sweat and tried the best they could. The overall winner was miraculously again Ng Kai Chek.

Name	Class	Distance
Ng Kai Chek	S2-01	10.21m
Abu Ubaidah	S2-06	8.68m
Teh Howe Wee	S1-03	8.09m

Though some people did not get through to the finals, all of them had a great time. Some of them realized their potential while others got some tips from the teachers. I congratulate those who have made it to the finals and encourage those who did not make it to try again.

Track And Field Meet Day 1

2011-04-18T16:18:00.005+08:00

SPORTS MEET 2011

Heats Day 1 @ Queenstown Stadium

The annual SST sports meet consists of a series of heats over a few weeks, and a day of finals at the end of the heats. All the students from Secondary 1 and many from Secondary 2 came to represent their houses in this annual sports meet.

The first day of the heats took place at Queenstown Stadium. Many students gathered in the school hall at 2.30pm and listened to Mr Lam’s briefing, after which they departed for Queenstown Stadium on a few buses.

Trying their best!

Notice the cast? Kudos!

There was an extremely tense atmosphere at the stadium. There was a lot of suspense on who would be the first in the heats. Whenever a race started, the students would cheer for their friends, and a lot of applause could be heard when the first runner finished the race.

The crowd slowly dispersed, as more and more students finished competing in their events. Even though the competition was extremely tiring, and students that had completed the race could go home, a lot of students stayed on to cheer their friends on.

MOE Excel Fest 2011

2011-04-10T20:24:00.000+08:00

MOE Excel Fest 2011 was a 2-day event held from the 1st of April to the 2nd. Students from multiple schools of all categories gathered in one hall at Suntec Convention Centre to showcase their works and to promote their school. The School of Science and Technology, Singapore has had the privilege to participate in this event with some of her students getting an experience they would rarely have.

Ho Yan Jin and Bevan Koo showcasing some of SST's work through our digital platform

Students were assigned to be at the booth which set between those of SOTA's and NUS High's booths. The students went through some of the key things that SST offers like our Mobile Learning Platform and the Group Scribbles Project.

Bevan shares his experience with a younger student

Grace Tan sharing some experiences with the Group Scribbles Project

However, these were not the only measures SST did to get people's attention. Students went on a roster basis to go beyond the booth and roam around the hall and spreading word.


Gavin Lim giving the gist of what SST can offer...


Lee YuChong explaining about SST to a MOE Excel Fest staff

SST's visitors also completed surveys based on what they thought about the school. This would help SST improve in the future in terms of what she can offer students and such.

A visitor filling the survey on the school's iPad

This is also one way the students get to see how they used the iPads in things like Mobile Learning. the students that roamed around the hall promoted that sense in a great deal. They showed that they need not be at a specific place to do the work.


"On-The-Move" Bevan with the iPad/Survey

Yan Jin sharing some of SST's features with a seemingly impressed visitor

So, for 2 whole days, student and staff representatives of SST have given their all in making this event as meaningful as possible and to attract as many hopeful students and parents. All in all, the SST team did a magnificent job once again in the preparation for this event.

2011 Celebrations@SST

2011-03-20T22:10:00.003+08:00

On this grand day parents gathered to see their children go up stage to receive their very first award at SST. The juniors who watched the pioneer batch receive awards might get even more motivated to study for their next 4 years in SST.

The day kicked off with the arrival of the Guest of Honor, Dr. Su Guaning.

Award Recipients listening to Mr Dr Su Guaning's speech.

This was followed by Mr. Chua, the principal of SST, giving his speech about how SST started, how it has progressed through the years and to thank the staff of SST and everyone who had been there to support the school. Throughout the speech, he showed presentations and videos of the students participating in events like the "Apple Leadership Summit" and the GCP trips.

Mr Chua, our principal is giving his speech

After his speech, Dr. Su went up on stage for his speech about working with SST to create a new study environment for students.

After that, the prize-giving ceremony took place. It was what everyone, especially the parents were anticipating for as they took out their cameras, wanting to get a snapshot of their child on stage receiving a prize. First up was the SST Book Prize, followed by the Edusave Entrance Scholarship, the yearly Edusave Independent Schools, SST Entrance Scholarship, SST achievement award and lastly the Top Student award, which was won by Lai Zi Ying of S2-01.

