Term 2
Staff Learning Symposium
On 24 June 2022, our TMJC staff attended the annual TMJC Staff Learning Symposium.
The focus of the symposium was to understand more about the implementation of Personalised Digital Learning Programme (PDLP) in schools and what teachers can do to prepare ourselves for our incoming batch of students with their personal learning devices.
The first half of the Learning Symposium focused on looking outwards and understand the educational landscape at the Secondary level. We had the privilege of having our fellow colleague, Mrs Wendy Goh, School Staff Developer of Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School, to share with us about the challenges faced while implementing the Personalised Digital Learning Programme (PDLP) and Full Subject-Based Banding (FSBB) in secondary schools. She shared insights on how teaching practices have changed in the classrooms where teachers came together to deepen their skills in e-pedagogy. Our staff also had the opportunity to engage in a dialogue session with Mrs Goh, discussing topics such as differentiated instruction and partnership with parents.
In the second half of the Learning Symposium, staff was given time to understand and apply the principles of e-pedagogy through group discussions and hands-on e-lessons design. Our ICT Committee teachers facilitated the sessions, highlighting the different stages of e-lesson design. There were a lot of buzz and excitement exploring the possibilities of how technology can be harnessed in activating our student’s learning!
Leadership Training Workshop
During the June break, TMJC’s Student Leaders came together for a two-and-a-half day Leadership Training Workshop from 3 to 5 June 2022, to equip them with the necessary skills and mindset for their leadership journey ahead. The Leadership Training Workshop was conducted face-to-face in College, in adherence to the Safe Management Measures.
During the Workshop, our newly elected JC1 Student Leaders were introduced and guided on the fundamentals of the 5 leadership practices in The Leadership Challenge through a series of mental and physical activities.
Our Student Leaders crafted their vision and came up with action plans for possible projects that they would like to initiate during their leadership term. The Workshop also provided ample opportunities for our Student Leaders to build camaraderie with their fellow peers to form a strong TMJC Student Leaders’ community.
With strong foundation in the 5 leadership practices and unwavering support within the Student Leaders’ community, we hope our JC1 Student Leaders are ready and eager to take up the baton from their seniors.
We wish them all the best in their leadership term!
2022 Pre-University Seminar
A group of 20 students represented Tampines Meridian Junior College at this year’s Pre-University Seminar from 31 May to 3 June 2022. An important event for all Pre-University institutions, this year’s Pre-University Seminar theme is ‘Service: Forging the Singapore Story’. The theme was inspired by Prime Minister (PM) Lee’s National Day Rally 2021 speech, where he inspired Singaporeans to consider ways in which everyone could play a part in service to the nation.
Our students were given the chance to learn from the rich experiences of various guest speakers and were able to keenly appreciate how individuals from different walks of life have contributed to Singapore. The empathy cultivated through active listening and engagement inspired our students to envision and imagine the future of Singapore, one in which they could serve the community and the nation.
At the Opening Ceremony, the Guest of Honour was Minister for Education Mr. Chan Chun Sing. Our students were challenged to be curious, connected, and confident, so as to take on the mantle to lead Singapore to SG100. In particular, under the College’s allocated subtheme of ‘Resilience’, our students embarked on learning journeys to Keppel Harbour and the Singapore Maritime Gallery to learn about the resilience of past generations.
Inspired to play an active role in Singapore’s future, our students shared how they could contribute to creating a resilient Singapore. Over the course of the Seminar, our students were empowered to work on their respective projects. This eventually culminated in an exhibition, where our students confidently presented their project deliverables to guests.
The Closing Ceremony was graced by Mr. Alvin Tan, Minister of State for the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and our TMJC students were inspired to play their part in shaping the Singapore Story.
SBS Transit CARES Kindness 2022
On 27th May 2022, in conjunction with SBS Transit CARES Kindness Month, students from the Interact Club designed a postcard to give to members of the public to promote kindness towards bus captains. The students also prepared an appreciation board, care packs and set up a welfare corner for the staff working at Tampines Bus Interchange and the Tampines Downtown Line MRT Station. The students were glad to have the opportunity to interact and personally express their gratitude to the bus captains.
