2 October 2020

OCTOBER ISSUE PRINCIPAL’S NOTE

Looking At New Ways to Learn and Celebrate!

When we celebrate Children’s Day next week, we will miss the presence

and support of our parents and family members of our Lower Primary

pupils at our Sports Carnival. As with all our school programmes and

events, we have had to find new and creative ways to engage our pupils

and ensure that learning continues.

We started Term 4 with a refreshed take on our Maths Meets Science

(MMS) Week. The pupils were excited to make the biggest bubbles from

their soap (glycerine) solutions, balance marbles on their different ‘sampan’

containers and fly the furthest distance on their handmade hoop gliders.

Some of them were equally thrilled when they saw how a non-saline red

solution was able to “float” over a blue saline solution. What was more

reassuring was to observe pupils’ continued attempts to repeat these mini-

experiments even after their activity session had ended, and even after

school hours! All this took place with safe management measures (SMM) in

place! Covid-19 has not beaten us. It has made us stronger. Much stronger

in fact. We will continue to provide opportunities for our pupils so that

learning takes place beyond textbooks and the classroom.

Our P6 pupils have started their PSLE. Soon, some of the other levels will

also be involved in some form of curriculum checks and reviews. This may

cause some stress for our pupils (as well as for parents). Please be assured

that the purpose of these term checks and year-end reviews is to enable

teachers to better support our pupils in their learning and progress. Like in

a car race, these checks and reviews are pit stops for us to work with our

pupils to take charge of their learning.

This is an unusual year for all of us. Thank you for working with us to ensure

that our pupils will be able to maximise their learning and find joy in their

learning.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Charles Chan

Principal

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

XNPS Events ………….2

Eureka! ……….……….3

Quality Learning

Experiences

Teacher’s Day

Celebration…..….…..4-5

Math Meets Science

Week………..………6-7

Science Buskers

Festival 2020..…………8

Mother Tongue

Fortnite Part 2…………9

Mid-Autumn Festival….10

Resumption of

Face-to-Face CCAs…...11

Meaningful Partnerships

Virtual Mid-Autumn

Festival……………….12

Treats & Tricks ………13

ESTABLISHED 1932

2

XNPS Events

Term / Week Day / Date Event / Activity For

Term 4

Week 3 Thursday 1 Oct Mid-Autumn Festival All levels

Term 4

Week 3 - 4

Thursday 1 Oct to

Wednesday 7 Oct

Primary School

Leaving Examination (PSLE) P6

Term 4

Week 4 Thursday 8 Oct

Children’s Day Celebration

Sports Carnival Day All levels

Term 4

Week 4 Friday 9 Oct

Children’s Day

School Holiday All levels

Term 4

Week 5

Monday 12 Oct

to Thursday 15 Oct

End-of-Year Examination

EL and MT Paper 1 & Oral

P3 - P5

Term 4

Week 6

Monday 19 Oct

to Thursday 22 Oct

PSLE Marking Exercise

(Homebased Learning) All levels

Term 4

Week 7

Monday 26 Oct

to Friday 30 Oct

End-of-Year Examination P3 - P5

Upcoming Dates for October 2020

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Eureka! Jack and the Parachute

Here is this month’s challenge. Have fun experimenting!

Oh no! Jack has done it again. He could not resist the magic beans and the giant is once again pursuing

him. The giant, having learnt from past mistakes, has lined the beanstalk with barbed wire. Jack needs

another plan to escape from the giant!

Problem statement: How can I build a parachute for Jack to escape from the giant safely?

Materials:

String (to attach Jack to the parachute)

Lego figurine or any small object (as Jack)

Any possible materials for the parachute

Success Criteria:

Your parachute should hold Jack in the air longer than the control drop.

CONTROL Drop Jack from a designated height with no parachute. Measure the time it

takes for him to hit the ground. Control Drop Time: ____________

IDEATE

Think of ways you can keep Jack in the air longer than the control drop. Brain-

storm materials and shape that would make a good parachute. Sketch your

design and label with the materials that you will use.

PROTOTYPE

and TEST

Create your first prototype and test it out. How long did Jack stay in the air

with the parachute? Did the parachute fall slower than the control?

IMPROVE

and REFLECT

What can you do to make your parachute better? Were the changes effective?

Activity adapted from “2013, More Than a Worksheet”

You can create a bucket tower using straws and a recycled bottle. The

bucket tower shown on the left can hold 11 one-dollar coins while

swinging freely in the air. How many one-dollar coins can your bucket

tower hold?

Sample of September STEM Activity 5: Bucket Tower Challenge

Quality Learning Experiences Teacher’s Day Celebration

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Having the opportunity to plan for Teacher’s

Day Celebration as a Prefect EXCO was

certainly one of the highlights for me this year.

We had to think out of the box due to Safety

Management Measures (SMM). We decided

to set up a Gift Drop-off Room to allow pupils

to drop off their gifts and appreciation tokens

to their subject teachers.

- Vasu Srinithi, P6B

Special Delivery!

Class Monitors were roped in to

dispatch bags filled with gifts or

appreciation tokens to their form teachers.

They were happy when they saw their

teachers’ eyes light up when they

received their bags.

Appreciating the HEROES in Our Hearts!

Some of the pupils from 5E and their Form Teacher, Mrs Yassine, formed the word

“HERO” for one of the class bonding games played during the virtual celebration.

5

Xingnan Primary School had the honour of hosting Mr Ang Wei Neng, Member of Parliament (MP) for

West Coast GRC, during our virtual Teachers’ Day Celebration.