Lai ZiYing of class S2-01 . Top student of pioneer batch.

After the prize giving ceremony, it was time for the performances to begin. Two enthusiastic emcees went up on stage to introduce the first performance, Daryl Lam playing the tune "菊花台" on the guzheng (古箏).

Daryl Lam playing the guzheng.

Next up, the SST wushu team showed their incredible martial art skills. With energetic music blaring through the sound systems and the team displaying their skill, it made everyone energetic .

Then, Ng Kai Chek from S2-01 sang Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours"

After that melodic performance came another one, Chio Jia Le playing Chopin's "Fantasie Impromptu".

Finally, SST's first speech day ended off with the guitar ensemble playing harmoniously, ending the first ever Celebrations@SST.

Written by: Justin Lim
Photos by: Mavis Cheng

"How do the teachers view it?": Mr. Irfan and Mr. Tee

2011-02-26T22:06:00.002+08:00

New people, New faces, New resolutions.

Do you ever wonder what do the teachers do, whats their favorite colour and so on?

This post is part of a few part series on : "How do the teachers view it?"

Here's an interview with Mr. Irfan, a ADMT teacher:

Here's another interview with Mr. Tee, one of the new Science teachers in SST:

"How do the teachers view it?":Mr. Max Lam

2011-02-25T00:45:00.001+08:00

New people, New faces, New resolutions.

Do you ever wonder what do the teachers do, whats their favorite colour and so on?

This post will help you get to know our new Vice-principal, Mr Max Lam.

He is not a teacher, but he's new to SST.

This post is part of a few part series on : "How do the teachers view it?"

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Chinese New Year 2011@SST

2011-02-04T00:38:00.005+08:00

On the 2nd of February, Chinese New Year's Eve, SST celebrated her second CNY event. People were full of excitement. They were excited to come to school, to celebrate with their schoolmates.

There was much anticipation to what performances will be displayed.

All the students were given two gold-oranges packed in a cheerful red SST bag

In 2011, SST also brought in some new activities for Chinese New Year. Of course we still had our yearly presentations on Chinese New Year and what that year's zodiac animal represented.

CNY Presentation by NE Committee

After that, we had something that most of us have not done together! Our very own class "Lo hei"!

Of course, we had to spend sometime cleaning up the place. But, moving right along.

Our Guitar Ensemble putting up a display of tranquility and peace in their tune!

The Wushu Club performing a wide range of Martial Arts moves. Dazzling the crowd!

Alpha Chua also put up some magnificent solo moves too.

Too the joy of the Media Club, an animation clip developed by them was displayed. It was a montage of the zodiac race.

SST students engrossed in the animation

We then had our closure to the "Best Decorated Class" Competition with the prize giving. Congratulations to all the winning classes!

Representative of a winning class proudly receiving the prize!

Another prize giving event was also held to congratulate the winning entries for the Super Hero Bunny Drawing Contest.

1st place of the super Bunny Drawing Contest!

Then, FINALLY, the moment we've all been waiting for...In every Chinese New year event, there is one thing that NO ONE would want to miss. The LION DANCE!

The Lion Duo taking SST by storm as they enter the stage!

The Character showing some moves with one of our Wushu student's sword.

The Chinese God of Fortune Shaking hands with the audience, "granting them good luck".

Vice Principal of SST, Mr Max Lam, standing with the Lion Dance gang!

After that exciting performance, SST had come to the end of the Chinese New Year event. As the school ended early, students rushed to join their friends to visit their previous schools, celebrate at different places or just go back home to spend time with family and relatives. It has been a very enjoyable Chinese New Year for the SST family. What will next year's Chinese New Year bring?

Below are videos of the performances:

Videos of performances by SST staff and students

Lion Dance performance by an external party

Written by: Hardy Shein
Videos by: Lee YuChong

SST Leadership Camp

2011-01-30T15:01:00.004+08:00

28 and 29 Jan 2011

Day 1 (28 Jan)

Halogen Foundation Singapore, came back to SST to conduct a Leadership Workshop to around 50 selected SST students. This camp is a 2-day non-residential camp conducted in ADMT room 1. The objective of this camp is to equip students with the skills to work together, to motivate them to become better leaders and to foster the school spirit.

