NJC 51st College Day Report

YEAR IN REVIEW

YOUTH LEADERSHIP TRAINING CAMP

Group YLTC 2019 Best Campers Class CCA From 18-22 November 2019, 80 student
1 Alyssa Prue Lee Zhong Wei 19SH16 Shooting leaders from the various Co-Curricular
2 Muhammad Irfan Bin Abdul Rani 19SH05 Track & Field Activity (CCA) executive committees
3 Joanna Lee Jing Hui 19SH05 Student Council, and 11 teachers travelled up to Sinar Eco
Track & Field Resort in Johor, Malaysia for our annual
4 Gan Jiehui 19SH05 Canoeing and Youth Leadership Training Camp (YLTC).
Dragonboat Our focus was to challenge students
5 Melissa Ho 19SH15 Guitar Ensemble to sharpen their personal effectiveness
6 Sun Ruitong 19SH06 Piano Ensemble to equip them with skills to serve in
7 Benjamin Goh Jie Wei 19SH21 Football their respective CCAs with synergy and
8 Isa Hanzalah Bin Abdul Ghani 19SH03 ELDDES (Drama) humility.

Students were given tasks that made
them step out of their comfort zone with
the objective of stretching their capacities.
In the process, they learnt the art of give
and take on the Wild Woosey, negotiation
skills through the ‘Too Goat To Be True’
challenge and to think on their feet in a
stock market setting, among other team
building challenges. This was the first
time we had a river race, where the teams
pit their brains and braun to create their
own ‘boat’ to race to the campsite and
secure the best spot for cooking and
fire-kindling. Even as they grew weary
from the increasing physical intensity,
they drew strength from within, made
sacrifices for each other as they trekked
up Gunong Muntahak and competed in
the final challenge. One unforgettable
experience was definitely the breathtaking
roller-coaster ride through the palm tree
plantations.

Do join us with a round of applause to
affirm our 8 best campers who exemplify
the qualities of servant leadership that our
College upholds. May your juniors and
those you influence be inspired by your
stellar example of service with honour.

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YEAR IN REVIEW

PERFORMING ARTS

Through hours of rehearsals leading up to vibrant
and heartfelt performances, students from NJC’s
Performing Arts exemplified perseverance and
commitment to excellence, under the dedicated
guidance of their teachers, coaches and seniors.

9 CCAs took part in the biennial Singapore Youth
Festival Arts Presentation, with a haul of 13
Distinction and 6 Accomplishment certifications.
Our Piano Ensemble also did remarkably well in the
Interschool Piano Ensemble Competition, Vivace,
retaining the title of Champion School. In addition,
our pianists clinched the top prizes and 3 Gold with
Commendation awards.

The Piano Ensemble, String Orchestra and Symphonic
Band presented their concerts Pianoworks: Dance,
Muse-ique: Legacy and Etude XLIII: Civilisations
at the Esplanade Studio and Victoria Concert Hall.
Etude featured the String Orchestra and Symphonic
Band in collaboration as a combined NJC Symphony
Orchestra. Alvin Tan and Haresh Sharma’s Those
Who Can’t, Teach played at our own Black Box as
part of Dramafest, presented by ELLDES - Drama.

NJC’s Performing Arts groups initiated various
Values-in-Action programmes with organisations
such as Orange Valley Nursing Home and Tiong
Bahru Community Centre. The Choir, Chinese
Orchestra and Guzheng Ensemble also embarked on
a joint service learning and cultural exchange trip to
Penang, Malaysia.

NJC alumni came back to coach and perform with
their juniors in the spirit of giving back to the CCAs
which were such a significant part of their NJC
journey. It is through their legacy and the passion of
cohorts past and present that our Performing Arts
continue to celebrate, and be celebrated!

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YEAR IN REVIEW

SPORTS

Through hours of gruelling training and much perspiration, our NJC Sports
CCAs put their all out there through the various National School Games
held over the year. Our B and A division Basketball girls came in 2nd and
4th respectively in their zonal competitions. Our Canoeing team had all 6
divisions placed in the top 4 at this year’s championships, with the B and C
division girls clinching the Divisional Championships.
Our Climbing team also put up an excellent showing, with the girls coming
in 3rd and the boys clinching the championship title in their A division
competition.
Our Squash team had a good showing this year, with 5 divisions placed in the
top 4 positions.
In addition, our Shooting (Air Rifle) C division girls, the Shooting (Air Pistol)
boys along with the College’s Touch Rugby girls achieved 4th placing with
their showings at their respective competitions.
We would also like to congratulate Tan Kai Li Christine for her excellent
showing at the Asian Cadet Fencing Championships, clinching a Bronze
medal for the nation.

