Adios, 5 Excellence (and M3)!

P5 Excellence (and M3)!

This will be the last time that I address you all on the class blog. You guys have finally reached the end of the P5 road. Yes, it has not been an easy one for most. Topics are tougher as you all move another step closer to your 1st big exam, the PSLE in 2008. However, what you guys must and have done is to show that you are even tougher than the topics!

Below are our class photos taken yesterday. For those individual shots with your buddies, I'll email to you all too at your lead.com email. Here goes our parting shots (absentees: Krishanth, Puvind, Nasir, Junsheng, Haziq, Desmond, Kenneth and not forgetting our 'big brother' Xunhui) I will leave this blog as it is on the Internet. It has been a pleasure teaching you all in 2007. Take care and good luck for your PSLE next year!

P/S: Do revise on your P5 work during this school holiday. Majority of your PSLE will be on your P5 work so do revise them, master them and don't worry about P6 work at this point.

PP/S: Your class postings will be made known to you on the first day of school. Similarly, I do not know for sure which class or level I will be teaching too.

PPP/S: Similarly to all those whom I've taught in Math Group M3, take care and good luck!

IT Lessons

5 Excellence!

Please note that there will be IT Lessons (Webpage design) during this last week of school. It will be held on Monday and Tuesday during school hours. Thus there will be no PE lesson on Monday.

Do note that this course is free and has been paid for by the school. However, if you miss the lessons for any reason (excluding on medical leave - MC), you will need to pay the money back to the school. Hence please attend this lessons as you will pick up a very useful computer skill.

Please remember to bring back your report book on Monday too!

Dragon Boat - 5 Nov '07

5 Excellence!

Hope this day is an unforgettable one for you. I'm sure this is our first time dragon-boating (yes, including myself). It is not just a day about fun, but also to expose yourself to one of the many water sports that are available in Singapore. More importantly, it is an important lesson on TEAMWORK!

Unfortunately, not all of us could enter the water as they did not bring their extra set of uniforms.

Getting ready for the 'Dragon'

Hey! Who says we look funny?

This is how you 'dig' into the sea

Off we go!

During the activity, we had a few races with the other dragonboats. Every member on the boat had to play their part in rowing the boat. Their only job was to listen to the timing given by the leader and to just focus and concentrate on rowing the dragonboat. Once any member starts to look elsewhere and worry about not being fast enough, the race would immediately be lost.

Walking hand in hand - "Together we overcome any challenges!"

Still remember the swim? Hey, our boat was the only one that had the opportunity to 'abandon ship' and swim to shore. And all of us did it! The waves may be a little choppy but that did not stop us from doing our best to swim ashore. It was not an easy feat and I'm sure the other classes may not be able to accomplish it like us! Hey! We were the only class which did not have anybody falling off the boat. Neither did we have any pupils vomiting in the boat or cry! Wasn't it amazing?!

Welcome the 'dragon', back to its 'nest'

I know many of you hated this part of the activity - to return the boats. The other classes had helped us pull out the boats and thus it was our turn to keep the boats. Again, you would realise that the success in completing this task lies with our teamwork. The first few tries may not be a smooth one as it was our first time working together. However, practice makes perfect. The extra teamwork effort that came in made the process even faster and smoother.

Feeling tired and beaten?

Didn't you guys wish you were as wet as the rest?

I hoped you all have learnt an important lesson on staying FOCUSED, TEAMWORK and DETERMINATION from this activity. Staying FOCUSED when rowing the boat, putting in TEAMWORK into action in moving the boat as well as having the DETERMINATION to swim back ashore.

It is very much closely related to your studies. When you are studying for your exams, you must be very focused in class, paying 100% and not be distracted by other things going around you or with your friends. Certain lessons require you to do an activity as a group in class. You have to help one another in order to accomplish the very same goal of the activity.

Lastly, you must have the will and determination to overcome all challenges in order to succeed. It is okay to try hard and fail, but it is not okay to not even try and give up. Only losers give up. Winners win by lots of trying and not having the fear of failing. They may have failed a couple of times but at the end of the day, sweet victory will be theirs. Even if they do not succeed, at least they have tried their very best and their conscience is clear.

