Schedule of Events

1. What is your favourite thing to do online? Can you show me how your favourite game works?

Children use the internet in different ways so start a conversation with your child around their online usage. Many of the problems we experience online are due to human behaviour and not the service itself.

2. What do your posts and comments say about you?

Your digital footprint is anything that you publicly post online about yourself, any anything that somebody else publicly posts about you. The easiest way to find out your digital footprint is to search for yourself online.

Children are forming their digital footprints younger and younger as it’s almost impossible not to have one and the content which they are posting could potentially stay online forever.

• Encourage your children to think about what their images and videos say about them; are they happy with the story they are telling? How would someone perceive them now and in the future based on their posts and comments?

• Ensure your children know how important it is to post positively and respectfully about themselves and others while online.

• Encourage them to create and manage a positive digital footprint.

3. Can you trust everything and everyone on the internet?

Not everything or everyone online can be trusted.

Information is put up online by people, and people can put information online to deliberately mislead others. Not everyone is who they say they are online.

• Remind your children never to agree to meet up with someone they only know online. No matter how friendly a person might seem or how well your children think they know the person, that person is still a stranger.

• Remind your children to always tell you or a trusted adult if someone asks to meet up.

• Remind them to think carefully about where it comes from, who’s written it and whether you can find a similar message on 2 other trusted websites.

4. What would you do if you saw or heard something upsetting or worrying online?

• Remind your children that the most important thing is to tell an adult. Taking a screen shot is also helpful as it means you can clearly see first-hand the problem.

• Explore the report and block buttons together on varying apps and games.

• Reinforce the importance of not retaliating. 5. How do you know when you’ve had enough?

Being online can be great – there are so many fun and exciting things to do! But being connected all the time isn’t always a good thing.

• Tell your children to look out for the signs their body and device might be giving them. This could be having sore eyes or neck or feeling hungry and thirsty.

• Ensure that your children have a healthy balance between online and offline activity by taking plenty of breaks.

• Advise your children to talk to someone if they need help managing their online usage and use the device settings available such as the ‘do not disturb’ or ‘night time’ settings.

Adapted from http://www.childnet.com

Online safety starts with open-ness and honesty. It is important that parents take the time and speak with their children about the activities they like online. Our advice for parents is to have open discussions about online safety so that your children will be more likely to come to you if they have a problem with online-related matters in the future.

We have summarised five questions, suggested by Childnet.com, for you to ask your children. Having an open and honest conversation is key and we hope that the following questions might help you to begin that conversation around online safety as a family.

5 questions to ask your child

We do hope you can support us in this endeavour by monitoring your child’s learning at home. We seek your support in inculcating good study habits at home and monitoring their activities online. In recent years, statistics have revealed that teenagers are spending a considerable amount of their waking hours online. In school we are stepping up our cyber wellness efforts to ensure that our students are equipped with the right skills and values as they navigate in the cyberspace. If they falter, we will be here to guide them back to the right track. At home, we hope parents can assist us to put in place some processes to monitor and support your child. Do refer to our Parenting Tips for some suggestions.

Looking forward to continue to partner with you as we polish the diamonds in the rough.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”

― Helen Keller

With warm regards

Mdm Rasidah Bte RahimPrincipalQueenstown Secondary School

Dear QTSS Parents and GuardiansWelcome back to school. I hope you have

managed to find some time to engage in meaningful activities with your family during the June Holidays. In Semester 1, the school organised several key events that involved your child. Some of the key events are Sec 1 Orientation, Chinese New Year Celebration, Annual Cross-Country, Speech and Prize - Giving Day, Total Defence Day, Student Leaders Appointment Ceremony and Investiture, Quest Learning Festival and Parent Engagement Sessions. This year, we aimed to ensure that at the end of every term, your child can look forward to participate in at least one school event. We hoped through the participation in these events, it will imbue in your child school pride and foster in them the Joy of Learning.

