Post-Examination Activities 2014

Every year, the school organises a variety of year-end post examination learning activities for all students. This year 2014, Secondary 3 students were given a series of exciting activities to have fun with their friends after the stressful examinations. These activities include dragon boating, golf, workshops and presentations. 

On 8th October, Wednesday, the Secondary 3 students had an opportunity to indulge in sports that are not available as co-curricular activities in school. They either went to dragon boating or golf according to their choices made beforehand. Dragon Boating was held at Kallang Sea Sports Centre, while golf was held at Executive Golf Course & Driving Range. Through these two sports, students got to mix with students from other classes as they form teams to play the sport. Needless to say, Dragon Boating requires teamwork and it was definitely a challenge to work with others, whom one have not worked with. It was also a great chance to discover new hobbies and things about oneself. On the other hand, golf was also much enjoyed by the students as they learnt about this new sport. 

Students listening to a briefing by the Dragon Boating instructor

On 13th October, Monday, it was the annual Inter House games. It was the day when the 5 different houses competed against one another in different sports. These sports include floorball, basketball, frisbee, soccer. It was definitely exciting to see everyone taking part actively in the sports with sportsmanship and teamwork. Through this, the students got to understand the importance of sportsmanship and at the same time, got to participate actively to win points for their house. It was a close fight between the houses as they were just a few points away!

On 17th October, Friday, the teachers designed a Study Skills Workshop specially for the Secondary 3 students. It included different techniques of learning, which includes mindmapping, Cornell notetaking. This helped to prepare the Secondary 3 students for the intensive studying next year, so that they will be able to grasp information more efficiently and effectively. It is not too late to start now! 

Secondary 3 students finding out their learning styles

On 23rd October, Thursday, it marked the last assembly of the year. It was also a farewell tribute to Principal Mr Chua Chor Huat, who will be posted back to Ministry of Education with effect from 15th December 2014. Firstly, emcees Qadirah Baw and Metta Ni started the ceremony by addressing the school community. After that, there were great performances by students. Dawn Lim and Sean Lim performed ‘A Thousand Miles’, while Kenric Tan did a free style dance to the song ‘Catgrove’. Next up, staff and students delivered their message to Mr Chua. HOD, Special Projects, Miss Loh Kwai Yin presented on behalf of all teachers, while Millie Thng presented the message on behalf of the pioneer batch 2013. Mr Chua was then presented with tokens of appreciation from the students, the Pioneer Batch 2013, the Student Council, ADMT Department together with Vice Prinicpal, Mrs Chew and Vice-Principal, Mr Vincent Tan. To end it off, Mr Chua gave his closing address to the school community. As usual, the ceremony ended with the School Song, as Mr Chua sang it with the school for the very last time.  

Mr Chua singing the school song with the school for the last time

“Thank you once again to all the staff, students and parents (past & present) for making my stay in SST a very memorable one. Collectively, we have built a great learning community and I am confident that it will continue to prosper under the able leadership of Mr Hoe Wee Meng. My wish for the school would be for the staff and students to continue to do our level best (and beyond) to make SST a great place for learning and growth! Take care...” - Mr Chua Chor Huat 

On 24 October, Friday, it was School Parent Meeting and Celebrations of Learning. It was SST first year to have Celebrations of Learning. It was the day for students to showcase their work to staff and parents and also a chance to appreciate the efforts by other students. Secondary 3 students’ works were displayed at the Indoor Sports Hall. Each class were designated to 2 subjects. Each class sent out representatives to present their work to the parents. Parents participated in this by voting for the best presentations in the level. S303, S308 and S304 were the top three scoring classes that receive the Best Presentation Award for Secondary 3.  

Jericho from S306 presenting about Physics to parents

Written by: Chew Yunhui (S308)

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Outdoor Education Expedition 2014

From 16th October to 17th October and 20th October to 21st October, SST organized an outdoor expedition for all the Secondary 2 students. Secondary 2 classes were split into two large groups. Classes S201 to S205 went on the 16th October while classes S206 to S209 went on 20th October.

The students participating in the Outdoor Expedition Camp were split into their respective houses, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green and Black and they would be trekking to Diary farm. To ensure safety, a teacher would accompany the group. Then, they were further split into smaller groups of around 4 people each and each group was to share 1 tent.

