NURTURING NEW

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In This Issue … STARS IN SPOTLIGHT 02 - 09 STARS IN ACTION 10 - 15

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O Level Results 2010

SOCCER NICHE SCHOOL STATUS 2010 Hong Kah Secondary School has achieved Niche School status for Soccer in 2010. This means our school can now admit up to 5% of our Secondary One intake on a discretionary basis through the Direct School Admissions exercise. The award is an affirmation of our school’s talent development programme and proven track records of achievements in soccer. As a Niche Programme school (Soccer), we receive an initial de-velopmental grant of up to $150,000 over 3 years. A recurrent grant of up to $50,000 per year will also be given to our school to sustain and maintain our niche after the first 3 years. The MOE grant will be used to fund a comprehensive training and nutrition programme to build up the strength and stamina of our soccer boys. With the funding, there will also be more opportuni-ties for the soccer boys to participate in overseas exchange pro-grammes and engage in friendly matches with schools in other countries.

The years of hard work and dedication of our staff finally paid dividends on 11 Janu-ary 2010 as we saw a breakthrough in the 2009 O Level results. The 2009 cohort achieved a mean aggregate grade (L1B5) of 22.3, performing better than their ex-pected mean aggregate grade projected based on their PSLE aggregate scores. 86 percent of the cohort achieved 5 or more O Level passes. In addition, we achieved a record high in our percentage pass in English Language at two percent-age points higher than the national average of 93 percent. For passes in the Express stream, 17 subjects scored above national average, while in the Normal stream, 8 subjects scored above national average. The top pupil was S R E Poongodai from Secondary 4A who scored 8 distinctions. Thendral Vasakan and Xu Xiang, both from Secondary 4A, tied for second place with 6 distinctions each.

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FRANK COOPER SANDS AWARD GOLD FOR GRYPHON SCOUT UNIT!

Gryphon Scout Unit has achieved its 1st Gold award under the Frank Cooper Sands Award for year of assessment 2009 (commonly known as Best Unit Competition for Uniformed Groups). The Singapore Scout Association assesses the performance of all Scout Units annually in areas such as membership, training pro-grammes, achievements in competitions, involvement in na-tional/area/district activities, fund-raising efforts, and service to community. It also recognises Units’ Scouting excellence through the various categories of awards under the Frank Cooper Sands Award. The attainment of the Gold award by Gryphon Scout Unit is an affirmation of the continous commitment, hard work and achieve-ments of the Gryphon Scout Leaders and Scouts. Well done, Gryphon Scouts!

NATIONAL LEVEL INTER-SCHOOL DRAMA COMPETITION

A group of our Secondary 3 and 4 Tamil pupils took part in “Puyal 2010”, an annual drama competition for secondary school students organised by Nanyang Junior College Indian Cultural Society (ICS), on 10 April 2010. Hong Kah Secondary School was one of the finalists vying for the top spot with Guang Yang Secondary School and Unity Secondary School. Our school’s entry ti-tled Mannipaya, was a story based on the relationship between a father and his re-bellious daughter. The heart-wrenching drama which explored the theme of family relations in today’s society deeply moved the celebrity judges Mr Mohan, Ms Sashirakka and Mr Ganesh Kasi. Our pupils not only clinched the Champion Trophy; Davitha Jane from Secon-dary 4B was the recipient of the Best Actress Award and Riffeth Begam received the Best Script Writer Award. The jubilant winners were proud to bring honours to our school and expressed gratitude to their teacher advisors Dr. Vasanthi and Mrs Samy for their guidance and support throughout the competition.

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TALENTED ARTISTS @ HKSS

Billy Novia Prima (4B)

Special Prize Award (Painting)

Tan Chun Xiang (4B) Wu Fei Yan (4C) Zheng Jia Ping (4C)

Winners for Sculpture (Mosaic)

Arisha Piriya D/O Kaliannas (2T1) Pang Zhi Jian (2C) Siti Rahayu Bte Uzman (2N1) Muhammad Nur Raihan B Azharie (2T2)

Winners for Sculpture

TALENTED ARTISTS @ HKSS

Special Prize Award (Painting)

Winners for Sculpture (Mosaic)

