Inaugural CVSS Alumni Homecoming Day – Reunite!

The CVSS Alumni EXCO organised the school’s very first CVSS Alumni Homecoming Day – Reunite! in the school hall on 1 July 2017. The Homecoming received strong support with over 200 alumni attending the event. It was a heart-warming affair as alumni from all 16 batches reunited at the place where memories were created and friendships were forged. They also managed to catch up with teachers who have taught them over the years.

The event started off with Mr Chia, our Principal, welcoming our alumni to their alma mater. Thereafter, Mr Lim Zi Rong, advisor to the CVSS Alumni EXCO, shared what the alumni stands for and how the alumni members can get involved. The highlight of the event was the Captain’s Ball Friendly Match, which attracted a total of 11 teams, with the oldest on the court from the class of 2004!  After many intense and exciting matches, the champions went to Darren Ngoh, Choo Zhi Xuan, Ryan Lim, Lim Xuan Cheng, Loh Yang Xian and Glenn Tan from the class of 2016!

The atmosphere was further liven up by our talented alumni performers during the Live Performance segment. Jane Chua (Class of 2011), one of our Alumni EXCO members, also conducted a Basic Watercolour Painting Workshop for our alumni where they tried their hands at basic floral painting and pen calligraphy!

The Alumni EXCO appreciates the strong support from the school, as well as all alumni members, helpers and performers for putting the event together, and looks forward to an annual homecoming in the years to come!

STAR Programme 2017

All our students went through level-wide activities as part of our STAR Programme during the last 3 days of Term 1.  The STAR Programme seeks to bring out the star in our students in alignment with our school motto, “Realising the Star Within”.

Sec 1: Seek Out Your Strengths

The Sec 1 Star Programme was designed to enable our North Stars to discover and develop their strengths and talents, as well as communication skills through various engaging workshops, hands-on activities and games.  Students also learnt good social skills, including giving compliments, making positive self-statements and how they can disagree with others in an appropriate manner.  They were therefore able to communicate more effectively and build stronger relationships with one another. 

The programme culminated on the third day when our North Stars were expected to apply all that they had learnt in an Island Conquest. In this structured experience, they had to collaborate in their teams by leveraging on one another’s talents to conquer the island!  It was evident that they had great fun discovering their own strengths, affirming their friends’, and bonding with their classmates in the three days.

Sec 2: Take Responsibility

To raise the awareness of our North Stars of the responsibility they have in contributing to a green environment, the school arranged for talks and workshops conducted by NEA and Sustainable Living Lab, as part of the Green Compass Programme (GCP).  Students tried their hands at upcycling by creating new artefacts from used items such as used papers, old clothes and plastic bottles.  To better appreciate the natural environment, students also travelled to Sengkang Floating Wetland for their Science Outdoor Learning Experience (SOLE), where they learnt about the Singapore Water Story and the Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Water Trail. They investigated the water quality and understood the importance of maintaining good water quality on the biodiversity in Sengkang Floating Wetland.

North Stars also went on National Education Learning Journeys to ‘Reflections at Bukit Chandu’, Kranji War Memorial and the newly re-opened ‘Surviving the Japanese Occupation: War and it’s Legacies’, where they learnt about the Japanese Occupation in Singapore during World War II. One of the highlights was participating in a ceremony to honour the men and women from the Commonwealth who died in the line of duty during World War II. That solemn moment certainly got our North Stars reflecting upon their roles as responsible citizens of Singapore!

Sec 3: Adopt an Enterprising Spirit

Our Sec 3 North Stars embarked on a local adventure camp at the Boys Brigade/Girls Brigade Sembawang Campsite. Students were provided with authentic opportunities to step out of their comfort zone and develop resilience in overcoming challenges. The various individual challenges included Zipline, Abseiling, and the Challenge Rope Course. These high elements challenged the students to overcome their fears with the support and encouragement from peers and teachers.   

Another important component of the camp which promoted teamwork and collaboration is the team-based activities, such as Hike ‘N Hunt, Problem Solving, Tent Pitching and Field Cooking. Through these activities and social interactions, our North Stars rediscovered themselves and their friends in the new environment and through these authentic experiences.  

Despite lacking creature comfort, the North Star spirit remained high throughout the three days; It climaxed on the second night when everyone gathered around the campfire to put up their creative class performances. The students certainly had a memorable and enriching camp, where many stepped out of their comfort zone to embrace new experiences and challenges!

Sec 4 & 5: Ready For The World

This is a programme specially designed for the graduating students with the aim of equipping them with the necessary knowledge, life-skills and attitude to be ready for the world after graduation. 

Day 1 was focused on helping students discover who they are. The North Stars went through workshops to develop their self-awareness, self-esteem and also their personal ‘brand’.  They also had a lively interaction with an alumnus of CVSS, Mr Darren Lee, who shared vivid analogies such as pencils, sharpeners and canvas to inspire his juniors. 

Day 2 provided our North Stars with opportunities to explore options for post-secondary education and career pathways.  This was first done through an interview with alumni who are professionals from different sectors, such as banking and aerospace.  Whilst the Normal Technical course students embarked on a learning journey to Lifelong Learning Institute to explore career choices, the remaining students attended talks on courses that they were interested in, conducted by invited speakers from various post-secondary educational institutions. 

