CVSS The Futurist Webinar Series 2020 – Thriving Amidst Uncertainties

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the world by storm and caused much disruptions to many sectors of the economy both locally and globally. To help our North Stars deal with these changes and uncertainties, the school’s Character and Citizenship Education department collaborated with MOE’s Education and Career Guidance Unit to organise our school’s first ever ‘The Futurist Webinar Series’ for all Sec 4E5N and 4NA students, focussing on the theme Thriving Amidst Uncertainties’.

The webinar was held during the CCE period on 13 August 2020. It was attended by our students, teachers and our school’s ECG counsellor, Ms Wang Pheck Hoon as well as Mdm Choy Wai Yin, Director of MOE’s Guidance Branch at the Student Development Curriculum Division and Mrs Priscillia Chan, Project Director for ECG at MOE’s Guidance Branch. Professionals from Google Singapore were invited to speak at the webinar - Ms Shikin Hamid, APAC Program Manager and Ms Goh WiWi, Chief of Staff, Strategy and Operations, shared with the students their insights on the changes in the world of work, the emerging sectors in the economy, as well as how we could tap on opportunities amidst challenges and the skillsets that employers are looking for. The informal webinar ended with an engaging Q&A segment where a number of our students impressed the presenters with their confident articulation of well-thought questions about the world of work.  All the students have benefitted much from the session and this was aptly summed up in one of the students’ reflection – ‘_It is important to adapt to changes, improve when things go wrong and do not be afraid to try new things.’

As a follow up, form teachers encouraged our North Stars to reflect on their education and career plans as well as reinforcing the importance of staying positive and adaptable amidst the changes and uncertainties of the pandemic.

Top Awards in Drone Odyssey Challenge 2020

Obstacle Challenge – Best Flying Awards

Out of 12 entries from our school, 8 entries came in amongst the top ten that received the above awards with a cash prize of $200 each. Our winners are HO NHAT TIEN (3E4),   KOH TZE WANG (3E6), TAN EE HUNN KEANE (3E3), CHOW JUN AN (2E4), BONIFACIUS ENRICO ARYANTO (2N1), NASRY SHAH (1N2), CHEN QUAN ZHI (1E1) and NAH PHENG YONG DONAVAN (1E1).  Participants had to create an obstacle course using props based on their storyline, and then programme the drone to engage the course autonomously while fulfilling moves such as flying through hoops, flipping, measuring height using drone sensors and landing on checkpoints. Scores are given based on their creativity in the course design, flight performance, coding, success rate in special moves and overall video presentation.  

Coding Challenge – Distinction Awards

Our North Stars also dominated in this category with 21 out of 30 recipients of the above awards with a cash prize of $50 each.  Our winners are ADNAN SHAH, ELIZABETH ANG, CHEONG HONG WEI, CHOW JUN AN, XANDER CHEW, HO NHAT TIEN, IAN LIM,  JEROME CONRAD LEE, KASHFUL AZIM, KOH CHENG XI, KOH TZE WANG, SELINA LEE, HADRIEL LIM, MARCUS LOO, NATHANIEL LOW,  KEVAN MOH, MUHAMMAD ILYAS, RIFQI ‘AQIL, KEANE TAN, RAYSON TAN and TAY WAI SENG. Participants had to answer a set of 40 quiz questions on drones and block-programming correctly in the fastest time.

These achievements reflect the good foundations laid down in our school’s Aeronautics ALP curriculum and our school values of GR2I3T, without which our North Stars would not have achieved such success.

Gold and Multiple Awards in 2020 National Create Your Own Newspaper Competition

54 schools and 93 teams participated in the 2020 National Create Your Own Newspaper Competition jointly organised by the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning, SPH Chinese Student Paper Zbcomma and Xinmin Secondary School.

Despite facing stiff competition from SAP schools, both our Upper Secondary and Lower Secondary teams have done us proud by clinching multiple awards.

Our Upper Secondary team clinched the Gold Award (top award in the competition) and In-depth Report Award. The team interviewed Mr Chia Xun An for their news article, who shared about his struggles with depression and how he advocated for mental wellbeing. The team comprises Alfred Lim Wei Xiang (3E6), Ling Yi Jun (3E5), Neo Kai Qi (3E6), Loh Ruo Yi (3E3) and Lin Zihan (3E2), and were mentored by CL teacher Mdm Liew Feng Lin. Our Lower Secondary team, clinched the Second Position, In-depth Report Award and Most Popular Award. The team interviewed Mdm Chua San San Suzanna for their news feature, who has an autistic child and shared about how she faced challenges positively.  The team comprises Toh Jia Hui (2E4), Chow Jun An (2E4), Liu Hui Jun Cherie (2E4), Tang Lai Wan (2E4) and Berline Tan Zhuo En (2E4), and were mentored by CL teacher Mdm Tan Hui Min. Our students have also done well in “Our Battle with Covid-19, National Essay Writing Competition for Primary & Secondary Schools 2020” organised by the Singapore Chinese Teachers’ Association & Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning.   Thien Jia Xuan (1E4) came in among the Top 33 Awardee and heressay will be included in a book to be published by the association.

