ICAS English UNSW Medal Award
Congratulations to Mahima Srinidhi of Primary 2 Charity for achieving the UNSW Medal Award for the 2011 International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) - English.
ICAS English is a yearly competition conducted by the Educational Assessment Australia and students from over 20 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Pacific and the USA participate in ICAS each year.
Well done and keep it up!
YMCA Plain English Speaking Award
YMCA Plain English Speaking Award is a programme organised by the YMCA Singapore, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, the National Library Board and Speak Good English Movement.
“Plain English” refers to the participants’ use of English that is simple and easily understood in terms of content and delivery. It involves the choice of appropriate words to ensure that a speech is clear and concise for the audience and the judges to understand it.
Sarah Shahrin represented Haig Girls’ in the Lower Primary Category. In the qualifying round and Semi-Finals, she shared about a personal experience at her cousin’s wedding and made it to the Finals. At the Finals, Sarah shared about her personal experience during Sports Day this year. While delivering her speech, she spoke expressively and entertained the judges clinching the 1st prize. She has also done the school proud by earning the Gold Honour Roll based on the accumulated score.
Maya Viswa represented Haig Girls’ in the Upper Primary Category. In the qualifying round and Semi-Finals, she shared a speech about what she would like to tell her mother and made it to the Finals. At the Finals, Maya shared about Friendship and her best friends. While delivering her speech, Maya spoke expressively and confidently clinching the 1st Prize. In addition to that, Maya has also done the school proud by earning a Silver Honour Roll based on the accumulated score.
What matters most were not the trophies and the awards but the resilience and perseverance that the girls demonstrated throughout the practices. The girls uphold the school values and proved themselves to be confident and effective communicators. Well Done Girls, we at Haig Girls’ are proud of you!
Junior Sports Academy Graduation
Congratulations to our athlete, Iliya Syamin, who graduated from the Junior Sports Academy (JSA) class of 2011. Iliya was mentioned in Senior Parliamentary Secretary Mr Hawazi Daipi's speech about the attributes of good sportsmanship at the JSA graduation ceremony on 5 September 2011. Iliya was cited as one of the JSA graduates who was determined to do her best and displayed the Olympic value of Excellence.
Read more about Iliya here at: http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2011/09/05/speech-by-mr-hawazi-daipi-at-3rd-moe-jsa-grad-ceremony.php
TIME OUT (The Inspired Museum Explorers: Our Unique Travels) – Learning with Liu Kang
How do we cultivate in our pupils a life-long appreciation for art and museums in our pupils? How do we bring out the best in them and help them to make meaning between what they learn in the classrooms and the real world? What can we do to level up our curriculum to develop 21st century-ready learners who are cultured and have a sense of belonging toSingapore?
To address the above questions, we designed an innovative programme, ‘TIME OUT – Learning with Liu Kang’, in collaboration with The National Art Gallery (TNAG). For TIME OUT, we adopted an interdisciplinary approach to the teaching of English Language (EL), Social Studies (SS) and Art, while infusing Character and Citizenship Education and the development of 21st century competencies (21cc) and tapping on ICT tools (e.g. iPADs ) and national cultural resources for authentic, place-based, self-directed and collaborative learning.
In Semester 2 this year, all our Primary 4 pupils are spending half a day at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) once a week during curriculum time over 6 weeks learning EL, SS and Art and exploring the artistic, social and historical contexts of Liu Kang’s art works. The programme involved a re-design of our P4 EL, SS and Art around themes and art works based on the Liu Kang Exhibition.
Another exciting feature of this programme is the involvement of P4 pupils as museum ambassadors – our P4 pupils conducted surveys on the school’s pupil population to collect data on pupils’ attitudes towards art museums and level of exposure and affinity towards them and will be taking steps to enthuse and educate the pupil population about museums through an exhibition of their creative work and ‘busking’ activities. This nurtures them to be active contributors and concerned citizens.
To ascertain the effectiveness of ’TIME OUT’, we are conducting pre- and post-assessments of pupils’ appreciation of visual art and assessing pupils’ creative thinking, language use and studio practice through the quality of their creative writing and art works. Teacher and peer assessments of pupils’ 21cc in the areas of self-directed learning, collaboration and communication skills will also be used to provide more feedback for each pupil.
As the first school inSingaporeto undertake a place-based, inter-disciplinary and integrated arts programme at a museum on such a large scale, we embarked on the journey with some trepidation. However, as the programme unfolded and we saw the excitement and creative works from the pupils, we knew we were on the right track. Parental support was extremely encouraging as well.
"It is so exciting! I love Liu Kang’s works and I am happy that my child is going through this programme!” – Mrs Palani.
"I can see the tremendous effort put in by the school for TIME OUT and I am very thankful for that. My child enjoyed all the trips and she is eager to learn more!” – Mrs Alefyah Fareed Kagda[OEPS3] , parent of Zahra Fareed Kagda (student of 4Grace).
"When I went to the art museum trip, it was very nice as Liu Kang had many nice paintings and they looked real… My favourite was the ‘Durian Vendors’ as the picture showed about how it was in the early ages… I am so excited to go there again.” – Marina Nelson, student of 4 Humility.