At 2pm, people were streaming in to the room, getting their name tags on and drawing on the whiteboard. Upon closer inspection, majority of the scribbles were math formulas. It all started when ice-breakers were played, with everyone getting to know each other and just having fun with each other. One of the lessons learnt is that everyone is definitely good and not as good in many different areas, but as a group they cover everyone’s weaknesses.

This was followed by team forming, where the students are split into 4 different groups.

This is followed by them reflecting on their own social identity and sharing to their group.

Each person must have values that guide them along, but to refresh their memories on what are their values, they did the exercise of crossing out a list of values until they have 5 values left.

With the group’s values, they made their group’s unique flag, to be used the next day.

The flags ranged in all different colors and designs from abstract art to hot dogs.

After dinner, the students were given a treat, to have a Movie Night-- without the popcorn.

As they watched ‘Coach Carter’ , a story about basketball athletes turning from zero to hero, anxious parents were waiting in school for their children. Surprisingly, the camp has past the supposed end timing for the day, 9pm.

As these tired students trudged back home, they know that the camp is not over yet, but just getting started.

Day 2 (29 Jan)

As these students come back to SST, although tired, they were pumped up by the instructors as they did warm-ups. This was followed by a quick recap of what they have learned and playing ‘paper basketball’. They sat back down to think about their 4 goals they want to accomplish, with the help of the instructors. A short break later, they were listing how to motivate themselves and others.

With knowledge gained from the lessons, the students get started on creating their SST flag, SST school song and SST handbook. These are to be presented later, close to the end of the camp.

As lunch arrives, the students are hungry, but they have not finished. Some stayed to continue, while some quickly get their food, coming back later to work.

They then heard about living up to their own potential. Followed by the highlight of the day--the Battle of the 4 Kingdoms!

With paper vests and water guns as their weapons of defense, each team was to take a piece of their flag to a safe area and assemble it, without getting wet.

Although the excitement was on high for the first 2 rounds, the sudden rain spoiled the rest of the game. With everyone wet and dissapointed, they changed and came back to find out that there are 2 groups of winners: Cow and Dog.

The groups cheered for everybody.

With short videos of a soccer match ( AC Milan vs Liverpool ), they learned their one last thing, not just to win, but to win well.

The rest of the time was spent on touching up their own products and looking at other’s products.

In the late evening, Mrs Chiew came to judge the products made by the students. Unfortunately, these products are not finalized yet, but will be soon.

It was hard work done by the students and the teachers, along with Mrs Chiew was impressed.

At the end of the camp, everyone waved goodbye as they set off for home, taking their newfound knowledge with them.

This reporter asked Pearl Pang if she would like to have a camp with these students again.

Her reply was, “ Yes, I really would like to have a camp with you guys again. (Be)cause you know why? You guys are really…….I can see the earnestness and the willingness to learn and I like the dynamics amongst everyone in class and yeah that makes it all the tiredness and all these, all worthwhile.”

Written by Cherin Tan

MOU signing between SST and RDFZ Xishan School

2011-01-25T15:02:00.004+08:00

Photo taken with SST students and staff and RDFZ Xishan School students and staff

On 25 January 2011, SST and RDFZ Xishan school signed the Memorandum Of Understanding in SST, in front of the whole SST cohort, the 30 students from RDFZ Xishan school, who were here on a learning journey, and the teachers from both schools.

That morning, the teachers from SST showed the students a video about the memories between both schools in 2010, which includes teachers from RDFZ Xishan School being interviewed on how SST is like, during their previous visit. This is followed by Mr Chua and Mr Shu,the principals of SST and RDFZ Xishan school respectively, signing the Memorandum of Understanding.

After the documents were signed, Mr Chua presented to Mr Shu a token of appreciation.

This is followed by the teachers and some students from both schools coming together for a photo taking session.

(as shown in the picture above)

Badge Ceremony

2011-01-17T16:25:00.004+08:00

Secondary 1s wearing their badge.

Presentation on the Sec 1s orientation.

The badge ceremony for the new Secondary 1s was held on 14 January 2011. Parents were gathering in the classes of their children when they were presented on what their child did during their two week's orientation. They had different reactions, happy, eager or excited, as they saw their child's experience in the school.

