CVSS-A SCHOOL OF CHOICE

to come to CVSS while the number of pupils sent to CVSS appealing to be posted to other schools is zero. We are indeed en-couraged to hear that many teachers in the pri-mary schools in the neighbourhood strongly recommending CVSS to their primary six pupils for their secondary school education. All these have become realities not by chance but by very good plan-ning and hard work put in by the staff and man-agement of the school. With the changing profile of the school, the staff is busy re-looking at our core teaching strategies. We are also getting good support from parents and well-wishers. Mr Ng Kim Choon made a very gen-erous donation to air-

CVSS enters its seventh year in 2006. The first six years have been good years as we have estab-lished ourselves as a school of choice in the Sengkang-Punggol area. Our academic results have been noteworthy and parents also choose CVSS because of the em-phasis the school places on self-discipline and character development. In terms of CCA too, we have done relatively well with our CCA groups improving year by year and garnering various awards. We have also won the GOLD award for our TAF programme for the second successive year. The emphasis on a well rounded education for all pupils has also made CVSS a school of choice. While the PSLE mean score hovered around 200 in the early years, it has risen significantly to 217 with our current batch of Sec 1 pupils. Unlike in our early years, the majority of students coming into Sec 1 now select CVSS as choice number 1. We have quite a number of students posted to other schools appealing

Inside this issue:

Our New VPs 2

Teachers’ Retreat in Malacca

3

Our Top O Level Pupils

4

Our Top N Level Pupils

5

Band goes to Japan 6

Class of 2005 7

The Last Page 8

Editorial

ADVISORS Mrs Ang Ju Lang Mrs Sng Ching Yee Mrs Quek Li Gek Mrs Mishaelle Chua EDITORS Mr Arasumani Mrs Pauline Tey

THEME 2006: UNLEASHING POTENTIAL, EXPANDING POSSIBILITIES

COMPASSVALE SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER—TERM 1 2006

condition the hall. Our pupils will now be more comfortable when they use the hall for various activities. More im-portantly, our pupils will now be able to take their national examinations in much cooler conditions. A very big thank you to Mr Ng Kim Choon from all of us at CVSS. We have been innovative in our teaching methodologies and our teachers have also very willingly shared these strategies with other schools at zonal and national levels. Our achievements and cul-ture of sharing have not gone unnoticed as MOE has identi-fied CVSS as a potential Cen-tre for Excellence (Academic) for the North Zone. This iden-tification is indeed prestig-ious for a relatively young school like ours. While we look back at our achievements, we know that

we cannot rest on our laurels. We are aware that we have to con-tinue to ensure that all Northstars continue to get opportunities to ‘unleash their potential and expand their possi-bilities’. Our pupils will ‘realise their stars within’.

~ Mr Arasumani Editor

OUR TWO NEW VICE-PRINCIPALS

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and working with and through the staff, pupils, their parents and friends of the school. QLG: Through building quality relationships with staff, pupils, their parents and friends of the school. STAR: Your message to the staff of CVSS? SCY: We are going through a period of great change in the area of education. Believe in yourself and go forth. Dare to do things differently. QLG: CVSS is moving on to an-other level and so have pride in the school. Be proud of being a Northstar. SCY & QLG: Our doors are al-ways open. Feel free to come and talk to us with whatever concerns you have. We are here to serve you.

Mrs Sng Ching Yee and Mrs Quek Li Gek are our two new Vice Principals this year. Both of them are ‘home-grown’ talents in that Mrs Sng was our previous HOD-Humanities while Mrs Quek was our previous HOD-Science. STAR talks to these two new school leaders: STAR: Your background? SCY: I have been teaching for the past 15 years. I was HOD for the past 5 years. I have three young sons. QLG: I have been in the teach-ing profession for the past ten years. I was in MOE-HQ for three years before coming to CVSS as HOD-Science last year. I have one boy and another child is on the way. STAR: Your first reaction when you heard that you were going to be VP of CVSS? SCY: CVSS is a school on the rise and I knew that it will be a challenge to sustain and strengthen what we have achieved thus far. I was also concerned as there is so much for me to learn in this new role. Moving from instructional lead-ership to situational leadership is not easy. The role of leaders in the school is also currently undergoing a great change. We can no longer apply ‘top-down’ leadership style but have to re-spond to ‘bottom-up’ initiatives. We also have to embrace TLLM and promote a learner-centered environment in the school. All these are very interesting, but challenging developments for school leaders.

