Thanksgiving & Honours Night cum 45th Anniversary celebrations

Date : 30th July, 2010

Once again, we gave thanks for God's Providence and honoured those who gave their years of service to PHS. 

There were dance, band, chinese orchestra and choir performances by the students.
It was also the night we presented awards to students who have achieved academic excellence in PHS.

Opening Song

Dance

Choir

Awards-giving

PSG members were invited to the event and to witness the presentation of the Long-Service Award to our PSG member, Ms Wendy Yang.  Congrats, Wendy!

Dinner
After the Thanksgiving event, we had a sumptuous dinner at the Canteen, which was totally transformed by hanging drapes over the canteen stalls. What a clever idea!

It was a special dinner, as former PSG Committee members were also invited. You can say it was a reunion -  an opportunity to "catch-up". Agnes Chan, Elder Sherman Ong, Rose Tan, Jimmy Quah, Bernard and Jacinta Michael were present.

Teachers specially wore ethnic costumes for this occasion.  There were "cheong-sams", punjabi outfits etc.  There was even "dinner-music" to accompany our dinner experience!

Reunion of PSG - former and present, and friends

Mrs Agnes Chan, Jenny Chin, Rose Tan and Elicia Soh

Mrs Sheena Ang and Mrs Boey

Mrs Celia Lee

Mrs Noriko Ide and Mr Elvin Low

Julian and Mrs Susan Chua

Bernard Michael, Jimmy Quah, Rumi and Elder Sherman Ong

Mrs Jacinta Michael

"Dinner-music"

After dinner, we couldn't wait to see the new Sports Hall and we were given a personalised tour.

Wow! What a huge basketball court!

One of the rooms

Lockers

Bars?  (actually..it's gents' toilet)

Band room

Sound-proof room

Multi-purpose hall

Champion volleyballers!

We enjoyed the event very much.  Thank you PHS for inviting and making us a part of the PHS family.

Fake green peas

A friend sent me an interesting article.

Green peas are green rounded pea seeds that are sweet and starchy in taste. Green peas contains twice the protein of most vegetables, so they are a healthy substitute for meat. Three-quarter cup of peas provides 6 grams of protein, plus thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium and 645 units of vitamin A.

Unfortunately there are food industries in certain nations cheating customers with fake greens peas which are prepared from toxic chemicals (dyes). These industries prepared the green peas from brown peas (cheaper) by soaking them in dye solutions overnight.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Identification of fake green peas:

1. Put the peas in boiling water for 30 seconds, water turns to green color.
2. After consumption check your tongue for green color stains.  There is also a slight bitter aftertaste.


Symptoms:

1. Stomach irritation, pain or acidity.

2. Urine turns to light green color.
3. Mild headache.


Case study:

Initially, I was not aware of these things. After eating some green peas I experienced stomach pain and found my tongue having green stains.

The following packet bought from Tesco, Penang on 4th July 2010.

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

As a chemist by profession, I did an analysis of above mentioned peas in laboratory and discovered green dyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News paper reference:

China daily http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-03/31/content_9664992.htm


D. Bharath Reddy
Research scholar
Centre for drug research
USM, Pulau Penang
Malaysia 11800.

What do you think?  Is there any truth to this?  The newspaper article in the China Daily seems to authenticate the findings.  I love eating the green peas that you can buy from the shops, but this article makes me re-think before eating them.

Celia Lee

Useful tip - Bottle Caps!

Noriko sent in a great idea for Bottle Caps!

It's a useful tip - for recycling mineral water bottle caps.

First, cut right across the mouth of the bottle, at the neck.















Pass the mouth of the desired plastic bag through the neck of the bottle cap, which you just cut.  Let the ends of the plastic bag hang over the bottle-cap mouth.

The next time you want to use the contents of the plastic bag - just unscrew the cap and pour!

It's really an ingenious way of making use of used bottles.  Cheaper than buying plastic clips to reseal your food-stuff etc.

Please give us your feedback!

Study Nights

Dear Parents,

Study Nights in school have commenced on 12th July and will end on 2nd Sep.  It will re-commence after the Sep holidays, and will continue until the A-level exams.

The Study Nights are in response to students' requests for a conducive environment for revision, as well as a time of teacher-student's consultations. Although it is primarily for Sec 4/5s, it is open to all students who want to take advantage of the premises.

PSG have made arrangements to make available Milo 3-in-1 sachets, Honey Chrysanthemum sachets, and even light snacks like cheese biscuits, chocolate cream biscuits etc.  We will stock up these provisions if need be, and to change the hot beverages and snacks later on.  PSG  will also rotate to make adhoc visits to ensure that these provisions are well-stocked and to obtain feedback from students of their study needs.

At the moment, we have not requested assistance from parents, but we appreciate your suggestions.  If you wish to make a contribution or if you would like to make a visit, please let us know, we would certainly accommodate you.

Thanks.

PHS-PSG Survey

Dear Parents

Warmest Greetings from PSG!

On behalf of PHS, we had sent a survey form via email to parents. This survey form is to gather feedback on how to further strengthen the partnership between the school and parents. Many thanks to those who have already completed the survey form and had forwarded directly to Mrs Boey Chen Koui.

For those who had not done so, we appreciate your response.  If you need us to re-send you a copy of the survey form, please email us at our email address below, or send us a comment. We will send you a copy as soon as we can.

Please send them by this coming Friday, 23rd July as Mrs Boey needs time to collate them.

Mrs Boey's email address : boey_chen_koui@moe.edu.sg.
PSG email address: presbyterianhighpsg@gmail.com
 
Thanks and God bless.

What are the procedures in event of an accident in PHS?

I had posted on the PSG Blog about an accident involving my son, Ian during a NCC camp in 2009.