That is what we mean by EXCELLENCE. Well done P5 Excellence! You guys sure did me proud! :)

Science All the Way!

5 Excellence!

For the coming two weeks starting tomorrow, please bring your Science books everyday! They are:

(1) Textbook
(2) Workbook
(3) Process Skills

I hope to finish 'Simple Machines' so that by next Wednesday, we can begin our revision for the exams. This week is week number 4 and the exams are starting (LC exams first) from week number 7. Time really flies fast.

5 weeks to SA2...

I'm not trying to stress you guys.

Just want to keep all of you focused in this final and yet important term. :)

Fasting and P.E.

To our Muslim pupils,

You have heard the school announcement last Friday - Due to the Muslim fasting month, Muslim pupils who wish to be excused from P.E. or T.A.F. activities will need to produce an excuse letter from their parents.

Otherwise, all physical actitivities will still continue as per normal for all pupils.

Playing 'Ketchup' or 'Catch-up'?

5 Excellence!

I know that some teachers from other Math group classes have covered quite a lot of topics, some even way ahead of M2 or M3. I spoke to some of you who had proudly declared that your Math teacher has taught you that topic. However when I asked whether they understood the topic, the answer was a quick 'no'.

All I want to say is that what matters most is that you understand the topic. Your teacher may rush through (for whatever reasons he/she may have), but if things are really going too fast for you to understand the topic, please do let your teacher know. Ultimately the person taking the exam is you, not the teacher. Thus please please alert your teacher when in doubt as they cannot read your minds.

To M3, do not compare with other classes. Every class is different. Anyway we are still on track so don't worry. :)

M3 Groupings (Term 4)

Math Group M3!

The list below shows your class groupings for Term 4. (** denotes group leaders)

Group 1
Anas
Divya
Ikhmah**
Jacky
Jeremiah
Jolin
Tuan Koon

Group 2
Jie Ying**
Kenrick
Qi Hui
Sherman
Simon
Ting Can
Wen Xin

Group 3
Andreas
Fremont
Jun Ren

Kamilah**
Pei Shi
Trevor
Yasin

Group 4
Catherine
Chin Yang**
Karamjit
Kenneth
Shaolin
Valerina

Group 5
Asyraff
Farhan
Jen Nee
Jing Hui
Justin**
Syahrul
Wei Jun

Group 6
Amanda
Jonathan
Jun Ye
Krishanth
Melvin**
Rajmal
Syahran

Term 4 Class Groups

5 Excellence!

There'll altogether be 6 groups this term. They are as follow:

Alpha

1. Xavier
2. Jing Yi
3. Jia Chin
4. Devin
5. Liyana
6. Zulhilmi
7. Coral

Bronco
1. Khalisah
2. Xun Hui
3. Shou Jia
4. Hee Siang
5. Chen Liang
6. Puvind

Cougar

1. Marcus
2. Elan
3. Hazizi
4. Pei Shi
5. Desmond
6. Yi Di

Dragon

1. Ling Ling
2. Kenneth
3. David
4. Nasir
5. Tharani
6. Jia Jun

Elk

1. Jia Hao
2. Syazwina
3. Haziq
4. Jia Yin
5. Jun Sheng
6. Fadzli

Falcon

1. Eunice
2. Enrico
3. Ping Yee
4. Yi Han
5. Bharath
6. Krishanth

Class Monitors

5 Excellence!

This list of monitors is for Term 4. Here it goes:

Discipline Monitors
Prefects: Haziq and Shoujia
Monitors: Hazizi and Elan
Lining Up:
(Front) Yihan and Lingling;
(Back) Xunhui and Bharath
Points Mistress: Peishi

Operations Monitors
Teacher Announcer: Krishanth and Puvind
Temperature Taking: Eunice and Desmond
AVA and IT: Jiahao and Hee Siang
Doors, Light and Fans: Devin and Chen Liang
Librarians: Eunice and Xunhui

