STMARKS NEWSLETTER 3 (30 AUGUST 2022)

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

THEME FOR AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

• 22 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBER: EFFORT

FIRE DRILL ACTIVITY FOR YEAR 1 - YEAR 4

• SEPTEMBER 7 2022

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE PROGRAM

As part of our commitment to recognise character and other areas of excellence in our students, besides their academic achievement, our school has incorporated a program entitled, "Award of Excellence" to educate and encourage our students this semester. Our teacher’s aim is to work with our Primary and Secondary students on some character  themes, where a duration of 2 weeks will be allocated for each theme to develop students' character based on the character themes listed below:

1. Effort – 22 Aug to 2 Sept
2. Punctuality – 5 Sept to 16 Sept
3. Kindness and Courtesy – 19 Sept to 30 Sept
4. Leadership – 3 Oct to 14 Oct
5. Respect – 24 Oct to 4 Nov
6. Creativeness – 7 Nov to 18 Nov

Besides being a school known for academic excellence, we are placing importance on our students' character and recognising students' abilities in various areas. Students who are recognised for their good character and excellence in academic or non-academic achievements will be entitled to attend our special "Award of Excellence" breakfasts to be held on different occasions throughout this semester.  Our current character focus for this week and next week is on "Effort".

While we may not be able to change students' innate abilities, we can facilitate opportunities for success by talking about "Effort".

SUMMARY OF COVID PRECAUTION MEASURES UPDATE

We have put together a summary of Covid precaution measures update below to help cope with Covid infections.  Here is a list of measures we would like parents to follow starting from today:

1. For Early Years and Primary, we would request a check of your child’s temperature every morning. If the temperature is above 37.2 degree Celsius, please keep your child at home. As fever is often the first symptom of Covid, a daily temperature check can help prevent Covid spread, especially during the initial phase when ATK testing cannot detect an infection. Please inform us immediately, should you notice a heightened of temperature above 37.2 degree or if your child is feeling unwell, which can be the first sign of Covid.
2. Please do not bring to school any type of sprayable water bottle (please refer to the photograph on the right) since this type of bottle can easily promote the spread of Covid infection among our students due to the mist that this bottle can produce.
3. In the event that there are one to two Covid cases within a class, we will report to the parents of the class concerned. Since our school provide facilities for both onsite and online learning, it will be the parents’ own discretion to assess the risk and decide whether or not to send your child to school. We will mandate the closure of onsite class when there are more than 2 cases of Covid being reported within a particular class level.  
4. ATK testing will be required every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday morning. In a class that has one or two infections, students in that class will be required to conduct ATK testing on a daily basis prior to attending school.
5. Students must wear masks at all time while in school. The only exception is while having snack, lunch and during physical education activity.
6. Parents are responsible for picking up students immediately at dismissal time - 3:10 pm. Latest pick-up time will be at 3.30 pm. This will greatly reduce the risk of your child coming into contact with students from across levels.
7. When a sibling in a family is infected with Covid, other siblings in the family will also be required to quarantine at home for a period until all members of the family are cleared from the infection.
8. If a student is discovered to have Covid or has a high-chance of being infected with Covid during the time when he/she is at school, we will isolate the student from the classroom and request that parents pick him/her up from school immediately.
9. Students who has Covid will be required to quarantine at home for a period of 10 days counting from the first day that the student has a positive test result.

We hope that the above measures will help mitigate the risk of Covid within our school community.  During this trying time, we thank you for your cooperation in following our policies.  We will keep a close watch on any new development regarding the Covid situation and will inform parents accordingly.    

SCHOOL SANITATION

As a part of our regular cleaning routine, our cleaning staff worked tirelessly to disinfect all the classrooms.  All furniture surfaces were wiped with hospital-grade disinfectants, including desks, chairs, shelves, door handles. In addition, all rooms are disinfected with ozone treatment on a daily basis.  Playground equipment surfaces have been sanitised, also with hospital-grade disinfectants.

During this week's cleaning operation, floors and walkways in public areas have been washed clean with high-powered water jet, which effectively remove any persistent dirt from the surfaces.    This is to ensure that all our classrooms and learning facilities are free from germs and viruses and our students who are currently learning online, will be in a safe and sanitised environment once they return back to school next week.     

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES ON PLAYGROUND SAFETY

Precautionary measures have been taken to enhance the safety standard of the areas surrounding our playground.  In areas where concrete edges of the walkway adjoin the playground, we have just planted tree hedges along this walkway, which will help act as a safety barrier in the event that any student falls.  The hedges will help prevent any serious injury when a student has an accidental fall.  In addition to this, we have also placed strips of plastic protectors along the edges of our walkway to reduce the severity of any accident resulting from a fall.  

Though accidents may not be avoidable, we continue to proactively do our best to reduce the risks of any major accident happening at school.         

PREP THAI MUSIC: ANGKALUNG

Music is an important part of our curriculum. During each music lesson, students are given the opportunity to sing and express their feelings through music.  As part of this lesson, our music teacher played the Ranad (Wooden Xylophone) and have our students sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars".  Being the beginning of a new school year, our teacher took the opportunity to demonstrate how various musical instruments make sounds and melodies.

YEAR 3 MATHS: ADDITION & SUBTRACTION

At the beginning of the lesson, students were given the opportunity to explore words that can be used to represent addition and subtraction.  The objective of the main lesson was to guide students on the understanding of addition and subtraction concepts using bar graphs.

When a part is subtracted from a whole amount, another part will be left.  During the lesson, students were given opportunities to engage and demonstrate their understanding by working with bar graphs to find the sum or the difference from the examples given.

YEAR 5 THAI

Our language lessons integrate the development of skills in speaking, vocabulary, reading, and writing.  During this week's Thai class, our Year 5 students were given opportunities to present their creative writing work in class.  Students were expected to speak in front of their friends and present their written works, which is an important part of language learning and development.  This activity also enhances our students' ability in public speaking skill, another important aspect of learning.   

YEAR 9 BIOLOGY: ENZYME REACTION

The Year 9 students were observing the enzyme reaction between Catalase and Hydrogen Peroxide, in liver cells. They tested the reaction to see if it produced oxygen with the glowing splint test. This experiment also was teaching the students about surface area and the denaturing of enzymes with boiling.

YEAR 9 P.E: BADMINTON

After a long hard week of study, why not enjoy a game of badminton!  Year 9 students paired up and started engaging in this fun activity during their PE. 

When students sweat with a happy heart, students build up a healthy mind and body.  Badminton is a fun, interactive sport which helps boost up muscle strength, and improves blood flow rate and the benefits are endless. Apart from physical benefits there are mental advantages of playing badminton too.

By practicing badminton as a daily sport, our body reduces the stress hormones and boosts up the happy hormones leaving you happy and alive.

Badminton is a game of two or four members and not a single sole play. It’s a healthy competition between two members, you either win or lose, but you’ll always maintain a good social relationship and connect people, rather than drowning in the digital world.