Back to School II

Back in school again today at SCGS, my alma mater. 
Loved surprising my daughter and seeing the look of terror on her face! Hahaha. I think what tickled my friend most (who led me to my daughter's class) was what I said to my daughter when she stepped out of her class, "Where is your badge?!". :D Once a teacher, always a teacher. Certain things cannot be unseen. 
Never knew I missed teacher chat so much. Maybe one day I may just return to teaching. 

My girl and my former colleague, Mrs Fern

My former student! Now Mrs Ang teaching my girl Geography

Love the food, the chat and most of all, the company!

Back to School

I was back at SCGS today, not as an old girl, former teacher or parent but as a researcher. There are many hats I wear with regards to SCGS. :) 
I managed to meet two of my former teachers, Mrs Jean Chan and Mrs Quek and also my former student, Arlene Pang. :D I didn't meet my girl though lol. 
I will be back in SCGS again tomorrow morning. Maybe I can meet more familiar faces. :)

Mama, I saw you in the School Library!

That was what Juliane texted me two days ago. I was at NIE the entire time and I didn't go out for data collection that day and certainly not at SCGS. The next moment, I received the below photo.

Juliane found me in one of the past year SCGS school magazine! "OMG, 1987!", she said. Yes, it is a long time ago haha. A bonus, at least Juliane is using the library. :P 

SCGS Annual CNY Gathering 2017

Once a year, we gather together to celebrate CNY and our long-lasting friendship with great company and food. 

We are planning to meet a little more often than once a year, maybe twice a year haha. :D

SCGS Open House 2016

We went to the SCGS Open House 2016, 9am - 2pm. My former colleagues were tickled to see me there with my younger girl. We were fake new parent and child haha. 

Prelims

Juliane will be having her Prelims this week. The Parent Support Group at SCGS has prepared a little care pack for all the P6 students. It is a really heart-warming and supportive gesture.

Stationery, bookmark, notebook, card of encouragement, snacks (already eaten)

All the best for your Prelims, Juliane. Good Luck!

3-in-1 Workshop

Today, my boss conducted a full day workshop at SCGS. It became a 3-in-1 workshop for me.
First purpose: I was interested to learn about the topic. 
Second purpose: Juliane was also in school for her study camp. We could go home together. 
Third purpose: I caught up with my former SCGS colleagues and my former students who are now teachers in SCGS too! :)

Lunch with My Student

I met up with my 2000 Primary 4 Prudence student, Lizzie for lunch today after 16 years! I can't believe that I taught her that many years ago. She is much taller than I remembered her to be haha. Actually I remember all my ex-students as they were in Primary 4! :P We had a great time chatting about the times in SCGS, and what's happening in life now. 

Let's meet up again soon. :)

Surprise!

What a wonderful surprise to meet my SCGS 4P 1998 student, Yvette Leong who is also a fellow educator now!! It's always wonderful to know when one of my students has taken up teaching as a career. :)

Thanks for calling out to me! All the best for your teaching career. :) Keep in touch!

SCGS Annual CNY Gathering 2016

It's that favourite time of ours during CNY again - our annual SCGS CNY gathering! As usual, we are surrounded by good food (lo hei, mee siam, kuah pi tie, fish cutlet, chicken wings, mutton curry, roast pork, home-made ice cream, ondeh ondeh, cake), good wine and great friends! 
Lots of food and laughter. :D  

Lo Hei! 

The famous Mee Siam cooked by Karen! YUM!

Kuah Pie Ti by Karen too! :)

Delicious Fish Cutlets cooked by Hsiao! :)

New in 2016. Roast Pork cooked by Navin! 2017 please! :)

Laksa Ice Cream made by Peng Han! Love it :)

Beetroot Ondeh Ondeh made by Karen. Sweet! :)

Blackforest Cake brought by us and Juliane cutting it. 