Semester 2 will be as exciting as Semester 1 as we have planned a series of programmes and activities for your child, which can be found in our Calendar of Events. However, Semester 2 will also be crucial as we prepare your child for their end of year examinations. To do well in their learning, it needs the collective effort from all the stakeholders involved. Our teachers tap into many creative teaching methods to make their lessons engaging and to encourage students to think critically and creatively. Some examples are highlighted in our Sneak Peek section. Besides academic learning, we also focussed on values inculcation as we want to prepare our students for the tests of life and not a life of tests. Thus, our CCE department will continue in their efforts in developing Value of the Month Packages and conducting sharing during assemblies.

Pro - Tech : Guarding Your Child’s Online Safety

From the Principal’s Desk

Q+ Semester 2, 2017 Issue 14

A PUBLICATION OF QUEENSTOWN SECONDARY SCHOOLxISSUE 2 • SEMESTER 2 • 2018

http://queenstownsec.moe.edu.sg

4 Q+ Semester 2, 2018 Issue 24

VALUES EDUCATION

Month Value

July RespectHow can we respect the opinions of others, even though they may differ from our own?

August ExcellenceWhat achievements are you most proud of? What is your ideal self?

September ResilienceWhat causes a person to be resilient? What are some common characteristics of resilient people?

October ExcellenceWhat are your goals and dreams? What are you doing about them?

Each month, our school focuses on one key school value. Here are some suggested topics you may want to discuss with your child. Time Event

Term 32 Jul (Mon) Youth Day (School Holiday)

7 Jul (Sat) Food and Blood Donation Drive

20 Jul (Fri) Racial Harmony Day Celebrations

30 Jul (Mon) and 7 Aug (Tue) Queens Cup

8 Aug (Wed) National Day Celebrations

9 Aug (Thu) and 10 Aug (Fri) National Day (School Holiday)

22 Aug (Wed) Hari Raya Haji (Public Holiday)

Time EventTerm 4

30 Sep (Thu) Teacher’s Day Celebration

31 Sep (Fri) Teacher’s Day (School Holiday)

2 Oct (Tue) – 11 Oct (Thu) End of Year Exams

12 Oct (Fri) Marking Day

6 Nov (Tue) Deepavali (Public Holiday)

24 Nov (Sat) Open House

PARENTING TIPS

Mdm Farhati Ahmad, Cyber Wellness Coordinator

Our Mother Tongue Department was part of the Educational Technology Division’s pilot programme for the use of the new Student Learning Space (SLS). The SLS is an online learning portal that will allow students to learn independently, at their own pace, and according to their areas of interest. It offers a wide variety of resources including videos, animations, and quizzes that are aligned to the national curriculum.

The Mother Tongue Department began their SLS journey with the objective of using ICT to make the learning of Chinese Language more interesting and authentic. The department also thought of ways to better cater to the learning styles of digital natives while meeting the learning needs of our students. With lots of informal learning in the ICT age, we recognised that students learn best by interacting with others to construct knowledge, new understanding, and ideas. These considerations guided the direction of the department’s SLS journey, which focussed on effective lesson design in a collaborative setting. Lesson design was guided by the SLS pedagogical scaffold that seeks to promote active learning with the use of technology.

Q+ Semester 2, 2018 Issue 2 Q+ Semester 2, 2018 Issue 22 3

Student Learning Space (SLS) - A Space for Authentic Learning

In this pilot, our Secondary 2 students learnt to identify and describe real-life problems. They ventured beyond the classroom to explore and research on the problems that surround them, such as issues related to hygiene and cleanliness in the environment. They then gathered to define the problem. With the help of the online space provided by the SLS, students were able to share their opinions and hear voices from multiple perspectives. This encourages reflection and allows students to develop and refine their understanding. When they converge their thoughts once more on the online platform, students could co-create a new concept to better describe a real-world problem with their group members. This whole collaborative process of problem identification and defining was hosted on the SLS.

Read the reflections of our students and teachers to find out more about the experience.

Mdm Tan Kah Geok, HOD Mother Tongue Languages

at the Quest Learning Festival (QLF) LEARNING TO LEAD

Each year all Queenstownians participate in one of our school’s signature programmes, the Quest Learning Festival (QLF). Aligned to our school’s mission to nurture future-ready leaders who will actively contribute to society, our QLF seeks to support the development of desirable values and personal habits of mind, as well as essential 21st century skills such as collaboration and critical and inventive thinking.