Ian was trying to cut open a can of food, using a jack knife and sustained a very deep cut, that went through his left thumb arteries. A kind NPCC Sir, Mr Tan, drove my son around the neighbourhood to find a doctor to treat his cut. But we were not able to find one as it was between 4pm to 5pm and most of the clinics were closed. Mr Tan drove my son to a Chinese Physician who advised to send my son to a hospital instead. My son was then sent to Mount Alvernia Hospital (a private hospital) which had no surgeon for immediate hand surgery, though the doctor did the basic treatment there. My son was consequently referred to SGH.

Mr Tan was very kind to send us all the way to SGH and volunteered to stay with us. While driving us in his car, Mr Tan encouraged Ian not to give up on NCC because of this accident and also told me that I could make an accident claim through the school.

Thankfully, the cut was not life threatening though his thumb required an immediate surgery that night in SGH.
 
I have some questions:
 

1. Does PHS have any procedure(s) in the event of an accident in PHS, eg.

• when, which hospital, or whether to call an ambulance to send a child to hospital, when an accident occurs.

2. Advice to be given to parent on how to make a claim from the student's accident plan purchased by the school.

• Why is it that the parent has to file the claim directly with the insurer instead of going through the school?
• Why is it that the accident report not given to the parent immediately for claiming purposes?

3. Is the Principal and form teacher informed of the child's accident?

I was not told how to go about claiming with the insurer and no accident report was given to me immediately for the claims until Mr Winston Thio from the General Office helped me throughout on the last 2 days before the due date of the claim submission. Mr Thio was indeed very helpful.
 

Lastly, I was surprised to learn that the Principal and Ian's form teacher were not even told about the accident.

 
Thus, we, as parents, would like to know what are the steps that the school take when an accident happens to a child in school.  My son's accident was handled without any procedures.
 

Agnes Marilyn Leong

Caring Teacher Makes A Difference

My son, Ian, joined NCC Sea when he was in Sec 1 at PHS in 2009. An accident happened during one of the NCC camps that year, which caused Ian to be behind schedule for trainings as he was on MCs. As a result, he could not pass his NCC tests. He was very demoralised and wanted to quit NCC. I had a very difficult time encouraging Ian to stay on in NCC and all my efforts failed.

In early Jan 2010, things took a miraculous turn.

I was told to speak to the new NCC Sir, Mr Winston Chua. Mr Chua was very helpful, caring and patient in dealing with my son's case. He promptly drafted a monitoring cum feedback system for Ian to follow through with the support from Ian's peers (buddies) and himself. He assigned a new buddy to Ian on each training/activity. With feedback from Ian, Mr Chua made the necessary changes to maximize Ian's potential and to sustain his interest. Mr Chua assured Ian that he was not handling this matter alone and NCC leaves no one behind.

With Mr Chua's support programmes, encouragement and care, Ian had finally managed to be promoted in NCC recently and was very happy. Ian was no longer the “negative” Ian in NCC anymore. Ian told me he will try to aim for more badges and the position of Platoon Sgt in NCC.

 A big thank you to Mr Winston Chua for not giving up on Ian and for his prompt efforts to motivate Ian. Without Mr Chua's support, care and concern, I think my son, Ian will be a “lost” sheep in his CCA.

This is the perfect example that a caring teacher does make a difference to achieve a positive learning experience for a child. 

Thank you.

Agnes Marilyn Leong

Sec 2 parent
(with minor revisions)

Take Time

Take time to think;

it is the source of power.

Take time to read;

it is the foundation of wisdom.

Take time to play;

it is the secret of staying young.

Take time to be quiet;

it is the opportunity to seek God.

Take time to be aware;

it is the opportunity to help others.

Take time to love and be loved;

it is God's greatest gift.

Take time to laugh;

it is the music of the soul.

Take time to be friendly;

it is the road to happiness.

Take time to dream;

it is what future is made of.

Take time to pray;

it is the greatest power on earth

Author unknown

ParentHugs #2, 18th May

We had our 2nd treat for ParentHugs and it was Subway cookies!  There were 3 flavours : White Chocolate with Macadamia, Double Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Chip!

Many parents (incl PSG) showed up at 9.00 am on Tue, 18th May. The cookies were delivered in covered trays and help was needed to re-pack them into little Subway paper bags - 2 cookies per bag.

 

 It was a good time for parents to get to know each other, while packing the cookies into bags.

The purpose of this event was for parents to show their love and concern for their children by providing these "treats"....

... and when our children "HUG" us back in appreciation, it makes all the difference to us.... (continued below)..

 

So this time, PSG decided to award a little extra to 2 classes that were most outstanding in their demonstration of their thanks.  This would be mostly impromptu and should not last more than 2 minutes. Grading were based on creativity, teamwork and sincerity. 2 Humility (lower sec) and 4 Endurance (upper sec) stood out from the many demonstrations and each pupil from the 2 classes were given an extra cookie for their efforts.  Parents went to their classrooms and presented them with the "prizes".

4 ENDURANCE

4 ENDURANCE

2 HUMILITY

ParentHugs was organised to encourage pupils to have a spirit of gratitude, appreciation and not to take gifts for granted. Pupils have to able to demonstrate this gratitude, be it a simple word of thanks or a little drawing.

Thanks to the parents and PSG for their help: Shendy Gibson, Wendy Teo, Lillian Foo, Kelly Tan, Melina Hee, Rina Tay, Shirley Leong, Lynn Quek, Noriki Ide, Jenny Chin, Celia Lee, Alvin & Elicia Soh, Ang Lee San & Sheena Ang. Our thanks also go to Mrs Boey and a teacher who sat with us in packing the cookies, as well as to all those who were unseen helping us.

Photo credits:

Lynn Quek, Ang Lee San and Celia Lee