Vision Edition • Issue 2 • 2020

UNITY IS STRENGTH. WHERE THERE IS UNITY, THERE IS ALWAYS VICTORY.

It has been more than 8 months since we started our fight against COVID-19. After celebrating Chinese New Year in late January, we were plunged into a period of uncertainty as the pandemic spread, tightened its grip across the world and changed our lives forever.

In February, we started our DORSCON Orange preparation. We put in place safety measures beginning with staggered recesses, daily temperature-taking and wipe down routines. We had to cancel many of all our programmes including SPARCLE 1, mid-year examinations, CCA activities and competitions. The National School Games were also suspended and we had to call off PASSIONARTS 2020. Finally on 3 April, our prime minister announced Circuit Breaker (CB) measures to contain COVID-19. All schools and businesses in Singapore closed, and we went into three weeks of full Home-based Learning (fHBL), followed by an early mid-year break from 5 May to 1 June.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: STRONG, TOGETHER

2020 has been a year of grim challenges, unpleasant surprises and upsetting news. Every one of us have felt the negative impact of the pandemic, many experienced financial strife and psychological anguish as unemployment rises and uncertainty looms.

At Northland, we too faced the pain imposed by the pandemic – lost opportunities as we cancelled school programmes, stress and anxiety as we managed frequent disruptions to familiar routines including how we learn and interact with one another, and apprehension about what the future holds. Yet through all these difficulties, our Northland spirit shone clear and strong. We continued to share, care and dare. Teachers and students alike rallied to share ideas and provide support to one another during the fHBL. Form Teachers diligently checked in on all their students to ensure they were safe and well. Our UPLIFT committee kept the school open for Northstars who needed extra help and support, and secured meals for 121 of our students’ familes. Not forgetting Captain Northland, our source of encouragement and inspiration on Instagram.

Our dare to try has created exciting opportunities. We held our inaugural Student Council Elections online and Northstars participated actively to elect their peer leaders. We experimented with new ways to connect with students using digital resources such as Google Suites and Instagram. Our teachers even made a music video featuring Mr Ong Ye Kung as a special guest!

We had a moving National Day celebration incorporating Speech Day with a fitting theme, Emerge. Indeed, we have remained united and resilient in the face of COVID-19 and have emerged stronger.

As I am writing this, we are already in Week 4 of Term 3. We have been back to school for more than 3 months and are in fact, in the midst of our end-of-year examinations. The number of infected cases in Singapore has fallen steadily and there are signs of recovery, much like the green shoots that sprout after a forest fire.

I am immensely grateful to my colleagues and parents for their support as we join our efforts to keep our school safe and our students’ learning going. I am very proud of what we have accomplished this year as a school and community – we have demonstrated resilience, grown through adversity and remained positive. All these can only be achieved because we are united in our vision: to be Learners who Share, Citizens who Care, Leaders who Dare.

Let us continue to go where our vision is.

Tan Siew WoonPrincipal1 Oct 2020

NATIONAL DAY AND SPEECH DAY CELEBRATIONS

The National Day and Speech Day celebrations this year remained lively and exciting events even as both students and staff worked well with social distancing measures to commemorate these important events. Northland Pulse caught up with a few students and teachers who were involved for a glimpse behind the scenes.

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF:

NEXT UP, THE TEACHER-IN-CHARGE!

1. HOW WERE YOU INVOLVED IN THESE EVENTS?

Nur Dinah Syazana (2T5): My team and I led the recollections along with the rest of the student leaders during the live broadcast.Divyajyoti (2T1): I was one of the emcees for both events.Sherise Koh (3A1): I was also involved as an emcee for both events.

3. WHAT IS ONE THING THAT ENCOURAGED YOU DURING THESE EVENTS?

Dinah: We received a lot of encouragement from our friends and our teachers who helped us adapt during the live broadcast session.

Divyajyoti: The teachers were never once irritated with us despite the many takes we had to do for the Speech Day video. Our friends also encouraged us to persevere even when we had trouble getting through the script!

Sherise: The satisfaction of transforming the events despite the despite the challenges really put a smile on our faces.

2. WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES FACED BY YOU AND YOUR PEERS?

Dinah: We faced various challenges as we had to conduct the events through online platforms such as Youtube Live and Google Meet.

Divyajyoti: One challenge I faced was expressing myself as we had to look natural on camera, a far cry from the usual interactions we would have with a crowd. I managed to memorise the script and adapted accordingly during the live broadcasts.

Sherise: We also faced issues during the live broadcast as it was difficult to hear us during the pledge taking ceremony. While we were united in our hearts, we couldn’t take a proper group photo together due to social distancing measures in place and it was tricky to identify each other with our masks on!