QLG: My thoughts were with the Science Department. I had been leading it for only one year and so I was concerned about conti-nuity and the follow-ups in the department. As HOD, you are responsible for only one area but as VP, there are so many different areas to cover and you are also moving away from your own area of expertise and so the learning curve is steep. STAR: What is your personal vi-sion for CVSS? SCY: To realise the full potential of the school – the staff and pu-pils. QLG: To create a happy work-ing environment for the staff and to create an effective learn-ing environment for the pupils. STAR: How do you hope to real-ise your personal vision? SCY: By having clarity of vision

Mrs Sng Ching Yee Mrs Quek Li Gek

munity, studied the various fruit trees and herb shrubs that beautifully lined the village as well as took snapshots of the authentic but colourfully deco-rated Malaccan houses. At the end of the retreat, the teachers unanimously agreed that it was a very fulfilling learn-ing experience for all of them. They appreciated each other’s company throughout the three days and whilst it was tir-ing work to redesign the cur-riculum, it also sharpened their knowledge of other sub-jects. The journey back to Sin-gapore was filled with much hope, confidence and excite-ment as the teachers knew that they had invested their time and effort to ensure that young Northstars benefit the most out of their stay here at Compass-vale Secondary School.

~ Mdm Aliah

On the 29 November 2005, 13 teachers set off to Malacca to begin what would be the most intensive preparatory work for the pilot Integrated Curriculum p r o j e c t f o r S e c o n d a r y Two. Spear-headed by Mr. Arasu, the pilot project seeks to provide a new learning experi-ence for the Sec Two pupils through the creation of a seam-less curriculum design. The new design meant that all sub-jects are anchored by a com-mon theme which would be the pivotal focus for the whole of Semester 1 in 2006. The 13 teachers represented their various subjects - the Lan-guages, Humanities, Mathemat-ics, Sciences, Aesthetics and Sports. It was certainly not an easy feat to overcome as each subject had its own focused teaching of knowledge, skills and values. Integrating these elements was going to take up much brain-power for the next 3 days, not to mention sleep! But it was a very meaningful get-away for the teachers as they worked tirelessly throughout the day and well past midnight. Firstly, the teachers had to de-cide on the theme that would be the key element to tie all the subjects together. They spent almost half a day conceptualis-ing ideas before crafting the theme “Am I a World-Ready Singaporean Youth?” The theme captures the essence of the school vision, ‘World Ready Youth’ but with a global per-spective. The next task was to decide how each subject can best revolve around this theme. This was not as tough as trying to match two completely

different subjects together around the theme. The teachers from different subjects such as Science and History, Geogra-phy and Mathematics, Chinese Language and Music & English Language and Art paired up to work on this task. Finally, the teachers had to think about how all the subjects can be fused to-gether to bring out the best in-tegrated learning experience. Nonetheless, the whole experi-ence was not without some res-pite and enjoyment for the teachers. They had time out to shop for authentic Malaccan goodies, sampled the best and famous durian chendol and toured the historic sites and eth-nic districts of Malacca. It was an especially refreshing experi-ence when the teachers visited Kampung Cantik, named so be-cause it was voted the most sce-nic and beautiful Malay village in Malacca. There, the teachers learned about the customs and tradition of a typical Malay com-

SEC 2 INTEGRATED CURRICULUM MAPPING RETREAT FOR TEACHERS: MALACCA, 29 NOV-1 DEC 2005

Page 3 TERM 1-2006

OUR TOP O LEVEL PUPILS 2005

Page 4 STAR

her leadership skills and taught her to be more disci-plined. She attributes her success to the caring and committed teachers of CVSS who had put in more than 100% in their teaching efforts. No matter how trying it was at times, the teachers never gave up and continued giv-ing their best for the pupils. Jia Yin believes that it is never too late to study hard. As long as one is deter-mined, nothing is impossi-ble. Her advice to the stu-dents taking their O Level Examinations this year: “Have the right attitude and believe in yourself.”

Pek Geok Yan from Secon-dary 4J scored 6 distinctions in Combined Humanities, Elementary and Additional Mathematics, Biology, Sci-ence (Physics/Chemistry) and Chinese to emerge as our Top O Level pupil for 2005. She is currently study-ing at Meridian Junior Col-lege and intends to continue studying there for the next two years. She expected good results as she did quite well for her preliminary examinations but never expected to be the school’s Top Pupil. She attributes her success to sheer hard work on the part of both her teachers and her-self. She is particularly grateful to her Form Teacher and Additional Mathematics teacher Mdm Chua Seow Ling, who was always there to help and encourage her. Geok Yan is shy and quiet by nature and her participation in CCA has helped her ex-pand her social circle and she learnt to open up to her friends and teachers. As the Head of Logistics in the li-brary, she learnt leadership skills and a sense of respon-sibility, which came in useful in her studies. To her, success does not come overnight. Her mes-sage to the group of graduat-ing students taking their O

Level Examinations this year is “Be very attentive in class. Complete all assignments on time and always clarify your doubts with the teachers.” Cheng Jia Yin is our Top O Level Pupil for Secondary Five. She attained distinc-tions for Elementary Mathe-matics, Science, Principles of Accounting and Chinese. She did not expect to be the top student. She is now studying at Seran-goon Junior College and is at the moment quite undecided between continuing with JC life or to move on to a Poly-technic. Jia Yin was the sectional leader in Military Band and she firmly believes that be-ing in the band has honed

Jia Yin (left) and Geok Yan (right) and with our principal, Mrs Ang.

