Engaging Parents Through PSG Activities & Networking

17 Apr 09. Saturday afternoon 2pm. TKSS library was seated withParents of TK students from all levels. This workshop was made available
to class reps as the primary audience and other passionate parents who have key voice from the grassroots.
Class reps, being the direct person-to-person connection to the PSGpopulation are engaged in this meeting to work towards supporting TKSSin the holistic development of the students and to prmote PSG and SFE programmes.
Mr Lee, the school principal, gave the participants a crisp update ofthe School’s initiatives and affairs. The session was littered withcandid questions and spontaneous responses. The issues and questionsbrought up by parents were frank, direct and current. The principalwas able to put the parents at ease when replying to the questions byproviding them with insights into how the school handled the issuesraised.A well-timed networking tea break came next. Parents continued on someof the topics with one another while others were able to make newacquaintances and renew old ones over coffee, tea and good fingerfood.Next, there were a series of presenters who talked about coming eventswhich parents can participate in. The audience was on hand to givesuggestions on the content of the events. In some cases, theyvolunteered to be a member of the organizing committees.My topic came next….blogging. Through blogging, we share experiencesand information. This is to improve ourselves as parent-stakeholdersand also at a personal level with regards to volunteerism. Parents whoparticipated in the school’s activities are encouraged to write abouttheir positive experience to attract other parents to play an active role.

Posting on the blog is easy. Simply sendthe article to the class reps or any of the committee members for itto be posted on the blog.At the end of the meeting, as an observer, I felt information wereflowing both ways… parents were engaged.

Sports Day

The stands were filled.

Students were cheering loudly for their house. Yes, it is Sports Day for TKSS. The event was held at Bedok Stadium on 17th April 09, a Friday afternoon. I was one of the many parents who was there. Parents were there to cheer for their children as well. Students raced under various sports houses. There was a mass race to encourage student participation.

The teenage runners are a fast lot. The crowd whistled and cheered. Rashvinder was an excited parent when she stood up and cheered for her son who was running the 3rd leg of the 4x100m relay. She was beaming with pride when she said with finger pointing… “the runner is my son!”. Her unabated delight reflects the common parental feeling among us when we are there to witness our child’s participation.

Some made it a family affair. Khairul’s wife and child are in the grandstand to watch the proceedings. Khairul also participated in the end-of-day event. We watched the races and also took time out to interact with teachers and fellow parents.

It was a pleasant surprise to have the cheering competition towards the end of the program. The students were confident, highly energetic and having fun. They were creative and coordinated. It reminded me that they are more grown up and capable than my lagged impression of kids.

Among the parents, quite a few have made the trip and have notified me in advance of their interests to take part in the PSG-Staff race. Amarjit was lucky to be in Singapore to be able to make it for the race too. Jimmy and Christina are husband and wife who signed up for one of the teams. The PSG-Staff relay event involves dexterity with ping pong in spoon for the first 4 members followed by sprint for the next 4. This was organized to have maximum participation and interaction among staff members, PSG and Alumini.

On your mark, Get set, Bang! The starter’s gun was fired by the school’s principal. The first set of runners bolted down 50m gingerly holding a spoon with a ping pong in it. While waiting for their turn, the rest of the relay team members were cheering with enthusiasm. Ms Liz, a teacher was running fast to her students’ delight. Ms Lena Poh, Humanities HOD was also in the fray. Yoke Yin, Norlia, Veronica, Michael, Doris, Yoon Tak, Rashvinder, Mega were parents who took part in the race as well. Meanwhile, Nora and I were busily clicking away to capture the wonderful moments with the camera.

Parents came away with shared experience of the TKSS Sports Day to be cherished in future. I made new friends along the way. Having seen so many people running in the race events, I felt the urge to do some running too. Run for Health, Run for Fun, Run for Life. Okay, got to run.

Title: Mad Dogs

The starting horn blares,
As loud as a tiger roars.
I bolted down the lane
In a flash, like lightning.
My legs pumped like pistons,
My heart pounded like a drum.
My competitors ran like MAD DOGS
Relentlessly, hot on my heels.
Up the hill and down the road,
I started gasping like a fish out of water.
The finishing line didn’t seem any nearer,
As the mad dogs drew closer.
My legs turned wobbly like jelly.
Painful stitches sharp as daggers
Stabbed me above my belly,
As a few competitors overtook me.
Instinctively I responded,
Like an angry bull being poked and prodded.
Sprinting as fast as a hare,
My aches and pains I no longer cared.
The last few metres seemed infinite.
I surged forward furiously.
Everyone did the same,
Like piranhas on a feeding frenzy.
The crowd roared like thunder,
As my chest hit the finishing tape.
My spirits soared high.
I was so happy. Like an eagle, I felt like I could fly.