The expedition then started as the school arranged transport for the students, taking them to MacRitchie Reservoir Park. After they reached the place, the teachers conducted a briefing and told them the task which they needed to complete. Firstly, students of each house were then split into 2 smaller groups. Picture cards were issued and the task given was to find the places on the cards and then taking a picture of that place. After taking the picture, the group needs to show it the teacher for verification. Afterwards, they would proceed to complete the next picture card. The time given for each task is 15 minutes.

Blue House group starting their expedition

The house that won that particular task would get a head start for their trek to Diary Farm. During the entire trek, there were checkpoints and even bonus checkpoints! The students stopped at a checkpoint for lunch. They were required to count the number of prints on the floor at a certain area before they can move on to the next checkpoint. On top of that, there were also tasks to complete so that the group could earn points at certain checkpoints. Some of these tasks included knot tying.

Black House group working together to complete a checkpoint

Yellow House group after completing a different checkpoint

Most houses reached Dairy Farm at about 6pm. After they arrived, the tent groups start to cook their dinner. After everyone finished their dinner, they washed their own dishes. After that, the students cleaned themselves up with wet cloth or powder. Then, each tent group was given a tent to set up.

Green House group has reached the campsite

Red House group having their dinner after a long day of trekking

After the tents were set up, the students went into their tents and slept. At approximately 2am, they were woken up for the night-walk. They walked to an open area to find the ‘missing’ utensils. After the utensils were found, the students went back to their tents to sleep. 

The following day, everyone trekked back to school from Dairy Farm together.

Written by: Shirley Low (S208)

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I&E Bazaar 2014

On 9 October 2014, SST organized its I&E Bazaar that involved Secondary 1s (games station), Secondary 2s (food and drinks) and lastly Secondary 3s (DIY items/bookmarks/notebooks). The students would then buy from the various stalls, generating revenue and profits that would be donated to various charities and our class funds (50% respectively).

For the Secondary 1s, they organized fun and exciting games; with attractive prizes involved too! There were games such as 'Pillow Fight', 'Tic-Tac-Throw' and many others. These games helped students to bond with their friends and allowing the students to enjoy themselves after months of hard work for their End-Of-Year.

As for the Secondary 2s, they sold food items such as Nasi Lemak, Bee Hoon, egg tarts, polar cakes, curry puffs, Oreo biscuits, Mcmuffins, soft drinks etc. It was the highlight of the bazaar as all the stores in the canteens were closed and the only source of food during the day was from those stalls. At the end of the day, most of the items from each stall were sold out due to the overwhelming business they had received. This meant more revenue and profits for the groups, which will result in more money donated to the various organisations.

Lastly, Secondary 3s were able to come up with their own ideas for the booth. There were a variety of ideas for the booths; including temporary tattoos, DIY items (notebooks, dream catchers, bookmarks, keychains), gaming stalls (X-box- Halo 3 etc) and many others! One of the most interesting and creative stall was ‘String Surprise’, which required students to pull various strings and in the process, the students would actually draw up their own prize. Stalls that attracted the crowd were the ‘Photo Booth’ and ‘Halo 3 gaming station’ where students were able to capture the memories from the I&E Bazaar, as well as interact and have fun with their friends.

Not forgetting the Secondary 4s, they also had a part in the bazaar too! As they have to study for their upcoming O-Levels, they only participated during their recess. They had fun as they went from stall to stall to savour the food and try out some of the games by the Secondary 1s! It was a great experience that marked the last few moments of their SST journey.

Overall, the I&E Bazaar was a success and it has not only benefitted the students but also the various organisations. This bazaar is not only just a day to bring out our creative ideas on what to sell, but also a day to appreciate what we have and give to others.

Written by:
Johanna Lim (S209)

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Student Leaders' Investiture 2014

On 11th July 2014, it was SST's third student leaders' investiture. This ceremony aims to give recognition to the new invested leaders in SST and officially welcome them into the leaders' boards. Parents of leaders and the SST Alumni were invited to attend the ceremony. Not only that, other schools, like Nanyang Girls High School and National Junior College were also invited. SST Secondary two and secondary three students were also present to witness the ceremony.