Winners for Sculpture

DOODLE FOR GOOGLE 2010 In January 2010, GOOGLE launched its first Doodle 4 Google competition in Singapore. Young Singaporeans have to reinvent the Google logo based on the theme 'Our Singapore.' Out of the 30,000 creative entries from schools across Singapore, Kok Sheng Kit's (4B) entry was among the top 10 entries for his age group. His doodle was titled Singapore: Blooming with Pride where he chose Sin-gapore's national flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim to be the main theme of his design. His artist statement read: ‘Just like how people are attracted to the grace and vibrant colours of this unique hybrid, Singapore is also gaining rec-ognition worldwide as a country full of potential and possibilities. The main colour used in this doodle is violet. The colour symbolises purpose and spirit which draws a parallel to the competitive drive and the clear di-rections that Singapore has set for itself. I hope Singapore will stay resil-ient and peaceful as a country.’

COMMUNITY IN BLOOM’ SCHOOLS’ ART COMPETITION 2010 Through the competition, NParks aims to promote gardening and nature apprecia-tion, with a theme focused on biodiversity. A total of 44 primary and secondary schools participated in the competition under the 3 categories - Paintings, Sculptures and Animation. 2 out of 5 of our entries secured top 5 positions under the Sculpture category and 1 won a special prize under the Painting category. The winners are:

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YES RELOADED 2010 HKSS TEAM SNAGS 1ST RUNNER-UP

HKSS Winning Team Focused participants giving their best

OUR TALENTED SCRIBES

Five of our pupils from The MICE Club and The English Society took part in the annual Yes Reloaded Entrepreneurship Challenge 2010 organised by the Singapore Polytechnic. They were Heng Yi from Secondary 1N1, Qistina from Secondary 3B, as well as Samantha, Joni and Huiling from Secondary 3A. The Young Entrepreneurs for Society (YES Reloaded) 2010 supports the na-tion’s aspiration to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs with the vi-sion to start and build world-class enterprises that can be a positive force in society. 8 top teams were selected to compete for the Young Entrepreneurship Chal-lenge Shield at the Business Ideas Competition. A panel of judges, compris-ing experienced industry practitioners and YES facilitators, evaluated the participants’ business ideas. Despite intense competition from schools such as St Joseph institution and Hwa Chong Institution, the HKSS team won over the judges with their innova-tive business idea and impressive presentation, clinching second place and winning $1000 prize money.

Six of our pupils from Secondary 1 to 4 took part in the West Zone Creative Writing Competition (Chinese Language) organised by Nan Hua High School on 03 March. Two of our talented scribes Hu Min Hao from 3A and Hu Yan Chang from 2A were awarded the Consolation Prize.

Tan Chun Xiang from Secondary 4A attended a Chi-nese Writing Workshop organised by MOE’s Commit-tee to Promote Chinese Language Learning for 20 se-lected pupils from various schools. An essay written by her was chosen and published in a collection of pu-pils’ best work 《青春滨海湾》. Her story which was titled 《天使的恶作剧》had a crea-tive and surprising conclusion.

THE MATERIALS SUPERSTAR 2010 Two teams of Hong Kah lites represented our school at the Materials Superstar Competition organised by the Chemical & Life Sciences Department of Singapore Polytechnic on 07 April. Both our teams were among the top eight teams that proceeded to the final round. One of our teams comprising of Kong Quan, Jared Maurice Bateman, Mulliana Yusuff B Jamal and Muhammad Zahin B Ithnin from Secondary 4A emerged the first runner-up, winning a cash prize of $300.

SHELL BIODIVERSITY CHALLENGE 2010 Four pupils, together with teacher advisor Mrs Yap Fui Yen, took part in the Shell Biodiversity Challenge 2010 jointly organised by the Science Centre Singapore, the Science Teachers’ Association of Singapore and the Shell Companies in Sin-gapore. The team members were Darshinee Raman, Douglas Lee, Joni Tan and Aloisuz Chan from Secondary 3A. Our team race against teams from other schools, competing to complete specific tasks at different sites in Singapore. Through this race, they learnt about the rich biodiversity in Singapore as well as how biodiversity helps to create a balance in our ecosystem. The team won the Consolation Prize and walked away with a $100 cash prize.