The TMJC family would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who have been tirelessly working to ensure that our daily commute around Singapore is smooth and safe.
JC1 SG Perspectives - Ministry of Foreign Affairs Engagement Session
On 20 May, JC1 students had the unique opportunity to engage Singapore’s former Ambassador to Qatar, His Excellency Mr Wong Kwok Pun, in dialogue. The Ambassador’s engagement session was part of the ‘SG Perspectives’ Programme which seeks to broaden students’ perspectives of Singapore’s foreign policy and how it affects them. The session took place in the library with our Citizenship Education Ambassadors as live audience, while the rest of the JC1 cohort tuned in via broadcast at the various venues in college.
Through Ambassador Wong’s sharing, students were sensitised to the key principles of Singapore’s foreign policy and her persistent vulnerabilities as a small country. They also learnt about how foreign policy impacts their lives. Finally, our students engaged him in dialogue on contemporary issues that impact Singapore—such as the Ukrainian crisis and US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The college would like to thank Ambassador Wong for this most enriching session. The college would also like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education (Character & Citizenship Education Branch) for co-organising this dialogue for the benefit of our students.
Arts and Humanities Week
The inaugural Arts and Humanities Week took place from the 9th to 13th of May this year. The theme, ‘Making Waves’, captured the spirit of the week that allowed Arts and Humanities students to make waves by sharing their interest in their subjects with each other as well as the College.
Led by a JC2 Student Organising Committee, both JC1 and JC2 students came together to curate a spectrum of projects to showcase, bringing together skills and content learnt from various Arts and Humanities subjects. There were skits, exhibitions, crafts, poetry recitations, and games that allowed those who attended to learn something new and get a taste of how the arts and humanities can be relevant to society.
The Week also featured a Speaker Series, specifically for the Arts and Humanities students. On Wednesday, 11th May, NUS History Professor, Ian Gordon, shared his knowledge about how History and Art, in the form of comics, can work together. And on Friday, 13th May, Jamie Lee and Mark Tan from the Madhatter Project demonstrated how History and Literature can be weaved together in the performing arts as a platform to reach out to people and share ideas on important issues.
The week ended with a Finale Concert displaying some of the very best showcase projects, a Kahoot Quiz and a video montage capturing the many engaging moments of the week. The Arts and Humanities students will indeed continue to make waves here in TMJC.
International Friendship Day x EU @ Your School 2022
From 18 April – 9 May, TMJC commemorated International Friendship Day to imbue in students an appreciation for diversity and cross-cultural awareness. The theme was ‘Singapore in Asia (and Beyond)’ and the commemoration focused on deepening students’ understanding of the friendships nurtured in the ASEAN region, one of the world’s fastest-growing economic blocs. Our international students created a series of engaging multimedia presentations that featured the unique sights, sounds and stories of Southeast Asia. To increase their cultural sensitivity via hands-on learning, students participated in culturally significant games and pastimes such as shadow puppetry during their Character & Citizenship lessons. Students also learnt about the opportunities present in ASEAN to combat climate change together, a matter of grave importance given that the region is one of the world’s most vulnerable to climate change.
To gain exposure to the world beyond ASEAN, students had the invaluable opportunity to hear from the Danish Ambassador to Singapore, Ms Sandra Jensen Landi. Her visit is part of the “EU @ Your School Project” that seeks to broaden global perspectives through an introduction to the rich and diverse cultures of Europe. Students learnt about the EU and many interesting aspects of Danish culture. Our newly minted Citizenship Education Ambassadors also engaged her in dialogue on contemporary issues that impact Denmark, ASEAN and the World.
The commemoration came to a close with a special invitation from the Royal Danish Embassy for one of our Citizenship Education Ambassadors to join the Deputy Head of Mission, Ms Birgit Dohmann Chang, in a tree-planting activity on 9 May to commemorate Europe Day 2022. The event demonstrated Singapore-EU solidarity with Ukraine and symbolised hope for a brighter future through the joint commitment between the EU and Singapore to combat climate change.
