EAST ZONE A*STAR SCIENCE FAIR AND 18TH ELEMENTZ SCIENCE RESEARCH COMPETITION 2019

The East Zone A*Star Science Fair is an annual event organised by Victoria Junior College to give secondary school students the experience of conducting an investigative Science project and exhibit and share their findings with others.

Participants had to plan an investigation and perform experiments to verify their hypotheses. They then had to produce a poster and present their projects to a panel of judges.  73 teams took part in the fair this year across three categories. Our school sent in one team of Sec 3 students and 2 teams of Sec 2 students with three projects entitled “Biodegradable Oil Absorbents”, “Investigating the Anti-microbial Properties of Banana Peels against Oral Bacteria” and “Investigation into the Suitability of Using Food Waste to Build a Microbial Fuel Cell” respectively.  The project on “Biodegradable Oil Absorbents” by our Sec 3 team clinched a Silver Award!

The Elementz Science Research Competition is an annual event organised by Anderson Secondary School that provides a platform for students from primary and secondary schools (lower secondary levels) who have conducted scientific research to showcase their findings.  Participants had to conceptualize an investigative-type project based on the theme “Changing the World, One Idea at a Time”.  They then had to perform experiments and produce a poster for submission, and finally give a presentation on their projects to a panel of three judges.  94 teams participated in the event this year. Our school sent two teams of Sec 2 students with the projects titled “From Waste to Paste” and “Investigation into the Suitability of Using Food Waste to Build a Microbial Fuel Cell”.  One of the teams clinched a Gold award!

DRONE ODYSSEY CHALLENGE 2019

Our Aeronautics Club students took part in the Drone Odyssey Challenge 2019 competition organised by the Singapore Science Centre from 9 – 12 July 2019. This is an annual, nation-wide competition that attracts the participation of many schools such as Catholic High School, Tanjong Katong Girls’ School, Victoria School and CHIJ (Toa Payoh) Secondary School. 

Our school sent a total of 10 teams with 3 members each - 5 teams for Category B1 Parrot Drone Challenge and 5 teams for Category B2 Tello Drone Challenge.   Category B1 contestants had to make use of a programming app, Tynker to code and maneuver their Parrot drones around 5 checkpoints and take photos of them in the quickest time possible. Category B2 contestants had to make use of another programming app, Tello Edu to code and maneuver their Tello drones in search of ‘monsters’ within a flying area using the drone’s depth sensor function. All contestants also had to prepare a presentation to showcase their competition learning experience and aeronautics knowledge. Two of our teams achieved Merit Awards in the presentation segment of the competition. Team 4, comprising Damian Soon (3E1), Keane Tan (2E1) and Killian Sen (1N3), won the Category B1 Best Learning Journey Merit Award. Team 10 comprising Raven Ho (3E3), Foo Siao Rou (3E3) and Chen Xuanyin (3E1), won the Category B2 Best Presentation Merit Award. Each of the 2 teams took home a prize of $300 Cash, Merit Award Medals and sponsored products.

Republic Polytechnic (RP) Renesas Grand Prix Competition 2019

The RP Renesas Grand Prix Competition 2019 is an event organised by Republic Polytechnic, supported by Renesas Electronics (Singapore) Pte Ltd for secondary school and tertiary institution to develop their passion for electronics. The competition was held on 10-13 September at Republic Polytechnic. Despite being their first attempt and inexperience, our students demonstrated resilience, strong analytical skills and teamwork over 4 days andclinched second placing in this competition! In this competition, students were required to programme a microcontroller racing car to race on an
F1-style racing track with many sharp turns, twisty sections and ramps. To complete the race course in the fastest time possible, the car has to decelerate to negotiate the bends and turns and accelerate quickly thereafter.

To prepare for the competition, our students attended a 3-day training workshop at Republic Polytechnic to tune their cars and learn C-programming. They also spent several afternoons to test and fine-tune their racing cars at the track. Throughout the entire process, our students demonstrated critical and inventive thinking. They also showed great resilience and strong teamwork as they weathered repeated failures of unsuccessful test runs and collaborated to devise solutions. All of these indeed exemplify the indomitable North Star spirit expected of all our students!

NATIONAL SCHOOLS LITERATURE FESTIVAL 2019

On 20 July, a team of North Stars did the school proud at the 2019 National Schools Literature Festival (NSLF) by clinching 1st place in the Book Trailer segment, for the second year running.  Organised annually by a committee of Literature teachers with support from NIE, CPDD and the National Arts Council, the NSLF provides a platform to enthuse and inspire students in the learning of Literature. 112 schools participated in the festival, competing in a range of activities demonstrating understanding and appreciation of literary texts including novels, poems and drama texts. CVSS took part in 3 segments this year: Book Trailer, Choral Speaking & Flash Fiction.

