MGSKL Educational School Trip to Singapore 2011

LEARNING BEYOND BORDERS

MGSKL Educational Trip to Singapore Reflections

Written by : Ms Satkunamary

Visiting a neighbouring country on a school trip is a rare opportunity. Themed "Learning Beyond Borders" the Singapore trip was an enriching time of learning from the two schools we visited. Going to places around the island, enjoying the Night Safari and participating in various activities at the Universal Studios unleashed fresh energy in many of us, teachers. I. Standing at the foot of the roller coaster and hearing the screams of excitement as well as 'terror', I wished I was ten years younger to enjoy such exhilarating rides. I enjoyed the fun,,laughter and camaraderie amongst all of us on the trip. The 12 students with boundless energy and a'must-try-all' spirit added much vigour to the tour.

When we arrived at MGS in Blackmore Drive, the structure and design of the school with its Gallery was something to behold. The history of the school was very carefully and clearly carved out in the form of short write-ups and pictures. Reading the history of the school and the efforts of a simple yet strong lady^ Sophia Blackmore, the founder, I marveled at how a decision of a humble lady to leave the shores of homeland and the comfort of family and kin to come away as a missionary to an unknown part of the world at her time has touched lives through the century. She began with a few girls, teaching them in a house and like the ripple effect, the circle got bigger until a school was formed. One child at a time; meeting a need as the need arises: do I put this into my practice as a classroom teacher? These lives that pass through my hands year after year, the Form Fives, have I been able to give them more than the grammar and usage of English? I compared Sophia Blackmore to our own Mabel Marsh. We must make our students be aware of, know and appreciate the efforts and work of the early missionaries who set up MGSKL for the education of women in this country.

The teachers I met at MGS said they were happy to teach there. The discussion with the Head of Department for English was very useful. She explained some of the strategies they use to engage students in reading literature texts as they too face the challenge of electronic gadgets and games overpowering students' taste for reading. In that school, English is the first language for most of the students. Thus, their proficiency level is high. Nevertheless, lots of grammar and vocabulary building exercises are carried out.

The school's vision is to create Godly Women of Excellence with a Heart of Love. The mission: To educate every girl in a Christian environment in order that she may Master, Grow and Serve in every phase of her life. Aptly, the school motto is To Master, Grow and Serve. What impressed me further was how MGS aims to achieve its vision and mission, that is through the 3R Experience and the C3 staff. The 3 R experience - Developing the MGS girl through a Rigorous, Responsive and Relevant education, The C3 staff - Developing a Competent, Committed and Caring Staff. The C3 staff steers the students towards the 3R experience. One can say that MGS is so successful because they have the necessary 'ingredients' namely good facilities, good students, smart teachers and a long history of excellence. I would say that passion to teach and a passion to learn is the gel that holds all these components together and springs them on to success.

Kuo Chuan Presbyterian School was quite different from MGS. This co-ed school has students of mixed abilities. What impressed me there was the way students were engaged in various forms of learning after school hours. Walking down the corridors, we saw some students playing the Chinese harps, a group of boys were industriously working on their robotics, a lone student was putting her finishing touches to her large painting, a practice session for basketball was in progress and the list goes on. Nowhere in the school was any one idle or looking lost. The atmosphere around the school was very vibrant. The garden on the roof-top is an amazing creation of the teachers and students. I simply could not comprehend how this garden would have been set up.

The head of the English Department shared with us some of their teaching strategies and how they use a Whole School Approach (WSA) to raise the level of English Proficiency. The whole school works together towards providing a better language environment. In addressing the need to make reading more popular, the school promotes multi-modal literacies, the integration of text, visual and sound which caters to the needs of present day teenagers. We were also briefed on the school's new subject, Media Studies which is being offered at O Levels.

Much more can be said about what I saw, learnt and experienced during the Singapore trip. The exposure to the two schools has energized me and injected fresh ideas for my classroom practice. At the same time it was a good weekend with friends. I am glad I went on this trip.

