P.E. is not fun? Think again!

This is my Class having PE!

I am having a great time in school because of the interesting lessons. I have always thought P.E. would be something I may not like as my cousins told me that that they have to do a lot of running. I was afraid that I would not be able to cope with the rigour of the lessons. However, I just realise PE is more than that, Yes, there is running but there are a lot more about PE than just running. In fact, PE is provong to be really fun and I am getting fit in the process. 

My dad  says that our school is unique because we are one of the very few schools in Singapore that has a playground.  My P.E. teacher says that a playground also teaches and develops important motor skills like balancing, climbing and jumping. I will never think of P.E. as boring and tiring again!

A playground is a great place to hangout with my friends!

Although you may think it is a piece of cake to use all the various stations in the playground, it is a different ball game when you have to share the playground with 29 other classmates! To prevent mishaps from happening, our P.E. teacher spent one assembly showing us how to use the various stations which most other playgrounds lack! You can be sure that we were all really excited about using the playground after the talk! But more importantly, we know how to use the playground safely.

In this station for example, we were told that this machine helps us build upper body strength. We also line up and take turns so everyone gets a chance!

This is how I build strength in my arms!

As balance is important in my development of motor skills, we have a balance beam that we nicknamed "The Snake". This is how we build our balancing abilities. 

Not easy, you know!

We did it!

What I find more exciting though is trying to keep my balance on these three blue steps! I have to use both my hands and legs to keep from falling off! However, even if I did fall in the playground, I will not get hurt. That is because the ground of the playground is coated with a thick layer of soft foam.

Me Tarzan... Are you sure?

Our favourite station is the monkey-bars! Here we have fun scrambling up and down the bars and the most interesting thing is that the monkey-bars are not the usual rectangular shape but looks like a giant letter 'M'! Sometimes when I get tired climbing the bars or am not careful, my friends look out for me and encourage me. That's what friends are for!

Now, if only every P.E. lesson was spent in the playground!

 

Lo and Behold! My Garden

Our first March vacation is nearing its end. While I am enjoying the one week break, I must say that I do miss school! I hope that does not mean that I am a strange kid! I am starting to get ready for school. I have finished all my homework. I had opportunities to play and bond with my family. However, I must admit I am eager to return to school where I can see my friends again! In fact, I just packed my school bag today. Everyone has a new time table for term 2. Looks like term 2 will be interesting as we would be going for a learning journey in the zoo. We are also being dismissed later (3pm) on Mondays in term 2. This is because the enrichment programmes are starting in term 2. I must remember to ask mom to give me extra money for lunch!

I am also wondering about the garden just outside my classroom. My teacher says that the school is working hard to create a lovely garden where we can rest and eat our sandwich and enjoy some greenery as well. The garden will also be a learning space for us where we can learn about science and even responsibility! I just returned to school today and the hoarding that used to surround the garden is gone! Lo and behold! I saw a most lovely garden! This is what I saw!

We have palm trees!

I can see myself spending my recess here! The garden even has a pond with a fountain built in it! I am wondering we are going to have fishes in the pond. I must remember to ask the teacher if we could have some fishes so that we can just admire how they swim.  Here are some pictures of how the garden looks like now.

A view of the garden from the corridor near the General Office

Our Small Pond! Can the fountain go any higher?

What a beauty!

Indeed, the garden has really evolved into one that I cannot imagine when I first stepped into Frontier Primary School in Dec 2011. In fact,because of the hoarding, we could not see what was being done to the green space. Only two weeks ago, the garden looked very different with what I saw today. Here are some "before" pictures of our garden in construction! I must see the faces of my friends when all of us returned to school on Monday!

I am raring to return to school! Yippee!

A mini excavator in our Garden!

Our pond?



Garden in the Rain or Rain in the Garden?



The Week that I Learnt About Singapore's History



Our Fire Drill Exercise. We did well!



Total Defence Day had just been commemorated in Frontier. I really learned a lot during that week. It all started with a morning assembly talk on that Monday. It was raining very heavily that morning; the rain hitting the roof of the hall was clearly heard. However, my attention was fully with my teacher who was sharing a dark chapter of Singapore's history.


Learning about Syonanto



 

My teacher shared with us about how Singapore had fallen into the hands of the Japanese 70 years ago on 15 February 1942. I saw pictures of the surrender of the British as well as the very, very thin British Prisoners of War. I also learned that when a country fall, it is very painful for its people. It was a very sad time for Singapore. It is much worse than the pain that I will feel when I fall in the playground.


I was also told that when a country gets taken over by someone else, many things will change… such as the name of the country, its flag and the type of money that is being used. I really do not want these things to happen to my beloved Singapore! I will make sure that I will do my very best to protect Singapore! When I grow up, I want to be a soldier just like in the song ‘There’s a part for everyone’ that we sing. It is my turn to keep Singapore strong and secure. My classmate who is a girl told me that she will want to be a doctor when she grows up so that she can help Singaporeans.   
 



Singing the song ‘There’s a part for everyone’ with pride



Learning about the 5 Total Defences and wishing to be a soldier to protect Singapore



During the Total Defence Week, I also took part in a fire drill for the first time. I was not scared but knew the need to walk quickly and orderly to the assembly ground. My classmate who is the ‘Emergency Leader’ held my class placard in front as the rest of the class followed with my teachers leading us.  My class did very well. We came down to our holding area within 3 minutes. My teacher said that we did well because we were ready and we knew what to do. I realised the importance to be prepared.

