Principal’s Foreword 02Secondary One Orientation 03Level Camps 04Sports Meet & Cross Country 05Awards Day | Meet Wesley! | WWSS First Cookout | VIP Cafe launch 06Ethnic Celebrations 07Aesthetics Concert 08NDP & Entrepreneurship Bazaar 10CCA Passing Out Parade, SL Investiture & CIP@Kampung Temasek 11Learning Festival 12Department Programmes 13Teachers’ Professional Development 14Internationalisation Programme 15Westwood Family 16

Highlights In This Issue:

2012 has been an exciting year for theschool. The focus of the activities for the yearwas to develop the whole Westwoodian bybringing together all the various groups ofstakeholders – students and their parents,staff, alumni, friends, community leaders andpartners, and well-wishers, as a whole com-munity, as "One Westwood". The emphasison the community is to signal the concertedefforts that must be taken, and the importantrole each plays in the development of thechild. While the staff focus on the delivery ofthe Westwood Education, the parents, com-munity partners and leaders play a signifi-cant role too in enhancing opportunities forlearning and development, as well as in aug-menting and reinforcing values to the child,and teaching him to be a responsible mem-ber of society.

The Westwood Education continues to em-phasise holistic development through an au-thentic and values-driven curriculum.Activities, programmes and events developWestwoodians physically, intellectually,emotionally, socially and morally. In thisnewsletter, you will get a glimpse of some ofthe facets of a Westwoodian's active schoollife. This does not apply just to the students.Even the staff have the opportunity to extendtheir capacity and go through a variety oflearning experiences. Indeed, Westwood isan active Learning Community, and thelearning is not about to stop. We look forwardin hopeful anticipation to 2013, and the great-er challenges that lie ahead.

Ms Sandra GweePrincipal

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One Westwood

Mr Goh Kwang Seng ElijahMr Goh Yew Tiong Dave

Ms Hanisah SalimMr Sooty Heng Ee Wen

Mr Huang Weiming LawrenceMs Rosalynn KohMs Lim Dai Xuan

Mdm Lim Siew Eng WendyMs Liu Hongping

Ms Nadia Eddy RazaliMs Nurul Atika Ramli

Mdm Nur Emylina Md RazaliMr Sng Kuo Wai Simon

Mdm Siti Zakiah MohamedYusof

Mr Ya Soon Kwang RaymondMs Zhang Danlu

Welcome Our New Staff

On 4 January 2012,Westwood welcomedour fresh batch of West-woodians to the family.The school organised anexciting activity-filled 3-day orientation pro-gramme for the new stu-dents. The aim of thisprogramme was to allowthe Secondary Ones tobond with their new-found schoolmates, aswell as to adjust them-selves to the vibrantWestwood culture.

Following a school-wideaddress by the Principal,Ms Sandra Gwee, theSecondary Ones wereled to their respectiveclassrooms where theyproceeded with classbonding activities, led bytheir ever-energetic formteachers. The studentswent through the class‘house rules’ and alsobrainstormed their class‘signature name’ withtheir teachers. The

young students alsosqueezed their creativejuices during the class-room decoration seg-ment – their beautifullydecorated classroomswere indeed proof oftheir hard work!

The Secondary Ones al-so got the chance to playexciting inter-classgames which tested theiragility and teamwork.The student leaders ledthe juniors in thesegames which were heldat various venues of theschool such as the quad-rangle and the hall. Ouryoung Westwoodians al-so got the chance to ven-ture to the idyllic ChineseGarden during their ori-entation. There, theywere challenged physi-cally to a morning run asa whole cohort.

Truly, an orientation thatthey will remember alltheir lives!

Holistic Education

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Holistic Education

“Westwood camp rocks!”

This was on each and every Westwoodian’s mind asthey ended their 3-day camp on 10 February 2012.

As a school-wide initiative by the school to inculcatevalues of team work, resilience and creativity, eachcohort got the opportunity to unwind and come closeras a family during camps held in three different ven-ues. The Secondary Ones and Fours stayed withinthe school premises for their camp adventure, whilethe Secondary Two and Three students ventured toJalan Bahtera MOE Outdoor Adventure Camp andTanjung Piai respectively.

Those who had their camps in school got to utilise theschool facilities to the fullest for their camp activities!The Westwood quadrangle was temporarily trans-formed into a cornucopia of mini structures built by thecreative students. From rubber bullet guns to shiny colourfulsunglasses, nothing was spared during the exhilarating campgames!