Educational Trip to Singapore , 2011: My Reflections

LEARNING BEYOND BORDERS

Recently on the 15^th of September, a few teachers and students from MGSKL boarded a bus on the start of long and fun filled educational journey to the infamous 'Lion City' also known as our friendly neighbours Singapore. The journey took around five to six hours. We were all very excited at the thought of visiting Singapore as this was the maiden trip to Singapore for most of us. Throughout the whole journey we had a whole load of fun and we were happily singing songs and chatting away about the trip. At around 9.30p.m we reached the place we would call home for the next four days, the Girls' Brigade Hostel located at the Upper Serangoon Road. Everybody was exhausted by the long journey so we decided to just tuck in early and get a good rest. However at around 2.30a.m we were awakened by the shrill scream that came from one of our roommate. We were startled by the scream and frantically asked her what was wrong. She told us that she had felt somebody pulling her leg in her sleep. All of us comforted her and told her to stop thinking about it. Well none of us got any sleep after that as we were all terrified by the incident and also partially because of the ever famous ghost stories that originates from Singapore.
On the second day of the trip, we were visiting MGS Singapore, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian School, The Marina Bay Tower, and The Night Safari. Evidently it was a packed day. With the lack of sleep and excitement sending the wrong signals to our brains, we set of to see our other half, MGS Singapore. We were greeted warmly by the Vice Principal and a few of the staff. As many of the classes were having government exams during our visit, we were escorted around the school by the patient staffs who constantly reminded us to keep our voices low. They brought us into their wonderful conference room where we were told about their education system, their curricular activities and also their students achievements in the past years. They then brought us for a tour around the whole school and showed us all their facilities such as their library, auditorium, their music room and most interesting of all was the plant tissue culture lab. The plant tissue culture lab is where their Biology teacher and a few students experiment with various types of plants in an effort to make them more resistant to certain diseases, to produce a variation in the plants flower colours and also to create longer lasting plants. They were experimenting with plants like the Venus Fly Trap, Pitcher Plants and the Sundew plant. The teacher then demonstrated and gave a few students the chance to create their very own plant cultures. The teacher then let us bring a few samples that she had made earlier back to the school for the rest of us to try it out. Unfortunately soon it was time to end the tour and head to the Kuo Chuan Presbyterian School.
We arrived at the prestigious Kuo Chuan Presbyterian School at around 1.30p.m. We were greeted by the principal of the school, a few staff members and a group of students. We were then separated into groups of four and put under the care of the students. They were responsible for our well being and also to show us around the school compound. They brought us around the school and ensured that we had a good time. One of their very special features of their school is the 'Mustard Seed Program'. This is a program where selected students are handpicked and trained in the movie industry. They are thought everything about making a movie from cinematography to sound editing to directing their very own movie. The Kuo Chuan School is one of only five school in the whole of Singapore that have been given the permission to run this program. We then moved on to the robotics program where students that are interested in robot and technical field can take a special program and learn how to build their very own robots. After the school tour, the groups met up and decided to play games. They kept us entertained for one whole hour and we exchanged many different type of games. We had the time of our lives until it was time to head out. We bid our goodbyes, exchanged contact details and boarded the bus to the Marina Bay Tower. All of us left with a lot of valuable knowledge and cherished memories.
After lunch we made our way to Marina Bay Tower and enjoyed the view of Singapore from the second tallest building in the country. It was astonishing and breathtaking to see how much a small city like Singapore has grown and matured in the recent years. We also got a glimpse of the infamous infinite pool that has become a popular icon of the Lion City. Shortly after that we left the Tower for our final destination of the day, The Night Safari.
As we entered the Night Safari, we were all a little bit apprehensive as to what lay ahead. Many of the teachers and students were speculating and scaring each other with terrifying tales of the tigers walking around freely and the elephants carrying you out of the trams. We were comforted by our energetic guide, Mr. Jimmy that the animals are all tame and that they wouldn't attack any of the visitors. When we reached the packed area at 9.20p.m, we embarked on the journey fiiled with excitement and curiosity despite the tiring day. We learned many new things about the animals of the many continents in the world. The information that we learned from this twenty minute journey is more than we could ever have asked for. How unique the animals are up close and personal! They appear majestic and full of glory in their own habitats, and this in turn enables us to see the nature of this animals without being harmed. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget in my life. Soon after the Night Safari, we called it a night and got some sleep. Thankfully we did as the next day proved to be the most tiring yet awesome day of the trip.
Guess where we went on the third day of the trip? That's right, we went to the Universal Studios Singapore. Where do I begin in describing this one? Well we reached the Studios at around 10.30a.m. We were all so excited that we could barely contain ourselves. We were literally jumping for joy. We were amazed by the amount of details put into the entire place and astounded by the beauty of the place. The Universal Studios is divided into six parts namely Far Far Away that is dedicated to the Shrek franchise, Ancient Egypt that portrays the many wonders of Egypt, The Lost World that is dedicated to the Jurassic Park franchise, New York, Hollywood and last but not least The Sci Fi City that is dedicated to the Battlestar Galactica franchise. We were like five year olds in a candy shop with no budget. We were allowed to go on any ride that we wanted and if we were taking a time out from the rides, they even had various shows to keep us entertained all the time. Time flew by and soon it was 7.30p.m and getting dark. We had the best time of our lives and nobody wanted to leave.
After dinner we were scheduled to go for the pyrotechnic show entitled 'The Song Of The Sea'. This show was held at the beach an mainly focused on the use of lights and water to produce moving animations of perfect clarity. It was a blessing for students like us to see all that we study in Physics coming to life. The show was centered on the storyline that the lead character, Lee's voice is magical and capable of waking the sleeping princess Ami. Along the way he encounters many obstacles but he is determined to see the princesses beautiful face, therefore he perseveres and reaches his goal after all his efforts. The show was spectacular and mind blowing all at the same time. The amount of detail and time put into the show was definitely no wasted. With that our third day in Singapore came to an end.
Our fourth and final day was the easy going day of the entire trip. We packed our bags soon after waking up and had our breakfast. We were then given a tour of the city by Mr Jimmy. We visited the trademark of Singapore and the well known tourist attraction of all times, the Merlion. This Merlion is how the name 'Singapura' came about. Legend says that the emperor that first came to Singapore spotted a lion in the body of a fish and decided to name the island as 'Singapura' which translates to "Lions Home" in Sanskrit. After a brief photo shoot, Mr. Jimmy brought us to Bugis Street for shopping. We finished all our shopping by 12.30p.m and bid our farewell to Mr. Jimmy. We were then on our way back to Kuala Lumpur. We reached MGSKL at around 6.30p.m.
With that our four day trip has come to an end on a happy note. Even though we were all exhausted and tired both physically and mentally, we had the time of our lives and this was surely a trip that we will never forget in the near future. This trip has taught us that there is a mountain of knowledge that we can still obtain. We will never stop learning in our life and rather than waiting for the knowledge to come to us, we should go and explore the world and live our lives no matter what we are doing. We learned that if you have the will and ways, learning doesn't have borders or limits. Not even the sky is the limit. Always aim higher than expected. And don't forget that learning does happen beyond borders.
Prepared by Shumita – Tingkatan 4 Sains