Their future plans? Both are working very hard for their O Level Examinations as they find the jump from N to O Levels quite tough going. Both want to do well in their O Level Examinations and pursue further studies in the Polytechnics. Rafie wants to do Chemical Engineering while Yan Ling wants to do a science-based course. Rafie’s ambition is to be an engineer while Yan Ling’s ambition is to be an astrono-mer. Star wishes both these com-mitted Northstars all the best in their O Level Examina-tions and their future.

Muhammad Rafie and Chong Yan Ling, both from Sec 5B, are our Top Pupils for the 2005 N Level Examinations. Rafie scored distinctions in Mathematics, Additional Mathematics and Science. He attributes his success to his parents who gave him great encouragement and support , his committed teachers who were always there for him to clear his doubts and his own commitment to his studies. He was very focused in his stud-ies and sacrificed his televi-sion and pc time during the examination season. Rafie did not expect to be-come the Top Pupil because he did feel that some of his N Level papers were rather diffi-cult and he did not expect to get three distinctions. He feels that there is a good environ-ment for studying in the school and he got much work done in the Northstar Zone. He feels that his four years in the NPCC helped him greatly in becoming more confident in approaching any tasks. Chong Yan Ling scored dis-tinctions in EL, Additional Mathematics and Science. She attributes her success to her parents who did not pressur-ise her to study but rather per-mitted her to study at her own pace, her teachers who pre-pared her well for the exami-nations and who were always

there for her when she ap-proached them to clear her doubts. Her success was also due to the fact that she started her revision early. Yan Ling did not expect to be the Top Pupil as her Pre-liminary Examination results ‘were not that good’. Never-theless, it was those same results which motivated her to work much harder for her national examinations. Yan Ling’s favourite corner was the area outside the Staff Room as this place was very conducive to meet teachers to clarify her doubts and also for self-study. Yan Ling believes that her four years as a Red Cross Society mem-ber helped as being a mem-ber of Red Cross instilled in her a sense of discipline.

OUR TOP N LEVEL PUPILS 2005

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OUR BAND GOES TO JAPAN

Page 6 STAR

mainly sign language and speak very, very slowly – but I doubt that the Japanese understood us even with these measures. We also had problems adapting to food there. Japanese food there is quite different from the Japa-nese food that is available in Japanese restaurants in Sin-gapore. All in all, it was a most memorable and valuable trip. All benefited from the trip. I believe that we are more cohesive and more disciplined now – valuable lessons we learnt from the Japanese. On behalf of all the band members, I must express my deepest appreciation to our band teachers and instruc-tors who really went out of their way to organise this trip for us and took such good care of us when we were in Japan. Thank you so much Miss Cheh Seok Buay, Mr Tan Teck Nam, Mr Edwin Goh, Mr Er Wee San and Mr Patrick Neo.

Our school band, fresh from winning Gold at the Singa-pore Youth Festival went on an Exchange Programme to Japan from 23 – 29 November 2005. Leow Qiu Lin who was on the trip shares her experi-ences. The trip to Japan was first mooted by our Band Instruc-tor, Mr Er Wee San. As the quality of school bands in Japan is very high , he felt that a visit there will help in improving the standards of our own school band. After watching a band perform-ance there, I could not agree with him more – our gold standards here are equiva-lent to bronze standards there. There is so much for us to learn from Japan. Their techniques are much more professional than ours, the performers give more than their best during training and performances and they can be seen to be really en-joying themselves when per-forming. Their discipline levels are also so much higher and they are so effi-cient because they follow instructions almost instinc-tively. The trip was not cheap as we had to pay more than $2000 per pupil. Our fund raising efforts through our own band concert and through selling souvenirs helped to defray the overall cost.