The outdoor camps also had their share of fun as the studentsengaged in fun-filled activities like canoeing. They also builttheir confidence through the daring but safe games organisedby the camp facilitators. Later at night, the students experienceda classic campfire at each level camp where they wrapped upthe day, bonding over camp songs and cheers.

They laughed, sweated and cried – but at the end of it all, all thestudents agreed that the three days of camp were possibly thebest in their lives!

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Westwood Secondary Schools’ annualSports Meet was held on 30 March 2012 atthe Jurong West Sports Stadium. TheGuest of Honour, Ms Deng Yi Han, who isa School Advisory Committee (SAC) mem-ber, joined the energetic event, giving outmedals to the well-deserving winners.

It was an electrifying event as the differentHouses, Meranti, Ebony, Cedar, Willowand Cactus, vied for the title of HouseChampion 2012.

All the students looked forward to theTeachers’ Race where they witnessed theirbeloved teachers join forces in the teamgames! Loud cheers resounded as eachstudent cheered for their favourites!

After numerous nail-biting sports events,the Meranti House walked away with thechampion trophy and the Willow Houseclinched the Best Cheer title this year!

Congratulations to the two houses for thewell-deserved wins!

Holistic Education

The whole school gathered at the Chinese Garden forthe school’s cross country in the very same month.Each Westwoodian displayed sheer perseverance anddiscipline throughout the race, and many crossed thefinishing line with huge smiles on their faces!

The top runners were awarded with special ‘runningman’ golden trophies for their success.

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Holistic Education

It began with the prestigious Awards Day ceremony inthe school hall where students who performed excep-tionally well academically were recognised in this specialevent. Our Cluster Superintendent and Guest-of-Hon-our, Mr Richard Dawson, was present to give out theawards to the students. Westwood’s top ‘O’ Level stu-dents of 2011 also returned to receive their awards,proving to be a great inspiration to every Westwoodian.

Next was the introduction of the school’s jovial andbubbly mascot, Wesley the bear! The whole school wasthrilled as Wesley got on stage with the energetic West-wood cheerleaders and performed the iconic song,“Many Dreams, One Aspiration”. A brainchild of West-wood’s creative team, Wesley is the new face of West-wood who will be a great motivation for us during variousevents and competitions, both inside and outside ofschool!

Meet Wesley!

WWSS First Mass Cookout

After the exciting ceremony in the school hall, West-woodians proceeded to the quadrangle for the school’sfirst mass cookout.

Our Cluster Superintendent and Guest-of-Honour, MrRichard Dawson, officially launched the cookout bylighting up the first pit. It was truly an exhilaratingoccasion as students tirelessly worked in synergy withtheir classmates to man the BBQ pits that day!

Awards Day

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VIP Cafe launch

Finally, it was the launch of the much-awaited Venture into Paradise (VIP) café by MrRichard Dawson. A collaborative project between the Business Skills and HomeEconomics Departments, the café, converted from a classroom, was a huge hitamongst the guests at its launch.

Besides our mascot Wesley, students from Elements of Business Skills (EBS) werealso present to help serve delicious and tantalising food to the guests.

If you want to chill and relax after a stressful day in class, head down to the cosy VIPCafé with your friends! The café is accessible to both Westwoodians and teachers onMondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3pm to 5pm!

Loud cheers and peals of laughter resonatedthrough the school hall on 20 January as West-woodians rooted for their favourite God of For-tunes dressed in red balloon and paper ‘beards’.Besides the hilarious “Decorate Your Own For-tune God” contest, the Chinese New Year concertproved to be a hit with entertaining line-ups suchas the Dragon Dance by our very own NationalEducation ambassadors for the students.

Our teachers also joined in the fun in a Chineseidiom competition using the “dragon” character!

Holistic Education

Earlier this year was the ever colourful HariRaya concert where the school celebrated thejoyous occasion together with our Muslimfriends. Teachers got into the swing of things bydonning traditional outfits much to the delight oftheir students!

On top of other performances, the concert wasalso graced by the elegant Malay dancers fromCorporation Primary School. It was truly a mem-orable Hari Raya for everyone involved!

Chinese New Year

Hari Raya

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Holistic Education

Save the music!