Cleanliness Monitors
Chief Hygiene Inspectors: Junsheng and Nasir
Whiteboard and Front of Classroom: Yi Di and Zulhilmi
Noticeboard: Lingling and Yi Han
Sink and Back of Classroom: David and Bharath
Curtains and Windows:
(Left) Enrico, Jia Hao and Fadzli
(Right) Coral, Shoujia and Xavier

Subjects Monitors
English: Khalisah and Ping Yee
Math (Group M3): Kenneth
Science: Jing Yi and Xavier
Social Studies: Coral and Jia Chin
Health Ed: Jia Jun and Tharani
P.E.: Marcus and Pei Shi
Art: Syazwina and Yi Han
Music: Jiayin and Liyana

Holidays and Term 4

5 Excellence!

Hope you guys are having fun and making good use of this holiday. Before I forget, below are the holiday homework:

1. English: Unit 7 Practice Paper (Worksheet)

2. Math(M3): Term 3 Revision Paper (Workbook)

Term 4 is going to be a fast and short term. Your exams will start from the middle of Week 7 to Week 8. In Week 6, only Monday is a school day as there will be 4 days of PSLE Marking Days and therefore no school for these 4 days.

Hence effectively, we only have 5 full weeks to complete the syllabus and revise for exams! Do be ready for a breathless Term 4.

Food for Thought

Use Your Hand Campaign (3)

5 Excellence!

This Thursday (30th August) will be our 3rd Use Your Hand Campaign. Details as follow:-

Date: 30th Aug (Thu)

Time: 12.30pm - 1.30pm

Bring: A rag or cloth ***

Math: Lesson cancelled

We are the CHAMPIONS!

Yes! Our class emerged the champions! They were all close fights. First it was a 3-2 win over 5 Humility in the quarter-finals, 3-2 win over 5 Neatness in the semi-finals and finally, a 3-1 win over 5 Diligence in the grand finals! Kudos to our players who performed true to our class name - Excellence: doing our very bests!

To our players, I hope that this has been an interesting and enriching experience for the 10 of you. Like I have mentioned, they were all very close fights. No doubt our opponents are very skillful, what matter most are:

• our strategy
• the actual performance
• our understanding of our opponents
• keeping our heads cool
• thinking about our own performances - what had went right or wrong? (self-reflection)
• not repeating the same mistakes
• TEAMWORK!

Although we do not have a strong cheer leading team beside us, like the other classes, the unity and encouragement shown among the 10 of you are impressive.

Well done 5 Excellence! :)

Kudos to our 10 players again - Captain Marcus, Ling Ling, Chen Liang, Ping Yee, Eunice, Peishi, Jiayin, Junsheng, Yihan and Desmond.

Someone has a blog site!

One of our classmates has set up his own blog site! He has also kindly agreed to share it with us. The URL is http://yoyowadsup.blogspot.com/

However, he has not posted any blogs yet. Thus do click on his link on the right hand side of our class blog regularly to find out who this mystery blogger is!

To those of you who already has a blog, do feel free to let me know so that you can share it with the rest of the class. I can help you add on a link to your blog on our class blog site.

5E Intra-class Badminton Competition

5 Excellence!

Results of our own Intra-class (this means internal, or within our class) badminton competition:-

Boys' Singles
Champion - Chen Liang
Runner up - Marcus

Girls' Singles
Champion - Eunice
Runner up - Pei Shi

Boys' Doubles
Champion - Ping Yee & Desmond
Runner up - Xunhui & Shoujia

Girls' Doubles
Champion - Ling Ling & Yihan
Runner up - Liyana & Khalisah

Well done, everybody!

Teachers' Day Celebration

To everyone!

The school shall be having a short Teachers' Day Concert Celebration in the school hall, on the last day of school (31st Aug, Fri). Timing will be confirmed again but do note that lessons are still on for that day (including your English Spelling for 5E).

I would like to take this opportunity to inform everyone to not buy any presents for me (in case if you are thinking of doing it). Your pocket monies are very precious, so please spend them wisely, save it for your future uses or you can buy something for your parents who have worked so hard to provide for you.

