Updates on P5 Camp Matters

Dear all,

So sorry but I'm still not well enough to go to school today. Kindly take note of the following updates on P5 Camp.

Security
As all of you are aware, due to the escape of Mas Selemat, many of your parents are worried about your safety and we, on our part, will be stepping on the security measures. As such, we really need all of you to cooperate and always ask for permission when you need to leave (for performances, competitions etc or to the washroom) and you will need to stay in your allocated groups always. Always listen to the instructions of your trainers and if you do not understand, ask. The teachers will be there as well for your activities.

Medication
I understand that some of you need to take medication/vitamins. If so, kindly place your medication into a small box/ziplog bag. You can label it using marker or name stickers. Should you not have any, do not worry. I will bring along some labels on Monday. You will need to hand these over to the trainers when we reach the camp. Rest assured that you will be given your medication/vitamins if you need them.

Insect Repellant
Please be reminded to bring along your insect repellant because due to the fact that the camp is surrounded by nature (a lot of trees), there are quite a lot of mosquitoes. You might want to bring along light-coloured t-shirts instead of dark ones because the latter will attract mosquitoes more easily.

Handphones & Cameras
Please be reminded that you are not allowed to bring handphones to the camp. We will be conducting a spot check and we will keep these items if we were to find them with you. Should you need to call your family urgently, you can approach myself or any teacher that's around you. As for cameras, we are concerned that you will lose them in the midst of all the activities and therefore, it is preferred that you do not bring them along. Should you insist on bringing a camera along, we will not be responsible if you lose it.

Lastly, I hope everyone will take all activities seriously and participate actively. Some of the activities might be a little challenging but do try. Do not give up easily. I hope to see some team/class spirit demonstrated as well=)

Remember to pack your bag for the camp over the weekend. Do not leave till the very last minute. See all of you next Monday.

Soft copy of Newsletter 5 March 08

Dear Parents,
We have come to the end of Term 1. Kindly take note of the following updates:

Feedback on CA1
The girls sat for their CA1 this Term. Their marks obtained will constitute 10% of their final grade at the end of the year. Kindly note the feedback given on the various subjects in the table below.

English – Composition & Situational Writing
Strengths
Pupils did moderately well in Composition Writing. They do have the basic content. Pupils did not fare too badly in Situational Writing as well.

Areas for improvement
Pupils need to work on developing their stories more thoroughly, providing more details and descriptions.

English – Paper 2
Strengths
Nil

Areas for improvement
The girls did quite badly for their English paper across the level. Do not be disheartened by the English scores of your daughters. There is a marked increase in difficulty level and expectations on language use competency from P4 - P5. Pupils need to read more widely in order to improve their vocabulary. The reading comprehension questions were also not handled well. The girls need to comprehend the questions and understand the passage at a deeper level.

Mathematics
Strenghts
Pupils did quite well for the MCQ section and they were able to do perform the basic operations. With the use of calculators, most of the pupils were also able to complete the paper on time.

Areas for improvement
Pupils fared poorly in word problems. They need to read the question carefully and make use model/diagrams to help them solve the problem. Topics that need more revision and practice include: Area & Perimeter, Product of Fractions and whole Numbers and Product of Fractions.

Science
Strengths
Majority of the pupils were able to recognise and state the science concepts tested.

Areas for improvement
Pupils need more revision for P3 and P4 topics (e.g., magnets, heat and light energy). In terms of answering techniques, pupils need to learn to show comparison between experimental set-ups and be more precise in their explanations.

Do rest assured that the respective subject teachers will monitor your child’s progress closely and keep you updated from time to time.

Revision
Next week will be a one week break for the girls. It would be a good time for the girls to revise their work in Term 1. Some useful websites and tips are provided below.

