page 2 cca open page 4 page 7 house & 2014 @ bedok ......secondary. our students’ performance in...

By Ms Adryanna Aziz

The N Level results release in December 2013 brought much excitement to the students and teachers of East Spring Secondary. Our students’ performance in the exams was indeed commendable. The school showed our capacity for excellence in the results of the N Level Exams. More than 80% of the 4NA students were eligible to enter 5NA to attempt the O Level Examinations. The results of 9 subjects offered at N(A) Level in East Spring had also attained grades higher than the national average. The number of distinctions across all subjects had also seen a significant increase from 2012. For the N(T) level, an impressive 8 subjects attained passes above the national average. Daphne Goh of 4N1 stood out among her peers with her exceptional performance of 5 distinctions and an overall EMB3 score of 9.

Congratulations and well done, East Spring! Let’s strive for greater heights!

By Mdm Hernie Salleh

Congratulations to the 2013 Secondary 4E and 5N East Springians who did well in the O levels. Our school obtained impressive passing rates and distinctions for that were above National Average. The results of 14 subjects offered at O Level in East Spring had also attained grades higher than the national average. An impressive 6 subjects attained Distinction passes above the national average. Cecilia Kan and Shanell Choo, both from 4E1, did us proud by attaining 7 distinctions and an L1R5 of 8. In addition, 2 of our 5N(A) students, Cassandra Chan and Shaik Muhammad Hamzah of 5N1 also outdid themselves, attaining 5 distinctions each with a respective overall L1R5 aggregate of 10 and 12 respectively.It is now up to the class of 2014 to determine East Spring’s progress. Aim High, Act Now!

ESPRESSa bi-annual newsletter of esss

issue 1 / april 2014

Page 4Cross Country 2014 @ Bedok Reservoir

Page 7Total Defence School Record Challenge

Page 2CCA Open House & Secondary One Orientation

Vice Principal’s Foreword

This year, East Spring Secondary School marks its 15th year in providing quality school experience for all its students.

GCE ‘N’ LevelResults 2013

GCE ‘O’ Level Results 2013

Our students are the nation’s future citizens. The fundamental mission of secondary schools, therefore, is to nurture our students so that they can contribute effectively to our economy and society in the future. To thrive well in this intensely competitive globalised world, Singapore needs citizens of character who can lead, inspire and remain strong in the face of change. We need individuals who are creative and critical thinkers and self-directed learners who will strive to excel.

East Spring Secondary has been doing that for the last 15 years. Since its inception in 1999, it has responded well to the needs of the students and kept up with the demands of time. Currently, it has taken on the challenge of preparing its students for the 21st Century: cultivating innovation and creativity, as well as competencies such as leadership, team working skills and cross cultural literacy. In the process, the school has been delivering holistic education. Through the academic programmes, CCAs and Character and Citizenship Education, East Spring Secondary has provided diverse experiences to its students for their all-round development. Through these experiences, our students emerge as creative learners, upright citizens and global thinkers.

To mark the milestone of 15 years, the school will be unveiling a heritage wall on 4 April 2014. Beyond the celebration of our achievements as a school, the event will come together to also recognise our teachers contribution for making East Spring Secondary for what it is today. The teachers in East Spring Secondary has dedicated themselves to assisting young people achieve their potential, to revealing or finding their highest truth. Our teachers see the potential in all students and who they could be.

Being new in the school, I look forward to a start of another new chapter, and build on the good work of the last 15 years. With sound values and a clear direction from our Principal Mrs Jalil-Ong and Vice-Principal, Mrs Mohinder Singh, we are confident that East Spring Secondary will continue to provide a quality school experience for all its students and prepare them well for the future.

Mr Mark Chan Vice - Principal for Administration

School Thrust: Academic Excellence

2 • Espress • Issue 1 • April 2014

Secondary One Orientation By Paramitha (4E1)

Ooiii!! shouted the Secondary One students. ‘Oii’ here and ‘Oii’ there. ‘Oii’ is heard everywhere! The first three days of school were extremely hyped up as the school welcome the fresh batch of secondary one students for the year 2014. As they were new to the school, the secondary one students were given tours, guided by our Sports Leaders, to get themselves to be more familiar with the school. Various activities were organised for them, starting from inter-class games, cheer making competition, mass dance and many more. All these activities serve one purpose - that is to get the students know one another and bond, before they embark on their 4, 5 years of journey, together.

CCA Open House By Sarah Afina (4E2)

This year’s CCA Open House was held on 4th January 2014. On that day, every CCA in East Spring was given the opportunity to showcase to the newly-enrolled Sec One students and their parents what they had to offer. Students from all CCA groups went around the school with flyers and posters as their arsenal to attract students as well as their parents to their booths. The performing arts and Uniformed Groups also displayed their dances and drills to the guests.

