St. Margaret’s Secondary School

111 Farrer Road, Singapore 259240 Tel: 6466-4525 Fax: 6466-6709 Website: www.stmargaretssec.moe.edu.sg E-mail: stmargaretss@moe.edu.sg

2 May 2018

Dear Parents/Guardians, The month of April was an eventful one. Our students performed well in the various CCA competitions, a testament to the perseverance and hard work of our students, their teachers, coaches and parents. At the Cross Country on Thursday, 12 April, there was a good turnout of parents who ran alongside their daughters. We thank all parents for your unwavering support. As we approach the June holidays, do take the opportunity to spend time with your daughters and encourage them to be active and eat healthily.

For All Students 1. Mid-Year Examination Timetable and Reporting Time

As indicated in the March and April letters, the Mid-Year Examination will be conducted from Thursday, 26 April to Friday, 11 May. Students are advised to read and adhere strictly to the Examination Instructions in the Student Handbook (pages 34 – 36). The reporting time for the various papers will be based on the examination schedules given out to students. There will be no late reporting on the Wednesdays (2 and 9 May) that coincide with the examination period. All students sitting for the first examination paper of the day must report to school by 7.30am. For students who are not sitting for the first examination paper of the day, they need not come to school by 7.30am. However, they must be in school at least 30 minutes before the start of the examination that they are sitting for.

There will also be no late reporting on the Wednesdays (16 and 23 May) during the post-examination period. Students must report to school by 7.30am on these two Wednesdays. 2. Marking Days

Monday, 14 May and Tuesday, 15 May have been designated as Marking Days. The schedule for students on the Marking Days is as follows:

Monday, 14 May All students need not report to school unless otherwise instructed by their teachers. (Consent form will be issued.)

Tuesday, 15 May Secondary 4E, 4NA and 5N students sitting for the forthcoming GCE ‘O’ Level Mother Tongue Examination in June will attend Mother Tongue lessons from 8.00am to 12.30pm. All other students need not report to school unless otherwise instructed by their teachers. (Consent form will be issued.)

3. Re-sitting of Papers Missed

Students are reminded to take care of their health during the examination period. It is important for students to sit for their examination so that they experience the rigour of examination conditions and receive appropriate feedback on their performance. Students who miss the paper(s) will be required to submit a medical certificate and sit for make-up paper(s). Students who are required to sit for make-up papers will be informed accordingly by the school. Proxy marks will be provided for the make-up paper(s).

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4. English Language Oral Examinations The English Language Oral Examinations will be conducted in Term 3. Further details will be provided to your daughters by the English teachers prior to the oral examination. The schedule is as follows:

Classes Dates 1-1 to 1-6 Tuesday, 10 July – Thursday, 26 July 2-1 to 2-6 Tuesday, 10 July – Thursday, 26 July 3-1 to 3-5 Wednesday, 27 June – Thursday, 28 June

Tuesday, 3 July – Thursday, 5 July 3-6 to 3-8 Monday, 16 July – Thursday, 19 July 1-7, 2-7 & 3-9 Monday, 30 July – Friday, 3 August

5. Early Dismissal on Friday, 4 May

On Friday, 4 May, Secondary 1s and 2s, classes 3-9 and 4-9 will be dismissed at 1.25pm as there will not be any assembly programme for them on that day. All other students will follow their examination timetable.

6. Post-Examination Activities Activities have been organised for all students during the post-examination period. These include enrichment workshops, briefings and the Mother Tongue Intensive Programme for students involved in the GCE ‘O’ Level Mother Tongue Examination. Students will report to school as usual and be dismissed at the following times below unless they have been informed otherwise:

Students Dismissal Time Students not involved in the GCE ‘O’ Level Mother Tongue Examination

1.00pm

Sec 4 and 5 students exempted from Mother Tongue Languages 1.30pm Students involved in the Mother Tongue Intensive Programme To refer to the schedule

given out by the Mother Tongue subject teachers

7. Mid-Year Parent-Teacher Meeting for All Students

The Mid-Year Meet-the-Parents session for all students will be conducted on Friday, 25 May from 8.30am to 4.30pm. A separate letter with more information about the session and how parents may book the time slots to meet their daughter’s teachers was issued to students on Monday, 16 April.