The College would like to thank the Royal Danish Embassy for enriching our students in myriad ways!
Floorball Girls Win
Today our Floorball Girls Team played against VJC’s Floorball Team at the National School Games ‘A’ Division Finals.
Excited, a hundred-strong team of supporters from both JC1 and JC2 made their way down to Our Tampines Hub to cheer them on. The college spirit was strong!
Both teams played hard and showed much sportsmanship. Our girls demonstrated admirable determination and a fighting spirit, emerging victorious!
Congratulations to our girls!
GP Day 2022
General Paper (GP) Day which was held on 6 May 2022 took on a bold new direction as we hosted our inaugural GP Day Unconference in partnership with The Birthday Collective. The Birthday Collective is a not-for-profit organisation that encourages actionable and involved advocacy. The theme for the GP Day Unconference was “ RESTART SG: Possibilities for the road ahead ” and the aim of the Unconference was to create a safe place for conversations about Singapore, and to appreciate and respect the diversity of opinions among Singaporeans while discussing how we can grow and progress together as a nation.
As Unconferences are participant-driven and less top-down than conventional conferences, our students were actively involved in the brainstorming and selection of topics for Breakout Rooms. The discussions in Breakout Rooms were also facilitated by a group of student facilitators who were trained by The Birthday Collective to adopt Open Space Technology, an innovative and emergent facilitation technique. Rich, authentic and meaningful dialogues took place in the Breakout Rooms as students shared their views on a range of local issues of significance such as gender inequality, mental health, work-life harmony, elitism and casual racism. Students were empowered to gain ownership of important local issues and come up with their own solutions which led to the development of active advocacy and empathy.
In the week leading up to GP Day, students also enjoyed an exciting range of Fringe Activities which included the 2nd run of our JC1 Meme Competition, a GP Day Special Edition Kahoot Quiz which revolved around local trivia, and lunch-time video screenings of local music and walking tours hosted by Singaporean celebrities and influencers.
International Biomedical Quiz
In April this year, 20 Biology students represented the College at the International Biomedical Quiz. Preparation for the competition required them to read widely and beyond the syllabus on Oncology, which includes the diagnosis and treatment of Cancer.
We are proud to share that our students won one silver award, two bronze medals, and 6 merit awards.
Silver Award:
ZHAO PEISONG (21S302)
Bronze Awards:
NATHANIEL HUGO GRATIAN LIN (21S301)
LOW YONG XIANG (21S304)
Merit Awards:
DO THIEN PHUC (21S301)
KOUNLASATTY MANIVONG (21S301)
LIM JING HENG JACKY (21S301)
BRYAN LIM WAY HERN (21S307)
JULIA THET MON SOE (21S307)
YVONNE LIAW QIAN YU (21S308)
Congratulations to all participants!
College Day 2022
On 29 April, the College celebrated the efforts and achievements of the Class of 2021.College Day 2022 exemplifies the College theme “Be Better Together.” With a relaxation of SMM, this is the first College Day after two years where there are live performances by students. The guests, awardees, parents and staff came together to enjoy the wonderful music and movements presented by the Symphonic Band and Modern Dance, and witnessed the presentation of awards to distinguished students.
At the ceremony, our Principal, Ms Pamela Yoong recounted how the graduating cohort of 2021 braved their two years in JC with the full suite of safe management measures, and despite most College activities pivoting online, the cohort still grew together as a close-knit community and made lasting friendships and beautiful memories. Indeed, the Class of 2021 pulled in the most impressive A-Level achievements thus far, attesting to the proud fact that even the pandemic could not thwart their determination to reach for the stars.
The College sincerely wishes the awardees all the very best in their future endeavours.
TMJCians of the Class of 2021: we are proud of you & we look forward to having you back as alumni among our TMJC family! Be Better Together!
