Xuan's P6 Prize Presentation Ceremony : Nov-13

The Event ..

Xuan's name on the Prize Presentation Ceremony booklet..

It has been a few good years since I last attended HIPS' prize presentation ceremony.. bcoz my girls were not receiving any prize! (^^)  Therefore I was pleasantly surprised when Xuan showed me the form inviting me to attend this year's prize giving. (^^)  What was even more pleasant was that Xuan will be receiving two awards -- the ICAS high distinction for English and continuous Gold for physical fitness tests (2011-2013)!! (^_^)

Since the prize giving was on a weekday and was not planned for, Victor could not join us.  Hence with En in tow, Qi and I brought along our camera and camcorder.  Besides the prize presentation ceremony, we would also like to watch the class performance that Xuan's class would be putting up!

Xuan, with her good friends Tricia and Qimin, were the main scriptwriters for their play, and Xuan had been updating us on the various challenges in getting the class to practice and rehearse for the performance.  In the end, Xuan was not only the scriptwriter, she also became the director and one of the narrators of the play!!

Can you spot Xuan's name?

Picture given by HIPS

Besides the students with the best results for each subject at the primary six level, they had a good progress award for each class too.  Following those were a huge chunk of time devoted to students who attained distinction and high distinction in the ICAS (International Competitions & Assessments for Schools) in each of the assessed subject or skill.

This was rather strange, I thought, because the ICAS is a voluntary and paid assessment conducted by an external party.  I recalled amongst the numerous letters from the school every year, there would be a few asking if we would like our child to take part in some assessments conducted by some overseas university or other institute, and payment would be according to the number of assessments we would want our child to take.  I usually would opt out or simply ignore after asking Xuan if she would like to take part.  Little did I expect the school to place such great emphasis on these achievements and even allot considerable time for it during the school prize presentation ceremony!?

Giving her bow at the centre of the stage ..

Xuan only took part in the English ICAS this year as she would like to know where she stood in her best subject.  Little did we expect her to emerge as one of the only two students in her school who received Higher Distinction for it!!  Versus eleven students who received Distinction..

Interestingly, Mrs Wang chatting with En ..

The prize presentation ceremony together with every P6 class' performance made the entire duration very long and boring.  En got very fidgety and restless before long and was running around the hall.  Qi and I had tried to go after her but that only made her ran faster and further from us!  Not soon after we gave up, knowing she was running on safe grounds, we found Mrs Wang, Qi's P1 form teacher and school counselor, chatting up En! 

Xuan receiving her 3-year continuous NAFA Gold award ..

Actually En had juz attended her P1 orientation a couple of days ago at HIPS.  According to the staff, the P1 form teachers have not been assigned yet.  If only En gets a pretty and patient teacher like Mrs Wang for her form and subjects teacher.......  I must continue to pray hard for En!

Miss Yeo.. Inspiring Educator Award for Science ..

After awarding the students, teachers were awarded too.  Xuan's favourite teacher, Miss Yeo, was one of the teachers given the Inspiring Educator Awards for Science.  Obviously, Xuan and many of her classmates had voted and garnered votes for her!!  According to Xuan, Miss Yeo is well into her sixties, and had even taught Dor when she was in HIPS!!  Subsequently, I also learnt from Sunshine Aunty Jasmine, who was from the first batch of HIPS after the boys and girls schools merged, that she had also been taught by Miss Yeo during her time!!!!!

The 3 narrators cum scriptwriters ..

The actresses in their self-made submarine!!

The tree--one of the most consistently good actor in the play!!

Xuan's First Convention : Nov-13

AFA13 was my first ever convention. It was quite a fun but tiring experience. I met many friendly people and took pictures with them. These are some of the pictures.

I look kind of weird (the green one) and my wig was slipping of my head half the time :P

There were many beautiful fan merchandises on sale and also the voice actor of an anime had been invited to the event.

 

I was really surprised to find out that electricity and running water had been shut after 5PM and that the toilets were no longer functionable after 5.

To sum it up, I had a really great experience at AFA13 and hope to be able to go to AFA14 next year and many more anime conventions. ((I'll also improve on my cosplay...hopefully.))

Xuan's PSLE Results Release : Nov-13

22 November -- the day Xuan's PSLE results would be known.  Victor took leave on that day and around noon time, the whole family accompanied Xuan to school to receive her results.

Juz like three years ago, their principal spoke at great length, sharing statistics on how well the school had performed relative to the national standards.

Everyone was very happy that no one in the school failed in this year's PSLE!!

The principal then went on to announce and personally congratulate every student who scored 250 and above.  By alphabetical order.  Clearly, Xuan was nervous.  Frankly, so was I.  Victor too.

Soon, it was evident that Xuan did not have the opportunity to shake the principal's hand. 

Immediately after the principal dismissed the assembly for the class teachers to distribute the result slips, Xuan's buddies came over to comfort her.

Many hugs and encouragement words were exchanged.  Obviously there were many who were pretty pleased with the results, and also many who were rather devastated..

It did not take long for most of them to come to terms with their results and cherish the one last time they would gather altogether in the school in this school uniform...

 Notes and handmade momentos were exchanged..

Pictures with friends and classmates were taken one last time in this school uniform in this school hall..  Afterwhich most of them would be posted to different schools to continue their pursuit of education.

Studio photography fun : Nov-13

Having bought the studio screen cloth along with the strobe studio light set from China website, this fun was an real extension to a personal hobby of photography.  Like what Qi said, this was like a dream coming true, having a photo studio right at our own house.  However, setting up this system was not as easy as I thought, fortunately I finally got a bit of luck after several hours and still not spoiling anything in the process.  Everyone in the family were invited to the first shooting session in our home built studio, excitement heightened as everyone put up their best attire and makeup.  The outcome of the studio strobe lights were impressive on the photos, more importantly it also created great fun and bonding within the family.  One thing I definitely realized, anyone would enjoy having a nice shot of themselves or with their love ones, especially if it is cheap and affordable.