Overall Champions in Historical Scene Investigation Challenge 2020

In August, NLB and MOE CPDD Humanities branch jointly organised the Historical Scene Investigation (HSI) Challenge 2020 in which a team of 4 Lower Secondary students from each secondary school had to conduct independent research on their own on a selected topic based on a given theme, and to produce a poster based on their research and collected data over one and a half months.

Despite the challenges brought about by the circuit breaker measures with the teacher mentors for our team only managing to have a few face-to-face sessions with them in school, our students were able to work independently and exercise their creativity online to complete their project.

We are delighted that our North Stars came in 1st place as the Overall Champion, beating close to 80 participating schools including many top schools. 30 schools obtained Bronze, 20 schools obtained Silver and 10 schools obtained Gold awards with 3 schools in the top 3 and we were the champions among the top 3 schools!

Our team comprises Lydia Ye Yan Han, Muhammad Taha Firdaus Bin Askarali Ahammed Thagavi, Pham Yi Xin Chezanne and Fei Weijie Gavin (all from Sec 2E1).  The team will receive $400 worth of Kinokuniya vouchers and a champion trophy.

The poster produced by our students:

Best G!nnovation Team in NEA G!nnovation Challenge 2020

The G!nnovation Challenge is an annual competition organized by NEA for schools to come up with innovative solutions to solve local environmental challenges. This challenge aims to promote environmental ownership through the application of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, foster collaboration with peers to develop solutions and bring about positive impact to the community.

This year, two teams from our school took part in the challenge which revolved around the theme ‘Towards Zero Waste: The Game Changer’. Our students tackled environmental issues by coming up with game-changing solutions and incorporating elements of STEM in their project. To prepare for this challenge, our students created Apps by learning how to use the MIT App inventor software during the September school holidays and collaborated online to prepare their presentation and poster. Despite the many challenges faced by our students in learning the software, troubleshooting problems in app design and managing their time to meet project deadlines, one of the teams comprising Seck Jian Ling, Heng Ngee Siang, Gordon Tan and Kaelan Wong (all from 1E3) emerged as the Best G!nnovation Team. The team conceptualized and created an App to reduce plastic waste in the community and received $300 worth of Popular vouchers and a Goodie bag from the organisers.

Winner and 2nd Runner Up in 2020 Crea8 Sustainability Youth Eco-Reporter Competition

Our Environment Club students took part in the Crea8 Sustainability Youth Eco-Reporter Competition this year and emerged the Winner in the upper secondary category and 2nd Runner-Up in the lower secondary category among more than 120 participants from local and international schools!

The competition is an annual event organised by PacificLight  which aims to encourage young Singaporeans to step up to the challenge of tackling environmental issues by reducing their carbon footprint and leading a more sustainable lifestyle.  Students were tasked to put forth their thoughts through photo or video-journalism on the theme ‘Be The Change Catalyst’ in relation to the actions our nations and individuals can take to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). All winning entries will be displayed at the Sustainable Gallery Singapore at the Marina Barrage from 23 September 2020 to 12 October 2020.

Despite the circuit breaker measures that were introduced in the midst of the competition, our students displayed much determination to complete their projects.  Our winners in the upper secondary category were Zeus Ki’ern Ong (3E6), Charlotte Sonia Lim Qi Jin (3N2) and Atikah Wahyuni Binte Mohd Arifin (3N2).   They took on the role of photo-journalists and wrote an article titled ‘Preserving Ecosystems in Singapore’ based on a photo of Sengkang Riverside Park (see below). In the article, they highlighted the importance of preserving our existing ecosystems in tandem with urban and industrial development.

Our 2nd Runner-Up in the lower secondary category was Lim Jun Keat, Shawn (1E1).  He took on the role as a video-journalist and created a video titled ‘Water: Our Precious Resource’. In his video, he depicted Singapore’s journey in water sustainability and emphasised the importance of conserving water in Singapore.

2nd Place in SG75 Challenge 2020

The SG75: Our Singapore Competition is an annual competition organised by Tanjong Pagar – Tiong Bahru Citizens’ Consultative Committee that aims to capture the pioneering spirit of Singapore’s founding fathers by encouraging Singaporeans to (re)imagine the progressive possibilities open to Our Singapore as we celebrate SG75 in the near future.