The various student leaders being invested in the ceremony were the Peer Support Board, Student Council, house captains and vice captains, CCA chairpersons and vice chairpersons, class chairpersons and vice chairpersons. 

Dr Jimmy Tang's Address to SST

Dr Jimmy Tang is the invited Guest of Honour for this ceremony. Dr Tang is the group editor of Singapore Press Holdings Pte Ltd and founder of Hardwarezone. Emcees for the ceremony were Kuzhalini and Pey Rong Song, both of whom were former Vice-Chairpersons of Student Council 2013. 

The ceremony started off with a walk in parade by all student leaders. After the leaders took their seat, Dr Tang gave his opening speech. Then, it was the time to present the badges to the student leaders. Mr Chua was invited on stage to give out the badges to the class chairpersons and vice chairpersons, CCA chairpersons and vice chairpersons. Dr Tang was then invited on stage to give out the badges to the Peer Support Board, Student Council, house captains and vice captains. 

                                                                    

                                                                                     Current Chairperson of Peer Support Board

Current Chairperson of Student Council

Next up were the speeches by former and current chairpersons of Peer Support Board and Student Council. 

Student Leaders reciting the Student Leaders' Oath

The leaders were then invited up once on stage again to recite the student leaders’ oath, which was led by current chairpersons of Peer Support Board and Student Council, Marcus Chan and Metta Ni, respectively. Following the SST tradition, the school sang the school song and did the SST’s cheer before officially closing the ceremony.

Written by:
Chew Yun Hui (S308)

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SST Talent Showcase cum Inter-House Cosplay Challenge 2014

On the fourth of July, students and teachers were gathered in the multi purpose hall for the SST Talent Showcase cum Inter-house Cosplay Event in celebration of the upcoming Youth Day. The SST Youth Day celebration was started of with a speech by our student emcees.

Kicking off the Talent Showcase were the rock band ‘Of Ree and Minions’, who performed a Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’. They certainly left a strong, confident impression on the audience with their singing and amazing electric guitar and drum solos. The band members seemed to be very comfortable in the spotlight as they rocked their head to the beat and interacted with each other. Their performance ended with a roaring cheer from the students.


Up next were the violinist duo performing Scent of a Woman (Por Una Cavesa). Starting off the stage with a dramatic darkness, the duo played excellently. The silent audience could tell that the both of the violinist were especially concentrated and coordinated in their playing. In a contrast to the previous act, Scent of a Woman was melodious and an overall classic piece which left the audience clapping in awe.

The third act was a poem titled ‘Metamorphosis’. A poetry that coincided with the theme of Youth Day, it was a touching piece that brought out the many insecurities of today’s youth, yet empowered them. The piece was great, with its wonderful rhymes and its wide vocabulary but what made it impactful was the student reciting it. The student reciting the piece brought out its many emotions with large, animated gestures. His voice also brought out the assorted sensations of the piece, leading the audience to laugh along at its light hearted parts. The recital received a great round of applause.

Taking a break from the many assorted talents, the Inter-House Cosplay event took place. Opening the event was Red house, with their cosplay character of Kousaka Kirino of the anime, Oreimo. A one minute video introduction of the character was played, whilst the cosplayer herself acted out the scenes accordingly. She was dressed like the character to the tee which made her introduction very believable.


Next up was Black house with their cosplay of Teemo, a character found in the popular online game, League of Legends (LoL). She was greeted readily with a loud round of applause, probably mostly from the fans of LoL and black house members. As another student onstage introduced Teemo, the cosplayer herself acted in accordance to what he had to say.


Yellow house came after, starting with a student with a rubber head of a horse running onto stage to greet the audience. The main act came on soon after. A fellow student dressed as Miley Cyrus, or Hannah Montana, danced and lip-synced to the songs Best of Both Worlds and Hoedown Throwdown by Miley herself. The audience were excited as they cheered along to the performance.
 

Then came Green house’s cosplayer, dressed as Vendetta from the movie ‘V for Vendetta’. Besides a small slip up, the student executed well practised throws of knifes onstage, according to a video which was played at the same time. After showing off his wonderful skills, the student then proceeded to throw a rose off the stage into the audience, marking the end of his performance.