"For me, it is an enriching experience as I get to redesign the curriculum and tailor the lessons to suit the needs of the students and the exhibits. For the students, I could see that they were very enthusiastic for each trip and they enjoyed the learning process.” – Mrs Audrey Tang, teacher.
President's Award for Teachers 2011
Mdm Dianaros Abdul Majid, our Lead Teacher/English, has been conferred the pinnacle award for teachers - The President's Award for Teachers 2011.
Congratulations, once again to Diana. HGS Staff, SAC Members and parents are all very happy for her!
Please click here to read more.
Tenpin Bowling Team
Year 2011 has been a great year for Haig Girls’ Tenpin Bowling Team. The school has done well and participated in numerous events such as National Age Group Championships, PBC Challenge Series and the latest being the 10th National Inter-Primary Schools Tenpin Bowling Championships.
Haig Girls’ School Senior Girls’ Team clinched the Champion Trophy while the Junior Team emerged 6th position.
At the Masters Event for the top 10 bowlers, the school clinched the 1st (Iliya Syamim) and 3rd places (Tiara Atiqah) for Senior Girls and 2nd place (Nur Amirah Ng) for Junior Girls.
What matters most were not the trophies but the resilience and perseverance that the girls demonstrated throughout the bowling season. The girls uphold the school values and display true sportsmanship. Everyone is a champion and we at Haig Girls’ are proud of you!
For more photos, please click here.
East Zone Storytelling Competition
On the 26th of May, three Primary 3 girls represented the school in the East zone Storytelling Competition. They are Anjika Bhatnagar, Hannah Ong Si En and Saskia Emilie Jessop. The theme of the competition was based on fractured fairy tales. This theme allowed pupils to get creative and have fun telling fairytales with a twist. Our Girls did very well and presented their story ‘Snow B’.
Our pupils did extremely well and made it to the Finals, where they were given one hour to prepare a Reader’s Theatre Script. Our girls chose the script The Wizard, the Fairy and the Chicken. They portrayed the characters of a Wizard, Fairy and a Chicken very well paying close attention to expression and intonation, clinching for themselves the 3rd prize.
Well Done Girls!
Babble and Speak Competition
Babble and Speak is a competition that is about communicating clearly in the English language and thinking critically and creatively. The competition offered a digital experience for the participants in the preliminary round and then a ‘live’ audience experience in the final round.
The preliminary round was a platform for primary school pupils to express their thoughts on any topic which they are passionate about through a video recording of themselves. The final round consisted of two segments. The first was when the pupils presented a prepared speech based on the topic ‘Orange’. In the next segment, the girls presented an impromptu speech based on an object or a phrase.
Jaanvi presented a speech based on a dagger while Karisha presented a speech based on a quote by Charles Dickens.
Despite the tough competition, two of our pupils did Haig Girls’ extremely proud by clinching 1st prize and a merit award for the Babble and Speak Competition. The pupils were Karisha Tej Kumar Partabrai and Jannvi Agarwal respectively.
Well done girls! We are extremely proud of you.
Learning Journey to the Butterfly Lodge
The six Primary Two classes went on their learning journey to the Butterfly Lodge on 24 and 25 February 2011. The lodge is located at the Oh Chin Huat Farm in Lim Chu Kang.
The Butterfly Lodge is created to allow visitors to observe and enjoy butterflies in a landscaped garden environment. The pupils get to learn about the ecology and conservation of butterflies as well as appreciate the diversity and beauty of Singapore’s butterfly fauna.
At the lodge, pupils saw actual caterpillars and pupae and how they changed into very attractive-looking butterflies. What they read about in their STELLAR Big Book, ‘A Butterfly is Born’, which is about the life cycle of butterflies, came alive.
The P2 pupils learnt about the butterfly host and nectaring plants – which are specially selected to encourage the sustainability and survival of the butterflies.
They also learnt the importance of butterflies as pollinators, food for other animals and environment indicators. Butterflies help to pollinate flowers. Without pollination, plants cannot bear fruits. Caterpillars and adult butterflies are a vital source of food for birds, lizards, spiders and other predators. Butterflies are very sensitive to their environment and are thus good indicators of how healthy or unhealthy the conditions we are living in are.
The pupils enjoyed interacting with the butterflies at the butterfly enclosure, where butterflies flutter freely.
For more photos, please click here.
Project Hope: Fund-raising Project undertaken by Primary Two Pupils & Teachers
This year’s Community Involvement Project (CIP) takes on a different look for all Primary Two pupils and teachers! Entitled Project Hope, both teachers and pupils have targeted to raise at least $500 from the sale proceeds. The amount raised would then be used to provide funds for needy pupils in HGS. The pupils and teachers had great fun designing, painting, decorating and snapping photographs together! The teachers then decided to sell each customized photo frame with personalized photographs at $3.00.
Together with their respective Form and Co-form teachers, the pupils flashed their pearlies in front of the camera, all in the name of charity and raised a whopping $1,511.80! Well done, P2s! The photograph is taken against a school mural and this commemorates the beginning of Primary 2 life. What an exciting way to do our part for charity!