Left to right: Mr Lee Sen Choon (SAC Chairman), Mr Charles Chan, Mr Ho Sau Ken, Mr Ang Wei Neng

and Mr Chng Hock Huat (Advisor to Nanyang Grassroots Organisation).

Mr Ang interacting with a pupil during Teachers’ Day Celebration.

6

Have you ever wondered why bubbles are spherical or why some things float while others sink? Would

you want to try designing a Hoop Glider? Our pupils put on their creative hats and learnt Math and

Science concepts through a variety of fun activities both at home via the online platform and in school.

Besides learning Math and Science concepts, pupils applied critical thinking skills to objectively think

about a topic or an issue in order to resolve it.

Math Meets Science Week

Hey! A beautifully shaped round bubble formed

from a square wand. How is this possible?

Experimenting with different shapes, sizes

and materials of containers and to find out

which container could carry the most load.

Honing our observation skills and identifying

objects that will either float or sink.

Let's see whose hoop glider can travel the furthest.

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We enjoyed the ‘Some Fun Sampan’ activity so much! It

was cool conducting the experiment to test which material

is the best for floating and carrying

the most load. We found out that

the big container can really hold so

many marbles without sinking!

It had been an exciting Math Meets Science Week. We looked forward to the hands-on

activities. We had tremendous fun learning how bubbles can be formed using different

shaped wands. We were thrilled to discover our own golden ratio for making the biggest

bubble - 2:3:4 (Water:Soap:Glycerin).

1C’s Reflection

Bubble trouble? No trouble at all because this is

lots of fun!

“Oh, for the wonder that bubbles into my soul.”

- D.H. Lawrence

Not a case of ‘too many cooks spoil the

broth’. 1A pupils demonstrated how

team effort paid off.

Hmm… now I understand how big ships float,

do you?

This year, Erik Pasquale from 4A, Phan Thu Linh from 4B and Janice Wong Xin Yi from 4D

represented Xingnan Primary School in the Science Buskers Festival 2020 organised by Singapore

Science Centre. This event aims to promote the learning of Science in an engaging way as well as

the generating of interest in creative Science communications and expressions.

Due to Covid-19, Science Buskers Festival was conducted online. Participants had to submit their

online videos instead of busking together with their peers in front of the judges. Erik, Thu Linh and

Janice came up with ideas for their videos with the help of their parents and teachers before filming

individually at home. All of them put in a lot of effort in conducting their experiments multiple times

and learning to edit their own videos.

Xingnan Primary School is proud to announce that Phan Thu Linh from 4B has won the Judges’ Choice

Award this year! She was also featured in the student publication Thumbs Up section in Lianhe

Zaobao. You can read the article here.

Congratulations, Thu Linh! We would also like to take this opportunity to commend Erik and Janice

for their wonderful effort! Well done, Xingnanians!

Science Buskers Festival 2020

8

Thu Linh explaining how soap destroys viruses, in

her Scientist coat, no less!

Erik conducting an experiment at home to

observe how Mentos would react with

Coca-Cola.

Janice lifting an ice cube up with

only a piece of string and some salt!

Thu Linh showing how a glass cup could keep a

bubble intact for a long time!

9

Now I know what it feels like to weave a

basket or ketupat.

Mother Tongue Fortnite Part 2

Having fun interacting with their peers? Checked. Immersed in a literacy rich environment?

Checked. We conducted the second instalment of our annual Mother Tongue Fortnight with more

exciting activities carried out in class as well as during recesses.

We killed two birds with one stone as we learnt more about

Mid-Autumn Festival through craftwork.

Did you know that there are 7 universal facial

expressions? These are our favourite ones.

It was certainly challenging writing calligraphy and doing Chinese painting on lanterns

but the results were worth the effort!

10

Mid-Autumn Festival The school came alive with activities to celebrate the festival. Pupils of

different ethnicity came together to learn, appreciate and understand the

culture and tradition that is different from their own. Let’s take a look at

some of the highlights of the celebration!

Ms Ros with her handmade

handkerchief jade rabbit.

We can go for a walk while enjoying the beautiful full moon with

these paper lanterns. Perhaps we can learn Chinese language

along the way too?

Who doesn’t love brain teasers and

challenging riddles?

Everyone in school definitely had fun!

11

Resumption of Face-to-Face CCAs

In view of the latest guidelines from Ministry Of Education (MOE), we have commenced face-to-face

CCA sessions for some of our CCAs such as the Sports and Performing Arts groups. After 6 months of

online CCA engagements, our pupils were excited to return to physical CCA sessions where they

could experience more social connectedness and opportunities to interact with their peers.

All face-to-face CCA activities are moderated by SMM guidelines. This is to ensure that our pupils’

well-being is taken care of while they are engaged meaningfully during training sessions.

2 versus 2 in a game of Badminton.

Every Volleyball player practises with

her own ball as there is strictly no

sharing of balls during training.

Our Malay dancers dancing within

safe distance from one another.

Our Soccer boys carrying out

individual drills during training.

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The virtual Mid-Autumn Festival celebration organised by Nanyang CC provided our pupils a platform

to showcase their talents. Not only did they sing but they recited poetry as well. They were very

enthusiastic during the recording process and they sang their hearts out. From the words of Cavan from

1C, “My parents would be so proud of me!”

You can watch the performance

(starting from 31:28 min) here.

Virtual Mid-Autumn Festival@Nanyang CC

Meaningful Partnerships

Dawn and Shi Huan were very glad that they were given the

opportunity to take part in the virtual performance.

1C pupils wished everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

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Treats & Tricks Treats & Tricks

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