Soon, parents were ushered to the hall. Followed by the secondary 1s marching into the hall. While they were settling at the back of the hall, the parents where eagerly taking photos of the secondary 1s. After the marching in, Mrs Chew made a speech acknowledging her gratitude to the PSLs for their hard work in the two weeks of orientation. Soon after, the time for the Secondary 1s to take their badges reached. One by one, they received their badges. During that time parents were eagerly taking photos of children when they were receiving their badge. Finally, the Secondary 1s were cheering the 3 cheers they had learnt in the two weeks of orientation.

Then, the second Badge Ceremony for SST ended successfully. It was a memorable experience for the Secondary 1s and the teachers.

Written by: Michelle Lim

Orientation Week

2011-01-14T15:47:00.154+08:00

"Its the second intake of SST students, so how do their integrate into the SST community?" This report tells you how.

Day 1

The 1st day of School, definitely a start of a new year in SST, especially for our fellow secondary one students.

As fresh new faces joined inside our SST community, you could see a few enthusiastic secondary ones entering from the main and sides gates, as early as 7.15am, approaching the boards,to find their names for their classes to settle down in the hall as PSLs(Peer Support Leader) help and usher them and get around the SST environment.

Secondary 1s and 2s assembling in the Hall

Secondary 1 students listening to the talk by Mr Chua.

After the Secondary 2s were dismissed,they were told of the SST values and things to note by Mr Chua and Mr Aidil respectively.This was followed by dances and cheers made by the PSLs over the holiday.

The dance were led by Davina and Shamemi to the song "Fireworks" by Katy Perry.

This was followed by the 3 cheers,"SST dynamite","SUPER SOLID" and the original SST cheer led by Jun Hui and Arthur Lee and Jin Qian from 2-06 and the rest of the PSLs as the school's cheer and dance.

Form Teachers welcoming and introducing to the class

The secondary 1s were then led back to their classes where they will get to know their form teacher and friends.There are 4 PSLs in each secondary 1 class and will be helping them during the entire orientation.

Ice breaker games were then played for the students, Form teachers and the PSLs to get to know each other and bond.

Ice Breakers Games with PSLs

Learning the Batch Dance

The students proceeded to the hall for SST sparks where they learnt the 3 SST cheers and SST dance.There were a bit confusion at first but everyone learned some dance moves and cheer by the end of the programme.

After a short break,they were ushered back to class for their mac activities where they will learn how to use their Macbook (Learning Device).This activity is led by the PSLs which will goes through the different activities with them and clarify or answer their doubts regarding the Macbook (Learning Device).

You might think that the secondary ones were really "clueless" about the mac but they aren't. Some of them were using iphoto,preview and even Adobe Photoshop!

Then followed by the reflections for the day led by the form teachers.

Even as they leave the school,you could see some smiles on their faces on their journey back home...

Day 2

Its another day of school,but this time you could see a few energetic and committed secondary 1s walking up to the hall.

Their first activity of the day, the yearly Batch Challenge--Towering above the Rest.

Their task is to make towers out of straws,cups,paperclips,wire and rubber bands but with a time limit of 1 hour.They then have to select a tower to represent their class that is able to hold the weight of 10 marbles and must be taller than 30cm.

There are some trying to make their towers first before planning and others who already have their plan.You could see the secondary ones working together to come up with their ideal tower to represent the class on stage.

There were a few very creative designs,and some can even hold more than 60 marbles!

With their very own towers , the PSLs and teachers helped to test the different towers and measured their height to help the class decide which tower to represent their class.

Back at the hall, after the towers have been set up. Marbles began to drop one by one as the competition gets heated up. After marbles dropping on the floor, towers dropping, slightly disappointed faces showing,S1-08 Wins with around 80 marbles and still standing!

Next up,was MAC attack 2. They learnt about using keynote to present about their batch challenge during the batch ceremony where they will be presenting their ideas to their parents.

The PSLs showed them the different functions of keynote like animations,transitions,theme,bullets for example.Where they will be stating the description of their tower and what they contributed to make the tower perfect and strong.

You could see some of them adding different colors as the PSLs seek help to them when they face any problem.

So they went home to finish their end of day reflections and their "digital"homework.