Over a period of three days, our students go through different learning experiences that challenge them to step out of their comfort zones, consider multiple perspectives,

and exercise self-management and reflection. Students learn to lead themselves, and others, in different contexts, as they dragon-boat as a team, overcome their fears when faced with high element challenges or a formidable rock wall, or collaborate to complete an amazing race trail.

During the final QLF, students put all their skills together in their final challenge – a day-expedition to a mountain. For most students, the climb to the summit is where they learn the true meaning of resilience and teamwork. Most Queenstownians make it to the top, ending their three-year QLF journey on a high.

I experienced a different type of learning by using the iPad and going round the school to find problems to solve using 7W1H .Discussing about how to solve the environmental problems with my group mates is memorable for me as each of us has different solutions, so by discussing, we can come up with a good plan to solve the problem. The use of SLS has encouraged me to comment on my classmates’ work so that the others know what they are lacking in their work and also learn from my mistakes.

Claire Goh Si Xuan (2B)

I get to share what I have learned online on SLS and teach my peers and also we get to learn from each other. It encourages me because my friends ask me questions online and we get to answer them.

Marcus Tan (2F)

We are always aware that collaboration amongst students helps students to learn better. However, we may lack the knowledge on how to facilitate a fruitful discussion amongst students. The SLS pedagogical scaffold highlights certain key areas for us to look out for when planning a collaborative lesson. For example, the type of activities or how a lesson should flow is clearly defined in the SLS pedagogical scaffold, and it truly helps a lot.

Lek Hui Ying, MTL Teacher

CLASSROOM SNEAK PEEK

Closure of Side Gate G6 in Semester 2 2018

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Our school has been approached by PUB who has proposed to convert a part of the area opposite our canteen to a rain garden. We have agreed to work with PUB on this project as the rain garden would be able to complement our existing Applied Learning Programme. The rain garden is part of the upgrading work to Alexandra Canal Subsidiary Drain “A”.

As PUB will be commencing on the work in Semester 2, Side Gate G6 facing the drain will no longer be accessible as they need to erect a noise barrier to minimize the impact of the construction works on our students’ learning. However, the side gate near the bus-stop facing Alexandra Rd will still be accessible.

Our Mother Tongue Department was part of the Educational Technology Division’s pilot programme for the use of the new Student Learning Space (SLS). The SLS is an online learning portal that will allow students to learn independently, at their own pace, and according to their areas of interest. It offers a wide variety of resources including videos, animations, and quizzes that are aligned to the national curriculum.

The Mother Tongue Department began their SLS journey with the objective of using ICT to make the learning of Chinese Language more interesting and authentic. The department also thought of ways to better cater to the learning styles of digital natives while meeting the learning needs of our students. With lots of informal learning in the ICT age, we recognised that students learn best by interacting with others to construct knowledge, new understanding, and ideas. These considerations guided the direction of the department’s SLS journey, which focussed on effective lesson design in a collaborative setting. Lesson design was guided by the SLS pedagogical scaffold that seeks to promote active learning with the use of technology.

Q+ Semester 2, 2018 Issue 2 Q+ Semester 2, 2018 Issue 22 3

Student Learning Space (SLS) - A Space for Authentic Learning

In this pilot, our Secondary 2 students learnt to identify and describe real-life problems. They ventured beyond the classroom to explore and research on the problems that surround them, such as issues related to hygiene and cleanliness in the environment. They then gathered to define the problem. With the help of the online space provided by the SLS, students were able to share their opinions and hear voices from multiple perspectives. This encourages reflection and allows students to develop and refine their understanding. When they converge their thoughts once more on the online platform, students could co-create a new concept to better describe a real-world problem with their group members. This whole collaborative process of problem identification and defining was hosted on the SLS.

Read the reflections of our students and teachers to find out more about the experience.

Mdm Tan Kah Geok, HOD Mother Tongue Languages

at the Quest Learning Festival (QLF) LEARNING TO LEAD

Each year all Queenstownians participate in one of our school’s signature programmes, the Quest Learning Festival (QLF). Aligned to our school’s mission to nurture future-ready leaders who will actively contribute to society, our QLF seeks to support the development of desirable values and personal habits of mind, as well as essential 21st century skills such as collaboration and critical and inventive thinking.

