CCPS ENewsS e m e s t e r � 1 � V o l u m e � 3

Greetings from CCPSCCPS Newsletter 2014

2014 is a significant point in our history as CCPS prepares and awaits with excitement our return to our dearly missed school site at Sallim Road which has been undergoing upgrading works since Jan 2013.

2014 is also significant as our school takes stock and re-visits our school vision, mission and values, as part of our school’s journey to chart our future plans. In reviewing internal and external data, we have re-affirmed our emphasis and belief in the importance of providing a student-centric, values-driven education to prepare our pupils to be ready for the future. From the scan of our environment, we recognise the need for our pupils to be self-directed learners, effective problem-solvers and leaders who have a heart for others. These qualities are embodied in CCPS Student Outcomes ‘Compassionate Leader’ and ‘Passionate Learner’ and our school vision which is ‘A community of compassionate leaders and passionate learners, in the service of God, country and family’. To that end, character development and the development of thinking skills remain key components of the CCPS educational experience. Our Distinctive Programme ‘Service Innovation through Design Thinking’ also provides our pupils with the opportunities to learn empathy, observation and problem solving skills. Through yearly Values-in-Action projects carried out at family, school and community levels, our pupils apply those skills and through reflection learn more about themselves and the community around them.

As we move on in this second semester, we seek your partnership in working together with us in supporting your child in her educational experience.

God bless

Ms Grace TanPrincipal

This year is the Year of the Horse. Our school had an exhilarating Chinese New Year Celebration Concert held on 30 Jan 2014. It was a truly joyous celebration as the Canossian Sister graced the occasion with their presence.

More than ten pairs of Canossian siblings wearing Chinese traditional costumes had a fashion parade on stage and a wide range of performances was staged, including group singing and dance performances performed put up by our talented pupils. The sharing of the origin of “Nian” and the traditions of Chinese New Year was informative and captured pupils’ attention. The teachers had a sing-a-long session with the pupils and the latter were invited to play games on stage during the concert. The finale of the concert was the Wushu and Lion Dance performances put up by Canossian School pupils. It was certainly an unforgettable Lunar New Year celebration for everyone.

1月30日正好是年除夕，我校特别邀请动物园的熊猫“嘉嘉”来与小朋友一同庆祝新年，两位老师还扮演大头娃娃一边唱歌，一边跳舞,增添了许多欢乐的气氛。CSH的舞狮团与武术表演更是把庆祝会推上高潮，给大家留下美好的回忆。

Chinese New Year Celebration

Total Defence Day 2014

Total Defence Day is commemorated on 15 February annually to remind us that we must defend Singapore

ourselves. This year’s theme is “30 Years of Total Defence: Because You Played A Part”.

Canossa Convent Primary School commemorated Total Defence Day by highlighting and sharing the five

aspects of Total Defence, which represent the key pillars of society and how all Singaporeans can get

involved in defending our country.

Through activities such as colouring (P1-2), writing of appreciation notes (P3-4) and brainstorming of ideas of improving the community (P5-6), pupils learnt how they could contribute to the defence of Singapore in

practical ways.

The commemoration culminated in the skit “My Ah Mah” where a simple yet powerful message of the

importance of staying vigilant in order to be prepared to defend Singapore against external threats was

shared with the school.

Mother Tongue Language FortnightThe Mother Tongue Department organised the Mother Tongue Fortnight Language activities on the 4 February 2014. The objective of having these activities was to provide experiences for pupils to learn and appreciate the Mother Tongue Languages (MTL) and cultures through authentic usage and exposure to MTL.

During the MTL Fortnight, a wide range of MTL activities was conducted to enable pupils to learn and use MTL in novel and exciting ways. The activities included learning Malay Dance, clay modelling, Chinese painting and Kolam design, just to name a few.

P4 Mother Tongue Camp

In addition to the MTL Fortnight, a camp was conducted for the Primary 4 pupils on 13 March 2014. The aim of this camp was to inculcate cultural

knowledge as well as to help pupils to learn to appreciate their ethnic cultures.

The pupils played two traditional games, Tiger & the Goats and

Thaayam (the traditional chess). They also had a go at painting oil lamps. Pupils shared that they acquired

valuable knowledge and skills from the activities they participated in.