Day 3(First Day of Orientation Camp)

Secondary Ones arriving at the camp at Shines Outdoors

The Orientation Camp was a chance for the secondary ones to get to know their classmates,and bond with them.

Its the PSLs job to actually closer up the gap between classmates,helping them make friends and break an unbreakable bond with their friends.

That day, heavy bags are dragged into the buses as everyone, including the PSLs, have to squeeze into 6 buses to head to the campsite --Shines Outdoor

There were a few secondary ones who have forgotten to bring either their thermometers or utensils and its all thanks to the PSLs who borrowed utensils from the chinese stalls and malay stalls so that they can eat at the camp with these utensils.

After the secondary 2s were dismissed,the classes were told of which buses they would be taking to the camp.

When they reached the camp,the juniors hastily took their bags and alight the bus while the PSLs check whether they have left anything else on the bus.The camp site is like on old school,there is a bus stop nearby and traffic lights.

Playing Ice Breaker Games with their Facilitator

After that,they were asked to assemble at the hall first where they were asked to put their bags on the side to make space for the students to play ice-breakers with their facilitator such that the facilitator can get to know them better while the PSLs do their final briefing before they join in with their class.

After Ice-Breakers, the students have lunch and then given a break.Followed by our trainer which introduce the PSLs and students the "Comfort Zone Theory".

Its is about the outer most square being the "Panic Zone"where you will get stressed out,panic,anxious,scared,afraid like when you are holding a real life snake,you will feel scared and afraid.

Followed by "Learning Zone",where the students will learn like where you will be when you are swimming when you are learning how to swim and lastly the "Comfort Zone"where you will feel easy,comfortable with things like where you will be about how you bond with your classmates,learning,comfortable or panic.

After that, there were some small team activities like "helium stick",where students would have to hold up a stick using only their index fingers.The stick will start from ground to eye level of the shortest player in the team and the stick cannot be slanted.

Groanings and arguings occur as they played the games.

After Dinner,the students and the PSLs played a mass game related to trains.
Everyone was scurrying around as the hall turned into a traffic jam where everyone was moving about.

Then the facilitators and the PSLs got the students to write their end of day reflections on a booklet.

Tired students quickly went to bathe and sleep, on the floor.

Secondary 1 students washing their plates after lunch

Day 4(Second Day of Orientation Camp)

The secondary ones woke up at about 7a.m. and then showered,brushed their teeth and prepared themselves before they assemble. The students did

area cleaning before they had their breakfast.

Facilitators Showing Students the safety procedures during high ropes.

After breakfast,they had a briefing on the safety procedures before our first high rope session where the PSLs would be doing their briefing with the students who were attempting the high ropes course and then debriefing after that.

There were a few challenge rope courses for the secondary 1s.The students were a lot "hyper" and enthusiastic this time round when we are doing the ropes course than yesterday team activities.

During lunch, they started brainstorming about their cheer and skit they would have to do during campfire later that night.Then they attempted the ropes course again but this time its another different course.There would be a total of 3 challenges for the ropes course.

The students can blindfold themselves,walk from backwards or walk as a pair or not holding the belaying rope depending on what type of challenge they wanted to challenge themselves.

Secondary Ones Belaying and Supporting their friends

One of the Secondary 1 students attempting the high ropes

Secondary Ones Trying out Rock Climbing

Camp Fire!

After that they were given time to prepare for their performance.

During Campfire,we sang songs and dane and cheer as we drum rolls and watch other class performances as everyone gets HIGH and shout for their class while some secondary ones show off their talents like beat-boxing,singing and dancing.We even have songs like Campfire burning down,good job cheer,macho clap,sexy clap.

Everyone was so ENTHUSIASTIC and attentive,everyone joins in even when our favorite songs were played loudly not eh speakers.We clap and sing.It was a good experience.

Before everyone had to sleep, there was the shifting of positions to allow everyone to sleep properly that night.

Day 5(Last Day of Orientation Camp)

Team activities, like Whacko and MRT game were played the first thing after they woke up.We played different games like Wacko and the MRT game.

Then we have breakfast before we proceed to area cleaning.After area cleaning,the secondary 1s proceed to play small team games before assembling at the hall for closure and end of day reflections.

The PSL debriefed the secondary ones about what they think was most memorable for them and why,and how would they apply to real life and how would they action or strive to reach their goal.

