English Language
To encourage creative, reflective thinkers who communicate their
ideas clearly and concisely.
Literature
To cultivate our students’ sensitivity and imagination in
their appreciation of literary texts.The
department continues in its endeavour to improve oral competence
in the school.
Drama
One of eight pilot schools supported by the Ministry of Education,
CHIJ Secondary embarked on its drama programme in 2006. This year,
the programme is offered to Sec 1 and 2 pupils. In 2009, the school
will see its first group of students to offer Drama as an ‘O’
level subject. Click for
more information.
Enrichment
Programmes
Secondary One – Story-telling
Introduced last year, this activity was taught and assessed. To
increase the pupils’ confidence, all girls will attend a
course by Inner Discovery in late January. Resources have been
purchased and pupils are encouraged to inject creativity into
their story-telling.
Intra and inter-class competitions will be carried out. Last year,
Jessica Vincent of Sec 1/4 emerged best story-teller.
Secondary Two - Oral Communication
All Sec 2 pupils will be taught oral communication by Mrs Wilma
Roch, an adjunct teacher.
Enhancing
oral competence
Instead of the conventional oral English examination, lower secondary
pupils are assessed in more creative and challenging ways.
Secondary
One girls write newspaper reports on a current school event. They
are then assigned roles such as news presenter, reporter, and
passers-by. Pupils present their skits in front of their classmates
while teachers use rubrics to assess the girls. A lot of excitement
has been generated by this activity as teachers video tape the
event. As a follow-up activity, pupils critique their performances
and learn how to improve their roles.
Secondary Two pupils participate in intra-class debates. Once
again this activity has produced much interest and esprit de corps.
Pupils gain in confidence and learn to present persuasive arguments.
Literature
Inter-class Drama competitions
Following tradition, pupils dramatise their Literature texts.
As usual this generated a lot of enthusiasm and creativity in
the pupils.
On
June 28, an informal discussion took place between 18 boys from
Raffles Institution and 20 girls from CHIJ. The topic was the
“The Joy Luck Club” – a novel by Amy Tan which
is used as an ‘O’ Level text for CHIJ’s Literature
students and a project for the RI Book Club. The book explores
four mother-daughter relationships and the cultural clash experienced
as the daughters grow up in America, rebelling against the traditional
Chinese values their mothers impart. As such, it was an excellent
opportunity for our Literature students to see the book from a
male perspective. The group discussions explored diverse issues
such as dominant themes and language, and concurrently delved
deeper emotionally in a “female” approach.
Specific aspects of
the novel that were discussed included the significance of its
title, the author’s acute and realistic characterisation
and the development of the plot. Themes like the suppression of
women in Chinese society and its intimate parallel to real life
– even in a Singaporean context – were also elaborated
on.
All
in all, groups had fruitful discussions peppered with laughter
when ‘interesting’ insights were offered.
Laura
Therese Tan
Sec 4/4
Visitor
in school:
Mr
Martin Convey, a teacher from Congleton, Cheshire visited CHIJ
Secondary on February 27th. These are his impressions of the school.
Convent
of the Holy Infant Jesus – Impressions of a visitor
Wow! What
a fantastic school! My one abiding memory from having visited
CHIJ for the day will be the welcoming atmosphere of friendliness
that I experienced throughout. From the security guard to the
receptionist to the teachers to the students to the Vice-Principal
to the Principal everywhere I was greeted with the utmost kindness
and hospitality. I think you can tell a lot about a school by
people’s faces. I knew CHIJ was a good school as everyone
I met, staff and students, met me with a broad smile. I have written
this to try and thank people for my experience.
Firstly, I
must thank the students. I think you are fortunate that you go
to such a great school. The two lessons I observed were Literature
(Sec 1/7) and Drama (Sec 1/1). Both classes were highly motivated
and focused throughout their lessons. The Literature class demonstrated
their knowledge of language devices through presentations and
the Drama class performed with intelligence and confidence. The
students were extremely polite to me and, after some initial embarrassment,
asked me some interesting questions about the UK. They were fantastic
ambassadors for the school.
Secondly,
I must thank the staff at CHIJ. Especially the Principal, Vice-Principal,
Mrs Alexander, Mr Armstrong and Mrs Koh. The two lessons I watched
were obviously well-prepared, engaging and interesting for the
students. The teacher’s have a excellent relationship with
the students and are professional practitioners. Mrs Alexander
made me very welcome and was very thorough in explaining the English
Curriculum at CHIJ. Also, Mrs Alexander displayed a passion for
her job that must enthuse her staff. I must finally thank the
Principal and Vice Principal for giving me some of their valuable
time and answering every question I had about the school and Singapore
in general.
I will never
forget the day I spent at CHIJ and sincerely hope that CHIJ and
Congleton High School can collaborate in the future.
Thank You.
Martin Convey
(English Teacher and Guidance Co-Ordinator, Congleton High School,
Congleton, Cheshire, UK)
Winners
of the 2006 competition:
Secondary 1 : 1st Sec 1/2, 2nd Sec 1/1 and 1/4
Best Actress : Ching Tse Wen, Medlee (Sec1/2)
Secondary 2 : 1st Sec 2/1, 2nd Sec 2/3 and 2/7
Best Actress: Shona Griselda Rajamohan (Sec 2/7)
Last
year’s competitions took place in Term 3. Pupils dramatised
the following texts:
Sec 1: Dip in the Pool (short stories)
Sec 2: Journey’s End (drama)
National
and International Competitions - 2006
Every year, pupils participate in the Plain English Speaking Award
(PESA) competition, Creative Arts Programme (CAP) and the Commonwealth
Essay Writing Competition.
Congratulations
to the following for their outstanding achievements:
Creative
Arts Programme
The following girls were selected:Sandesh Kaur Sambhi (Sec 3/1)
Samantha Ann Branson (Sec 3/3)
Laura Tan Su Ying (Sec 3/4)
Commonwealth
Essay Writing Competition
Fourth
Prize Winner – C Division
Elizabeth
Tan Su Lin
High
Commendation
Mai
Thi Nam Phan – A Division
Delle
Chan – B Division
Jocelyn
Jockim – B Division
Commendation
Elizabeth
Tan Yu Lin – C Division
Elizabeth Chen Lee Yoong – C Division
Cheryl
Ng Shu Hui – C Division
