1 Bukit Teresa Road, Singapore 099757 Tel: 6273 0096, Fax: 6273 1710, Email: chijks@moe.edu.sg

http://www.chijkellock.moe.edu.sg

From the Vice-Principal’s Desk…

Issue 2

10 April 2019 K-Connects! A Christ-centred learning community where every child will develop her unique giftedness to lead and make a difference.

In this issue…

K-Essence

Learning Journeys

P1-P2

CHIJ 165th

Anniversary

Cyberwellness &

Digital Citizenship

@Kellock

K-Highlights

Singapore’s

Bicentennial

K-Events

Careers Day

Total Defence Day

Parents’ Support Group

Dear Parents,

Time flies! I am now into the 4th month of my 2nd leadership rotation as a Vice Principal. Term 1 was a busy one with much time spent on managing my transition to the Kellock Family. I walked the grounds, familiarizing myself with the strategies and operations of the school, its corporate culture and getting to know the immediate Kellock family and other stakeholders. Teaching is my first and only job after leaving school. I have been involved in shaping young minds since then; first as a teacher, then a Head of Department and to-date, a Vice Principal. The best part of my job is the direct contact I have with students – to be able to make a difference and wield a positive influence over them by steering them to make better choices. I value this privilege, as being a blessing to others is my philosophy. There is nothing more humbling than to be able to connect with a student in a way that helps to bring out his/her best self. After all, students are the reason why we educators do what we do in school. Of course, to do this effectively, it requires the collective response from the whole school community.

I am also heartened by Kellock’s efforts in promoting a vibrant home-school-community partnership culture. Recognising our partners as our strengths, we have actively sought to integrate them in our K-Experience to realise our school vision, improving our school, creating opportunities for our students while strengthening families and helping our students succeed in school and in life. For example given the structures put in place year on year, our parent support group has become a strategic support of our school programmes. As

a result of this change, there is now not only an increased parent membership but also active and dedicated parent participation and support in a myriad of school programmes. Commendable. I consider myself very fortunate to be part of the Kellock Family. And, I look forward to contributing to the K-Experience! Yours sincerely, Ms Helen Ng Vice Principal

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K-Essence

Learning Journeys

P1 Trip to the Singapore Zoological Gardens

The Primary One girls embarked on their very first learning journey to the Singapore Zoological Gardens on 1 March 2019. This learning journey provided opportunities for the girls to learn

beyond their classrooms. Aligned to the Big Book, ‘Walking through the Jungle’, this learning journey provided a shared experience and a common context where the girls were able to make meaningful connections in relation to the different subjects such as English, Mathematics, Science and Art. This was successfully achieved through their discussions about the animals and their movements, the animals and the sounds they make and interesting facts about the animals.

A quick pose at the entrance

With the model of our beloved Inuka, the polar bear

Up close and personal with the pelicans

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Exploring the Primate Kingdom

Watching the pygmy hippo’s swimming skills

At the Animal Show - Rainforest Fights Back

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P2 Trip around the neighbourhood

The Primary Two girls went on a learning journey around the Bukit Purmei neighbourhood on 14 March 2019. This learning journey provided them with opportunities to enrich and extend their learning beyond their classrooms. They learnt to navigate and appreciate the neighbourhood where the school is situated.

During the walk, the girls were introduced to the various businesses and stores in the

neighbourhood. The girls applied their knowledge of prepositions and navigational skills by

plotting and marking the stores in the neighbourhood on a map. They also had the opportunity

to learn about the importance of signages. Through the signages, the girls were taught what

they could do or could not do in the neighbourhood. This reinforced among the girls, the values

of graciousness and responsibility as citizens of the neighbourhood.

By integrating their observations and what they have learnt in the classrooms, students were able to broaden and deepen their understanding of the various subjects like Social Studies, English and Life skills in relation to the community they live in.

At the void deck Navigating their way around the

neighbourhood with maps

All set to start our Learning Journey around the neighbourhood

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Reflections on CHIJ 165th Anniversary

