PioneerPioneer Primary Ex-student Made History

May 2017

We are proud to see Singaporean student, Mr Kenneth

Sng, making history when he gave the opening

remarks at the second United States presidential

debate in United States of America in October 2016, to

welcome the candidates and audience to Washington

University in St Louis. Mr Kenneth’s speech drew

supportive comments from fellow Singaporeans.

Our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also posted a

congratulatory note to Mr Kenneth on his facebook.

Mr Kenneth Sng went on to Jurong West Secondary

and Jurong Junior College after he graduated from

Pioneer Primary School in 2004, and was awarded

the renowned Singapore Public Service Commission

Scholarship in 2011.

Mr Kenneth Sng is the Student Union President of

Washington University in St Louis and was involved

in various campus activities. He is in his fourth

year at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri,

studying Economics and Mathematics. He is the

first international student to be elected president of

Washington University’s Student Union.

He accepted our invitation to deliver a speech on

his journey to success during our first assemblies

of the year 2017. He addressed our students on his

perseverance and hard work to achieve his goals. The

speech was well received and definitely motivated

our students to strive to make their dreams come

true.

We wish Kenneth all the best in his endeavours and

may he grow from strength to strength!

Journey to SuccessTimes

01

The Sparkling Clean Classroom and The Diamond Shine Canteen Programmes

were implemented in our school last year to develop our students’ social

responsibility.

We believe that everyone has a role to play in helping to keep Singapore clean

and green. It is through these programmes that we hope to instil a strong

sense of responsibility, increase social awareness on the importance of the

surrounding cleanliness and its effects on our lives as well as to enhance

teamwork and cooperation among the students. In addition, we are able to

provide opportunities for students’ voices to plan and implement daily cleaning

routines so that they take greater ownership to maintain an environment

conducive for learning. This is aligned to the school vision, ‘Rooted in Values;

Ready for the Future; Gem of the Community’.

The Sparkling Clean Classroom Programme encourages students to spend five minutes after their last lesson

of the day, to help clean the classroom on a daily basis before they are dismissed. To motivate them, the school

has introduced cleanliness checks throughout the terms, and rewards for classes which have maintained

high standards of cleanliness throughout the year. This helps to cultivate the immediate sense of pride and

ownership among the students for their classrooms. In addition, we also extended this responsibility to ensure

the cleanliness of the canteen through The Diamond Shine Canteen Programme whereby the students clean

the canteen during the last five minutes of their recesses.

Since such habits are best inculcated from a young age, we hope that our students will continue to practise

these good habits consistently in school as well as at home. Furthermore, these activities also provide a

meaningful platform for them and even the family members to come together to do their part in helping

to keep our environment clean and green. It is through these programmes in our school that we hope that

everyone will cultivate a greater sense of ownership over the environment in which we live in.

From Desire to DisciplineCharacter Development of Students

02

To raise the awareness of the dangers of drug abuse,

the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) organises an

anti-drug campaign annually. The theme for 2016 was

“Drugs are addictive. Escaping is hard. Don’t start.”

Having a technology-enabled environment will

facilitate students’ growth in a 21st century world

where they have to critically examine information

presented before them and be active co-constructors

of knowledge in the different subjects.

This year, the school extends the iPad programme to

Primary 3 and Primary 4 classes. We aim to develop

these students to be reflective, responsive and

responsible learners. Our students will also be adept

to thriving in a 21st century world where knowledge is

no longer simply disseminated but co-created.

These students will have greater opportunities to use

various iPad applications to activate their learning and

promote thinking and discussion in English Language,

Mathematics and Science. As teaching and learning

resources are shared among teachers teaching the 2

levels, there will be more opportunities for students

to enhance their learning through the use of iPads.

@ PPS Programme 2017

Our P4 and P5 students participated in the “Anti-

Drug Ambassador Activity 2016 - Design an Anti-drug

Activity Contest” in which they designed an activity

to promote greater understanding of the dangers of

drug abuse among their peers.

The activities designed were displayed during one of

the recesses to engage our students and to impart the

knowledge about the detrimental effects of drugs.

Students were also asked to leave their comments

regarding drug abuse on post-its and the post-its were

used to create an anti-drug montage. We are proud

to announce that four of our students’ designs were

among the winning entries and our school was one of

the top 10 schools with the best anti-drug montage!

Learn with iPad

As the school embarks on the journey to integrate

technology in the students’ learning, we are

committed to building a culture of creativity and

innovation, as that will be essential when exploring

the myriad ways technology can be applied in and

outside of the classroom.

Anti-Drug CampaignDrugs are addictive, Escaping is hard. DON’T START!!

03

Our Chinese Orchestra was honoured to be invited to

perform on 5th February 2017 for the Chinese New

Year Celebration at Nanyang Community Centre Hall.

We performed three instrumental pieces, a Chinese

New Year Medley, “Singapura” and “Matsuri” which

were well-received by the guests. Our students

demonstrated the school values by doing their best

and displayed great teamwork which contributed to

the success of the performance.

We celebrated Chinese New Year with the aim

to develop our students of all races, a deeper

appreciation of the Chinese Culture. We hope to

cultivate cooperative learning among students and

to engage them in celebrating this jubilant occasion.

Our students participated in different activities, from

coming up with handicrafts that were used to decorate

the hall to manning the activity booths set up near

the canteen during recesses with the support from

teachers and parent volunteers. Students learnt to

do Chinese Calligraphy, played traditional games and

Performances in the Community

Performances in School

learnt about the festive traditions. The quiz questions

were thoughtfully designed by our very own Primary

5 students from the Higher Mother Tongue class.