All of us (watching Forzen - Let it Go!) Lol

Can't wait for next CNY gathering! Actually we don't have to wait till CNY to have Karen's mee siam, right?! Hahaha. :P 

SCGS Parents' Briefing 2016

I was at SCGS's P5 & P6 Parents' Briefing 2016 this morning. It started at 8am and was followed by Form and Co-Form Teachers's Address, Science and Chinese Language Workshops. It ended just after 12:30pm. 
Juliane followed me to school and managed to finish her homework when I was attending the Parents' briefing. I made her sit in at the workshops at the suggestion of my former SCGS colleague who is now HOD haha. It makes good sense, Juliane will be the one going through PSLE so it will help her to understand what's required of her. It was also good practice for her to take notes during the workshops. :) 
For today, I am really happy to be a parent and put down my hat of an educator.    

Yearbook Observation

Marieann was in the school library yesterday and found some SCGS yearbooks. She happened to locate a 1995 yearbook and found me in it. She told me: "You are so skinny!". 
Well, what do you expect? That's almost 20 years ago. At least, I only put on 6 kg since then, from 46kg to 52kg (after two births)! An achievement I thought lol. :P 

NE Champion

I saw this badge. It belongs to Marieann. 

"What's a NE Champ?" I asked. 
Instead of explaining to me, she showed me this handout, "Leadership Training for Emerging Leaders".
My eyes widened. 
In the handout, it stated that emerging leaders include AV Monitress, Monitress, NE Champion, Quiet Captain, Eco Caption, etc. 
My jaws dropped! 
The qualities of a NE (National Education) Champion are: 
Positive attitude towards her love for the country
Familiar with the key NE messages
Confident speaker
Responsible and able to relay instructions to classmates
The role of a NE Champion is: 
To showcase school's efforts in NE
Assist in the implementation of NE related events
Selected few to be MCs for NE related events 
No wonder Marieann was memorising her MC script for the Total Defence Day event in school back in February. 

Quite a few things went through my mind. '
First of all, I am surprised that Marieann is seen as an emerging student leader by her teacher. I have always seen her as neither a leader nor a follower. Guess I need to reassess my knowledge and understanding of my daughter. 
Second, I am proud of who she is becoming. I hope with this experience as a NE Champ (emerging leader), she will learn valuable life skills and lessons that will prepare her for the future.
Third, what a coincidence that Marieann is now a NE Champ. I used to be the NE coordinator when I was teaching in SCGS lol. :P

SCGS CNY Gathering 2014

The long-awaited SCGS CNY gathering is finally here. Yes, I waited two years for the gathering as I missed the one in 2013 due to the clash with my organisation's staff lunch. 
Mee Siam, I missed you so much. Kueh Pie Tee, I missed you too. Both cooked by Karen, most delicious! Not to mention this year, there was pork ribs curry cooked by Hsiao's husband! The curry was mild as he toned it down. :) It went really well with the basmati rice. The fish cutlets (made by Hsiao) and brownies (made by Hsiao and her elder boy) were yummy! :) The dark chocolate ice cream and lemongrass ice cream (made by Steph's husband) were fantastic! :)
Oh yes, I missed my SCGS friends too. :) Somehow over 2013, I had been too busy to catch up after having missed the CNY gathering. I have forgotten how much my throat would be sore after all the laughing and talking at our CNY gathering.
This year I forgot to take photos of the food, being hungry and all when I arrived at 1+pm lol. Intended to take photos of the mee siam, chicken wings, kueh pie tee and brownies which I packed home for dinner but again, I forgot in the haste to eat the yummy food. :P

SCGS girl is The Final 1!

My girls have been following The Final 1. At first, I thought it was just a case of watching some reality competition show like the American Idol or The Voice. It turned out that they were following The Final 1 because of one of the top 10 finalists - Farisha. I asked them what is so special about Farisha. They replied, "She is from SCGS!". Oh ok, that explains a lot lol. They are definitely true blue SCGS girls with the kind of fierce loyalty that only SCGS girls will show/ give to another SCGS girl. :) 
My girls are really happy that Farisha won and is The Final 1! Way to go, Farisha. You did SCGS proud!! :)