The “freshies” went from one venue to another to discover what interested them best. After witnessing and finding out more about each sport, club, uniformed group or performing art before deciding which to join as their CCA in secondary school. It was indeed a fun and lively day for our school’s proud CCAs!

School Thrust: Holistic Education

Espress• Issue 1 • April 2014 • 3

Chinese New Year CelebrationBy Ang Yuen Mei Crystal (4E1)

Prefects’ Investiture By Alexandra Marie (3E2)

The whole ceremony kick-started with the introduction of the newly-appointed prefects of the school. These prefects, after having painstakingly gone through the 6 tiring months of probation, have finally earned their honorary position as an official prefect of the school! The ceremony was a solemn event, with the new prefects nervously going up the stage, facing the school as a new person.

Anticipation and pride hung in the air as they received their badges, and as the school cheered them on. As they recited the pledge, a heavy promise was made to the student body, a promise that will be fulfilled as the years pass and their journey goes on.

All the best on your journey, prefects!

Mother TongueFortnight By Mr Jamalludin Affandi and Mr Sui Lei

The day was buzzing with a range of activities during the Mother Tongue Fortnight, with lantern-making, finger painting, and bean art for the Sec one and two students. There were also mouth-watering treats that were savored followed by a burning of the calories with sports items like silat and sepak takraw. It was a fun-filled fortnight for the students and a treat for the senses. - John Christopher Reyes

This year East Spring Secondary School held its Mother Tongue Fortnight from the 20th to the 31st of January 2014. The objectives of the event were aimed at creating conducive environment in which to promote the usage and learning of Mother Tongue Languages outside the MTL class. Furthermore, the emphasis was to ensure that our students learn and appreciate each other’s cultures and practices through cultural activities and to instill the interest in the learning of Mother Tongue Languages.

Every year, our focus is on the secondary one to secondary three students to be involved in their own cultural activities. For the Malay language students, they had a choice of 4 workshops to attend which is the gamelan workshop, the silat workshop, the ondeh-ondeh making workshop and the epok-epok making workshop.

For the Chinese language students, in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebrations that were to be celebrated during the fortnight, students were taught how to make lanterns, finger paint and do bean drawings. In addition to the fun and excitement through the cultural activities, the students have gained a deeper insight into their own culture and learned to appreciate them better.

It was a fun-filled fortnight for the students and a treat for the senses.


On 30th January, we welcomed the Chinese Year of ‘The Horse’ with an exciting concert that started with the Twin Lion Dance and followed by other equally entertaining items. As per East Spring tradition, we shared our joy of the festivities with the elderly from Kheng Chiu Lodge and Jamiyah Home for the Aged.

The Malay Dance and Chinese Dance performers entertained the school and guests with two riveting dance items. The East Spring Chorale played and sang two popular Chinese New Year songs to get the crowd going. This year’s Chinese New Year’s celebration was indeed a memorable experience.


Cross Country 2014 @ Bedok Reservoir By Paramitha Sukur Suryanto (4E1)

On the 11 March, East Springians gathered at Bedok Reservoir to participate in our annual sports day event. For the first time, our school held a cross country instead of our typical stadium-bound sports day. The cross country was held to promote healthy lifestyle and the best part was, every single East Springians got to participate in the run! Excitement and enthusiasm could be felt during the event and everyone was eager to participate in both competitive and fun runs.


Espress• Issue 1 • April 2014 • 5

Cross Country 2014 @ Bedok Reservoir By Paramitha Sukur Suryanto (4E1)

While the contestants were running, the rest of the school indulged in their sandwiches, cereal and muffins for breakfast. This was the very first time, we had class picnic together as a whole school! It has been a great experience for me, what about you?

You can send your photos and replies to [email protected]



Oh’s FarmBy John Christopher Reyes (2E2)

On March 13, the Sec 2 students embarked on a learning journey to Oh’s Farm. Organised by the Humanities Department, the students experienced and learnt about the science of agriculture.

The moment the students arrived, they were greeted by the fresh smell of plantation where different vegetables were planted and prepared. The students also discovered that Oh’s Farm was charged with producing the vegetable packaging for supermarkets. Mainly a hydroponics farm, the guides were very knowledgable about the processes and even the medicinal values of the different vegetables. And it allowed the students to build on the extensive knowledge they learnt during the journey. On a scorching day, they students especially enjoyed exploring the freezer where some of the produce were stored to be kept fresh.

With souvenirs of spinach and kangkong tucked safely in their backpacks, the students believed that the journey was excellent in proving that learning need not be bound in the four walls of the classroom.