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YEAR IN REVIEW

VIA ACTIVITIES

In 2019, our Junior High (JH) students focused
on engaging senior citizens. The JH1s, under the
guidance of their personal mentors, came up with
the idea of games and performances to cater to the
interests and preferences of the elderly. Our JH2s
were tasked to organise meaningful workshops for
senior citizens, from which they can acquire a skill
as part of the intergenerational Learning Programme,
in collaboration with Family Central. Our students
exemplified creativity in coming up with lessons like
using Carousell as a platform.

The Senior High Programme focused on Inclusive
Diversity, with the projects being led by the respective
classes’ VIA advocates. The SH2 students worked on
a variety of beneficiaries, ranging from people with
special needs, migrants workers, underprivileged
children and senior citizens. The students volunteered
regularly at the centres before identifying areas
of needs, which ensured that their subsequent
innovations had practical value. The SH2 students also
conducted a sharing session with their SH1 juniors
who would be taking over the projects, ensuring the
smooth continuation of the projects.

At the end of 2019, a team of 26 SH1 students and 3
teachers embarked on our year end Overseas VIA in
partnership with Sambour Primary School in Siem
Reap for the 4th consecutive year. This time round,
we empowered the students from Sambour by
activating and working alongside their strengths –
they showcased their resourcefulness and creativity
by weaving pouches from plastic and designing
notebooks. Our philosophy in our VIA projects is
to correct the assumption that our partners are
helpless and require our assistance; instead, we seek
opportunities and design activities that empower our
partners to utilise and harness their own strengths –
and in doing so, to realise their full potential.

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YEAR IN REVIEW

2020 SH1 GENGRIT (GRATITUDE, RESILIENCE, INNOVATION, TENACITY)
PROGRAMME

The Senior High (SH) 1 GenGRIT Programme is a four-week The Charting your Future module has also expanded the range
enrichment programme where the SH1 IP students are given of courses that cater to the changing needs and interests of
the platforms to convey gratitude towards others, develop young people today, such as coding, data visualization, social
their resilience and practise innovative thinking. media marketing and the application of artificial intelligence
in various industries.
In order to achieve that, the programme features three
distinctive areas to cater to the different students’ interests For the first time, our GenGRIT programme pushed the
and needs: envelope by organizing internship programmes to allow
deep experiential learning to take place. With the support
1) Leadership with Empathy module and collaborations from partners and PAACT, more than
30% of the students were successfully matched with an
2) Internship programme internship, and were given the opportunities to invent or
develop new ideas to meet the company’s needs or address
3) Charting your Future module various social concerns.

Designed by the NJ YouthGiveBack Team, the Leadership Students responded well to the modules. Not only did they
with Empathy module is designed to allow students to see the relevance of their education in preparing them to
understand various social issues and develop programmes meet future jobs’ demands, they also realised their ability to
to benefit and empower different communities such as the leverage on their knowledge to empower communities and
elderly, people with special needs and migrant workers. The address social issues.
students underwent intensive trainings by various VWOs to
develop their project management skills.

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YEAR IN REVIEW

OUR HIGH RESOLUTION SOLAR RESEARCH OBSERVATORY

High-resolution solar imaging, essential for
research into the Sun, is usually limited to
expensive telescopes found only in multi-
million-dollar professional observatories
using high-end and expensive adaptive
optics technology. Making use of creative and
innovative solutions, National Junior College
has built a cost-effective HIgh-Resolution
Solar Research Observatory (HISRO) to
enable students to do high-end solar
research work. Following its commissioning
on 31 July 2019, students from NJC and other
participating schools have used HISRO for
their research work. The observatory was
opened to more than 1200 students, their
family and members of the public on 26
December 2019 for the Annular Solar Eclipse.
Participants were treated to spectacular
views of the eclipse. Within a short time,
NJC HISRO made its mark in the research
arena when one of its ESTAR project teams
was invited to present their research project
on solar imaging to the 11th Southeast Asia
Astronomy Network Meeting on 27 Dec 19.
The meeting was attended by 120 university
dons and professors from Southeast Asia
universities.