This was the theme of Westwood’s CulturalExpressions this year! Held on 6 September atthe ACJC Faith Centre for Performing Arts, theevent was a brilliant showcase of talents by theWestwood aesthetics CCA groups like theWestwood Concert Band, Westwood Chorus,Guitar and Guzheng Ensembles, Language andCommunication Club and the Art students! Afterweeks of gruelling practice sessions, the effortsof the CCA groups paid off handsomely asaudiences cheered aloud for their passionateperformances.

Besides the main concert, colourful art pieceslike sculptures, paintings and sand art were alsoproudly displayed by the student artists on theday of the event. Guests were able to hear fromthe artists themselves about their interestingpieces!

The Aesthetics Concert is truly a milestone inWestwood’s history and every Westwoodianinvolved should be immensely proud of the hardwork they have put in towards the success of theevent. Three cheers for Westwood!

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Participating groups, clockwise from top left: Westwood Concert Band,Guzheng Ensemble, Westwood Chorus, Secondary One Hip-hop Group,Guitar Ensemble and Language and Communication Club.

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Holistic Education

Holistic Education

After the parade, the quadrangle eruptedinto a vibrant Entrepreneurship bazaar! Thisbazaar was organised by the ever enterpris-ing Business Studies Department.

All Secondary Two classes were involved,with each class manning their own food andgame stall. Upper Secondary Economicsstudents also joined in the fun, tending theirown food stall for the guests. The mainhighlight of the bazaar had to be the haunt-ed house where the scary monsters attract-ed loud screams and squeals from itsvisitors!

Entrepreneurship Bazaar

The school gathered at the quadran-gle on the eve of National Day tocelebrate the momentous occasion ofour nation’s birth. The marching con-tingents consisting of the various uni-formed groups were the mainhighlights of the parade that day.School Advisory Committee member,Mr Benson Leong, also joined theschool for the celebration.

A sense of patriotism could be felt asthe school recited the pledge andsang the national anthem as one onthat very special day.

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Presenting… the next generation of leaders.

Westwoodians witnessed the CCA Passing Out Parade(POP) in the school hall, where leaders of various CCAgroups from the clubs and societies, the uniformed andsports groups, formally handed over their titles and re-sponsibilities to their successors. The ceremony was agreat opportunity for Westwoodians to recognise thecontributions of the outgoing leaders, as well as to wel-come the incoming leaders of their CCAs.

The Student Council Investiture was also held on thesame day. Westwoodians and invited student leadersfrom other schools watched as the outgoing StudentCouncil President, Nadia Dahak Ibrahim, handed overher post to Isaac Lim. A new batch of student leaders wasalso sworn in, to mark the beginning of their services tothe school in the year ahead.

Holistic Education

In October 2012, our Secondary Three Normal Technical students and their teacherstravelled all to the way to Johor Bahru for their 3-day Community Involvement Pro-gramme (CIP). There, they headed to Kampung Temasek where they interacted with

the locals and worked on various activities.Some of it included laying cement, carpentryand also gardening. The teachers also had ahand in the activities. Using their creativejuices, they designed and painted the muralsin the vicinity. It was truly a valuable learningexperience for both the students and theireducators!

Community Involvement Programme:Kampung Temasek, Johor Bahru with 3NT

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Spread over a duration of3 days, the Learning Fes-tival was held from 22 to24 May 2012. With theaim of making learningcome alive for West-woodians, a series of ex-citing and informativeexhibitions, games andactivities were organisedby the Mother TongueLanguages (MTL), Sci-ence and the Technologyand Design (T&D) depart-ments for the 3-dayevent.

One of the highlights ofthe festival was the MotorCar Design Competition.Cleverly designed motorcars of different colourswere submitted by the re-spective classes for amini race held at theschool hall. Sheer enthu-siasm reverberatedthroughout the hall asclasses cheered loudlyfor their class motor carduring the race.

Another favourite eventwas the cluster schoolsscience competitionwhere Westwood invitedother secondary schoolsto compete in teams forthe top prize. It was defi-nitely a sight to see as ourvery own students wenthead to head with theircompetitors from thecluster schools. Else-where around the schoolcampus, Westwoodianswere busily participatingin fun and engaging activ-ities such as the mini-par-achute makingcompetition, Chinesemask painting and callig-raphy exhibitions, andcreative science experi-ments.

Judging from the eagerreactions and happy re-sponses of Westwoodi-ans during the event, theLearning Festival was in-deed a success and is setto be a regular fixture inWestwood for more yearsto come!