History coming aliveBy Miss Loh Man Ying

As part of East Spring Secondary School Humanities Department’s new approach towards the learning of History, our Secondary One students embarked on a historical trail to Fort Canning Park on 13 March 2014. As young historians, students were tasked to investigate the pre-colonial history of Singapore, specifically to find out what Singapore was like before 1819. Students returned from the trail with bountiful gains.

“The most memorable part of the journey was when we had to dig out the artefact. It was fun because I experienced how it was like to be an archaeologist. I also learned the value of responsibility. We had to be independent in finding the answers to the questions in the worksheet,” shared Lee Jian Hao from 1N2.

Classmates of Jian Hao, Chia Wan Lin and Tan Yisheng, also added that they learned to be resilient to remain focused during the trail. They had to conscientiously listen very carefully to the instructor’s words amidst the background noise from the surroundings.

From the interviews, it does seem like it had been all worthwhile enduring the hot weather and the rigourous hike up and down the hill, finding out about Singapore’s ancient past. Not only did the students experience textbook knowledge coming to life, they have also learned values pertinent to their character development.

Active learning journey to Sungei BulohBy Mr Lim Yong Hwee

As part of East Spring Secondary’s efforts to engage and inspire, the students embarked on a learning journey to Sungei Buloh where they would learn about the physical environment in the mangrove. They would learn about the various ways of adaptation by the mangrove plants and understand the uses and importance of mangrove conservation.

To make learning come alive for students, they would carry out measurements of pH and temperature of water samples collected from two different parts of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve using the data logger. Students would then analyze the data collected and complete a booklet. Through this journey the classroom came alive for the students and they were able to not just learn about mangrove, but to see, touch, hear and smell the physical environment that they are learning about.

LEaRNiNG JOuRNEys


Espress• Issue 1 • April 2014 • 7School Thrust: Organisational Excellence

Total Defence School Record Challenge By Ang Yuen Mei Crystal (4E1)

On 13th February 2014, East Spring decided to challenge ourselves once again by setting yet another remarkable record .This time it is the formation of the largest hand with 5 fingers that represent namely—psychological defence, civil defence, social defence, military defence, and economic defence. Everyone participated and gave their heart and soul in getting their hand prints printed on that sheet of gigantic paper, going around the HDB blocks to collect canned food for the food donation drive.

This indeed showed the spirit of each and every East Springian in contributing their best efforts for this occasion.

School staff, AlumKnights, Parent Support Group joined in to witness the joyous mark of another record set. All would not have succeeded without the enthusiastic support and cooperation by everyone. This school activity not only brought glory and recognition to the school but help to strengthen bond among all East Springians, teachers and staff included. We should all look forward to more of these events and always give our best efforts.

Once again, well done, East Spring!


a to

uche

des

ign

prod

uctio

n @

665

9 18

76

Acknowledgement: Journalism ClubTeacher Advisor: Miss Cheong Mei Xi

Teacher Editors: Mr Sharyl Lidzhan Sapari, Ms Adryanna Aziz, Mdm Hernie SallehWe thank all staff and students who have contributed towards the publication of this issue.

Burning the HDCCE FlameBy Mr Aubury Ong (HOD CCE)

East Spring Secondary School regards staff development as an important process of equipping and preparing the teachers to deliver holistic education to all East Springians effectively and meaningfully. On 17 March 2014, the school set aside time during the first day of the one week break to train the staff in facilitation skills targeted at culling learning for the students during R3ISE lessons.

The teachers enjoyed a meaningful, fun-filled session with the aim of achieving common understanding of ‘Every teacher a CCE teacher’. The session also equipped teachers with the instructional strategies to deliver R3ISE lessons in a more lively and authentic way.

The session was supported by the facilitators of MOE Character & Citizenship Education Branch (CCEB), namely Mr Goh Ek Piang. Mr Goh is a retired educator whose last appointment in the service was Director of Co-curricular Activities Branch (CCAB). With his vast knowledge and experience, the professional development session achieved its objectives and enriched the teachers in the area of CCE.

staff PROfEssiONaL DEvELOPmENt School Thrust: Professional Staff


2010 2011

2014

2012 2013

For this year’s Total Defence Day, East Spring Secondary unfurled a banner with the largest logo made of handprints. The 8.6m by 5.4m piece was made up of handprints from students, staff, alumni, and the parents of support group – in line with the theme of ‘Because you played a part’.

For East Spring Secondary student, Paramitha Sukur Suryanto, 17, who was among students planning the handprints record – drafting plans, maps, diagrams and proposals.

(Source: INDepth The Straits Times, Monday, March 3, 2014, p.8)

For the Record

Total Defence School Record Challenge @ESSS throughout the years

page 2 cca open page 4 page 7 house & 2014 @ bedok ......secondary. our students’ performance in...

Documents