After debriefing ,each class was given a piece of A2 paper where they would draw a square inside the paper and then write and decorate the square with their class together and then on the rest of the space,they were told to write down what they wish to achieve by the end of the year.

Lastly,the students were given time to acknowledge the person they wish to thank and shook hands with the teachers,PSLs,students,classmates and facilitators.

As we close off the orientation camp by the school dance and cheer as everyone carried their bags heavily and tiredly as they walked home with a sense of joy and we know that they have enjoyed the camp very much…….

Written By:Bing Jue

Photos by:Hardy

CCA Fair

2011-01-12T22:53:00.006+08:00

On 12 Jan 2011, SST had our first CCA fair. Although there was not much buzz pior to the fair, there was still much excitement when it was finally time for the fair.The fair took place between 2:30 to 4:30 pm this very afternoon. In this fair, seniors promoted their CCA to their juniors, in an attempt to make them take it up as their CCA.

The 11 CCAs are : Guitar Ensemble , Badminton , Cross Country, Media Club , Soccer, Basketball, Drama Club , Robotics Club, Wushu , Floorball and Cricket. The 3 newly added CCAs,Taekwondo, fencing and Singapore Youth Flying Club(SYFC), also opened their booths and joined the fair.

Things started and ended on a high note. Even before it was 2.30pm, students had already started filling in to the different venues of the various CCAs.Since each CCA was located in a different place from the other CCAs, there was action in all corners of the school.

The guitar Ensemble put up a performance for their juniors.

The Drama club members and juniors getting ready for a rehearsal session.

While the members of Guitar Ensemble put up little performances at 3pm and 3.30pm to attract new recruits, the Drama Club allowed the juniors to participate in an actual rehearsal just to let them have a feel of things.

For the sports CCAs, such as soccer,badminton, Cricket, Floorball ,Basketball and Wushu, the members actually played against the juniors or strut their moves in front of them to ‘win their hearts’. Cross Country gave out pamphlets , briefly explaining their CCA , as well as little snacks as welcome gifts to the juniors. As for the Media Club, they treated the juniors with a gallery of their best works , explaining clearly to them the production process that happened while making the product.

The Robotics Club Chairman briefing the students.

The Robotics Club also had its fair share of fun as the student got their hands and minds moving as they tried to make different robot models with the parts they were given while following a guide, which they were also provided with. Because there was no existing members for the three new CCAs, external venders set up their booths and promoted the CCAs.

To end off, the seniors did their very best trying to promote their CCAs. I am sure some of them has already lost their voice from all the shouting . As they say , ‘All for one, and one for all’ . One must definitely sacrifice for the sake of the team , or in this case , for the sake of the CCA.

For more photos , go to : http://picasaweb.google.com/reuvenlim/SelectedPics?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSNydGxkbCidg#5561262403737083602

Written by: Emily Wu

Photos taken by: Reuven Lim

Secondary 1 registration day

2011-01-12T19:56:00.000+08:00

26 November 2010 must definitely be a memorable day for the Primary 6s who have a confirmed offer to SST. They get to see the new textbooks, the uniform, their learning device (Macbook) and of course, who are their pioneers. Their parents were eagerly anxious to see how their child can prepare for their child’s first day of school.

Unlike the previous major events, the PSLs (Peer Support Leader) were the only students helping out in this event. Some of them were helping to welcome the parents & students, others were answering common queries of the parents, the rest were registering the P6s or doing some logistics work.

Registration at the Cafeteria

From 7.30am onwards, the crowd started streaming in and more and more people filled the once quiet SST campus. Everybody had the smile on their faces as they greeted the parents & students. Once they had registered, they received a folder with important information on payments ad what they needed to buy. There was a few talks by the Principal and a few of the teachers in the hall.

Principal Talk by Mr Chua Chor Huat

CCA Talk by Mr Lam Hin Chew

After the talks, there were booths set up to let the parents know different things about SST. Such as PforSST (Parents for SST), Q&A booths on financial matters, Mother Tongue Languages and CCAs. They were also booths that sell books, uniforms and the learning devices, which had long queues.

P for SST booth

Purchase of learning device

Though it was incredibly busy day for all the helpers, it was a rewarding one too. They got to see how their juniors were like and set the atmosphere when the P6s students come back again next year, as Secondary 1s. The next time we see them again, will be on the first day of school.