Poem by a TKSS Sec 1 Student

Sec 3 Science Learning Journey

Mdm Kelly Tan, a PSG member, volunteered to help the Science Learning Journey school event by assisting the teacher to supervise the sec 3 students. She took a half-day-off to take part in the Sec3 Learning Journey on 10/03. She has two daughters in TK (Sec1 & 3). Through her participation, she has also learnt more about flora and fauna from the Hort Park visit. The following article and pictures are her contribution to describe her experience in the event. I thank Kelly for her blog posting and share the joy of participation as a PSG.

Learning Journey: Hort Park
As part of the Sec 3 Science Learning Journey, educational trips were organized to the following places such as the Tuas Incinerator Plant, the Perfume Factory and the HortPark, among others.

On 10 March 2009, I tagged along as a Parent Volunteer with 31 Sec 3 students to HortPark, together with Mrs Tey. At HortPark, we were split into 2 groups. The Guide for my Group, Mr Vickers, spent the next one hour enlightening us with his wide knowledge of the plants grown there. Another Guide took on the other group together with Mrs Tey.
HortPark, the gardening hub, is a one-stop gardening hub that brings together gardening-related recreational, educational research and retail activities under one big canopy in a park setting. It is a knowledge hub for plants and gardening and provides the platform for the industry to share best practices and showcase garden designs, products and services. This 23-hectare regional park in south-western Singapore is also a park connector, connecting Telok Blangah Hill Park to Kent Ridge Park.
HortPark, official opening in April 2008, is Southeast Asia's first one-stop gardening and lifestyle hub. It is developed at a cost of $13 million. Students were seriously at work as shown in the picture.
There are the Gold section where the plants grown there consist mainly of golden or yellow leaves, which give the impression that the place is golden in the background.

There is also the Silver section where the undersides of the leaves are silvery. We are shown the “Prayer Plants” where the big leaves of such plants will fold up in the evening, to resemble the hands in prayers. There is also a plant with leaves that gives out fishy smell on the fingers when rubbed.

Mr Vickers then showed us a plant which gives out a pungent and fishy smell on our fingers when we rubbed our fingers on the leaves.

We also came across the “Recycled Section” where the plants are grown in recycled items such as bottles, containers, boots, bathtub and even toilet bowls. It shows that all one needs is to be imaginative and the one’s garden will turn out interesting and eye-catching.

Then there is the “Herbs and Spices” section where you can find medicinal plants and spices like those one uses to cook curry and laksa with.

Imported flowers and plants which can survive only in temperate countries were housed in the $7 million prototype glasshouses. The high cost was apparently due to the special drainage underneath the glasshouses and the special glass panels which absorbs the external heat. These glasshouses even incorporate special window binders which will roll down automatically accordingly to the temperature in the glasshouse so as to shade the plants and flowers from the heat.

Lastly, we were shown the various and creative ways of beautify one’s home with the indoor plants, which shows that one can live in greenery even in high-rise living.

The excursion was certainly eye-opening and enlightening, especially if the tour is guided by an experienced staff from HortPark. The children were eager learners and all went well. They were safely back in school at the end of the day.

It is definitely worth going if one has not been there!

Posted by Kelly Tan, PSG

TK1 Nite 2009 - A special night for Parents

At 4pm, many parents were ready to start the school tour. Members of the Parents Support Group were on hand to quickly register the participants.
In groups of ten, parents were led by student councillors to view various school facilities. Student project work like filtration and distillation systems were on display in the science lab.
After the lab and DnT workshop tours, parents were led to their child's classroom to have an appreciation of the child's study environment. Most parents took the opportunity to write notes of encouragement on their child's decorated desk tops.
Class reps of sec 1C had a great start. They took the opportunity to introduce themselves and their roles to the parents. Lolita is one the 1C class reps whom I've met. She certainly showed alot of earnest.

Before dinner commenced, Principal and Heads of department spent some time to brief the parents on the school and how parents can help their child transition into the rigor of sec 1 education in TK.
Parents got to know each other while dining. Contacts were exchanged and parenting experiences shared. I was fortunate to be able to share some of the experiences of the volunteers and brief parents on participation opportunities. Mr Armajit Singh, whose son is in Sec 1D, will be keen to participate in the sports day relay event. His wife has also express keen interest to get active in PSG work. Another parent, Hemila, is definitely considering some form of involvement and was seeking some guidance from PSG member, Sunitha. Besides these parents, I am confident that there are more parents who are just as keen.