Ever seeking, ever serving. What does that mean to you? Well, that was the topic for the CHIJ 165th Anniversary Forum on Saturday, 9 March 2019. To us, it means to put others before ourselves, to empathize with others and to serve the disadvantaged among us. A CHIJ Kellock girl is a thoughtful learner, a servant leader and a person for others. She is one who anchors herself in the school values and reflects on her learning. The IJ girl can also be recognized by how she strives to live up to the school motto, “Simple in Virtue, Steadfast in Duty”. At the forum, attended by students from the 11 CHIJ schools in Singapore, we heard from 5 speakers – Professor Lily Kong, Ms Janet Ang, Ms Lim Choi Ming, Ms Nicol Ng and Ms Rachel Goh, ex-CHIJ girls, who shared with us their journey as a student in the various IJ schools and how they carried the IJ spirit throughout their lives. We also had the opportunity to interact with Professor Lily Kong, a former student of CHIJ Kellock. Professor Kong is the President of the Singapore Management University and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences. Not only is she the first Singaporean to lead the university, she is also the first Singaporean woman to head a university in Singapore. When asked how she was able to balance her family and her work well, her reply was that to overcome the challenge, she simply included her family and invited them over to the university during events. She added that to be ever seeking, ever serving, we have to have an ever sacrificing attitude. The other speakers also shared how they had overcome obstacles they faced in their lives by being resilient, adaptable, industrious and inquisitive. Having a purpose and strong sense of integrity also helped them to persevere. The forum was an eye-opener for us and we were so inspired by the speakers. We have learnt that we can set goals for ourselves and prioritizing what is important – our family and our studies. If we persevere and do not give up, we can achieve our goals one day. We should also cherish the IJ spirit and time spent in Kellock. We should always remember to keep the IJ spirit burning.

Contributed by Amelia Davies (P5 Topaz) & Suchita Manikandan (P6 Cerise)

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Parent Engagement Guidelines In 2018, the Minister for Education in a speech to educators mentioned that the Ministry of Education (MOE) would be developing a set of practices for schools and parents to partner each other to support their child’s education in a balanced and meaningful manner. This is the listicle published by the MOE, for your reference:-

Here in CHIJ Kellock, we would like to reinforce this partnership with parents with the following

tips:

• Create a conducive environment for your child to learn. • Encourage your child to do her homework independently as this will help her learn and it will help the teachers have a better understanding of your child’s learning progress. • Support your child in learning to be responsible for the things she has to do, including homework. • Work in partnership with the school and the teachers. The teachers’ and the school’s

emails are the official channels of communication. When you do email the teachers, please allow them 3 days to respond to you. If you prefer to call the school to get in touch with the teachers, we seek your understanding that the teachers may be in class and may not be able to pick up your calls. The teachers will return your calls after their lessons or CCAs which could be by the end of the school day, or the next day should the teachers be engaged in meetings. Our teachers will respond to calls between the working hours of 7.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., on school days.

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Cyberwellness & Digital Citizenship @ Kellock

In today’s day and age, students use digital media to explore, connect, create, and learn in ways that we have never imagined before. In this landscape of endless opportunities, they may encounter potential pitfalls that may hinder them from using the digital media safely. As they navigate the digital landscape, students may face complex issues connected to accessing information, online identity, cyber-bullying and self-management. These rising issues on cyber danger and students’ appropriate use on the digital landscape require us to teach students digital literacy and citizenship skills. With the line increasingly blurred between online and offline life, these issues may often spill over into their daily lives and can affect their learning in profound ways. At CHIJ Kellock, we recognise that all our students need digital citizenship skills to participate fully in their communities and to make smart choices online. Thus, we have embarked on a new educational programme – Digital Citizenship in Kellock that educates students from Primary 1 to Primary 6 on the required skills appropriate to their level. Students are exposed to termly topics in classroom and on the school’s online platform - Student Learning Space (SLS). The progressive curriculum targets various skill sets and values that are required for our students to become discerning digital citizens. Topics such as digital footprints, privacy and security, fake

information are just some that the students will be exposed to. The lower primary students learn to make sense of their online and offline community by understanding the difference between the two. The upper primary students are also given the opportunity to critique and reflect on contemporary news (local) articles that are related to topics such as cyber bullying, inappropriate online conduct et cetera. The school recognises the need to guide and support our young minds in using technology appropriately. As such, the implementation of Digital Citizenship Curriculum empowers students to think critically, behave safely and participate responsibly in our digital world. These future ready skills are important to harness the full potential of technology for learning. The implementation of the Digital Citizenship @ Kellock programme is aligned to the newly introduced new pillar for Total Defence – Digital Defence in 2019 as well as the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) Department’s newly launched programme “Rooted in Citizenship” for our Primary 1 students. For example, our Primary 2 students learnt what fake news is and why it is important for everyone to learn how to discern between real news and fake news using the S.U.R.E (Source, Understand, Research and Evaluate) strategy.

Students collaborate in pairs, using what they

have learnt from Cyberwellness lessons to carry

out an investigation

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Students also had the opportunity to put on their thinking caps to carry out group discussion to identify fake news among selected news articles. The concept of empathy was also explored when students were tasked to think about the impact of fake news on its victims.