On behalf of all pupils who will benefit from the sale proceeds, all Primary Two pupils and teachers thank parents and guardians who have generously contributed and supported Project Hope. We are proud to say that 100% of photo frames created were snapped up by parents and guardians. Way to go!
Inter-School Debate Competition
On the 18th of March and 9th of April 2011, members of our Debating Club, Jessica Glenn, Yasmine Xuning Kanalingam and Karisha Partabrai participated in the Inter-school Debate Competition 2011 led by their teacher-in-charge, Mdm Harjinder Kaur. Organised by Wits and Words Committee – Gifted Education Branch MOE, the event aimed to nurture, cultivate and grow the community of debate practitioners, including students, coaches, judges, teachers, and organizations to foster a healthy climate for student debate in Singapore.
All debating groups comprising of 3 debaters had to undergo three preliminary rounds to make it into the semi-finals. Although we did not make it into the semi-finals, Karisha Partabrai of Primary 5 Joy has done Haig Girls’ School proud. She was awarded the Best Speaker in the Inter-school Debate Competition 2011 on June 1st at the MOE Edutorium. She impressed the judges with her clarity, style and confidence and was unanimously chosen as Best Speaker for the preliminary rounds of the competition out of the 198 debaters who took part. This was Karisha’s first foray into debate competitions and she managed to eloquently present her arguments despite her lack of experience.
Participation in the inter-school debate competition promotes the school’s philosophy that all pupils can think, learn, achieve and excel, and equips our pupils with the necessary 21st century skills to excel in all that they do.
Fruit Juice Day
The buzz of excitement on Fruit Juice Thursday was electrifying. More than 20 moms came early that morning, armed with knives, cutting boards, juicer machines and fruits; lots and lots of fruits!
Fruit Juice Day, part of Haig Girls Eating Healthy program, was repeated after a break of 2 years, and it was a roaring success! At recess time, many girls came with their fruits and eagerly queued-up for their fruits to be juiced. As the queue built up, more and more girls became interested to have juices. Some Primary 1 girls who had forgotten to bring their own fruits even went to buy fruits from the canteen fruit store just so they can join in the fun.
It was glorious to see so many girls slurping up healthy, freshly squeezed fruit juice. Even the teachers joined-in the fun to have their fruits juiced after all the girls had had their turns.
The team of Parent Volunteer moms worked non-stop as a super team, getting tray loads of fruits turned into juices within the short one hour recess break. Laughter was heard throughout and fun is the word!
With such a good launch the Fruit Juice Day will become a sustainable feature of Haig Girls' School. Fruit Juice Day will be on every other Thursday, starting from Term 3. More Parent Volunteers are welcomed to join-in the fun. Commitment is minimum of once a month. For those interested, please contact Rina at 8141 1654 or Dorcas at 9661 7747 / dorcasli@singnet.com.sg.
For more photos, please click here.
Chinese New Year Celebration
On 2nd February 2011, HGS celebrated and welcomed the arrival of the Rabbit Year with a splendid line-up of interesting performances.We kicked off the celebration with traditional singing of Chinese New Year songs. In the midst of joyous mood, our Principal Mrs Constance Loke, Vice Principal, Madam Sharifah and all teachers were invited on stage with thunderous applause and cheers. Our adorable P2 students with graciousness and confidence presented them with a pair of oranges to symbolize good luck.
Haig Girls' Wushu Team captivated us with a variety of Martial Arts performances. Not to be outdone, a group of P6 girls inspired us by a wonderful display of cooperation and creativity through their mesmerizing dance steps which they had choreographed on their own. The highlight of the celebration was the lighthearted but meaningful skit “I can learn well too” superbly presented by 6 girls from the D3T2 Chinese Creative Arts Program.
The students learnt about Chinese customs and values through Quiz Time. With much anticipation and excitement, we welcomed a very special guest, God of Wealth (dressed up by Mr Maha). He definitely brought our excitement to a higher level. As we reached the end of our celebration, we invited our Principals, parents and teachers on stage for lou-hei (tossing of salad), a tradition that originated from South East Asia. For the finale, Mrs Loke and Madam Siti Noble started off the New Year with a loud bang of streamers and confetti.
It was indeed a joyous and meaningful celebration where all the students, parents and teachers regardless of race or nationality enjoyed the festive season.
For more photos, please click here.
Parents' Back To School Day
Much excitement filled the air as our P1s awaited the arrival of their parents on “Parents Back To School Day” on Friday, 28 January 2011.
The annual event was held to give parents a first-hand experience of their children’s study environment. They were treated to song performances and skits by the P1s, and visited their children’s classrooms. It was also an opportunity for the P1 pupils, their parents and teachers to interact and network with one another. Earlier in the morning, parents were also invited to a parenting talk, “Coaching Your Child To Be AResponsible Thinking Child” by Mr Edwin Choy, Director of Centre for Fathering Singapore.
It was most heartwarming to see the smiles on parents’ faces as they were brought on a tour of the school by their children.
For more photos, please click here.
