random blog update

hello guys! heres a rare blog entry on the council blog from me... :D

anyway im now back in rj doing relief teaching (together with chengchai) and there are many changes around school, so ill post them here to update everyone who misses school haha.

anyway, the house system is well in place, and now each house has a house crest with a house animal. i dont think this part is new, but the next part is. the house crest is printed on a house flag. once a week (or maybe twice, i never really pay attention), during flag raising, the house flags will be raised alongside the singapore flag and the college flag. yes, there are now 5 poles on the parade square to the left of the singapore and college flag poles.

announcements are also no longer made at the science labs, but instead, at the level 3 empty walkway, so the students wont have to turn 90 degrees to listen to announcements, then turn back to face the flags to sing the anthem. there is a proper podium-like area constructed there now.

the lockers in the whole school are all revamped too. and now the lockers are all nice and new and coloured, according to the 5 house colours. yes, that means lockers are categorised by houses. two of the houses (if im not wrong its MT and another house) have their lockers on the first floor, outside the council room area. the remaining houses' lockers are located on the fourth floor. this arrangement can be quite unfair, and it seems to be permanent since the lockers dont seem to be movable, so i dont think theyll do a house-locker rotation kind of thing.

theres also a newly opened pond, known as the raffles biodiversity pond. (doesnt sound very original to me). haha... theres a mini waterfall and also a small wooden bridge that allows you to get close to the pond. in addition, theres a small wooden pavillion just beside the pond, for those who feel that listening to the flow of water is therapeautic or a good form of destressing.

and heres a little update about whats going on in school right now.

in school, the elections for the 29th students council is ongoing. they have completed the peer/self nomination stage, and just concluded the interviews stage. prior to the elections, there was a board set up in the canteen (placed conspicuously), featuring all the 28ths, each having a column on their own to say what council means to them. i felt that it was quite a nice idea.

anyway, as a teacher, i get to, or rather, have to write comments for all the students that i teach, and evaluate their suitability as a councillor. i teach 5 classes, so theres actually quite a lot of students that i have to evaluate. im not sure how much the teachers' comments count but it was a nice feeling to be able to be part of the elections process and to have a say in deciding who some of our future 29ths will be. there are some potential candidates from my class so i hope theyll make it through and be my great grandbuddy haha.

when school reopens in a week's time, the list of candidates that make it for campaigning stage will be released, and then there will be campaigning and subsequently the 29ths will be elected. and so, that means council camp will be coming soon too! :D

haha... hope you guys are suitably entertained by this random blog update by me!