We performed twice there. Once was with our host-school Kinrankai Girls’ High School’s 100th Anni-versary Celebrations. The second performance was at the Kobe Silver College. Kobe Silver College was set up by the Japanese Government to promote life-long learning and to solve the problem of aging population. We learnt much about Japanese cul-ture here from the elderly. After our hectic schedules at the schools, we had some time for recreation. We visited Universal Stu-dio, Osaka Aquarium and the Panasonic Centre. I had great fun at Universal Stu-dio, marvelled at many unique species of fish at Osaka Aquarium and was over-whelmed at how ad-vanced Japan is in technol-ogy at the Panasonic Cen-tre. We also learnt much about Japanese culture during our visit. We were also very, very impressed with the level of service one gets in Japan. The sales staff are all extremely cour-teous and go out of their way to serve the needs of their customers. We had problems in com-munications as the Japa-nese are not that proficient in English. We had to use

CVSS has given us opportunities to show commitment in our work, creativity in everyday life, compassion towards the less fortunate and confidence in everything we do.~ Yuen Hong Kun 5A If asked to grade my teachers, I will give all of them A*. ~ Heng Shi Ming, 5B I would like to thank all my teachers for giving me the courage and support. My teachers were more than just teachers to me, they were also like my friends. ~ Nur Khasiatillah, 4B We were not exactly the best class and so we really appreciate our teachers who showed so much patience and still continued to teach us despite all the problems we caused. ~ Wei Ting, 4A I would like to thank my teachers for their effort and patience. I am grateful for their belief in us and for their guidance in making us better pupils. ~ Farliana, 4F I am grateful to CVSS for giving me a fruitful education these past 4 years. I really have more self-confidence now. ~ Ang Shi Han, 4J I am very proud to be a CVSS pupil for CVSS has achieved many greats within its first five years. ~ Darren Lee, 4I Coming from a top primary school to a new neighbourhood school, I was really demoralized 4 years ago. CVSS gave me the opportunities to develop myself and discover my talents in ways that ‘top secondary schools’ could never have. ~Yi Ping, 4K It has been four years of fun and wonderful experiences here. Dedicated and committed teachers make CVSS a school of good choice. ~ Ayuni,4J

FAREWELL NOTES FROM CLASS OF 2005

Page 7 TERM 1-2006

Graduating Classes Retreat —28 September 2005 Graduation Night—29 September 2005

ERNEST SHACKLETON (1874-1922) After the Norwegian Amundsen (December 1911) and Scott (January 1912) had reached the South Pole, Ernest Shackleton thought up and attempted to carry out another great plan - to cross the 2000 mile Antarctic continent. This trip was a very successful failure. The team of 28 men and 68 dogs never set foot on the continent. Shackleton's ship the "Endurance" was trapped in the ice in the Weddell Sea for 11 months, from January 1915 until it was squashed and sank in November 1915, leaving 28 men on the ice with 3 small ship's boats. They then spent 5 months on an iceberg floating away from the continent. With great good fortune they landed on Elephant Island on 15 April 1916. It is a small godforsaken island of rock and ice with a few penguins and seals for food. So there they were in April 1916, lost to the civilised world, and heading into an Antarctic winter. Losing no time Shackleton's next move was to be one of the greatest small boat jour-neys ever made. Shackleton and 5 others set off in the 22 foot boat the "James Caird" on an 800 mile journey across one of the roughest seas in the world to island of South Georgia to get help. Their extraordinary journey was not yet over - to reach help, Shackleton, and two of his crew then had to cross the mountains, glaciers and snowfields of South Georgia to get to the whal-ing station at Stromness. Three and a half months later, at the fourth attempt, Shackleton, in a Chilean tug the "Yelcho' rescued the re-maining 22 crew on Elephant Island on 30 Au-gust 1916. It was amazing that all the crew had survived.

WE ARE ON THE WEB—VISIT US http://www.compassvalesec.moe.edu.sg/

THE LAST PAGE If they can do it...

HELEN KELLER (1880-1968) Helen Keller, a woman from the USA taught the world to respect people who are blind and deaf. Her mission came from her own life; when she was 1½, she was extremely ill, and she lost both her vision and hearing. By the time she was 7, her parents knew they needed help, so they hired a tutor named Anne Sullivan. Anne was strict, but she had a lot of energy. In just a few days, she taught Helen how to spell words with her hands (called the manual alphabet, which is part of the sign language that deaf people use.) The trouble was, Helen didn't understand what the words meant—until one morning at the water pump. Anne had Helen hold one hand under the water. Then she spelled "W-A-T-E-R" into Helen's other hand. It was electric! The feeling turned into a word. Immediately, Helen bent down and tapped the ground; Anne spelled "earth." Helen's brain flew; that day, she learned 30 words. From then on, Helen's mind raced ahead. She learned to speak when she was ten by feeling her teacher's mouth when she talked. Often peo-ple found it hard to understand her, but she never gave up trying. Meanwhile, she learned to read French, German, Greek, and Latin in braille! When she was 20, she entered Radcliffe College, the women's branch of Harvard Univer-sity. Her first book, called The Story of My Life, was translated into 50 languages. She wrote ten more books. From 1946 and 1957, she went around the world, speaking about the experiences and rights of people who are blind. She wound up visiting 39 countries on five different continents! Helen Keller died in 1968. Helen became an ex-ceptional leader, once she saw the potential in her own mind.