Well, I wouldn't mind if you want to make a card but please do not spend too much money. Teachers' Day (or Fathers' or Mothers' Day) does not mean giving presents. Everyday can be a Teachers' Day if pupils study hard, behave in class and show respect for their elders. Similarly for you parents, everyday can be a Fathers' Day or Mothers' Day. All we want is for you to grow up to be an upright and responsible person and doing well in studies would be a bonus.

Having said that, please do start to prepare for your exams too by starting your revision early. P5 is a crucial / important year.

Play hard but study harder! :)

National Day Celebrations

5 Excellence!

Please take note of the following important announcements pertaining to this coming Wednesday's National Day Celebration in school.

• Time to report to school is LATEST 7.15am.


• Attire is your NE Show attire - Red T-shirt and your pinafore/culottes (for girls), school shorts (for boys) and your school shoes.


• There will be no lessons on that day. School will end at around 10am.


• Mdm Siti D shall be taking care of you guys as I'll be down at the school field to help out at the Lower Primary Games Day.

Math Mock CA2 Exam

To everybody!

Please be informed that there will be a mock CA2 exam for Mathematics. This will take place either at the end of week 9 or early part of week 10 (we are at week 7 now).

The topics to be covered shall cover from your textbook 5A to 5B's topic of "Percentages (2)". I will confirm with you all again but do start preparing!

Badminton or BAD-minton?

Whether you want to make it a fun experience or a bad experience, the choice is really up to each and every pupil.

After Mr Hui has announced to the P5 pupils that there will be a P5 Inter-class badminton competition, almost 4 out of 5 pupils are now brandishing their valuable badminton rackets, 'practising' at every single opportunity.

It sounds like fun and lots of actions. Pupils are very enthusiastic in this new sport. However, the following actions did give the whole event an ugly reputation.

• Using the rackets as 'weapons', hitting their friends and at school properties.



• Staying back in school to play badminton - withOUT informing their parents.


• Playing too much badminton until they forget about doing homework.


• Leaving these 'valuable' badminton rackets unattended.



• Stealing badminton rackets.

I feel that I need to clarify a few things:

• Form teachers will choose pupils to join the competition (if it is still on) - however the pupils have not been chosen yet.


• There is no badminton practice by any teacher's permission - thus if you want to stay back in school to play, please inform your parents that you are playing on your own initiative.


• Only for the next few PE lessons do you need to bring your badminton racket, that is, Mondays and Thursdays only. For badminton CCA players, Tuesdays will be included.

Keeping your badminton racket safe is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. If you do not take good care of it (e.g. leaving it unattended in class during recess), anything can happen to it.

Some tips to safeguard your valuable racket:

• Always keep your racket with you at ALL TIMES, even to recess.


• Make sure that you have markings that are not easily removable. (Permanent markers are not good enough.)


• Keep the racket in the class cupboard. However it is not the Cupboard monitors' responsibilities to ensure that they are not stolen.

On having markings on your racket, you may consider doing the following (refer to the picture on the left):

(a) Design and colour the "stringed area" using a colour marker. This will give your racket a unique design.

(b) Wrap the handle with more than one rubber straps (each of different colours)

(c) Serialised your racket on the shaft - this means to go to the badminton racket shop and ask the shop keepers to help you inscribe / cut some unique string of numbers on your racket. It is like giving your racket a unique "NRIC" number so as to help you identify your racket easily.

There may be 101 ways to safeguard your racket, however if you do not take good care of it, it can still be lost.

There are more than 1000 pupils in Xinghua. Your racket is not UNIQUE - that is they are produced in millions! There is a very high chance that more than one pupil owns the same racket (possibly the same type of scratch marks).

Imagine if you lose your racket, how do you think we are can locate it? Should the whole school come to a stop and assemble at the hall for teachers to check on everybody and their bags? Isn't the school a big place for anybody to hide anything?

Think about it. Just what are the chances?

Isn't it better to, in the first place, make sure that your racket is safe with you? Is it worth to risk to go through the trouble and mental torture of losing your precious racket?

I know this has been a very long post by me but I hope that every word has been understood and acknowledged by you.

Don't make badminton a BAD-minton. The choice is yours.