8. Protected Vacation Time During June Holidays

The protected vacation time for staff and students will be from Monday, 4 June to Sunday, 17 June. There is an exception for the small group of graduating students offering Art who will be required to attend school from Monday, 4 June to Friday, 8 June because of preparation for the coursework component in the National Examinations. This was notified earlier in January.

9. Mother’s Day Craft-Making Activities and Sale by Parent Support Group The Parent Support Group will be organising the following activities for Mother’s Day at The Shop in the school canteen during recess:

Activity Dates Craft-Making Monday, 7 May – Tuesday, 8 May Mother’s Day Sale Wednesday, 9 May – Friday, 11 May

Parents are invited to help in the activities above. Please contact Mdm Premela Prabakaran, HOD/Corporate Communications at premela_prabakaran@moe.edu.sg to indicate your interest before Friday, 4 May.

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10. Health Week Various activities will be organised during Health Week from Monday, 21 May to Thursday, 24 May, to encourage staff and students to lead an active and healthy lifestyle and to promote physical, social and emotional wellness and awareness amongst the school community. Parents are invited to man the various booths which would be set up. Please contact Mdm Premela Prabakaran, HOD/Corporate Communications at premela_prabakaran@moe.edu.sg to indicate your interest before Thursday, 17 May.

11. Easy Snacks for Snack Break

Health has always been an important aspect of a child’s holistic development. To support the holistic development of our youths, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has come up with an infographic found on page 6 illustrating simple and easy-to-prepare snacks which can be prepared for consumption during the snack break in school.

12. Tip Sheet on Handling Online Content A Tip Sheet from the MOE Cyber Wellness Team is attached on pages 7 and 8 to provide parents with some practical tips on how to guide their children in handling online content.

For Upper Secondary Students Only 13. Lessons during the June Holidays and Graded English Oral Practice

To prepare the Secondary 4 and 5 students for the forthcoming national examinations, lessons and a graded English oral practice will be conducted for them during the first and last weeks of the June holidays. A detailed timetable will be given after the examination period. The schedule for the lessons is as follows:

Stream Date Time 4NA, 4E & 5N Monday, 18 June – Friday, 22 June 8.00am – 1.45pm 4NT Tuesday, 19 June – Friday, 22 June

The schedule for the graded English oral practice is as follows:

Stream Dates Time 4NA, 4E & 5N Thursday, 31 May – Friday, 1 June

Monday, 18 June – Friday, 22 June Refer to the schedule to be given out by the English language subject teachers 4NT Thursday, 31 May – Friday, 1 June

14. Work Experience Programme

Under our school's Education & Career Guidance (ECG) Programme, the Work Experience Programme is organised yearly for all Secondary 3 students to experience a one-day work stint to allow them to gain awareness of the working environment and the importance of positive work habits. Secondary 3 students who have been accepted by the respective organisations they applied for will be involved in the Work Experience Programme outside school on Monday, 21 May. Students who did not secure positions for the Work Experience Programme will report to school from 7.30am to 1.00pm on that day for an in-house ECG programme.

15. Work Attachment/ Job Shadowing Programme (November) Secondary 3 and 4N students are encouraged to apply for the Work Attachment/Job Shadowing Programme which will be held from Monday, 12 November to Friday, 30 November. Students who signed up for the programme will be shortlisted based on requirements of organizations, teachers' feedback and their performance during the interview. Selected students will be under the mentorship of appointed staff at the organisation and will be guided by teachers during the attachment. More details on the attachment will be available in July. Successful applicants will be notified by the end of August.

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16. Higher Education Fair for Graduating Students The Higher Education Fair will be held on Wednesday, 30 May from 12.00pm to 5.00pm. The event is compulsory for all Secondary 4E, 4NA and 4NT students. It is optional for Secondary 5 students to participate in the event as they were involved in a similar programme in 2017.

The school would like to invite parents to participate in the Higher Education Fair. More information on the event can be found on page 5.

17. Mother Tongue Oral Workshop A Mother Tongue Oral Workshop will be conducted for all Secondary 3 Higher Mother Tongue and Secondary 4 and 5 Mother Tongue students on Wednesday, 30 May from 8.00am to 11.30am. Details of this workshop will be given to the students nearer the date.

