Miss Hemalatha
School Welfare Officer
It takes a village to raise a child
A quote we hear often and which becomes undeniably true in Ms Hemalatha’s daily encounters.
Ms Hema joined the Queenstown Secondary School family three years ago. As the School Welfare Officer (SWO), her responsibilities don't just involve students but also teachers, parents and various school partners. All in the name of benefitting the child.
“…it is really helpful when we have a strong support system for the child…”
Sweet success for Ms Hema is seeing students who have been away from school, for one reason or another, clocking in a more regular attendance. All these wouldn’t be made possible without the endless home visits, check-in sessions and effort to ensure that the child is adequately supported beyond their academic needs.
“…after two years of persistence and hard work, I am so happy and glad to see him diligently completing his National Exams and well on his way towards graduation…”
At times, unexpected bonuses catch her by surprise such as having her student who shone so bright that he was offered a higher level stream for selected subjects. All these are affirmations for all the care through the system put in place through Ms Hema’s endless efforts.
Mr Matthias Wan
Teacher, Full SBB Class Mentor
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Naturally, there were many misunderstandings between us, and obviously, one wouldn’t be able to find me or any of my classmates from the Express class sitting down with a student from the Normal stream having a cup of iced milo together in the canteen..
It has been a rewarding journey as a Class Mentor of a mixed-stream class, because now, even though there are two blocks of classrooms in Queenstown Secondary, every class is rather heterogenous. It warms my heart to see real friendships forged between students in different streams and from different backgrounds, such that sometimes, I don’t even remember who is in which stream until I check the name list. Now, I see students of my class regularly waiting outside the classroom for their friends from another stream to end their subject lessons, so that they can have a cup of iced milo together in the canteen during recess or lunch. Some of them, from both Express and Normal streams, even decided to rise to the occasion together to sign up to be Student Leaders in the Student Council.
Truly, any student can live up to the school motto ‘Dare to Serve’,
Sylvia Wong
3 Gratitude
Being with my classmates has been very different in comparison to my old school. As I was from a girls’ school, I was pleasantly surprised when I moved to a co-ed school. My classmates were friendly and I made friends with them quickly. I didn’t take into consideration which stream they were from as I didn’t think it affected who I wanted to be friends with.
I think a memorable experience was when my class threw a party for our Class Mentor. The class committee got a cake for him. After school, we waited for him and burst party poppers when he came back into the classroom. It was really special to me as it brought the whole class closer together.
My Class Mentor said, ‘It’s the first time a class has thrown me a party as it’s so early on in the year.’
I found many opportunities to grow here in Queenstown Secondary School.
Being in volleyball which requires me to train three times a week, makes me realise the value of hard work and dedication.
I am also grateful to all my teachers who taught me this year; especially my Math teacher. She arranged consultations every single week without fail, even meeting her students on Saturdays when examinations were approaching. The teachers have all been very kind and accommodating as we all adjusted to secondary school life.
The system set in place in this school is quite helpful too. The surveys given to us at the end of each term to give suggestions on how the school can be improved provide an avenue for the students to give their input to make the school more conducive for us to study.
I hope to excel in this school with the opportunities presented to me.
Rachel Urbano Hernandez
3 Gratitude,
President of Student Council
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As John C. Maxwell, an American Author, once said: “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” In relation to this quote, I feel that Queenstown Secondary has allowed me to grow as a leader with the many opportunities given to me. An example of this would be the time when the school sent me and a group of students to Ngee Ann Polytechnic for a 2-day leadership camp (commonly known as Youth Leaders’ Camp, YLC for short). In two days, I learnt to work better in groups and made connections with other students from various secondary schools. Additionally, the camp pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and improved my confidence to converse with strangers. Thus, in my opinion, these skills are crucial especially since I would be leading an entire student council for the next year.
Being a student council president has not been easy; it is a role that requires utmost competence and superlative time management.
Learning to work with students from different levels and backgrounds has helped me to broaden my perspectives on various topics such as the mental wellness of students. In addition to that, I have also worked with teachers and even school leaders to help improve the schooling experience for all Queenstownians. For example, the student council has worked closely together with the school leaders and the student management committee to improve the school uniform policy such that it would cater to the growing needs of Queenstownians.
Lastly, Queenstown Secondary has allowed me opportunities to reach out to different students. For instance, the school has an online form entirely dedicated to students to pitch their opinions on ways to improve their schooling experiences. We even have a student council Instagram account to connect to even more students. Just like the school motto: 'Dare to Serve', I have been given many opportunities to serve the school, such as organizing events, and looking after the welfare of the student body. Despite numerous setbacks and challenges faced, at the end of the day, I learnt that not everything will always go according to plan; and that is entirely alright. Moreover, I hope that I have been able to live up to the school motto and would continue to make an impact on the lives of fellow Queenstownians.
‘”Hey bro, let’s go to the canteen for some iced milo!” This statement meant quite a different context for me when I was a teenager, as compared to now that I am a teacher.
Having grown up as a student in an Express stream, there were clear physical lines drawn between us and the students from the Normal stream, for the very fact that our classrooms were situated in the different blocks of my secondary school then. Seldom do we get to interact with each other, because even in CCA sessions, they were either often absent, or we both chose to hang around with students from the same stream.