Over a period of three days, our students go through different learning experiences that challenge them to step out of their comfort zones, consider multiple perspectives,

and exercise self-management and reflection. Students learn to lead themselves, and others, in different contexts, as they dragon-boat as a team, overcome their fears when faced with high element challenges or a formidable rock wall, or collaborate to complete an amazing race trail.

During the final QLF, students put all their skills together in their final challenge – a day-expedition to a mountain. For most students, the climb to the summit is where they learn the true meaning of resilience and teamwork. Most Queenstownians make it to the top, ending their three-year QLF journey on a high.

I experienced a different type of learning by using the iPad and going round the school to find problems to solve using 7W1H .Discussing about how to solve the environmental problems with my group mates is memorable for me as each of us has different solutions, so by discussing, we can come up with a good plan to solve the problem. The use of SLS has encouraged me to comment on my classmates’ work so that the others know what they are lacking in their work and also learn from my mistakes.

Claire Goh Si Xuan (2B)

I get to share what I have learned online on SLS and teach my peers and also we get to learn from each other. It encourages me because my friends ask me questions online and we get to answer them.

Marcus Tan (2F)

We are always aware that collaboration amongst students helps students to learn better. However, we may lack the knowledge on how to facilitate a fruitful discussion amongst students. The SLS pedagogical scaffold highlights certain key areas for us to look out for when planning a collaborative lesson. For example, the type of activities or how a lesson should flow is clearly defined in the SLS pedagogical scaffold, and it truly helps a lot.

Lek Hui Ying, MTL Teacher

CLASSROOM SNEAK PEEK

Closure of Side Gate G6 in Semester 2 2018

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Our school has been approached by PUB who has proposed to convert a part of the area opposite our canteen to a rain garden. We have agreed to work with PUB on this project as the rain garden would be able to complement our existing Applied Learning Programme. The rain garden is part of the upgrading work to Alexandra Canal Subsidiary Drain “A”.

As PUB will be commencing on the work in Semester 2, Side Gate G6 facing the drain will no longer be accessible as they need to erect a noise barrier to minimize the impact of the construction works on our students’ learning. However, the side gate near the bus-stop facing Alexandra Rd will still be accessible.

Schedule of Events

1. What is your favourite thing to do online? Can you show me how your favourite game works?

Children use the internet in different ways so start a conversation with your child around their online usage. Many of the problems we experience online are due to human behaviour and not the service itself.

2. What do your posts and comments say about you?

Your digital footprint is anything that you publicly post online about yourself, any anything that somebody else publicly posts about you. The easiest way to find out your digital footprint is to search for yourself online.

Children are forming their digital footprints younger and younger as it’s almost impossible not to have one and the content which they are posting could potentially stay online forever.

• Encourage your children to think about what their images and videos say about them; are they happy with the story they are telling? How would someone perceive them now and in the future based on their posts and comments?

• Ensure your children know how important it is to post positively and respectfully about themselves and others while online.

• Encourage them to create and manage a positive digital footprint.

3. Can you trust everything and everyone on the internet?

Not everything or everyone online can be trusted.

Information is put up online by people, and people can put information online to deliberately mislead others. Not everyone is who they say they are online.

• Remind your children never to agree to meet up with someone they only know online. No matter how friendly a person might seem or how well your children think they know the person, that person is still a stranger.

• Remind your children to always tell you or a trusted adult if someone asks to meet up.

• Remind them to think carefully about where it comes from, who’s written it and whether you can find a similar message on 2 other trusted websites.

4. What would you do if you saw or heard something upsetting or worrying online?

• Remind your children that the most important thing is to tell an adult. Taking a screen shot is also helpful as it means you can clearly see first-hand the problem.

• Explore the report and block buttons together on varying apps and games.

• Reinforce the importance of not retaliating. 5. How do you know when you’ve had enough?

Being online can be great – there are so many fun and exciting things to do! But being connected all the time isn’t always a good thing.

• Tell your children to look out for the signs their body and device might be giving them. This could be having sore eyes or neck or feeling hungry and thirsty.

• Ensure that your children have a healthy balance between online and offline activity by taking plenty of breaks.

• Advise your children to talk to someone if they need help managing their online usage and use the device settings available such as the ‘do not disturb’ or ‘night time’ settings.