TMJC Hari Raya Celebrations 2022
To celebrate this joyous occasion, our College organised a two-part programme. The first part was an online assembly programme on the 25th April 2022. The opening segment featured an impressive Malay traditional dance performance by our own Malay Language Elective Programme (MLEP) students. This graceful performance was choreographed by the students, with the help of their teacher mentors to showcase a glimpse of our college’s MLEP niche programme that focuses on the beautiful Malay heritage and culture.
Following this was an educational video, ‘Hari Raya, around the world!’ by our Citizenship Education Student Ambassadors. This video showcased some popular practices by Muslims during Ramadan which include, eating of the dates and Terawih prayers. Hari Raya is also celebrated differently in Singapore, Philippines and the Middle East. The online programme ended with a video collage of meaningful Hari Raya greetings by our staff and students to all Muslims in TMJC!
The second part was held on the 5th May 2022 where the College provided a Hari Raya Lunch Bento Set for all our Muslim students. Our JC1 and JC2 MLEP students hosted the session by welcoming all students and distributing the lunch packs to them. The students enjoyed their scrumptious meals at our Heritage Gallery.
The College would like to take this opportunity to wish all Muslims ‘Selamat Hari Raya!’.
MTL Fortnight 2022- Embracing our Language and Culture
With the objective to create an immersive environment for learning and appreciating Mother Tongue Languages and Cultures, the MTL Department organized the Mother Tongue Fortnight 2022 for our students.Three student emcees kick-started our event on 18 April, presenting to the college the Fortnight’s programme highlights in 3 different Mother Tongue Languages. With “A Quote A Day”, our student presenters also shared a Chinese, Malay, or Tamil proverb with their insights during morning assembly, to motivate their peers in their learning.
A whole array of common enrichment activities was carried out by the 3 language units to ignite the students’ interest in mother tongue languages. This included: the broadcasting of ethnic songs before morning assemblies, online quizzes on language and cultural knowledge, and students’ presentation of cultural topics during lesson time.
The Malay unit organized the Translation Competition for the H2 MLL students to sharpen their language skills. The H2 MLL students were also facilitators for the J1 H1 Malay Cultural Trail, actively engaging the J1 students to take part in an exciting time of completing station games. Each station comprised of interactive games that revolved around Malay belief systems, traditional folklores, delicious cuisines, and nostalgic games. The trail activities culminated in the finale when members in each group had to dress up one representative by tying the traditional kain samping. The group with the most creative design would emerge as the winner.
Presenting Tamil as a language close to the students’ hearts, was the main theme of the Tamil unit’s enrichment activities. The H2 TLL students embarked on a quest to create short videos to document the history of the Tamil Language and Culture in Singapore. They attended a guided tour around the Indian Heritage Centre with a docent who explained interesting artifacts on Tamil Language, Literature, and Culture. The students would choose one artifact and create a video to share their learning takeaways. The H2 TLL, H1Tamil and Higher Tamil students participated in an Indian Traditional Folk Music Workshop to learn about various traditional music instruments. One of the highlights was for each student to learn to play the Parai, a drum used in traditional folk music. Students had an exhilarating time drumming to the beats of folk music and appreciating the cultural aspects of the music.
Music and movies were the main highlights of our Chinese unit’s enrichment activities. We have invited renowned local movie directors Royston Tan and Jun Chong to share with our J1 H1 Chinese and Higher Chinese students meaningful local short films and movies that focused on cultural themes. Local singers Rao Zi Jie and Cherelle sang their hearts out with a repertoire of Chinese pop songs, bringing joy to our student audience. The H2 CLL students hosted the Chinese Song Dedication in Multi-Purpose Hall, providing a platform for students to dedicate songs to their teachers and peers. Last but not least, the J1 and J2 H2CLL students also took part in the Modern Poetry Appreciation and Translation Workshop, conducted by local poet Chow Teck Seng. Under the guidance of Poet Chow, the students had an enriching session of analysing and translating poems.
All participating students were also gifted a highlighter with a proverb in their respective Mother Tongue, to encourage them to embrace their mother tongue language and culture. This encapsulated the essence of the Mother Tongue Fortnight 2022: “To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world”.