During Social Studies lesson that week, I also found out more about the public warning system from the Singapore Civil Defence Force website. I can actually find the locations of the public shelters that are nearest to my house through the website. It is really insightful.

Listening to identify the differences between the ‘Alarm’, ‘All Clear’ and ‘Important Message’ signals

 through the scdf website

This week, I learnt that total defence is about the different things that we can do everyday in every sector of our society to strengthen our resilience as a nation. When we take National Service seriously, participate in civil emergency exercises, upgrade our skills, build strong bonds with different races and religions, and feel the pride of being Singaporean, we contribute to Total Defence.



My Art Work where I share my Hope for Singapore



I hope that Singapore will always live in peaceful times and I wrote this wish on the paper aeroplane that I folded during my Art lesson. As I flew my paper aeroplane and watched it take flight, I hope that my wish will always remain true.

 

My Paper Plane and My Hopes for Singapore

 
 

In the News!

I just found out that Frontier Primary School is in the news again! This article can be found in the MOE's blog called Schoolbag. The url for the article is: http://www.schoolbag.sg/archives/2012/02/exploring_new_possibilities_at.php . I remember seeing this group of reporters coming to school during our Chinese New Year celebrations. The story is finally out!

Do go and check it out!

To Join or Not to Join ... That is the Question!

My school is exploring the possibility of starting an enrichment class for violin in term two.  My teacher tells me that this is not a compulsory programme. Today, I learn a new word "compulsory". That is to say we don't have to join this programme if we don't want to. She gave us a letter/survey today to show our parents and if we are interested, we should reply to the school by this Friday (10 Feb 2012).

The tentative details are as follows:

The class will be taught by an external qualified violin instructor. The fees are about $240 for 24 lessons in 2012, starting in term 2 on a weekly basis.That is to say there would be about 8 lessons per term. In addition to the course fee, we need to buy our own violin. My teacher says a violin costs between $100 to $240. The full costs of the programme will be borne by the pupils.

The class is going to be conducted in the school itself. My teacher says that the lessons may be conducted on Tuesdays at 2.15pm. That means after school, we will eat our lunch in the canteen and then go for this violin class. The teacher also says that we need to make our own transport arrangements home if we are to sign up for this programme. The class will only start if there is a strong demand for it.

I may want to sign up for this programme. My friend says that she also wants to join but she is not sure as she is currently learning violin on Saturdays. My teacher says that we need to be committed before we decide to be part of this programme. This is because daddy and mommy will have to spend some money for the fees and violin. I don't want them to waste their money if I am going to give up after a few practises.

I am going to ask daddy and mommy for their opinion!

To join or not to join ... That is the question!

Happy Happy New Year!

We had a great Chinese New Year celebrations on 20 January 2012! It was not only exciting, but educational as well. First of all, almost all my friends came in their Chinese costume. Even the teachers look fantastic in their Chinese attire. It was really a great sight!  

We first started by indulging in some activities by creating some Chinese New Year related art, such as blow calligraphy and paper cutting. We also tried some New Year goodies. The creations we made could contribute to the Chinese New Year decor in our homes. In fact, I was impressed with my own creations. I did not know I was so artistic.





Food tasting!



Showing off Our Creations!



Sorry Mr Koh and Mrs Lim! I think my blow calligraphy is better!

The concert was really enjoyable. We invited many guests, including the workers that helped build our schools. We also presented them with our class-made hampers just to say thank you and to wish them a happy new year too. I think they were very happy to be with us, and to see us all so appreciative of the work that they had done. Our concert was fun. We had a close-up encounter with the lion. I even touched the lion! Wow! Luckily, it did not bite me! We also performed our songs. We did not have much time to prepare but I thought we did well. The crowd was warm in their applause. Our Chinese Language teacher, Mr Chon also performed. He looked like a rock star as he sang to all of us.



Thank you for building our school



Don't forget to throw some luck to me!



The concert is so exciting

We made these!



That is my teacher playing the gu-zheng.

The day went so well that I was disappointed that it ended. We had a photograph taken. It was a photograph of all the P1s and the teachers. This could be Frontier's first photograph with all the staff and pupils in it. A Historical Moment! 

I cannot wait to tell my parents what we did today! 

Preparing for Chinese New Year Celebration

 

This Friday (20 January 2012), we will be celebrating Chinese New Year. I am really looking forward to this event! There will be a lot of activities that we will be doing that day. We will be watching a concert and I am performing! We have been learning to sing Chinese New Year songs and my teacher is also performing. She is going to play the guzheng! We are working hard and it has been a fun experience! Singing the songs also enable us to learn new Chinese words, so I am also learning my Chinese!

The lion dance is also coming! I must remember to tell my mom and dad to get my Chinese New Year clothing ready. I think it is cool that we can come in our Chinese New Year costumes or wear red! We don't have to bring our school books that day. We will just need to bring a small bag with stationery. I must remember to pack my glue, scissors and colouring pencils. We are going for a learning trail too on Friday. In this trail, we will do some paper cutting, blow-calligraphy and other activities.

We are also packing hampers for the event. I think it is a good idea for everyone to bring something to put into the hamper. We are going to wrap it up and present it to the workers who have toiled many, many hours to build our school. It is our way of saying "Thank you and Happy New Year!" I am really looking forward to this!

 新年快乐!