Adapted from http://www.childnet.com

Online safety starts with open-ness and honesty. It is important that parents take the time and speak with their children about the activities they like online. Our advice for parents is to have open discussions about online safety so that your children will be more likely to come to you if they have a problem with online-related matters in the future.

We have summarised five questions, suggested by Childnet.com, for you to ask your children. Having an open and honest conversation is key and we hope that the following questions might help you to begin that conversation around online safety as a family.

5 questions to ask your child

We do hope you can support us in this endeavour by monitoring your child’s learning at home. We seek your support in inculcating good study habits at home and monitoring their activities online. In recent years, statistics have revealed that teenagers are spending a considerable amount of their waking hours online. In school we are stepping up our cyber wellness efforts to ensure that our students are equipped with the right skills and values as they navigate in the cyberspace. If they falter, we will be here to guide them back to the right track. At home, we hope parents can assist us to put in place some processes to monitor and support your child. Do refer to our Parenting Tips for some suggestions.

Looking forward to continue to partner with you as we polish the diamonds in the rough.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”

― Helen Keller

With warm regards

Mdm Rasidah Bte RahimPrincipalQueenstown Secondary School

Dear QTSS Parents and GuardiansWelcome back to school. I hope you have

managed to find some time to engage in meaningful activities with your family during the June Holidays. In Semester 1, the school organised several key events that involved your child. Some of the key events are Sec 1 Orientation, Chinese New Year Celebration, Annual Cross-Country, Speech and Prize - Giving Day, Total Defence Day, Student Leaders Appointment Ceremony and Investiture, Quest Learning Festival and Parent Engagement Sessions. This year, we aimed to ensure that at the end of every term, your child can look forward to participate in at least one school event. We hoped through the participation in these events, it will imbue in your child school pride and foster in them the Joy of Learning.

Semester 2 will be as exciting as Semester 1 as we have planned a series of programmes and activities for your child, which can be found in our Calendar of Events. However, Semester 2 will also be crucial as we prepare your child for their end of year examinations. To do well in their learning, it needs the collective effort from all the stakeholders involved. Our teachers tap into many creative teaching methods to make their lessons engaging and to encourage students to think critically and creatively. Some examples are highlighted in our Sneak Peek section. Besides academic learning, we also focussed on values inculcation as we want to prepare our students for the tests of life and not a life of tests. Thus, our CCE department will continue in their efforts in developing Value of the Month Packages and conducting sharing during assemblies.

Pro - Tech : Guarding Your Child’s Online Safety

From the Principal’s Desk

Q+ Semester 2, 2017 Issue 14

A PUBLICATION OF QUEENSTOWN SECONDARY SCHOOLxISSUE 2 • SEMESTER 2 • 2018

http://queenstownsec.moe.edu.sg

4 Q+ Semester 2, 2018 Issue 24

VALUES EDUCATION

Month Value

July RespectHow can we respect the opinions of others, even though they may differ from our own?

August ExcellenceWhat achievements are you most proud of? What is your ideal self?

September ResilienceWhat causes a person to be resilient? What are some common characteristics of resilient people?

October ExcellenceWhat are your goals and dreams? What are you doing about them?

Each month, our school focuses on one key school value. Here are some suggested topics you may want to discuss with your child. Time Event

Term 32 Jul (Mon) Youth Day (School Holiday)

7 Jul (Sat) Food and Blood Donation Drive

20 Jul (Fri) Racial Harmony Day Celebrations

30 Jul (Mon) and 7 Aug (Tue) Queens Cup

8 Aug (Wed) National Day Celebrations

9 Aug (Thu) and 10 Aug (Fri) National Day (School Holiday)

22 Aug (Wed) Hari Raya Haji (Public Holiday)

Time EventTerm 4

30 Sep (Thu) Teacher’s Day Celebration

31 Sep (Fri) Teacher’s Day (School Holiday)

2 Oct (Tue) – 11 Oct (Thu) End of Year Exams

12 Oct (Fri) Marking Day

6 Nov (Tue) Deepavali (Public Holiday)

24 Nov (Sat) Open House

PARENTING TIPS

Mdm Farhati Ahmad, Cyber Wellness Coordinator