Mathematics Awareness Fortnight (MAF)
TMJC’s Mathematics Awareness Fortnight (MAF) was held from 11 April – 22 April 2022. The MAF encourages students to develop a spirit of inquiry beyond the curriculum, discover and appreciate the beauty of Mathematics in different areas of our lives, and experience the joy of learning Mathematics.
The theme for this year is “TMJC Mathematics Cup 2022”. Student volunteers were empowered and mentored by Mathematics Subject Tutors to come up with interesting and fun activities for their peers.
Similar to last year, the MAF was conducted via Google Classroom and students participated, as a class, in a plethora of 5 challenges ranging from challenging Math problems to fun puzzles such as The Soccer Globe, Soccer-doku, and The Lost Trophy.
The highlight of the MAF was the MAF Electives, conducted during one of the Math lessons by TMJC Math teachers. During the MAF Electives, students were exposed to topics and applications of Math outside the curriculum such as the Math of COVID and Probability in Betting as well as Drawing with Graphing Calculator.
TMJC Alumni Exco Meeting With School Leaders
On 9th April 2022, the TMJC Alumni Exco had a meeting with our School Leaders. With the easing of the Covid-19 measures, we were able to host a face-to-face meeting on campus.
For TMJC, it is important for us to build a strong alumni community to support the holistic development of our TMJCians. This first face-to-face meeting for the year serves to chart the work from the previous year, set directions for the different activities, and share the work plans for various subcommittees. During the meeting, the Partnerships Committee shared about our TMJC OnePlus Alumni Model, which connects the current TMJC Alumni with Alumni of our Parent Colleges’ (TPJC and MJC).
After the meeting, our TMJC Alumni Exco also had the opportunity to observe and participate in the Passing of Torch Ceremony of our Tampines Meridian Student Council during their Student Leaders Training.
Student Leaders Training
On the 8th and 9th of April 2022, TMJC held its Student Leaders Training for the Civics Groups Chairpersons (CGCs), Peer Support Leaders (PSLs) and the Tampines Meridian Student Council (TMSC). All 3 groups of leaders aimed to bring their juniors together to build camaraderie, lay the foundations of leadership knowledge and skills as well as share their own rich experiences.
JC2 Student Leaders carefully curated their respective programmes for the various Student Leader groups. The newly elected CGCs had their hands full as they went on a journey of self-discovery while working together to challenge the process and seek solutions to potential problems. The newly elected PSLs were equipped with useful knowledge and skills to better support their peers and gained confidence from the honest sharing of their seniors.
The 4th TMSC had spent months carefully curating a meaningful training programme consisting of both workshops and games that would initiate their juniors into the role of a student councillor. As encouraging the College Spirit through house-based activities is one of the aims of the Student Council, a House Bonding Session which allowed House seniors to reflect and impart lessons learnt from their own leadership journey experiences to their juniors was also carried out.
Unique to the TMSC leadership experience is the Passing of Torch Ceremony, an initiation ceremony carried out at the end of the TMSC Training programme that simulates the symbolic passing of the responsibilities of the TMSC through the generations of TMSC. A flame was passed from the teacher advisors to the alumni representatives of previous TMSC cohorts, then to the 4th TMSC and then finally to our newly initiated 5th TMSC. This tradition has been a very meaningful one signifying the graduation of the 4th TMSC and the start of the SC journey of the 5th TMSC. It also marked the passing of responsibilities, legacy and vision as a TMSC from the 4th to the 5th batch.
With the strong friendships forged, wise words from their seniors and guidance from their teachers, the College is confident that this batch of Student Leaders will give their utmost best to support their peers, lead their classes and serve their College.
“When leaders are doing their best, they Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart.” – Jim Kouzes & Barry Posner, authors of The Leadership Challenge.’
Healthy April @ TMJC!
In the month of April, TMJC celebrates the gift of life and encourages each other to lead healthy lives!