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YEAR IN REVIEW

PAACT-FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION ACTIVITIES

Seminars and Workshops:
Positive Parenting Programme Seminars:
Raising Responsible Teenagers
Raising Competent Teenagers
Getting Teenagers Connected
N et, Sex and the City Child (Winning the Cyber
War) Workshop
Raising Resilient Kids Workshop
Managing Exam Anxiety and Stress Talk
C offee Appreciation / Father-Child Bonding
Workshop
H ow Well You Know Your Child’s Life in School
(Parent/Teacher Forum)

Life Skill Lessons:
Basic Housekeeping for JH1 Enhanced Boarders
Needle Work for JH2 Enhanced Boarders
Healthy Meal Preparation for JH4 Enhanced
Boarders
PAACT President’s Message at JH1 Orientation
P AACT Parents’ Seminar (Parent and Child
Sharing at JH1 Orientation)
PAACT Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Teachers’ Appreciation Breakfast
Visit to Singapore Management University (SMU)
PAACT Parent Volunteers Appreciation Day
Sponsorship of Teachers’ Day Gift
S ponsorship of Aesthetics Excellence Award and
Outstanding Contribution Awards
S ponsorship of Lucky Draw Prizes to College’s
Staff Dinner

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STAFF WELLNESS AND DEVELOPMENT

The college continues to work towards building a
learning culture where teachers are supported by various
opportunities, such as being given the space to discuss
and improve our teaching practices through Knowledge
Cafes and Professional Learning Communities, as well as
to participate and present at workshops and conferences
both locally and overseas, sharing good practices with the
teaching fraternity.

In 2019, the Teacher Leaders and some Key Personnel were
involved in a KP Learning Day to Jewel Changi Airport,
where they had a workshop at Apple Store and sharing by
Changi Airport Group on Experience Innovation to learn
from the industry experts. The team of teachers also had
fun at the Changi Experience Studio to understand the
principles of creating good learning experiences for our
students.

Other than developing ourselves professionally, staff
also came together during festive celebrations, and
participated in activities such as wellness sessions, as
well as some novelty races in Track Meet and Road Run. In
2019, we gathered together during Staff Learning Day with
activities such as Learning Journey to Coral Farm with
Seniors from Lion Befrienders Senior Centre, Upcycling
workshops for used banners and textile threads and
Active-learning activity to pick up bowling skills.

The outstanding contributions by the staff are recognised
at a National level by Academy of School Teachers(MOE-
AST), National Institute of Education (NIE) and other
organisations.

The achievements of our staff were celebrated during
the Promotion Ceremony and staff meetings. The year
concluded with the annual highlights during Staff dinner,
where everyone gamely came dressed up to the theme of
“Made in Singapore”.

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PAACT STAFF AWARDS 2019 STAFF RECOGNITION
Most Engaging and Effective Teacher Award
Colin Ee (JH) STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Yeo Chin Theng (SH) Associate of Academy of Singapore Teachers
Chua Siok Kheng
Most Caring Teacher Award Lee Shan Shan
Goh Yinglun Allan (JH) Inspiring Teacher of English Award
Chan Yoon Teng (SH) Cheong Swee Choo Marianne
Distinguished Chinese Language Teacher Award
Most Outstanding EAS Award Lin Qiao
Heryandi Amin Outstanding Computing Teacher Award
Dr Daren Ler Shan Wen
Outstanding Contribution Awards 2019 Singapore Schools’ Sports Council Service Award
Individual Awards Shanmugadas s/o Kumaresadas
Lee Jian Hao Jason Neo Ko Hui
Lim Kah Sing
Alice George 59
Toh Lee Lee

Team Awards
1st Prize: Estate Management Team
2nd Prize: Language Arts Team
3rd Prize: SISC Committee

Merit Awards
College Day Committee
CCE & Student Development Team
Enhanced Boarding Team
NJC50 Road Run Team
Research Committee
World Dragonboat Racing Championships Team

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the following organisations
and people who have contributed to the

development and flourishing of the NJC community:
NJC School Advisory Committee
NJC Parents in Action - PAACT
NJC Alumni
Mr Victor Loh

Tel: (65) 6466 1144
Email: [email protected]
Address: 37 Hillcrest Road, Singapore 288913