Lastly, Blue house took the stage with a beautiful cosplay of the Joker from ‘The Dark Knight’. Supposedly being introduced by an emcee, Joker appears and shoves her onto a chair, starting off with the famous line, “Do you wanna know how I got these scars?” which roused the audience. Another familiar quote, “Why so serious?” was brought up as well, as the cosplayer, told the story of Joker’s scars.


After the amazing cosplay event, the Talent Showcase continued with a student performing ‘Fly Me to the Moon’. With a melodious voice he sang soothingly despite the few technical issues at first. Some of the audience waved their hands in the air along with the beat. As his singing finished, the audience cheered loudly.

Following after, a beatbox by Jericho was put up. He was practised and professional in how he carried out his act. With elements of dubstep integrated into his act, the students were certainly entertained with this unique act.

Four members of the guitar ensemble came onstage next with their band named ‘4:20’ which meant that they had four members and a total of twenty strings of their three guitars and one ukelele. They played and sang ‘I’m Yours’ by Jason Mraz. The audience sure enjoyed this performance as they clapped along to the beat.


The last act was put together by the SST Dance Crew. This dance was also performed as an anti-drugs campaign. The performance was not only a dance but it had a storyline in it as well. Filled with strong and powerful movements, the audience were amazed by the dancing. At the end, a banner which read ‘Say No To Drugs’ was held up. Loud cheers and claps applauded the Dance Crew for their performance.


Closing off the Talent Showcase cum Cosplay Event, the results of the inter-house cosplay event are revealed. From first to fifth place, Blue, Green, Red, Black and Yellow respectively. Mr. Chua presented the prizes to the first, second and third placed houses.

Written by: Klaudia Oey (S104)

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NTU Flagship Programme 2014

On the 3rd June 2014, the Secondary Two students made a trip to NTU for the course of 3 days, without any overnight stay, unlike the previous cohorts did. There were lectures which they sat through but the most exciting part of it was the Applied Project Challenge, where students were given the chance to venture into their most favoured areas, be it in Arts, Sciences (Engineering etc) or ICT.

For today’s journalism update, it will be focused on Project 8, which is the Tensile Testing of Engineering Materials, Scanning of the Electron Microscope, as well as Composite Material Processing. In the first half of the day, we went through a briefing conducted by our teacher mentor, Professor Tan Lay Poh. She told us more about materials in our everyday lives, including composites, sports materials, nano materials, bio-materials and many others! Other than that, she gave a short explanation of how NTU's Engineering and Material Science school came to what it is today. Lastly, she talked about the itinerary, as well as the Professors who would be conducting the experiments with us. We then split up into our various groups.




Our first activity was the tensile testing of engineering materials. It was conducted in the Undergraduates Lab and we were guided by Professor Huang Jing Feng. He was an engineer and walked us through the basics of engineering materials. Other than that, through the slides, he mentioned several terms and graphs (which we had to take note of when testing). After that, we started on the activity! First of all, we tested for aluminium, PS, then PP (Polypropylene). We had to set up the experiment via the computer, as well as screw and clam the specimen into the machine. Aluminium took 1.5 min to break while PS took 45 sec to break whereas PP did not break! In conclusion, PP was the most ductile material, while Aluminium was the most brittle. PS was slightly less brittle than Aluminium. We had a really fun time playing around with the materials and their properties!

Now moving on to the second activity, “Composite Material Processing”. Thereafter, we went for the next activity, which was 'Composite Material Processing'. As we sat through the screening of the slides, we had gotten a better understanding of composites and what they are used for in our daily lives. In this activity, we had the chance to fabricate the composite materials. We had to mix the epoxy and harder to form a sticky substance, that would actually allow the fabrics to stick to each other. After that, we started forming up the materials, stacking them one by one and gluing the cloths (either black or white). We had a fun time and the composite materials would be heated up, returned to us tomorrow to keep!

Lastly, we went for a tour around the labs! We looked at the actual chromatography machines and the engineers at work. Other than that, we were introduced to the many projects that NTU has worked on over the years, inventions were also showcased, which inspired and shocked us as young teenagers (18 years to 21 years) were capable of creating this.