For Lower Secondary Students Only

18. Assessment Weightings for Secondary 2 Food and Consumer Education (FCE) With effect from 2018, the assessment weightings for Secondary 2 FCE are as follows:

Component Semester 1 Semester 2 Continual Assessment (CA) CA1 CA2 Written Test 60% 60% Practical 40% 40% Semestral Assessment (SA) SA1 SA2 Project 100% 100%

In the implementation of the FCE syllabus, both the formative and summative assessments are used to gather a more reliable assessment of students’ learning. The written tests are advocated to gather evidence of students’ learning of the concepts in FCE, while the practical and project work would show students’ application of their knowledge and skills.

The details of the assessment have been communicated with your child through the respective FCE teacher during lesson. Should you require further clarification, please contact your child’s FCE teacher via email.

19. Familiarisation Trial for Secondary 2 Subject Combination Exercise An online familiarisation trial will be conducted for all Secondary 2 students from Saturday, 26 May to Wednesday, 30 May. The trial will allow students to orientate themselves with the online platform which they will use in the subject combination exercise to be held in October. More details will be provided in a separate letter to parents after the examination period.

Yours sincerely, Lee Lin Yee (Mdm) Principal

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For Parents of Graduating Students Date: 30 May 2018 (Wednesday) Time: 12.00pm – 5.00pm The Higher Education Fair aims to provide graduating students with the opportunity to explore education and career pathways for them to make informed decisions about their post-secondary options. During the event, representatives from the institutes of higher learning share about their institutions, courses and programmes. The programme for the event is as follows:

The institutions involved in the event are listed below: Talks & Booth Walkabout:

Anglo-Chinese Junior College St. Andrew's Junior College LASALLE College of Arts Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Ngee Ann Polytechnic Republic Polytechnic Singapore Polytechnic Temasek Polytechnic

Talks Only:

Institute of Technical Education Anderson Serangoon Junior College Pioneer Jurong Junior College

Booth Walkabout Only: Nanyang Polytechnic

Please indicate your interest to participate in the event by filling up the form accessible at https://tinyurl.com/HEF2018parents by Friday, 11 May.

Time Activity 1200 - 1215 Briefing for Students 1215 - 1220 Principal’s Message

1220 - 1255 4NA: DPP & ITE Talk 4NT: ITE Talk 4E & 5N: JC Talk by SAJC

1255 - 1305 Interval

1305 - 1615

Talks 4NA: Polys 4NT: ITE 4E & 5N: JCs and Polys (concurrent)

1615 - 1650 Booth Walkabout 1650 - 1700 Debrief for Students & Dismissal

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HELPING YOUR CHILD HANDLE ONLINE CONTENT

Regular exposure to inappropriate online content may negativelyinfluence children to: Follow harmful or dysfunctional behaviours, e.g. online

gambling, pornography, extremist ideologies, or self-harm; Create or post inappropriate content; or Have a distorted understanding of relationships.

Parents can help reduce the risks and harm caused by inappropriateonline content by: Setting and enforcing family guidelines and parental controls on

what the children view and post online; how long they areonline; and who they meet online / offline;

Conversing regularly, openly, and empathetically with children ontheir media use;

Modelling and guiding responsible, respectful and healthy mediause; and

Teaching children to A.C.T. i.e. ‘Avoid inappropriate content;Check feelings; and Talk to a trusted adult’.

What is Inappropriate Online Content?

Why is it a Concern?

Inappropriate online content refers to online materials (e.g. games,text, ads or images) that: Promote self-harm, violence and illegal or dangerous activities; Are age-inappropriate, overly sexualised or pornographic; or Encourage hate or discrimination based on factors such as

gender, race, religion, culture or nationality.

How can Parents Help?

Talk openly with child on media use

Model & guide respectful, responsible

and healthy media use

Teach child to ‘Avoid’, ‘Check’, and

‘Talk’

Set parental controls

Key Messages

ictconnection.moe.edu.sg/cyber-wellness/cyber-wellness-101/handling-inappropriate-content

Ministry of EducationMOE’s Cyber Wellness Portal contains strategies for students to identify and manageinappropriate online content.

Clique ClickThis handbook has practical tips for parents, e.g. how to set up parental controls and checkmedia ratings, to guide their children to stay safe online.medialiteracycouncil.sg/-/media/MLC/Resources/Pdf/CliqueClick_updated7Apr17.pdf

Media Literacy CouncilMLC provides strategies for parents to block and manage their children’s exposure toharmful online content.medialiteracycouncil.sg/Online-Safety/Inappropriate-Content

A. C. T.

Resources