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N SECONDARY ONE ORIENTATION 2010

JOY PROJECT & CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS

CHINESE ORCHESTRA SHINES

Hong Kah Secondary School welcomed our 2010 Secondary 1 cohort with a 3-day Orientation Day Camp. Led by the Secondary 2 and 3 Peer Support Leaders, the Secondary 1 pupils participated in a variety of ice-breaking and team-building activities which included an Amazing Race at Sentosa. The Orientation Day Camp culminated with a campfire on the last evening which saw the Secon-dary 1s performing with their peers to vie for the Best Group Performance Award. Many friendships were forged during the 3-day period, helping the new pupils assimilate into the Hong Kah culture.

Our newly revamped and hip Chinese Orchestra had a wonderful and beneficial experience in Semester 1 as they were involved in various performances. Their invigorating performances had won them accolades. Besides school perform-ances, they were also invited to perform in other public events such as the Arts At The Mall @ Jurong Point, the Gala Charity Dinner @ Jurong Spring Commu-nity Club and the Cultural Night @ Boon Lay Place. On 26th May, they even had the opportunity to showcase their music talent in the " STARS @ W4 Concert" at University Cultural Centre which aimed to promote a vibrant aesthetic cul-ture among W4 cluster schools. Through these performances and exposure, our Chinese Orchestra members have better self-confidence and can improve on their instrument-playing skills.

The Mother Tongue Department organised an exciting Chinese New Year celebra-tion this year. Besides spreading the festive cheer within the school, we also added meaning to this festival by involving the whole school in reaching out to the com-munity and sharing our joy with them. It was a teachable moment to remind our pu-pils that they should always remember and help the less privileged. It was also a good opportunity for us to forge positive relationships with the community. There were 2 main activities for the Joy Project: Hamper Making and Orange Bless-ing. For Hamper Making, every class contributed food items and made hampers. Teachers and our Parent Support Group also joined in the hamper making. The 80 hampers made were delivered to the Salvation Army, Haven Children's Home, Lov-ing Heart Multi-Service-Centre (Jurong Central) and Loving Heart Multi-Service-Centre (Jurong East St 21). Our Sec 1 NT pupils also made some greeting cards for the less fortunate people under these organisations. On 3rd February, together with their form teachers, all Secondary 1 pupils went to the neighbouring blocks and presented mandarin oranges and well-wishes to the residents. On that same day , hampers for the needy were also delivered to Jurong Central RC with Chinese New Year blessings from our school leaders and student representatives. Besides the community events, the MotherTongue Department and the Art Depart-ment collaborated to organise a banner-making competition. Each class was given a piece of red cloth and some paint to make a banner related to the theme "Chinese New Year". The winning banners were displayed around the school to create a fes-tive ambience.

Our Chinese New Year celebration was held in the hall on 9th Feb. Our performing arts pupils and teachers put up various performances to celebrate this festive oc-casion. Our International pupil Hu Min Hao from Secondary 3A also demonstrated Chinese Calligraphy and encouraged pupils and teachers to try their hands at writ-ing too. The celebrations at Hong Kah this year were indeed meaningful as our festive joy was shared with people who were less fortunate and all our pupils participated in the activities regardless of race and religion.

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ OUTING GREEN HONG KAH LITES @ JPS

EARTH DAY @ HKSS HONG KAH LITES @ EXCEL FEST

The international Student (IS) Committee organised the Southern Expo-sure — International Students’ Outing 2010 on 13 May 2010. Our School Counsellors Mr Jeffrey Teng, Ms Tricia Tan and Ms Jasmine Chua took the international students on a hike of the Southern Ridges Nature Trail which ran through Mount Faber, the Henderson Waves, and the Telok Blangah Hill Park. The excursion was to encourage interaction and bonding among inter-national and local students. In addition, it was to help the international students acquire better knowledge of Singapore’s urban landscape and of Singapore’s history and culture. The hike, carried out in a game format was a hit with the international students as they enjoyed themselves interacting with their peers and got to know their host country better. They hoped that the IS Committee would organise more of such activities again.