TMJC Healthy April 2022 began with the staff learning some easy but helpful stretching exercises with the exercise band during one of our Staff Meetings. It was a wonderful time of being together and engaging in a communal activity with great benefits to our body!
Fresh fruits in the colors of the Rainbow were also given to every colleague during that meeting. We are a firm believer that regular exercise must be paired with a healthy diet!
DRAMANEKA 2022
DRAMANEKA 2022 is a pilot project by our JC2 Malay Language Elective Programme (MLEP) students to recreate scenes from drama texts offered by the H2 Malay Language and Literature syllabus so as to heighten their understanding of the texts. Through recreation of some important scenes in those selected dramas, students could explore the importance of characterization in presenting pertinent ideas to the audience.
The two texts selected for this project are Anjing Untuk Diplomat (A Dog for the Diplomat) by Hamed Ismail and Terbelenggu (Trapped) by Amanah Mustafi.
Culminated on 1 April 2022, students were given three weeks to prepare for the presentation which included sourcing appropriate costumes, props, and audio effects as well as memorising lines. Despite the short time, they took up the challenge and showed sheer dedication and good teamwork to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Without much experience in theater productions, the students displayed pure grit and courage to learn new skills and rise to the tasks assigned. Their portrayal of the important characters in both dramas is indeed praiseworthy.
Hopefully, this project will continue for the years to come and become a useful platform for our MLEP students to nurture their love for Malay literature.
Green Bean Soup Treat by Ms Yoong
The March holidays came and went in a jiffy! Before we knew it, Term 2 was in full swing! To kick start this brand new term, Our Principal, Ms Yoong has kindly catered refreshing Green Bean Soup for all staff to enjoy on the 25th of March! The warm, yummilicious dessert was catered by our Muslim and Western canteen stalls.
Thank you, Ms Yoong!
Australian Informatics Olympiad
On 26 August 2021, two of our JC1 students (Le Tu Quoc Dat and Nguyen Anh Duc from 21S101) participated in the Australian Informatics Olympiad. We are pleased to share that Le Tu Quoc Dat was awarded the Silver Medal while Nguyen Anh Duc was awarded the Bronze Medal.
The Australian Informatics Olympiad is an annual open computer programming competition which focuses on the students’ problem solving through their programming skills.
Congratulations to all awardees! We are indeed proud of your achievements!
Singapore Physics & Biology Olympiads
In November 2021, 8 JC1 Physics and 14 JC1 Biology students represented the College at the Singapore Physics & Biology Olympiads respectively.
Preparation for the competition required much independent learning as students had to internalise and apply concepts typically taught in JC2 via self-reading and consolidation sessions.
We are proud to share that one of our students was awarded a Bronze medal for the Physics Olympiad while 6 students received a Certificate of Merit for the Biology Olympiad. The winners are as follows:
Physics
Bronze medal
LE TE QUOC DAT 21S101
Biology
Merit award
- NATHANIEL HUGO GRATIAN LIN 21S301
- WENG JE JED 21S301
- KOUNLASATTY MANIVONG 21S301
- JEROME TAM YU YANG 21S301
- YVONNE LIAW QIAN YU 21S308
- ZHAO PEISONG 21S302
School Visit by Mr. Tony Low, Zonal Director for Schools (East)
On 30 March 2022, Zonal Director for Schools (East), Mr. Tony Low, visited TMJC.
The visit is an outreach practice by the Ministry of Education (MOE) where senior management in MOE visits schools to engage in dialogue with staff on professional matters and to better understand our students’ learning and well-being.
The visit to TMJC started with a tour of our College, led by the student leaders of the Tampines Meridian Student Council. Mr. Low visited various parts of our Campus which included observing a Theatre Studies & Drama lesson in the Performance Lab, and also had the opportunity to hear the sharing by our students about our College’s green efforts at our Greenhouses.
During the dialogue, our staff were enthusiastic and raised questions to seek clarifications on educational policies. It was a valuable session for the participants as Mr. Low, through his responses, provided a macro-perspective of the Ministry’s work in supporting schools across all levels.