Photos and edited by Ms Seah Yen Sin

Hanoi Write-up

2010-11-18T16:47:00.000+08:00

Day 1

I was exhilarated when we finally landed in Hanoi.
We first visited Hanoi Amsterdam High School, the best school in Hanoi. We saw the grand-looking school and were amazed by the various facilities it provides. We then interacted with the students and found out that we had many common interests.
Next, we had yummy dinner in the hotel.

Finally, we went to watch the Water Puppet Show. We admired the spectacular performance of the water puppets, which were depicting the daily lives of the vietnamese with some humour injected. There was also a few vietnamese either playing musical instruments or voicing the characters.

We were very tired and retired to our hotel rooms.

Day 2

We first went to Nguyen Du Secondary School. We were warmly greeted by the students and were guided to the hall. The principal of Nguyen Du Secondary School and Mr Soh, our vice-principal gave a speech to welcome the other party’s school.
Then, SST students played a video about what SST was about, for the Nguyen Du Secondary School students to understand. Next, SST students gave a presentation about what we SST students do on a daily basis.
The Nguyen Du Secondary School students also gave a presentation in English about the history of their school and an introduction about Vietnam.
We were called to exchange gifts with the Nguyen Du Secondary School students and we thanked them for hosting us.
After that, the Vietnamese students had several performances like singing and dancing. Many of us joined in the performance and we had lots of fun.
The Nguyen Du Secondary School students guided us around the school and we got to know them better at the same time. We then helped our Vietnamese buddies to create Blogger accounts and let them post on the GCP Friendship Blog.
Soon after, we left reluctantly as we could not bear to part with our new friends.
We ate delicious pho (Vietnamese noodles) for lunch.
Next, we visited the Hoan Kiem Lake. The name means “return sword” lake as the Vietnamese president once received a sword from the heavens to fight during WWII. After it was over, the golden turtle asked the president to return it the sword.
We went to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. There were many different artefacts about his life. He was very noble. He fought for Vietnam against France.

Day 3

We were on a bus ride for 4 hours until we finally reached Ha Long Bay.
The scenery was beautiful and magnificent. We got onto a boat and had prawns, spring rolls, “crabs” and other seafood.
After a while, we got off at a cave, which was founded by a fisherman and his son accidentally.
We saw the rocks naturally shaped in strange ways and one of them even looked like the Merlion!
After that, we got back onto the boat and onto the bus for another 4-hour-long ride.

Conclusion

I noticed that there are many motorcyclists on motorcycles on the streets of Vietnam. This is probably because motorcycles are cheaper than cars and there is not much public transport. I also noticed that many people live in small and rundown houses. This is probably because many Vietnamese are poor.
I learned that I take some time to recall what I did and feel earlier in the day, for reflections.
I realised that many students from our Hanoi GCP like to sing aloud together to songs that we are familiar to.

Done by: Sun Jie Min 1-07

GCP Hà Nội 2010 Pictures

2010-11-16T19:21:00.000+08:00

Here are some pictures of the GCP Hanoi trip I had taken, from 9-12 December. Many other members of the contingent have recorded or photographed something to bring home, many of them are on Facebook or storage devices.

Humanities Mobile Learning (Botanical Gardens)

2010-11-15T20:21:00.001+08:00

Today, our school organised Mobile Learning field trips for every class in school. As my class, 104, and 106, had already gone for a previous Mobile Learning trip, we were going to the Botanical Gardens, while the other classes were going to locations we had visited before.

After a short briefing at the hall about some software that was not applicable to my group, we assembled at the porch and boarded the bus to our respective locations.

104 and 106 were split up to go to different stations first. We were guided by guides from the Botanical Gardens. 104 first went to see a few plants and learn about them and the park.

We were slightly delayed for the second, more fun rainforest walk as the 106 was behind time and the station was not prepared yet.

We were guided by a different guide for the rainforest walk, who showed us many plants we may find in a native rainforest and explained to us some of the workings of a rainforest. It was quite fun, and though we were behind time we managed to finish the trail and go back to school, where many of us had our Learning Support briefing afterwards. All in all, it was a tiring but fun day.