That marks the end of 3rd June 2014, but wait, there’s more! On the 4th June, we continued onto our projects and finished up our activities. Our last and final activity was the “Scanning of the Electron Microscope”. From the start we went to the Undergraduates Lab, to sit through a lecture regarding the Scanning Electron Microscope component. They told us that scanning the electron microscope was a complicated process (you need to vent the machine, then evacuate it). Electron microscopes were actually invented because light microscopes could not magnify up to a certain extent (like to the specimen's body parts etc) Anyway, as we did the experiment, we scanned the specimens of a sponge, a mosquito and an insect. Their intricate pictures were really cool and every part of them was so focused and magnified (as seen by the computer interlinked with the machine). Afterwards, we then worked on our presentations, compiling the information and details over the past day. Our presentation included our findings, what we learnt and what we did. Once we had added in all the details, we split up the parts and rehearsed. It was a rather fun and enjoyable time. Although our presentation had over 20 slides, we spent hard work on it and hoped for the best project award. In the end, after relentless times of presenting, it paid off as we knew what to say during the presentation process and how to engage the crowd. The other groups then presented their learning experiences at NTU. In the end, there was a clear victor. It was from group 4. The other groups then cheered for group 4 as they needed a lot of encouragement for tomorrow’s closing ceremony presentation.

Now moving on to the 5th June 2014. Students gathered at NTU’s Lecture Theatre and sat for the plenary session which talked about 3D-Printing. It gave us an in-sight on what 3D-Printing can print (ranging from clothes to food etc) and how the procedure is like. Other than that, Mr Phua (from NTU), also gave us a brief history of NTU and its progress over the past few years. They have made significant improvement throughout the years!

After that, the closing ceremony commenced and all the 9 project groups began to present their learning experiences and what they did over the past few days. It was truly enriching as we got to hear what they did and some of the groups even had a live demonstration for us! Once Group 9 had finished presenting, the awards were given out to the respective recipients and we were all requested to go outside for a group photo to commemorate our wonderful experience in NTU.

Overall, this was what happened throughout the three days. The experience that the students shared was truly enriching and they have gained more knowledge and lifelong skills that would aid them in their future endeavours.

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SST Open House 2014

SST Open House 2014

On the 30^th of March, SST’s staff and students banded together to help create the grand event known as the SST Open House 2014.

SST Open House 2014 is an important event in which parents of Primary School students and the young ladies and gentlemen themselves are invited to be displayed the many unique aspects of SST, and most importantly, advocate SST as a promising choice of Secondary School to the PSLE-examinable students.

Many events were conducted within the grand event, from Principle/Vice-Principle Talks to student demonstrations of certain subjects, by the many teachers, student volunteers and our Principle and Vice-Principle, Mr. Chua and Mrs. Chew.

Parents are given goodie bags once entering, with a stamping card given within it. Many booths, ranging from the subject booths, to Science Lab Sessions to CCA stalls provide activities in which the parents and their children can participate, and receive chops. Guided tours by the Student Council were provided, in order to give a brief overview of SST to the parents and their children.

                         

                               Activities at the Mathematics Subject Booth

Student Councillors conducting guided tours

Activities at the Singapore Youth Flying Club Booth

Parents of these students were encouraged to attend the Principle/Vice-Principle Talk, a session in which the Principle or Vice-Principle would talk about the important aspects of SST, and why their child/children should enroll in this school.

“Students engaged in not only the head, but also in the heart and hands do well,” Said the Vice Principle, as she explained the unique attributes of applied learning. Applied Subjects, Talent Development Program, so on and so forth were shown and explained too. 

“You don’t want to work for your lunch? Someone else will come and take it. And do not come crying when someone else comes to take your lunch.” Said the Vice-Principle, as she explained how SST teaches their students about the real working world, the necessary work habits needed, along with interpersonal and leadership skills.

Another event which parents were encouraged to attend was the Student Panel, where SST students from Sec 1 to the Pioneer Batch talk about their experience in SST. 

A Secondary One student talked about how unsure he felt when deciding if SST was the right school or not, and how he is enjoying his three months in the new year. He also added how smooth the transition from Primary Six to Secondary One was, due to the fun and unique Orientation.