Academic Excellence

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Academic Excellence

Westwood Secondary School was the co-organiserwith Citi-NIE for the Financial Literacy Carnival held atSingapore Flyer. This carnival was open to all schoolsin Singapore to allow students to learn and apply finan-cial literacy in real life situations. The format of thiscarnival was based on the famed “Amazing Race”.Students were given an iPad to give them clues that ledthem to the various checkpoints. There, theyanswered financial literacy questions through their re-spective iPads.

Westwood sent in a group of Secondary Three stu-dents to be student facilitators for this event. This wasan amazing opportunity for them to display both theirleadership and financial literacy skills.

In 2011, a group of Secondary Three students cametogether to develop a board game called "Investor".This game subsequently won the National BoardGame Design Competition.

Due to its success, the Business Department decid-ed to use “Investor” as an instructional tool to teachSecondary Two students about financial literacy.The teachers in the department developed a lessonpackage and also trained a group of SecondaryThree students to be game facilitators for the finan-cial literacy workshop. During the workshop, thegame facilitators assisted in highlighting the learningpoints for the board game to other participatingstudents.

Investor Board Game Workshop

Communication Studies

The Communication Studies programme is an inte-grated curriculum spanning English, Literature andProject Work (PW). The Secondary One and Twostudents had to divide themselves into groups topresent what they have learned to each other inactual deliverables. The Secondary One studentsproduced innovative digital artefacts such as web-sites, globsters and facebook pages while the Sec-ondary Two students immersed themselves inacting, stage and costume design.

Financial Literacy Carnival

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If you think that your teachers only mark your school assignments during their free time,think again!

Earlier in 2012, Westwood teachers underwent a series of learning journeys, workshopsand symposium, as part of the school’s Teachers Professional Development pro-gramme.

Some of the exciting learning journeys included trips to household names like Ya Kunand Far East Organisation. There, not only did the teachers learn more about thebusiness world, they also came face to face with the Critical Factors for Success thatmake these corporate entities stand out from the rest.

Besides the informative trips, the teachers also came together for workshops on ‘Differ-entiated Instruction’ and ‘Assessment for Learning’.

It was definitely a rewarding experience for the teachers to learn something new forthemselves and to equip their students better in the future.

Professional Development

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Partnerships

Westwood Secondary witnessed a momen-tous event on 24 May 2012 – the signing ofthe Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)with Indonesian school, ‘SMPN 49 JuniorHigh School Jakarta’. Through this memo-randum, the schools officially committedthemselves to forge closer ties with eachother and collaborate in a series of educa-tional initiatives and programmes over thenext two years. Selected Westwoodians andstaff can expect educational exchange pro-grammes in areas such as sports, perform-ing arts and entrepreneurship in the nearfuture!

The memorandum was signed in both Eng-lish and Bahasa Indonesia by principals ofboth schools, Ms Sandra Gwee and Dra. Hj.Ernawati, M.Pd. Student representativesfrom both parties also exchanged colourfulgifts with each other as a mark of friendshipand collaboration.

The event was a culmination of a series of activitieshosted by our school, from an exclusive school cam-pus tour, to friendly inter-school captain’s ball match-es and various team-building games around theschool’s vicinity. The Indonesian visitors rewardedits host with a colourful cultural performance, muchto the delight of Westwoodians.

This collaboration with SMPN 49 Junior High SchoolJakarta resonates well with the Westwood mission ofbuilding confident communicators who are connect-ed locally and globally.

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The Westwood Parent Support Group(PSG) is made up of dedicated parentswho tirelessly set aside time to help out inthe school’s major events such as Teach-ers’ Day, Westwood Bazaar and even var-ious CIP projects. The close-knit groupalso actively organised bonding activitieswith both the school and amongst them-selves. Some of them include bowlingcompetitions with the teachers and familyprawning sessions.

The PSG is indeed a great way to fostercloser bonds between parents, studentsand their teachers.

Partnerships

Parents Support Group (PSG)

Presented by the Westwood Heartbeat Editorial TeamLee Chew Yen | Maria Marzuki | Nur Hidayah Moktar | Syed Ali Mohamed Alhabshee | Zhang Yi

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Wishing them the best in their new endeavours…

Mr Desmond LimMdm Chan Su-Ling

Ms Ng Yih Lin CerennaMr Sivagnanam Rameswaran

Mr Samuel Selvarajoo