English
http://www.english-zone.com/index.php?ID=161
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_5th_lang.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelling/recognising/homophones/quiz.shtml

Tips for parents:
* Modeling of proper language use at home (i,e, use of Standard English and Standard English Pronunciation)
* Exposing children to the language through extensive reading (different genres), watching and discussing movies
* Encouraging kids to keep and build a word bank that they can use.
* Monitor kids' tuition/enrichment progress or the quality of the tuition or enrichment. Know exactly what your daughter is getting out of her tuition and enrichment and how that helps her in her developing language competency. Ensure that you are given frequent feedback from her tuition or enrichment teachers on her progress.
* Get involved with your kids' learning! Language use is a social activity. It is best acquired and perfected in a social environment!

Mathematics
Order of operation: http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/vol7/order_operations.html
Rounding Off:http://www.staff.vu.edu.au/mcaonline/units/numbers/numrou.html
Fractions:http://www.aaamath.com/fra.html
http://www.visualfractions.com/
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks/maths/fractions/index.htm
http://www.funbrain.com/fract/
http://www.jamit.com.au/fraction-games.htm
Word Problems:http://www.mathplayground.com/wordproblems.html
http://www.stfx.ca/special/mathproblems/


Tips for parents:
* Practice makes perfect. An appropriate amount of practice in the weak areas would definitely help.
* Make Math relevant. Show your daughter the application of Mathematics in daily-life. For instance, talk about fractions when you are trying to divide a pizza, discuss about rate and proportion when you are baking/cooking, revise on decimals/money when you bring your child out on a shopping trip, get her involved when you plan your next holiday trip (working within a budget). The idea is to let your child know that there is a reason to what she is learning in school. When she sees the relevance, she will probably be more interested in the subject.
* Test her mental sums. Revising Math does not mean plain drilling. It can be informal. For example, you can ask her some questions in between commercial breaks while watching the television.

Science
Fun with Science experiments: http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/
Magnets: http://www.coolmagnetman.com/magindex.htm
Light: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ksbitesize/science/activities/light_shadows.shtml
Heat: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/activities/keeping_warm.shtml
Solar System: http://www.scienceyear.com/wired/?page=/planet10/
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/moon_phases/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/activities/earth_sun_moon.shtml
Cells: http://www.cellsalive.com/
http://ebiomedia.com/prod/LC/LCcellunit.html

We hope this newsletter has been useful. Should you need any further clarification, please feel free to approach your child’s Form Teacher. She would be most willing to assist you. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
Primary 5 Level Teachers
5 March 2008

Road Safety Park

Just a gentle reminder that we will be going to the Road Safety Park tmr. You will only need to bring a small bag. Do remember to come to school in your PE T-shirt and shorts with your pinafore over. The things to bring are:
1. pen
2. bottle of water
3. light snack (no potato chips, sandwiches would be the best)
4. story book for silent reading
5. cap (optional)

Do have a full breakfast as you will only have a light snack there. We will give you a 30 minutes break to eat once you return back to the school.

No cameras and handphones are allowed. I will take pictures and upload them.

Looking forward to day of fun! See all of you tmr!

Feedback on CA1

Dear all,

You would have received your report book today. Remember to get your parents to sign on the first page as well as your results page and return it by Friday, 7 March 2008. You would have realised that we have changed the Bands to Grades now. The reason being that it would be in tandem with what you get during PSLE. A quick recap of the range of marks for the various grades:
A*: 91 & above
A: 75-90
B: 60-74
C: 50-59
D: 35-49
E: 20-34
U: Below 20

Anything below grade C is a failing grade.

A note to parents: There is a rather big jump from P4 to P5. The concepts are more in-depth and therefore a drop of around 5-10 marks is actually quite normal for the first CA1. This is especially the case since the girls are probably not used to the idea of having exams for CA1 yet. However, this should not be an excuse for the entire year. They should be able to slowly adapt and improve along the way. Of course, they would need to work harder. It would be good if you could help reinforce the importance of revising their work daily at home as well. At the same time, you could sit down with your daughter and help her review her targets set earlier this year and work out a plan together. For instance, revising daily for 30-45 minutes or making it a point to do 5 word problems everyday. A little goes a long way. Especially for Math, practising more will definitely make a difference =).