A Secondary Two student talked about the compulsory Global Citizenship Program, how he travelled to Thailand on a Scientific Trip. He learnt more than just Science, however. He also learnt about the importance of looking out for each other, and teamwork. He also talked about the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Camp, in which Secondary One students, after their major exams, studied about I&E in Ngee Agn Polytechnic, our sponsor and partner. He learnt about the importance of working hard to get results.

A Pioneer, now in a Junior College, talked about how SST helped her greatly in time management and skills needed to help her along her years. Another Pioneer, pursuing Psychology in a Polytechnic, talked about how as former SST Students, they had more exposure to the real world. This has made her more independent, proactive and participative in competitions.

SST Students at the Student Panel

Science subjects such as Physics were set up in labs, along with entertaining experiments for the young ladies and gentlemen. They were welcome to perform exciting activities, from making crystal gardens in Chemistry to assembling circuits in Fundamentals of Electronics.

While the children have their fun, parents are invited to attend Educamp at SST Incorporated, a display of the ongoings within the ICT TDP. Students went up to share their experience under the Talent Development Program. 

A particularly eye-catching presentation was from Ding Wen, one of the youngest iPhone programmers in the world. He gave a presentation of what exactly we are doing wrong in life, and thus help us realise how we could improve, in a rather crude, yet true and frank manner.

Parents were also invited to In Conversation, a session in which the subjects ADMT, I&E and IRS were presented by their head teachers and student volunteers. Many projects evident of the application of these non-traditional subjects were shown, impressing parents.

Subject booths were set up to display the many other subjects offered. From compulsory academics to Talent Development Programs. Many parents were awed at the display of the student’s works, evidence of the Applied Learning Process.

This Open House is none but the work of SST Staff whom banded together to plan this event. But let us not forget the student volunteers, who not only held expertise in a certain subject or CCA, but also gave up the weekend following up to their holiday to help out in the actual event itself. To hold everything together. To actually make it all happen. To be the living example of an SST student.

Overall, the SST Open House 2014 was a marvelous event that helped portray SST’s finest and best to the potential ladies and gentlemen, and especially their parents.

Written by: Athiyah Tamanna Azeem (S307)

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Cyber Wellness Student Amabassador Programme (CWSAP) 2014

Launched in 2009, the Cyber Wellness Student Ambassador Programme (CWSAP) is an initiative under BackPack LIVE!, a collaboration between the Ministry of Education (MOE), Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and Microsoft Singapore to inspire, explore and promote safe and responsible use of ICT among our students.

In line with the theme for this year’s Safer Internet Day which we commemorated on 11 February 2014, the theme for this year’s conference is “Let’s Create a Better Internet Together”. It focuses on how student ambassadors can take the lead in becoming a positive online presence by creating meaningful and responsible relationships online.

This year, the 2014 conference was organised by SST for primary schools and secondary schools and by Innova Junior College for junior colleges and IP schools. It was held over three days for students from different levels. 

On the 12 February, SST held the first conference for primary schools.  

On 26th March, SST held the third conference for secondary schools. 200 secondary schools joined the conference. The focus of this conference is “Creating a Positive Online Presence”. 

The Secondary CWSAP 2014 conference started off with a showcase of student efforts in various schools by The Cyber Wellness STudent Ambassador Recognition (STAR) Award nominees. This award is given to schools in recognition of their cyber wellness ambassadors for their active involvement in promoting cyber wellness to their peers. This year, SST nominated 2 student ambassadors who fulfilled the criteria. They are Ryan Tan Zheng Ning and John Cheong Zhan Hao. All nominees presented about their school's activities and efforts to promote cyber wellness among students. They were judged by a panel of 3 judges and audience votes.

   

 

Next, Mr Wong Siew Hoong, Deputy Director-General of Education (Curriculum), MOE, gave the opening address. After that, the keynote speech was made by Dr William Wan, general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement. A token of appreciation was then presented by SST to the speakers. Lastly, the top 3 schools from the showcase were awarded the CWSAP STAR Award. The winners of the award are SST, River Valley High School and Ang Mo Kio Secondary School. After the presentations, the students moved to the classrooms to participate in discussions facilitated by SST students based on the Cyber Wellness Framework.