This year, the PSG committee received valuable donations from parents to support its activities. All your donations will be put to good use, to benefit the TK students!
The PSG committee would like to thank all the parents who have shown their support. We have enjoyed the company of parents who attended the TK1 Nite and we hope you, the parents, felt the same. Your participation will help to foster good partnership with the school's teaching staff. There were parents who understood the school's needs and have registered their desire to volunteer their services or participate in future events. Parents can also volunteer or register their participation by contacting your class reps or write an email to the PSG committee listed in this blog. Thank you for a wonderful evening with us.

TK ROAD RUN

Flag off by SAC Chairman, Mr. Sim

Checking out the prizes

Some of the supportive Parents

"With a huff and a puff...away they go...but we're not talking about the big, bad wolf blowing down the three little pigs' house here! It's the annual TK road run that has again drawn the full participation of the students & staff at TK, not forgetting our ardent parents supporters too. It was a triumphant day for the top runners who were justly rewarded for their stamina and perseverance with their much deserved trophies. and a tiring but a great workout for all others who had participated. Kudos to the organising committee for a great job well done!"

Roger

Cyber Wellness course for parents

PSG volunteers were organized and ready to welcome the participants for the Cyber Wellness seminar on 17th Jan 09.

•Participants received handouts and a booklet (otherwise to be purchased at $6 from bookstores). You can checkout http://www.planetcrush.org/
•"...definitely a recommended guide for all parents - easy-to-read, comprehensive and relevant. It contains useful references and websites for readers..."- Mdm So Mun Yee Vice Principal, Tanjong Katong Secondary Shool


•Mei Mei, Deepu and Mega registered the participants as they streamed into the library for the seminar.
•In my own words, Cyber Wellness is about how to have your child’s interaction with the computer world be meaningful without letting it spiral out of control, into harm’s way.



•The speaker is from CRUSH, an external organisation that specializes in this area for school going children.
•This is the second time which I had attended this seminar after a year's gap. It is still an eye-opener for me as the materials are updated. I wasn’t aware that kids could purchase “cherry” stored value cards from convenience stores readily. With these cards they could gain access to some sites which could be quite objectionable.
•I was reminded that while our children may be physically away from the computer but mentally their minds could be still be wondering within cyber fantasies even when eating, doing their homework or attending classes. The course shared insights on the fundamentals into the issue from a child’s perspective and gave tips on how to manage the issue as parents.


•Tea break was provided and timed well. Parent spoke to one another to get a feel of the situation other parents are facing and exchanged points on how they are handling the situations. This was quite an icebreaker. During the chats, I found an expectation from parents to know if there are settings or software to block access to harmful sites. This can be easily done under “Tools-> Internet options-> Security” which allows you to set blocks, etc. The course is about equiping parents with more effective tools by understanding the psychology of the issue and develop practical ways to manage it.



•I came away wiser despite having attended the talk a year ago. I am again motivated to get my child to find alternative hobbies to strike a better balance with Cyber space.

CCA Day

CCA day got many students exploring the stands/stalls for a glimpse of the various groups and clubs. The band was there to promote their activity and providing a carnival atmosphere to the event with their blend of music pieces.

As usual, the PSG was there to stay in touch with parents through such an occassion. PSG members was there to get to know the parents, offer their views and experience on CCA as parents for parents. PSG was also there to promot the Cyber Wellness workshop and TK1 nite. There were questions on why the TK1 night starts at 4 pm. Here is why.... upon arrival, parents will start their tour to the school's facility to let them understand the environment their child will learn in. The facilities and labs will give parents a better understanding of the work the child will have to handle. The most interesting part of the tour has to be the classroom visit (your child's). Parents will have to do something there (I will keep this a mystery for those parents who are attending). There will be a segment whereby the school principal and his staff members will brief parents on some key elements which secondary one in TK differs from primary 6. These briefing will help parents to manage their child better with regards to the schoolwork.

Along with the event sign up activities, PSG put T-shirts on sale. This time round, display board was put up to let parents know that the T-shirt sale do carry a purpose of supporting the PSG Character award. Let me elaborate.

Annually, PSG set aside monetary awards to give recognition to students. The nominees for the award comes from the teachers and PSG will be part of the final committee to select the winner. The nominees are students who exhibit exceptional qualities in their character.

Picture of PSG members after the event. The bond among the PSG volunteers is a great indication of the friendship that exists.

I will be attending the Cyber Wellness workshop and will let you know more about the event in my next posting.