P/S: I will upload the softcopy of the newsletter given today tomorrow because I have accidentally left it in school. I'm so sorry.

Chit Chat Session

The idea of chit-chat session is to provide time for pupils to talk to their Form Teacher. Such sessions are informal and it should be relaxed and fun. Each group will be allocated 30 minutes for the chit-chat. However, do note that you need not wait till chit-chat sessions to talk to me. You are most welcomed to share any ups or downs with me anytime. =)

The groupings for the chit-chat sessions are as follows:

Group 1
Keerthi
Sri-Vidya
Lavanya
Raji
Cherlyn

Group 2
Lindi
Felicia
Lu Yi
Debbie
Linda

Group 3
Kelly
Jocelyn
Jane
Clarine
Claudia

Group 4
Kimberly
You Hui
Clarissa
Calene
Sze Yuan

Group 5
Victoria
Valencia
Regine Zhou
Melissa
Hazel

Group 6
Wan Ling
Regine Seet
Sabrina
Gloria
Aliciva

Group 7
Annalea
Elizabeth
Levin
Hadasya

Group 8
Nadyn
Peggy
Valerie
Regina
Aliyana

We will be having our first chit-chat session tmr. Girls who are down for chit-chat tmr, do remember to bring a fruit to school. =)

Updates

Dear all, my sincere apologies for the lack of updates recently. Kindly take note of the following:

Buying of New Report Books
I understand the concerns of some who feel that it's a waste of money to buy a new report book when there's only 2 years left. We tried to collapse the printed sheets in the report books but we had problems with some because the paper was stuck to the pockets after a long time. Also, since we would need to print out at least another 16 sheets of paper for the remaining 2 years, it would really be a better option to purchase a new book. However, if your parents are really against buying a new book, do let me know. I will then try my best to take out the paper and put them together in a one pocket so as to leave sufficient space for the rest of the new printed sheets.

Road Safety Park
We will be going to the Road Safey Park next Thursday from 9am to 12pm. Pupils will need to be PE attire. You will learn about road safety and you take on different roles (cyclist, motorist & pedestrian). I'm sure it'll be lots of fun.

Camp Matters
The P5 Adventure Camp will be held from 24 to 26 March 2008. A letter to parents and consent form was given out yesterday. Kindly fill in all the details on the consent form and return by tmr, 29 Feb. At the same time, do remember to complete your T-shirt design by this Friday as well. A gentle reminder, you can only use a maximum of 2 colours for your design. The girl with the best design will have her design printed on everyon'e camp t-shirt. Do note that your camp t-shirt will be red colour.

Trainee Teacher
Mdm Su, a trainee teacher from NIE, will be with us from now till 9 May 2008. She will be teaching the girls Mathematics as part of her practicum. She will start teaching from next Monday onwards. However, do rest assured that I will be working closely with her, discussing what she should be focusing on. I will also sit in for her lessons for the first 2-3 weeks. I will only take the girls Mathematics on Wednesday, 9.30 to 10a.m. and Thursday, 1-1.30p.m. I will be doing the CEP programme and mental sums/quiz only. Nevertheless, I will be starting the morning classes next Term. Consent forms will be issued next week. Therefore, I will still get to teach the girls and Mdm Su will also update me on the girls' progress regularly.

Happy Belated Birthday, Jane!

Dear Jane,

I'm so sorry that this message is two days late. I accidentally recorded your birthday as 23 Feb instead but as I was doing a quick check just now, just realised that your birthday should be on 13 Feb! I'm really super blur. *Oops* By the way, I do hope that you are feeling much better now. Seems like you have been falling sick quite often recently. Do drink lots of water and rest well. Will pass you your birthday card on Monday.

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to Jane,
Happy Birthday to you!

Hope to see your all healthy again on Monday. =)