                       Opening Address by Mr Wong Siew Hoong

Keynote Speech by Dr William Wan

There are 3 segments in the Cyber Wellness Framework, ‘Sense’, ‘Think’ and ‘Act’. For ‘Sense’, students played a bingo game, to sense the online habits of children in Singapore. For ‘Think’, students had a scenario based discussion to think of options and consequences of their online behaviour. They watched two videos, focusing on online footprints and digital dossiers. Next, students were introduced to the idea of advocacy. They were given a question, which they have to advocate their stand on. They then pen down their ideas and compile them in a video. For ‘Act’, students and teachers come together to plan a cyber wellness programme to benefit their school community. The entire CWSAP event ended off with an evaluation & feedback session to gather the participants' views on how to improve the programme.

Finding out about online habits of Singaporean children

Discussion on options and consequences

Planning a Cyber Wellness Programme for their school

Written by: Chew Yun Hui (S308) & William Ming (S308)

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Mid-year Post-Exam Activities 2014

On the 26th May, the post-exam activities for the Secondary 1 and 2 students commenced. It lasted for one week and was enriching for the students to reduce their stress and at the same time, learn something new. Firstly, for the secondary ones, they had a service learning camp and a chance to program a game via Game Salad. For the service learning, the Secondary 1 students went to nursing homes such as Orange Valley Clementi where they had a chance to interact with the elderly there. They talked to them and entertained them. They were able to listen to various stories and experiences from the elderly people. For the GameSalad activity, they were to program a simple application. No doubt it was difficult for some as they were not familiar with the application. Nonetheless, the guidance of the instructors helped them complete it! Now, on to the Secondary 2s. There were various activities lined up for the Sec 2s, to prepare us for the outdoor expedition at the end of the year. On the first day, we attended the Integrated Humanities briefing for the learning journey that was to be held on Wednesday. We then proceeded to a talk by Mr Lam regarding what OE (Outdoor Expedition) was all about and how it would benefit us. Shortly after that, we went to our respective venues. Pitching the tent and learning how to tie knots were the first two activities. We were divided into groups (our camp groups) and learnt how to pitch a tent. There was some standard of difficulty but most teams managed to pitch it up perfectly. There were also some who needed assistance but managed to do it in the end. Well done! Following that, we went into the ISH to learn the art of tying knots. These were important in securing the tent! On 27th May, the Sec 2s went to the I&E room to have a talk on RAMS. This stood for Risk Assessment Management System. We were divided into groups and discussed on the factors that affected a certain activity and how safe it was for the participants. This geared us for the outdoor cooking session that would happen later in the days. Outdoor cooking had risks as students could sustain minor cuts and injuries when opening the tin cans or when setting up the fire. Compounding that, another talk was coming up! The 'Hygiene talk'. This talk basically briefed us on how to keep clean during the camp and the specific items we were supposed to bring. To ensure our understanding, Mr Dennis Lam tasked the class to come up with a list based on the categories, 'Clothing', 'Equipment', 'Personal', 'It's nice to have' and 'Do not bring'. Other than that, teams were tasked to put shoes, books and umbrellas into the bags so that Mr Lam could check whether it was placed appropriately to avoid the straining of the back. Lastly, the Secondary 2s had to attend the Rio Tinto competition, which tested them on their general knowledge for Science. Now, onto the third day! The activity was the Integrated Humanities Trail. Before it started, students were to report to their classes to fold the Poppy Flower. The Poppy Flower was a tribute to the soldiers who died in the Kranji War Memorial. Other than that, the Poppy Flowers were also used for the IH Booth for SST's Open House! The classes then went to Kranji War Memorial and Labrador/Kent Ridge Park. At the Kranji War Memorial stood the graves of more than 24,000 soldiers who died in World War II. The ages ranged from 6 weeks old, all the way to around 88 years old. Next, we proceeded to Labrador Park, where we saw the cannons used by soldiers and the bases they used to hide in during the war. It was truly great and touching to hear about their stories. On 29th May, we participated in the Maps and Scales activity. In this activity, we were to walk around the school, measuring the steps walked and the bearings of the compasses. We were also required to take a selfie to prove that we went to the places. It was a rather fun and enjoyable time as we got to explore the school a little more than usual and had team-bonding with our friends. After that, First Aid came in. We learnt how to bandage an arm, elbow, leg and head within the span of 1 hour! We tried different types of bandages, including the roll and triangular bandages. Other than that, we also took the opportunity to learn more about the severity of the wounds and how we can prevent them. Some of them were gruesome but we were glad that it was taught because, if an incident were to happen, we were prepared. Lastly, on 30th May 2014, it marked the last day of school. Did you know what other day it was? The answer is Kindness Day! The students proceeded to their respective classrooms and the teacher preached about kindness to the class and how we can make a difference. A kindness card was issued out to every student and they were require to write a note to a elderly, thanking them and showing their appreciation. Right after that, the time had come! Outdoor cooking. First of all, we were given the apparatus and instant noodles. It was not the modern stove but it was the old-fashioned portable ones. As we cooked the noodles, we had to watch the fire. We had to be careful to avoid getting burnt or scalded. In the end, the food turned out great and tasty! To end off the school term, students then cleaned their classrooms and cleared their lockers. That marks the end of SST's post-exam activates! Written by: Johanna Lim (S209)

