SST Open House 2013

On 1^st June 2013, SST held its 5^th Open House. There were various booths, stations and activities set up for both the parents and the students to enjoy and participate actively in. 

This year, parents and students had to go around the different booths and stations to collect stamps to redeem certain prizes such as USB Hubs, thumb-drives and water bottles while stock last. There are three different tiers of activities that they can redeem their stamps from. The three different tiers are SEE, SEEK and TRANSFORM where the first letters of each word forms ‘SST’. The different activities in the Open House are catergorised under these three tiers for the visitors to redeem the stamps. There was also a Popcorn and Cotton Candy booth for parents and students to enjoy. 

In the Atrium were where most of the CCA booths were located at. Some CCAs such as Drama had their booth in the canteen. CCA booths were one of the ways to earn a stamp for prize redemption. Different CCA booths had different activities that they would want the student to do to earn a stamp under the “SEE” category. Also under the “SEE” category, there were the PforSST booth, student projects where students can have a better insight on what SST students have researched on as well as subjects booths. For the ‘SEEK’ tier, visitors can participate in activities like the Handson Session in the Science Laboratories, Principal and Vice-Principal’s talk, Student Panel and the completion of the Feedback form. Last but not least, the ‘TRANSFORM’ tier stamp can be redeemed at the DSA booth when the students register for an account for DSA. The redemption booth and the general enquiry booth were also at the Atrium.

Outside the ICT area, a booth was set up for students to redeem a goodie bag, which contains the redemption form and for them to register. Student Tour Guides were also carrying iPads to enable mobile registration to make things move a lot smoother. The Student Tour Guides will bring the visitors on to a tour around the school, for them to better how the facilities of SST 

Every subject had their very own booth to explain to the future students of SST what they learn in school, what they do in the curriculum and some of the Student’s work.

Also, there Handson Sessions in the Science laboratories that allows students and parents to be engaged and experience the unique teaching and learning style that SST adopts. The three different fields of science are Physics, Biology and Chemistry. Each of these science disciplines have designed a few activities to get the students interested and understand how SST instill learning in SST students.Applied subjects such as Biotechnology and Fundamentals of Electronics also set up booths in the Science laboratories for the students to have a insight on what will a applied subject in SST offer with activities like the DNA double helix model making. 

In the Info Hub, there was a total of 3 Student Panel sessions and on the 5^th level of the Info Hub was the DSA Booth, where students would register themselves to take the DSA test. The Student Panel serves as a platform where visitors can sit in the session and personally hear the students summarise their experience here in SST and also ask questions. The visitors can hear and better understand the school from the students’ own perspective of the SST apart from the coperate image. 

The visitors can head towards the auditorium for the PVP talk (Principal and Vice-Principal’s talk) where the visitors can interact with the P and VP and learn more about SST. The visitors can visit the DSA booth where they can enquire more about the application process to SST. At the DSA booth, there are several student helpers to answer the parents and students’ questions and explain to them the whole DSA process. The P6 students can register for a SST DSA account at the booth, under the guidance of the student helpers. Visitors visiting the DSA booths are entitled to a ‘TRANSFORM’ stamp on the redemption form. 

Written by: Mavis and Genevieve 

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Applied Subjects @SST

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.

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Gallery @SST

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! 

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Music @ SST

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?

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