The Book Trailer segment requires teams to interpret and craft a trailer for a chosen text, giving enough information about the plot, main characters and its themes such that the audience would be enticed to read the book after the performance. Our Book Trailer team comprised the following Sec 2 students:
Choo Xing Tong Mathilda (2E1), Jessica Tan, Sneha Menon, Syeda Aliza Nadir, Yeow Xin Hui Angeline, Lam Kit Ian, Jaylen, Lutfil Hadi bin Ridzuan Suhaimi (all from 2E2), Ng Yong Cheng Kenrich, Soh En Xin Amantha (both from 2E4) and Tong Kar Yue Abigail (2E5). The Choral Speaking segment involves an ensemble using various voice combinations and contrasts to bring out the meaning and tonal beauty of a passage of poetry or prose. Our Sec 1 team representatives were: Chan Ai Xuan Micialla, Chin Li On, Fei Weijie, Gavin, Sania Chaurasia (all from 1E1), Tang Ni, Mohamad Aqil Bin Mohamad Hairil (both from 1E4), Anne Kirsten Trinidad Diano, Severo Elysia Denise Pampola, Sng Ming Wei and Zavier Ng Yu Ze (all from 1E5).

The Flash Fiction segment requires each entry of fiction to be 100 words long, lively, entertaining and one which could be read on the go.  Possible genres include fantasy, science fiction, dystopian literature and horror. For the first time, our school submitted 2 entries from Alfred Lim Wei Xiang (2E4) and Rabia Praveen D/O Syed Mawla (3E2).

Although our teams for the choral speaking and flash fiction segments did not win any prizes, their teachers are proud of the progress they had attained over a few months of intense training. Their performance and entries will be showcased to their peers via the EL Department’s Language and Literary Appreciation programme.All our student representatives certainly emerged from the experience feeling enriched, inspired and heartened that their months of training had borne fruit. Throughout the event, they also displayed a great amount of resilience, teamwork and sportsmanship. Their exemplary attitude and values indeed exemplify our North Star spirit.

CHINESE CREATIVE WRITING WITH PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION AND NATIONAL CHINESE TEXT RECITAL COMPETITION

The annual Chinese Creative Writing with Photography Competition （新蕾爱拍客） organised by Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan and LianHe ZaoBao (Zbcomma) aims to promote Chinese literary writing among the young generation, encourage young, aspiring writers and raise the standard of Chinese Language in Singapore. In this competition, students are required to submit a photograph together with a write-up based on the theme “Multiracial Friendship”.  Our school participated in the competition for the first time this year. Our North Stars, Ho Jian Wei, Raven (3E3) and Edward Ang Wei Siu (4E3) have done us proud by clinching the second, and third/consolation prizes respectively in the upper secondary category. They attended the prize presentation ceremony held at Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan and the event was graced by Ms Sun Xueling, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of National Development. The 2nd National Chinese Text Recital Competition（第二届全国课文朗诵比赛） organised by CPCLL and supported by Anderson Primary School and the Singapore Chinese Teachers Literary Recital Society, aims to raise students’ reading proficiency, ignite students’ love for the Chinese Language, and deepen their understanding of the Chinese texts found in their textbooks.  More than 900 students from about 110 schools took part in the competition this year, in which they are required to select a text from the textbook and narrate it. Our team of 3 students comprising Pham Yi Xin, Chezanne (1E1), Song Yu (1E3) and Shen Xinyi (1E5) chose to narrate the text “领路人” which talks about a blind boy going to school daily, assisted by a mute boy.They have done the school proud by clinching a Bronze Award!

Champions in N3 Cluster Inter-Schools Malay Scrabble Competition 2019

Our North Stars took part in the annual N3 Cluster Inter-Schools Malay Scrabble Competition organised by Pei Hwa Secondary School on 19 September 2019 and did our school proud by coming in 1st and 3rd in the Upper and Lower Secondary Categories (Team) respectively.  Our Upper Secondary team was helmed by Muhammad Qayyum (3N1), Ilham Yusuf (3N2), Nur Insyirah (3E2) and Nur’Ain Ayuni (3E2) while our Lower Secondary team was represented by Musheera (2E1), Nurul ‘Arifah (2E1), Nur Syakirah (2E2) and Zikry Mirza (2N2).  In addition, they also did well in the Individual Categories.  Zikry Mirza Bin Soherdy (2N2) won 2nd Placing in the Lower Secondary Category while Nur’Ain Ayuni Binte Sulaiman and Nur Insyirah Binte Mohammed Suhairin (both from 3E2) came in 1st and 2nd respectively in the Upper Secondary Category. As part of the Malay Language Unit’s efforts in making Malay Language learning attractive, fun and purposeful, teachers organised regular ‘Games’ Days’ where students engaged in playing games such as the Malay Scrabble. In this adaptation of the classic board game, students build as many words as they can from a pile of tiles within the allocated time. In addition to having a reasonable knowledge of vocabulary, students also honed their confidence, calmness and the ability to strategize their game-play by purposeful interceptions and quick thinking. The students’ competitive spirit were further piqued when the best students were selected to represent their classes at the inter-class Malay Scrabble competition where the winners were chosen to represent the school at the above inter-schools competition.  Indeed, as fun as it was, the game was challenging and we faced stiff competition from our counterparts in the cluster.

