Parents Seminar 2011

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

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Track and Field Meet Day 2

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. 

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Track And Field Meet Day 1

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.

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MOE Excel Fest 2011

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.

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2011 Celebrations@SST

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

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

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:

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

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:

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Chinese New Year 2011@SST

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

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