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF

My name is Mr Lu Jianhao and I am from the Humanities Department.

WHAT ARE SOME CHANGES THE SPEECH DAY AND NATIONAL DAY COMMITTEE HAS UNDERTAKEN WHILE PLANNING THESE EVENTS?

Mr Lu: Well, we had to conduct the Speech Day event as an ‘internal’ event with no external guests or alumni invited, even if they were award recipients. This was necessary to avoid risks of COVID-19 infection brought in by guests or alumni, which would complicate contact tracing efforts.

Additionally, instead of the usual speeches and ceremony of presenting awards on stage in the Hall, we decided to adhere closely to the measure of no mingling of students across classes. Hence, the speeches were delivered via live broadcast and the ceremony became a slide-show presentation of all award recipients. Students were presented awards in their classes.

We also realised that we could not conduct the traditional valediction ceremony. However, we managed to invite our Polaris Award recipient, Udai back to school during the May holidays to film her valediction. This presented us with an opportunity to deliver the valediction in a different and perhaps more refreshing way than just a speech on stage.

WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES FACED WHEN RUNNING THE PROGRAMMES GIVEN THE NEW RESTRICTIONS?

Mr Lu: The decision to not invite external parties into school really affected the significance of this symbolic event. Another challenge was not being able to centralise the event in the Hall which meant that we lost opportunities for our performing arts students to perform their pieces.

ANY OTHER THOUGHTS / WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT?

Mr Lu: We first conceptualised the theme “Emerge” to symbolise where we have arrived as a school since merger. However, in a somewhat prophetic way, the theme was lived out this year as both staff and students have emerged and continue to emerge from the challenges imposed by COVID-19 on the schooling experience.

Having emerged from the challenges we faced this year, let us continue to build on that will to emerge so that we are prepared for future challenges.

We have done it before, and we can do it again!We have done it before, and we can do it again!

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Those were the days... 0504

SPARCLE 2 WEEKTEACHERS’ DAY CELEBRATIONS

Mdm Nila receiving her Caring Teacher Award

Mr Tan’s rocking with the 90s

Secondary 3 ACES student’s

percussion performance

Mr Han’s historical look

Mr Rajoo’s throwback to the 60s

A member of Avenger receiving award from Ms Bian

A token of appreciation for Mr Louis Ng for officiating the event

Prize presentation of Colour Award for CCA

pan frying the patty to make them crisp

Our GOH, Mr Louis Ng, sharing about his experience as an

animal activistSec 1 NT students carefully setting up the hydroponic kangkong growing kit

Student is absorbed in designing the mask activity in Artmoshpere

Group proudly showcasing where their Beans, Bins board game

Cooking with Chef Eric Low

1. PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELVES:

Hi, I’m Mrs Ong Hui Fen, and with me is Mr Lu Jianhao and we’re both from the Humanities Department

2. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE LEARNING CHALLENGES THAT YOU FACED AFTER THE HBL PERIOD?

Mr Lu: The students usually conduct data collection as part of their fieldwork experience during their Geographical Investigation (GI) project. This meant that we had to adjust to the challenge of making observations while away from the sights and sounds of animals and insects, the texture of leaves and bark and the feeling of temperature change and humidity.

Mrs Ong: Students could not visit the relevant sites or collect data through interviewing tourists at popular sites such as Marina Bay Sands.

3. WHAT IS ONE EXCITING METHOD OF TEACHING YOU’VE TRIED DURING THE HBL PERIOD?

Mr Lu: For the Secondary One Geography students, we decided to immerse them in a virtual environment made of virtual guides, 360 degree photos and videos with embedded information ‘hot spots’ to replicate their learning experience at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Mrs Ong: For the Secondary Four students, they utilised an augmented reality application to recreate a multi-sensory experience of Marina Bay Sands. In essence, they were conducting virtual fieldwork using SLS on their own.

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HBL UPLIFT PROGRAMMEIn our previous issue, we covered the challenges faced by teachers and students during the Home-Based Learning (HBL) period. In this issue, we find out how the Humanities Department innovated to conduct online lessons:

ADEEB 3A6, NPCCI am thankful for eCCA as it allows me to keep in touch with my friends from NPCC and continue to learn more about police operations even though we cannot meet face-to-face. Initially, it was challenging to learn the new norms like setting up virtual meetings and conducting online activities. However, with practice, perseverance and some creativity, we managed to get it going and have fun doing it.

KERROY 3A6, PIPE BANDIt went well and good enough for us to catch-up on our CCA activities. However, we also faced challenges like the online activities we needed to complete and technical difficulties like dropped or disconnected calls. Nevertheless, we tried our very best to make do with what we have.