Parent-Teacher Meetings

After my counselling, I rushed down to SCGS for my girls' Parent-Teacher meetings. The first one was scheduled at 2:25pm with Marieann's  form teacher at the school hall. Although I was 10 minutes early, her form teacher, who is also my former SCGS colleague, went ahead of schedule to meet with me. After meeting Marieann's form teacher, I went on to meet Marieann's Chinese teacher and followed by Juliane's Chinese teacher since the Chinese teachers were also stationed in the hall. 
I arrived at my 3.25pm PTM with Juliane's teachers around 2:40pm at the P3 classroom. I waited patiently as I was very early for my session (actually I used the time to play my Candy Crush Saga lol. That stupid Level 147 is killing me!! :( ). However, blessed Juliane's teachers, they felt bad that I was waiting for so long that they kept telling me they would see me next but another set of parents would turn up lol. Told them to follow the appointments scheduled. They finally met me at 3:10pm. :) Juliane's form teacher taught Marieann in P4 and Julie's co-form teacher is my former SCGS colleague. We had a very enjoyable and open conversation.
The detailed feedback given by the girls' teachers have been very constructive and encouraging. :) I can better help my girls now.

SCGS Family Day 2013

The sisters went to their school's Family Day at West Coast Park in the morning. Their father dropped them off at SCGS at 6.45am and they then took the transport provided by school to the park (and later back to school again). According to the girls, there were mass skipping, inter-class/ inter-CCA relays, mini fair, and prize giving. By the time, they arrived back home was close to 1pm.

The only souvenirs Marieann bought, the rest were food and drinks

Juliane started having a very bad headache in the afternoon and continued till the evening. We had to call in the family doctor. It seemed that she suffered a minor heatstroke. Sigh. Juliane was told to take plenty of liquids and was also given medication for her headache.

SC Cares Family Carnival 2012

SCGS had their carnival today. The official opening was at 10am but most of the stalls started as early as 8.30am. Marieann, Juliane and I arrived around 9.45am because Marieann was on duty at her class's game stall from 10am-11am.
While Marieann was on duty, Juliane and I went round to look at the other stalls. We returned just before 11am to Marieann's class stall. Juliane supported her sister's class by playing at their game stall. After her duty, Marieann decided to join her friends. Juliane and I went on our own again. We bought cakes, and jellies to bring home. I also bought a handmade purse, a SCGS mug and a SCGS souvenir. :) Marieann joined us around 1pm and we had some food and drinks. We also tried our hand at scrap booking which was really fun and therapeutic lol. :) Not to mention, we got a bit of leg rest too after being on our feet for more than three hours lol. :P
There were more food stalls at this carnival as compared to the last one which I thought was a really good idea. I managed to catch up with a couple of my SCGS ex-colleagues as well as a few of my classmates. :) We finally left for home just after 3pm. We were really exhausted but we enjoyed ourselves too.

Some of the goodies we bought and our handicraft

SCGS CNY Gathering

Like every CNY, we have our SCGS gathering. It was held at Steph's place this year, from 12.30pm till 5pm. Unfortunately my friends didn't receive my email that my family and I would be late, arriving around 1.30pm. Hmm, wondering if it could be a problem with my iPad as I sent out the email from it. The email is shown as sent but none of my friends received it. Really strange.
At 1pm, my friend, Karen called up to check where I was because being late is really out of character for me. I am usually early, if not, on time haha. However, we were actually much later, arriving only close to 2.30pm even though we set off for Steph's place at 1.10pm. The girls' father had lost his way and he only admitted he was lost at 2pm and called for help. SIGH.
Thank goodness, my friends waited for us for the Loi He. :) Despite being really late, we had a good time chatting away and eating, of course lol. Karen's mee siam, chicken wings and kuah pie ti!! Never tired of them even though we have them every year! :) We also had foie gras and tau kua pau. :)
Unfortunately this year we didn't manage to take a group photo as Steph's kids had to leave for an art competition. Next CNY then.

Gathering Missed

My SCGS friends had a gathering today to view the photos from our Bali trip as well as to settle some bills. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling too well and had to miss the gathering. :( Wish I could be there to see the photos and also to show my photos. Oh and I missed out on the chocolate cake too... :( I hope the next gathering will be some time soon.