Digital Citizenship Curriculum @ Kellock

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K-Highlights

Commemoration of Singapore’s Bicentennial

As we mark the 200th anniversary of Raffles’ arrival in Singapore, we also look at Singapore’s history beyond 1819. This Bicentennial year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong invited the entire nation to “reflect on how this nation came into being... [and] to think of how we can move forward together.” Singapore’s history is richer and more diverse than we imagine, and understanding our place in the past helps Singaporeans to chart our future together.

To generate interest and buzz about Singapore’s Bicentennial, our NE ambassadors; Celina Abueg from P6 Indigo and Faith Yang from P6 Cerise, worked with their teachers on the ‘CHIJ Kellock News’ video presentation to introduce the Bicentennial theme to everyone at CHIJ Kellock. The episode of news was about Singapore’s evolution from a small fishing village to the modern-day successful Singapore. We are proud to share that our NE ambassadors and teachers’ hard work were well received and the video was featured in the latest MOE e-magazine for educators titled ‘NE Forte’. This is definitely a great start for the commemoration of Singapore’s Bicentennial at CHIJ Kellock. Well done NE ambassadors and teachers!

NE ambassadors, Celina Abueg (P6 Indigo) and Faith Yang (P6 Cerise)

reporting news on commemoration of Singapore’s Bicentennial

As seen on MOE’s e-magazine “NE Forte’

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K- Events

Careers Day 2019 With the help of our Kellock Parents Support Group, the exciting line up of career sharing by the various professionals this year was engaging and well received by Kellock students. Guest speakers working as Broadcast Engineer, Crochet Artist, Party Planner, Air Stewardess, Frogologist and many more turned up for Careers day and we were privileged to have many parent volunteers stepping forward to share with our students interesting stories about their profession and the challenges that they faced at the workplace. Primary 1 and 2 students were encouraged to come dressed in their ‘dream profession’ on Careers Day and many of them were extremely enthusiastic about it!

Our Vice-Principal, Ms Helen Ng, with our guest speakers (Party Planner, Air Stewardess and a Frogologist) together with our students dressed as air stewardess and princesses for the party!

Understanding the idea of product testing as a research engineer and testing out a cleaning sponge from 3M company.

Our P1 and P2 ‘Best Dressed Winners’ for Careers Day 2019

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Total Defence Day 2019 – Together We Keep Singapore Strong

Total Defence Day is marked annually on 15 February to commemorate the anniversary of the surrender of the British to the Japanese. This year, students were involved in a series of educational activities and a food rationing exercise was carried out. This helped to remind students of the hardship faced by our forefathers during war. Various learning booths were set up by the NE Ambassadors to educate students on the 6 pillars of Total Defence, i.e., Military Defence, Civil Defence, Economic Defence, Social Defence, Psychological Defence and Digital Defence. Students learnt simple first aid skills for burns, insect bites and stings as well. Students showed their support to keep Singapore strong at the pledge card booths. The most popular booth was the interactive booth where students participated in first aid quizzes. This helped to reinforce and consolidate their learning.

NE ambassadors teaching their peers how to

contact an ambulance in an emergency

Girls learning simple first aid

Students making their pledges to keep

Singapore strong

N.E. Mation is an annual

animation competition

to allow students to

express their thoughts

about Total Defence.

Checkout the 2019

Student Finalists Clips!

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Parents’ Support Group (PSG)

Valentine’s Day Sale 2019

The first sale of the year took place on 12 February. And what a bustling occasion it was! Over

three lively recess sessions, parent volunteers pitched their wares to raise funds for the Catholic

Gift. The CHIJ Kellock PSG is proud to have raised over $3000 with this event.

As with the past CHIJ Kellock sales, the girls were spoilt for choice, and were excitedly crowding

around the delightful range of goodies laid out before them. On sale were handmade paper

flowers, pretty decorated cookies, snack containers packaged with surprise treats, adorable

stationery supplies, stuffed toys, and the list goes on.

Another hit with the girls was the very lovely photo booth, complete with pastel-coloured backdrop,

and magical unicorns and lollipops ornaments. After having their Polaroid taken, the girls were

happy to DIY their photos into charming personal bookmarks.

Preparations for the sale began early in the school term. Parent volunteers pooled their talent,

time, and resources to plan and execute the event. Many happy mornings were spent huddled

over craft materials and big bags of treats waiting to be sorted and packaged, so that attractive

sale items could be put together for the girls.

Valentine’s Day Volunteerism Craft Workshop organized by Kellock PSG.

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Besides the parent volunteers, students were also roped in to help out. A Valentine’s Day

preparation and volunteerism workshop was conducted on the afternoons of 28 and 29 January,

where students crafted beautiful message boxes to be sold at the sale.

Lastly, a big thank you goes out to all Kellock parents and students for generously supporting this

event, so that together, we can do our part to help the needy. See you at the next sale!

Parent volunteers helping out with Valentine’s Day Sales