On the final Day 3, the North Stars were led through an exciting structured experience, called “Modern Ninja Warriors”, to strengthen the ‘Entrepreneurial Dare’ in them.  As the scores of the teams were projected “live”, they tried their best to improve their scores continually by changing their mind-sets and leveraging on collaboration and teamwork.

Singapore Amazing Flying Machines Competition 2017

Our North Stars took part in the annual Singapore Amazing Flying Machines Competition (SAFMC) organised by DSO National Laboratories and Singapore Science Centre in March 2017.  The competition aims to promote aero-modelling amongst students through the design and construction of flying machines. Despite facing stiff competition from a record 423 participating teams, our North Stars have done us proud by clinching

1. The Precision Award in Category A (Open) - Paper Planes; 
2. The Theory of Flight Award, First Runners Up in Category B - Unpowered Gliders.

In the Paper Planes category, our team from 3N1 managed to design, fold and fly their paper plane accurately through the most number of hoops (5) in two attempts to clinch the Precision Award. In the Unpowered Gliders category, our teams competed against more than 130 teams from NUS High, Dunman High, Hwa Chong Institution, River Valley High etc. Our team from 2E4 did extremely well in their presentation, demonstrating a sound understanding and appropriate applications of aerodynamic design principles in the construction of their glider, to clinch the Theory of Flight Award, First Runners Up.

L: Precision Award, Cat A (Open) – Paper Planes:  Muhamad Mahadi and Ariffin Faharis from 3N1__
R: Theory of Flight Award 1st Runners Up in Cat B – Unpowered Gliders:  Lim Yu Sheng, Yu Yong Yi, Valerie Lee and Chan Wan Ian

During the competition, each team was required to give a presentation on their flying machines and explain how they applied flight theories in their design. In the Flight Challenge phase, participating teams competed in various categories to fulfil specific challenges such as precision, furthest flight distance, longest time aloft and obstacles clearing etc. Our students demonstrated strong critical thinking and communication skills through constructing and presenting their designs, and great teamwork and composure as they motivated and supported each other to perform to the best of their abilities.

Mahadi and Ariffin (3N1): “The competition was an eye-opening experience for us. Through research and numerous trials, we managed to come up with a paper plane that can consistently fly far and straight. We are so happy that our resilience and hard work have paid off.”

Yu Sheng and Valerie (2E4): “From zero knowledge to being able to explain flight principles in front of the judges, our team has come a long way within a short period of time, thanks to the school’s Aeronautics Applied Learning Programme and the guidance of the teachers. The competition is not just about making gliders, it is also about teamwork, striving for excellence and applying our learning to explain and improve real life situations.” L to R:
_Wan Ian, Valerie and others working hard on their gliders and presentation 
Muhd Mahadi with his winning throw that helped his team clinch the Precision Award for Paper Planes
Teams busy with their preparations under the supervision of ALP teachers

Video link 1 (Muhd Mahadi’s winning throw for Precision Award):  https://youtu.be/dG6lqOPi4jA

_Video link 2 (Muhd Mahadi and Ariffin’s attempt for the Range Award):   https://youtu.be/L8CsFXcWKY4

Successes in ML Scrabble Competitions and Berita Harian National Journalism Camp 2017

“Our culture, our traditions, our language are the foundations upon which we build our identity” Anonymous.

Our Malay Language Unit believes that acquiring a strong foundation in the language is quintessential in building our identity as a global citizen. To achieve this, we adopt “Joy of Learning” as a strategy to ensure students are consistently engaged and challenged. In the excitement, students are encouraged to keep trying despite the difficulties or failures.

One of the activities we have identified is acquiring and strengthening vocabulary learning through games such as Sahibba, the ML equivalent to Scrabble. Our students took part in the annual North Zone ML Scrabble Challenge organised by Bishan Park Secondary and supported by the ML Promotion Committee, on 25th February.  Our team emerged 4th and qualified for the Nationals Round in May where the students will meet contenders from different zones and compete for the Hawazi Daipi Challenge.

North Zone ML Scrabble Challenge 2017 – 4th Placing
_L-R: Fatin Insyirah, Fatin Humaira, Daniel, Johan)

Our students also took part in the North 3 Cluster Scrabble Competition held at Pei Hwa Secondary School on 22nd March.  For the second year running, our school came in Champions for both the Lower and Upper Secondary despite facing stiff competition.   In addition, for the first time, our students (Nadhirah Bte Tawfiq from 2E1 and Fatin Humaira Bte Mohd Ashik from 3E2) also attained 1st placing in the Individual Awards for both the lower and upper secondary levels

_N3 Cluster Scrabble Competition – _Lower Sec and Upper Sec Teams – Champions__

N3 Cluster Competition - Individual Champions(L-R: Nadhirah and Fatin Humaira)__

Through participating in Sahibba competition, the ML equivalent to Scrabble, we hope that students’ knowledge in the language are not limited to what they learn from the textbooks alone and that we are able to open their world to the beauty of the Malay Language. 

Aside from Scrabble competitions, the ML unit ventured into new territories this year. Together with the Infocomm (Videography) Club, our team of 3 Normal (Academic) students achieved 2nd place in the National Journalism Camp 2017 organized by Berita Harian during the March Holidays, among more than 100 students from various schools vying for the top awards.

National Journalism Camp 2017 - 2nd place. (L-R: Aqif, Qistina and Irsyad) Our students in Berita Harian 3rd April 2017 Edition