The theme for this year’s competition was ‘Sustainability: Fighting Climate Crisis as a Community’, which invited participants to express their ideas, innovation and passion in the fight against the Climate Crisis through words, photographs and digital media.

Our school sent several teams from our 2nd batch of Geography students in three different categories:

1. Static Presentation – Written Essay
2. Static Presentation – Illustration, Graphic design & Photo submission
3. Dynamic Presentation – Animation and Video submission

Despite the challenges brought about by the circuit breaker measures, our students rose to the occasion, and have done well, with Loo Pei Fern, Marcus from 3E2, clinching 2nd place out of 26 entries for the Dynamic Presentation Category (animation & video).

His entry, entitled ‘Why we need to take action now’, is an informative animation that analyses Singapore’s carbon emissions and explains why and how Singaporeans can act to reduce our impacts on the environment. The video may be viewed here (https://tinyurl.com/SG75cvss).

Marcus’s attainment is noteworthy because he competed in an open category, potentially pitting himself against other adult professionals with many more years of experience. He received $300 worth of Popular bookstore and Fairprice vouchers from the organisers.

National Day celebrations at St Andrew Nursing Home 2020

To add joy to the National Day Celebrations for the St. Andrew Nursing Home (Buangkok), our North Stars participated in the ‘PAYM Love Red’ event organised by the Sengkang Central Youth Network (SKCYN). To support this worthy cause, members from the CVSS School Choir performed and recorded National Day songs in a ‘Video Performance’ contest. Choir members, Cheryl Lian Wan Lyn (3E4) and Chloe Tan Xin Kai (3E3) performed the classic, “We Will Get There” by local singer, Stefanie Sun. The girls were delighted when their entry was selected as one of the top 3 performances in the Individual/Duet category. Both North Stars expressed that participating in the contest allowed them to step out of their comfort zone and try something new. They were both grateful for the opportunity and experienced gain from this competition. In addition, members from our Community Youth Leaders Club and Art students participated in the ‘Postcard Design’ contest as part of the event. Our North Stars demonstrated their artistic talents and compassion by producing artworks along with heartfelt messages for the residents and staff of the home. Our North Stars, Anne Kirsten Trinidad Diano (2E5) and Muhammad Isa Bin Zurairi (3E1) attained 6th-10th placing for their individual designs. Both students were happy to be able to bring cheers and joy to the residents and staff through their artworks. The series of activities culminated in the finale on the 9th of August in which video performances by our North Stars were screened to the residents of the home. Goodies bags along with postcards designed by the students were also distributed to boost the residents’ morale and bring warmth to them during the pandemic. All in all, our North Stars were pleased and thankful for being a part of this meaningful project.

Teachers’ Day Celebrations 2020: HBL - Heroes Behind Learners

Our school celebrated Teachers’ Day on 3 September this year with the theme ‘Heroes Behind Learners’ – a play on the acronym HBL for Home-Based Learning. The event was organised in tandem with the national movement to acknowledge teachers for their roles in fighting COVID-19. Hence, the celebrations focused on recognising and celebrating the tireless efforts of our teachers to ensure their students continued learning, felt safe and received mental and emotional support in this difficult year.

With safe management measures in place, the celebrations was brought from the traditional hall concert to the classroom and teachers joined their form classes to enjoy the programme from their respective classrooms through google meet. Key personnel also joined the classes they teach. The celebrations started with an opening address by our Vice-Principal, Ms Jacelyn Kee on behalf of our school leaders and the Teachers Day message from our Minister for Education, Mr Lawrence Wong.  The address and message conveyed thanks accorded to the teachers for overcoming adversity and ensuring our learners continued to learn.

This was followed by a virtual concert which began on a cheerful and thankful note with videos of student performances, interspersed with dedications from MOE HQ, parents and students, and several interactive elements like a Kahoot Game where students were tested on the knowledge of their teachers’ childhood, interests and family. The Student Councillors also wrote, performed and edited a video skit which reflected the efforts and challenges faced by our CVSS teachers during the Circuit breaker.

The councilors also creatively utilized various online platforms to prepare dedications and cards for the teachers in place of the traditional handwritten notes. As the student population sent in their dedications through google forms, the councilors collated, organized and placed them on digital canvases with scrapbooking apps like Canva and Graphionica before printing them. Class leaders also led their classes to organize a mini live dedication to their FTs in their classrooms when they gave out the cards. The day ended on a high and meaningful note and will be remembered as a unique and unusual Teachers Day celebrations in the history of the school.