120th Anniversary Of The Canossians In Singapore

On 28 February 2014, our school celebrated Canossian Saints’ Day, in honour of St. Magdalene and St. Bakhita. This

year also marks the 120th Anniversary of the Canossians in Singapore. As part of the celebration in commemoration of

our foundress’ spirit of serving the poor, our primary 6 students assisted Willing Hearts Kitchen to prepare food to

be served to needy families.

Primary 1 to 5 students also learnt about values on that day. Stories about the work of our foundress were shared with the

pupils. Some primary 6 pupils served as facilitators in the P1-5 classes as they conducted activities to highlight the

importance of our school values: commitment, compassion and cheerfulness.

“I think helping out in this event is very meaningful as it takes: Commitment to do your best in our role; Compassion

to help in packing the goody bags for the residents and mingling with them; Cheerfulness to smile and make

everyone’s day at the lunch! This event made me carry out all the 3Cs of our school’s value! This event also taught me that a smile can make someone’s day!” - Lee Jia Yue, 6 Charity

From 21 to 22 March 2014, the school conducted the Tier 2 Leadership workshop & Tier 3 Leadership training for student leaders.

The Tier 2 leadership workshop was organised for our selected P3 & 4 leaders. They comprised junior prefects and CCA leaders. Pupils learnt about peer leadership and conflict management skills. Team-building activities also helped to foster collaboration among the pupils, driving home the point on the importance of teamwork.

The Tier 3 leadership training was organised for the senior prefects and CCA leaders. Advanced leadership skills in leading a group, public speaking, effective communication and event management skills were taught during the training. They played team-building games at Changi Airport where they learnt to apply what they had learnt prior to the games. It was indeed an enjoyable and enriching camp for them.

Tier 2 & Tier 3 Student Leaders’ Camp 2014

P5 Tamil Languange (TL) Annual Camp

The P5 TL camp was held at UPTLC on 1 March 2014, from 8am to 1pm.

More than 20 primary schools participated in this camp where the pupils learnt about the importance of Tamil language to the Indian community and the application of the language in different aspects of one’s daily life.

During the camp, the pupils participated in activities such as the learning of traditional martial arts like the Kabadi and Uriyadithal, Herbal Garden Tour and playing of traditional games. There was also a demonstration of the Indian Dance.

The theme for this year’s International Friendship Day is “Stories we share”. Pupils participated in different activities through which they got to show their appreciation of friends from different nationalities and nurture their willingness to embrace others from diverse backgrounds.

The P1 and P2 pupils put together friendship wreaths in their groups. They wrote down the qualities they wanted to look for in a good friend on cut-outs in the shape of a palm. The cut-outs were then joined to form friendship wreaths to

International Friendship Day on 2 April 2014

For the P3 and P4 pupils, they shared short stories on how their friends had helped them.

Through these stories, pupils learned that despite cultural differences, they could still

depend on one another for help and friendship goes beyond our differences.

The P5 and P6 pupils learnt how to make friendship bands. They learnt that the different

colours of the threads used for the friendship bands represent the different nationalities,

backgrounds and cultures of their friends. They served as reminders for them that the stories

they shared, of different cultures and countries in the region, were evident of them standing united

as friends and being there for one another.

Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation All our performing arts groups, namely, Band, Choir, Contemporary Dance and Indian Dance, participated in the bi-annual Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation 2014 in April this year. In their commitment to strive for excellence, they had put in hours of hard work as they prepared, starting as early as July last year, for the presentation.

Through their hard work and preserverance, all the groups were awarded the Certificate of Accomplishment. They have modelled for us what one can achieve through one’s passion and commitment. Well done and congratulations!

Arts Exposure Day

Our Primary Two pupils had their Arts Exposure Day (AED) on the 22 April 2014. The aim of AED was to allow pupils to experience the four performing arts CCAs in the school. Pupils had fun experiencing the four performing arts CCAs, namely Choir, Brass Band, Indian and Contemporary Dance.

Pupils learnt dance movements, sang songs and had a go at playing musical instruments under the guidance of our experienced instructors.