The ML Unit hopes that our students’ joy of learning the language through these games and activities was ignited, as there is much they can gain from learning the Malay language. Just as the renowned psycholinguist Frank Smith would say, “One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.”

2019 National Stamp Collecting Competition and Four-Nation (ASEAN) Stamp Contest

In August, 12 of our North Stars took part in the 2019 National Stamp Collecting Competition and the Draw my Stamp Story Competition, organised by the Singapore Philatelic Museum and brought home one Silver Award and one Gold Award with Special Prize, among a total of 44 teams and 176 students.  Our exhibit that won the Gold Award with Special Prize has also been selected to represent Singapore at next year’s NZ2020 Stamp Exhibition in Auckland, New Zealand. In addition, in April, our 2018 team that won a Gold Award with Special Prize last year took part in the ASEAN Four-Nation Stamp Exhibition held in Malaysia, and won a Bronze Award for their entry entitled 12 Things You May Not Know about Queen Elizabeth II.  The entry was shortlisted for SINGPEX2019 which was held from 31 Jul – 4 Aug, under the competitive exhibit category.

Our school has been doing very well in the competition since 2016 and have won 6 Gold Awards with Special Prize since 2010, the year we joined the competition. Below are the past two year’s results:

2018 National Stamp Collecting Competition Achievements:

• Gold Award with Special Prize for the entry entitled 12 Things You May Not Know About Queen Elizabeth II  – Lo Xinyan Emelda (1T1), Samantha Seak Hui Lin (1T1), Ng Wern Ting Clarisse (1E5), and Ooi Le You (1E5).  This entry also represented Singapore and won a Bronze Award under Youth Category in the FourNation Stamp Exhibition held in Malaysia.
• Silver Award for the entry entitled The Land of Smiles - Thailand – Brian Davidson Fok Zhendao(2E4), Nur Adlina Binte Adam (2E4), Tee Hong Xun (2E4), and Teo Wen Xuan Nicole (2E4)

2017 National Stamp Collecting Competition Achievements:

• Gold Award with Special Prize for the entry entitled Father of Modern China - Dr Sun Yat Sen  – Johan Fadli B Jailani (3E5), Aqil B Kusaini (3E5), Claudia Heng (3E5), and Wang Yiling (3E5).  This entry also represented Singapore and won a Bronze Award under Youth Category in the FourNation Stamp Exhibition in Thailand.
• Silver Award with Special Prize for the entry entitled The Quest for Glory – Alex Low Hao Han (3E5), Aw Man Ling Joachim (3E5), Ghumaysa Asif (3E4), and Ng Wai Meng (3E5)
• Bronze Award for the entry entitled Guardians of Our Singapore Galaxy - Total Defence – Ng Xin Xiu (3N2), Lau De-En, Andrew (3N2), Hidayah Bte Roslan (3N2), and Gan Miao Zhen (3N2)

The National Stamp Collecting Competition aims to promote the use of postage stamps and philatelic materials to learn more about Singapore and the world.  In this competition, students worked in groups of 4 to submit philatelic exhibits using stamp products and narratives based on a theme of their choice such as nature, culture, technology etc.  Our students have shown resilience as they persevered in researching on information over many months and poring through the information on transport system, food of other countries and impact of music in life.  In the process, they have developed learning and thinking skills such as language development, writing, research, organisation and creativity.

SYNER-G! 2019

Our lower secondary students in the Environment Club participated in the G!nnovation Challenge, a competition where schools in the North East district came up with innovative solutions to tackle environmental issues.  It is part of ‘SYNER-G! 2019’, an inaugural event jointly organised by North East CDC and NEA on 21 Sep 2019 at Pasir Ris Sports Centre. The event aims to create environmental awareness among the young generation and rally the young to be more mindful of our precious resources. There was also a carnival featuring schools environmental projects, interactive game booths and hands-on upcycling workshops.

This year, based on the theme of Zero Waste, students were tasked to tackle one of four waste challenges (E-waste, Packaging Waste, Food Waste and Recycle Right).  In preparation for the challenge, our students used the design thinking framework to define a waste problem that they wanted to tackle. They then thought of innovative solutions for the problem and implemented their solutions in school. They also conducted campaigns during recess and through Instagram and Facebook to advocate environmental messages to their peers. The success of the campaigns was measured through an online survey and our students presented their findings at the Syner-g! event.

One of our teams, Plasti-Case which did a project on upcycling plastic waste to make a pouch received good response for their project and representatives from ActiveSG had expressed interest to collaborate with the team to see how to bring their idea forward.  ActiveSG, Corporate Investment Partnerships, oversees ActiveWallet, ActiveSG Merchandise & lifestyle offerings in Sports Centres. They also encourage and advocate environmental sustainability.