Educational School Trip to Singapore 2011

LEARNING BEYOND BORDERS
written by : Foo Fang Ee

My Reflections

On the 15^th of September 2011, MGSKL organized a school trip to Singapore which I was lucky enough to be part of. It was a four days three nights trip that was filled with fun and excitement. Not only did I find it educational but also inspiring. The schools that we visited were MGS Singapore and Kuo Chuan Presbyterian High School. I was amazed by MGS Singapore's building architecture and its history which shares some similarities with MGSKL The facilities in the school is more than one could ask for with a large Sports Complex, auditorium, music room and art room available to cater to the students' needs. One of the main attractions in the school was the biology lab where tissue culture was carried out by the students. The teacher was kind enough to tell us more about this project which is carried out by students for 2 years. I could see how innovative and creative the students were in carrying out this project.

At Kuo Chuan High School we were taken on a tour around the school by the students themselves. They were very enthusiastic when showing us around their school and told us many interesting things about their school. I could see that they appreciate and care for the environment as their school is filled with greenery. The rooftop garden was beautiful with the array of flora around. The best part was when they took us to the dance studio to play games. They taught us a few games which were new to us and some familiar ones. We even taught them some of the games we play. It was fun seeing them excited to learn our games as well.

The next place on the list was Marina Bay. We had to go up the tower where we could see the whole of Singapore. The view was breathtaking. There was also a pool for guests to relax. Imagine swimming in a place overlooking the whole of Singapore. The visit was short and sweet.

That night, we visited the famous Night Safari. We were taken on an animal lover adventure. I literally felt like I was transported all over the world as we explored the jungles of America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Never have I imagined I would be in such close proximity with some of the wildest creatures ever to grace earth. We got to see some familiar animals like the lion, tiger, elephant, deer and some not so common ones. It was a long ride and I loved every second of it. The tour guide provided us with lots of interesting facts that I am sure will be very useful for us students.

The next day we visited one of the must see places, Universal Studios. For me, this was the highlight of the trip. There were so many places to visit we didn't know where to start. We went on a boat ride together with the teachers at 'Madagascar⁷. It was thrilling and got us all screaming. At 'Far Far Away', we went on the junior roller coaster and watched 'Shrek 40 Adventure'. I felt like I was a part of the movie with the chair vibrating and the water squirting out from nowhere. At Sci-Fi City, we went on the 'Human Roller Coaster¹ that went on a speed of 82.8km/h. It was unforgettable and I did not dare to try the 'Cylon Roller Coaster' after that. My favourite place there was Ancient Egypt where the awesome Revenge of The Mummy roller coaster was located. We went on the ride three times as we enjoyed it so much. There were men dressed in ancient Egyptian clothing chasing people and trying to scare us away. They were fun and we even got to take pictures with one of them. 'New York' and 'Hollywood' offered a similar vibe. Monster Rock was rock-n-roll extravaganza that I wasn't expecting. It was a real rock concert that got us singing along and screaming for more. The main attraction which draws huge crowds every time is WaterWorld. It was a sensational live water show with death-defying stunts and awesome explosions. Our adventure at Universal Studio ended just as quickly as it begun and non of us wanted to leave or say goodbye.

The next stop was Songs of the Sea. It was a musical by teenagers and it really showcased their talents and amazing stage presence. The effects with the water were nothing like I have ever seen before. Words cannot describe how beautiful it was.

We spent the last day in Singapore taking pictures at the symbol of Singapore, the Merlion and shopping at Bugis Street. Looking back, Singapore is an amazing country and I would never trade these moments for anything. It was clear that we all learnt something and enjoyed ourselves at the same time. The memories here will forever be etched in my heart and never forgotten for years to come. This experience is truly once in a lifetime and definitely lives up to the theme of our trip that was 'Learning Beyond Borders'.