‘I had fun and learnt a lot from Arts Exposure Day’ – Janette from Primary Two Faith

Pupils mimicked dance movements, sang songs

and tried playing instruments under the guidance of our experienced instructors.

The Primary 3 pupils embarked on a learning journey to Kampong Glam this year. The pupils learnt to appreciate the rich Malay heritage through this authentic learning session as they visited the Bussorah Street, Baghdad Street, Arab Street, Jalan Kubor and Kandahar Street. While the pupils were on the move, they had the opportunity to experience mobile learning as each group was provided a mobile phone to work with. With the trail led by facilitators, they took interesting pictures of the buildings, traditional costumes, food and games. This learning journey ties in with the pupils’ Social Studies project work. With the rich knowledge gathered from the trail, they could collaborate and apply their learning in the assigned tasks.

Despite the hot weather on the day, pupils enjoyed themselves and felt it was a meaningful and fruitful learning journey.

Learning Journey to Kampong Glam

Heritage Trails

Heritage trails for the Primary 3, 5 and 6 pupils were conducted in the first semester to provide them with opportunities to get to learn

and appreciate the Chinese, Indian and Malay cultures in Singapore. As part of National Education, the learning of the various ethnic

cultures through the learning trails helps our pupils in better appreciating the different practices and cultural differences. Being

able to see for themselves the different infrastructures,

places of worship and different trades that are rich in cultural values, the pupils’ learning was enriched. The experience of the trails also

facilitated the classroom discussions of the

importance of various ethnic groups living harmoniously

and working together for the future of Singapore.

On 2 and 3 June 2014, selected P3 and P4 girls participated in the East Zone Girls’ Soccer Camp. It was a fun and enriching camp where our girls went through training like professional soccer players. They were trained in ball skills and were taught the rules of the sport. These skills and knowledge learnt on the first day were then applied on the second day when they took part in the amateur World Cup 2014. The girls were grouped in teams of 11 to work together and interact with girls from other schools. Each team was given a country’s name in the competition and the girls really played their hearts out. This programme provided exposure for our girls to participate in a sport dominated by boys. They had a great time learning a new sport and playing in the outdoors with their new found friends.

Soccer Camp

Racial Harmony Day

On 21st July, Canossa Convent Primary commemorated Racial Harmony Day. Our school had lined up many

activities to promote inter-racial understanding among our pupils. This year’s theme is “Harmony FromThe Heart”.

We want our pupils to take the initiative to understand the different cultures, and inspire others to do the same.

On that day, pupils and teachers donned costumes of other ethnic groups. Besides classroom activities, pupils

had the opportunity to learn and experience cultures of the different ethnicities in Singapore during recess for that

week. An informative cultural exhibition corner and stations for hands-on cultural experience were set up to provide a platform for our pupils to have a stint in making traditional

crafts such as Chinese fan, modified ketupat heart-shaped bag, and even got henna painting on their hands. The

recess activities were a hit with our pupils and this would not have been possible without the assistance of our

Parent Support Group, led by Mrs Judy Lie, our school counsellor.

The finale of the commemoration was the assembly programme where pupils had the chance to participate in learning the steps and movements of the different ethnic groups through a captivating multi-ethnic dance performance. Pupils were inspired by the dance item which portrayed the uniqueness of each race and how the differences can blend into a harmonious tapestry of a nation which has roots from the Asia region.

The video on the racial riot in 1964 presented by Ms Lim provided an insight into the historical event which led pupils to reflect on the consequences of destroying the social fabric painstakingly built up by our forefathers. We hope our pupils had an enriching learning experience and that they will continue to play their part in the balance of social stability in Singapore.

SAM Exhibition 2014

Two groups from Art Club joined the East Zone Primary Schools’ Art Exhibition last month, organized by Haig Girls’ School and Singapore Art Museum, and their artworks were selected to be displayed at the museum! Congratulations to Kanchan, Kyra and Jia Wen from the P5 group and Zaafirah, Xu Nuo and Chloe from the P3/4 group for their hard work and dedication.

Here are the two representatives from each group at the launch of the exhibition on Thursday, 31 July 2014.