On 27th February 2017, the students came to school

in their Chinese traditional costumes. Parents of lower

primary students were invited to grace the Chinese

New Year concert. Our Chinese Orchestra and Wushu

members put up a fabulous performance to heighten

the festive mood. Class performances were also

introduced this year to allow students to take part

actively in this Chinese New Year Celebration. Their

stunning performances gained resounding applauses

from teachers, peers and parents. Sing-along sessions

were led by our school leaders during the finale to

end the concert on a high note.

04

to Future-readyFrom Exam-ready

In collaboration with Nanyang NPC, we had an

Auxiliary Police Vehicular display within the school

compound to provide our students with real-life

experiences to capture the students’ attention with

the aim to foster curiosity. Students had opportunities

to get into the vehicles as well as interact with the

friendly policemen who briefed the students on the

accessories used during their patrol.

We commemorated Total Defence Day (TDD) on 15th

February. This year, the theme for TDD is ‘Together We Keep Singapore Strong’. In addition, to

mark our 50 years of National Service, the school

organising committee lined up a series of activities

to provide meaningful exposures to our students.

Through the following recess activities, the pillars of

Total Defence were infused into the Social Studies

lessons.

A photo booth was set up whereby students made

use of the props to depict the five pillars of Total

Defence, namely, Military, Civil, Economic, Social and

Psychological Defence.

In addition, at the Emergency Preparedness Corner, we created a safe learning environment for our very own

Junior Lionhearters to put into practice the skills learnt by providing first aid to their peers in a simulation

exercise.

In conclusion, the Total Defence Day activities have taught our students and staff that we must defend

Singapore ourselves. We cannot rely on others to defend our own country.

Total Defence Day05

For our P6 students, this year they will be sitting for

the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). It’s

going to be a tough journey to the finishing line with

many obstacles and set-backs but they know that

they are not alone on this enriching journey. They

have teachers and friends to support and cheer them

on. They prepare themselves well to fight this battle

through participating in dragonboat sessions to build

teamwork and perseverance to brave through the

challenges. The dragonboat sessions also provided

opportunities for the students to bond with their

teachers and classmates.

TOGETHERNESS

PERSEVERANCE

P6 BondingDragonboat

JOY

READINESS06

ZESTEXCITEMENT

SAFETY

‘ZEST’, is one of the most interesting after-school

programmes we have. In order to better promote

an active lifestyle and healthy living in our students,

the Physical Education (PE) department embarked

on this new programme. Zest is conducted twice

weekly by our PE teachers and is jam-packed with

an hour of fun and laughter. Health Promotion Board

is also invited to conduct various workshops for

our students to educate them on desirable eating

habits in order to lead a healthy lifestyle. Once

every semester, students are given the opportunity

to participate in different physical activities such as

Kinball to cultivate their interests in sports. The team

of dedicated PE teachers are constantly refining the

activities to better energise our students.

07

Staff Achievements and Contributions

Mr Terence Ang, Year Head for Upper Primary, was awarded the National Day Commendation Award for his excellent service as an education officer serving the

needs of the students.

Mr Ridzwan and Mdm Zubaidah presented their project for Online Annotation Tools to Improve Students’ Cohesion in Writing at the iCTLT 2016 – 5th International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology, providing not just Singapore teachers, but those from other countries, a chance to learn to make use of their

innovative project to make learning of the Malay Language more interesting.

Miss Yoong Phay Sze was awarded the National Day Long Service Award for her contributions to the teaching fraternity, having taught for more than 20 years.

Mrs Serina Wee and Mrs Esther Seah also shared their project Exploring Word Problems using ‘Explain Everything’ at West Zone ICT Seminar 2016, showcasing their project in making use of ICT to

enhance teaching and learning.

Mr Joseph Lim was awarded the MOE Service Excellence Award for his contributions in many areas in the school, including teaching and helping to make data analysis for

teachers easier.

Ms Wong Liyun and Mr Chiam Kim Yeow received the commendation award for their

“GeneSCIS” project in the Innergy Awards 2016 last year. The Innergy award is a MOE

platform which seeks to recognise innovative projects that bring about significant

benefits to stakeholders.

Ms Ng Boon Eng received a recognition from Hwa Chong Institution for making an impact on the lifes of her students together with a tribute from her ex-student

whom she taught in 2008.

The project is a science teaching and learning resource package which includes customized manipulatives to

make thinking visible and close students’ conceptual learning gaps. The resource package consists of resources

which includes the use of manipulatives to promote active learning among the students. The manipulatives

are developed based on pedagogical considerations and students’ learning needs. The project is currently

implemented at the P5 level for the science curriculum where the learning experiences of students are constantly

being improved and reviewed.

AcknowledgementsEditors: Mrs Cheng Huey Teng, Mrs Elis Ang and Ms Rosita

Contributors: Ms Shajirah, Ms Chang Shi Min, Mrs Tan Yingqing, Mdm Zhou Lin, Mdm Sophiana, Mr Nelson Nai, Mr Chiam Kim Yeow, Ms Wong Liyun, Mr Desmond Lee, Mr Ridzwan, Mr Christopher Tan and Mr Chin Boon Kean

The National Day

Commendation Award

Project forOnline

AnnotationTools

TheNational Day Long Service

Award

Project inmaking use

of ICT

The MOE Service Excellence

Award

Commendation award in the

InnergyAwards

Recognitionfrom

Hwa Chong Institution