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Track & Field Meet 2014

The SST Track and Field Meet 2014 was held on 23 May 2014. This was more than just a day to show off your athletic skills but it was also a time for us to show our house spirit. Of course, it was also a day for students to boost the number of points for their houses by participating in the remaining races.
In the morning, all students and teachers made their own way to Clementi Stadium. Both students and teachers came flooding into the stadium, dressed in their house colours. Everyone assembled in classes to facilitate the attendance-taking. The various houses also hung up their house banners in front of the grandstand. After the National Anthem and Pledge, they dispersed into their respective houses as they made their way to their assigned area on the grandstand.

After everyone settled down with their houses, the house captains and vice-captains of the five houses carried their flag and torch towards the main cauldron. The respective house torches then combined to light the SST Track & Field Meet Torch held by the Principal, Mr Chua. After the lighting of the cauldron by Mr Chua, all athletes and spectators rose to take the athlete's oath. Finally, streamers were fired into the air as the event began with a bang. 

Before each race, the athletes did their warm ups and stretches at the starting line as they prepared themselves both physically and mentally. Race after race, students were tense for their favourite athletes. All the house members did their best to cheer for their athletes as loud as they could to encourage them. Some also bought temporary hair colour spray and sprayed their hair with their house colours, showing the support for their team.
During that day, the athletes showed just as much as enthusiasm as the cheering house behind them. They gave it their all as they ran the race, trying to not only gain points for their respective houses but also achieve their personal best.


After the first few races, there was an inter-house game in which all the spectators on the grandstand participated. The objective of the game was to keep a ball up in the air by hitting it. The house with the most number of hits wins. Everyone worked together with their respective houses as they continuously hit the ball, trying to prevent it from falling. Then, the 4 x 100 relays started.

When the relays ended, it was time for the inter-house cheerleading competition. The cheerleading teams were chock full of energy and it helped to liven up the whole stadium with their crazy moves and brilliant music. The performances showed the great amount of effort that the teams had put in for this event.

 

Next, the 4x400 relay races began as the cheers continued to become increasingly louder. Another round of cheerleading was held. This time, it involved the entire house as it was held on the grandstand itself. Everyone cheered for their teams at the top of their voice as the judges walked in front of the grandstand to view the cheers. Finally, the Parent & Child Novelty Telematch was held. Although the inter-house parents & staff race were planned to be held after the Telematch, it was postponed due to heavy raining.

After all the hard work on the common test which had ended 3 weeks before, SST students enjoyed themselves at this event. They really put the “hard” in play hard. Laughing, cheering and munching on the snacks from the stadium’s shop could be seen everywhere on the stands throughout the day. Both spectators and athletes obviously enjoyed their day. Even the heavy downpour that followed could not dampen the spirits of the school as people raced through the rain with umbrellas, bags and other forms of shelter. Many students could be seen sharing umbrellas as they quickly made their way to the nearby bus stop. All in all, that day was much more fun than the Track and Field Meet before. Written by: Sean Michael Koh (S207) & William Ming (S308)

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