MICAH MALICDEM 1S6, SYMPHONIC BANDI found my eCCA experience to be good so far although I do find it difficult to talk to the teachers through online meets as I am someone who learns better face-to-face. Therefore, I decided to make the effort to approach some of my seniors and teachers for help directly for help instead.

KISHANTH 1S3, HOCKEYI found eCCA challenging as we could not have face-to-face interactions with our friends and teachers. However, I appreciated the efforts of my friends and teachers in trying to make eCCA as engaging and fun as possible.

MR ERNEST YEO (NPCC)It is a steep learning curve for me as we embarked on eCCA as we had to learn new technology and implement new rules. Although eCCA cannot totally replace the face-to-face element, it does provide a platform to engage students in their CCA and holistic education. it is quite satisfying when students are grateful for it and enjoyed the sessions.

MR GUO HEFANG (PIPE BAND)It was hectic as the Pipe Band has to create one Zoom session for pipers and one Google Meet session for drummers. (Zoom is not able to pick up drum acoustics.) Fortunately, I have Mdm Yeo and Ms Chong helping me during the eCCA sessions. Most students eagerly participated and that was gratifying..

eCCAsIn our previous issue, we covered the challenges faced by teachers and students during the Home-Based Learning (HBL) period. In this issue, we find out how our teachers and students have been coping with eCCAs:

The school has remained an exciting and relaxing place for students to release their stress after lessons. We caught up with Ms Yap from the Uplift Committee who shared how the teachers and students worked together to have fun while observing social distancing measures.

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELVES:

I am Ms Joanne Yap from the Uplift Committee.

WHAT ARE SOME CHANGES THE UPLIFT TEAM HAS UNDERTAKEN DURING THE HBL AND POST-HBL PERIOD?

During the May Holidays, the Uplift Team invited some classes across levels and also our ACE students to return to school

once a week to be involved in activities such as sepak takraw, badminton, baking and online gaming. This was to engage the students meaningfully and to maintain their connectedness to school.

During the post-HBL period where students experienced blended learning (one week in school and one week at home), the Uplift Team, with the help of YHs/FTs, identified students who would benefit from doing HBL in school during their HBL week. The purpose was really to provide them with a conducive environment in school for them to complete their HBL and to minimise learning gaps when they returned to school the following week.

WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES FACED WHEN RUNNING THE PROGRAMMES GIVEN THE NEW RESTRICTIONS?

During HBL and May holidays, we had to ensure the Safe Management Measures (SMM) were in place. That included temperature taking, social distancing among returning students and modification of game rules to ensure that the safety of students were not compromised. The team also had to plan to ensure only certain groups of students were back on certain days and timings. At each time, there were no more than 20 students in school.

The team also had to gain the trust of parents to get their consent to allow their child to come to school to do their HBL or participate in activities. Parents were in general very supportive because they trusted that the school will take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of their child.

However, it was all worth it as long as it benefitted the students.

NORTHSTARS HAVE BANDED TOGETHER TO DEMONSTRATE A STRONGER NORTHLAND THROUGHOUT THIS PANDEMIC. WHAT IS ONE OBSERVATION THAT INSPIRED YOU?

Northstars are positive and resilient. Despite the restrictions and challenges, the students in Uplift programmes are understanding and they continue to be positive and participate actively! :)

Elasticity

Jun Xi (3A4)

We bend but not break Helplessly, forcibly s wayed

But as one we hold

We

Kristin (3A4)

Our hear ts beat as oneFight ing against all odds

Our bond remaining st rong

Fellowship

Jerlyn (3A4)

Not alone, comfor tSur rounded by f r iends, happy

St rength in unit y

Querencia (3A4)

Fears lead to abiencehaving to face hiraeth.

Querencia we chase,Together, Nor thland we face.

ImPOSSIBLEPurveeka (5R1)

The outbreak has dist urbed all our livesGates were closing screens were opening

The unusual have become rout ines The ther mometer, mask and sanit izers are our

best f r iends now

On the 2nd june we made our waysEver y where were red tapes

Our dr ills were dif ferent

Staying behind the red lines were ir resist ible as well as the one met re f rom our companion

Just like the impossible are possible Just like the phrase “as one United people”

With all the order placed and followed as a nat ion we will abolish the antagonist

Weatheringthrough

Thaarun (3A4)

In our school no mat ter the weatherWe will stand as one

St ronger together

STUDENTS’ FEATUREOur Northstars share their hopes and dreams during these uncertain times through poetry and haikus.

EDITORIAL TEAMADVISOR:1. MR KENNETH CHYE

EDITORS:1. MR JONAH WANG2. MR CALEB CHANDRA PILLAY3. MR NG QI YANG

PHOTOGRAPHY:1. MR MOHAMMAD FAIZAL2. MR BRIAN PHUA

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