Earth Day was publicised during Assem-bly on 20th April 2010 through a video and powerpoint presentation. On 22nd April 2010, a mini-exhibition on the effects of man’s actions on environment, sources of alternative energy, and fact sheets on Earth day were held to create environ-mental awareness. A quiz on environ-mental issues was conducted and tokens were given out to winners. The Homec Club sold potted plants and herbs. The properties of the herbs were explained to the pupils and staff. About 60 potted plants were sold within an hour. Pupils approached the Homec Club to buy potted plants even after the sale and also to seek advice on caring for the plants. Hong Kah lites had fun participating in the Earth Day activities and it was great to see them enthusiastic about learning the ways they could contribute to a greener Earth.

17 pupils from Green and Homec Clubs conducted an Outreach Programme at Jurong Primary School on 20th May 2010. Pupils from both our school and Jurong Primary stained recycled bottles in red and yellow colours for decoration purposes. They also made windmills from recycled bottles and caps. Our pupils had great fun and enthusiastically helped the primary school pupils. Teamwork and cooperation was clearly evident when they were engaged in the activities. From this project our pupils learned about the 3Rs Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. They even prac-tised the virtue of cleanliness which they learned during their ‘Thumbs-Up Programme - Clean Up!” in Term 1 by cleaning up after the activity. They did the school proud by their service learning and demonstration of school values.

On 05 March, our school’s project on the Solar LEGO Car Kit Set was presented at the ExCEL Fest 2010. The project showcased how our teachers employed the innovative use of ICT and learning kits such as LEGO bricks to engage them in exploration to derive their own learning. Our pupils Douglas from Secondary 3A and Qistina from Secondary 3B had the honour of pre-senting our school’s project to Miss Yeoh Chee Yan, Second Permanent Secretary (Ministry of Education). Our West 4 Cluster Superintendent Mrs Chean Wei Fang also visited our booth to give us support.

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HKSS SOCCER BOYS BUILT TIES IN CHINA HONG KAH LITES @ WORLD EXPO 2010

35 Soccer Club members from both C and B divisions participated in a Training and Educational Trip to Wuhan-Beijing from 24 May to 31 May. The main objective of the trip was to expose the soccer boys to more com-petitive matches so that they could learn from the experience of playing against stronger teams. In addition, it was hoped that the boys would in-teract with the Chinese youths and learn to appreciate the Chinese culture and history. Our soccer boys learnt a lot from the 5 matches that they had played against the Chinese teams. The Chinese teams were more aggressive and physical in their play. Our boys fought hard to match the opponents and had some positive results, receiving praises from the Chinese coaches and staff. The boys enjoyed the Physical Education lesson in Wushu con-ducted by their host Wuhan No. 1 Middle School as it was their first time practising martial arts. Out of the soccer pitch, the boys learnt a lot about the Chinese history, culture and development during their visits to the Olympic Park, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square as well as the Great Wall of China. The boys espe-cially liked the climb up the Great Wall although it was quite exhausting as the steps were very steep. Throughout the 7-day trip the boys bonded well with one another as well as with the soccer masters. They now strive to work even harder for next year’s competitive season.

The Mother Tongue Department Chinese Language Unit organised a learning journey to Shang-hai and Suzhou in Semester One. Led by Mdm Ho Shoo Mei (Head of Mother Tongue Depart-ment), Mr Wong Eik Kiat and Mrs Wee-Sim Keng Hoi, 34 Secondary 2 and 3 pupils embarked on the 7-day trip on 22 May. In Suzhou, Hong Kah lites first visited the Experimental Junior Middle School of Suzhou Hi-tech & New District where they had the chance to attend Chinese Language lessons with their local counterparts. Following, they toured Xiang Cheng Experiment School where they were im-pressed by the state-of-art facilities. The local pupils welcomed our pupils and teachers warmly and even organised a creative and interactive lesson where our pupils were guided by the local pupils to produce artifacts from recycled materials. There, our pupils received the most unique souvenirs ever – duck eggs! Besides local schools, our pupils visited places of attraction such as the Youth and Children’s Palace, Hanshan Temple, and Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

In Shanghai, the highlight of the trip was evidently visiting the Shanghai World Expo 2010 which was a grand gathering of the world’s diverse cultures. At the Expo, our pupils had the one-of-a-life-time opportunity to tour the pavilions of other countries like Korea, England, and Hong Kong where they experienced the culture and life the respective host country. They also visited the Singapore Pavilion where they assumed the roles of ambassadors instead of visitors. The privileged Hong Kah lites who went on the trip had probably one of the most unforgettable learning journeys in their lives.