Victoria School

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Victoria School's aiming for the top


Cross country runners looking for double joy at inter-school championships
by Laszlo Ho, Victoria School
Updated 09:59 PM Mar 19, 2012
SINGAPORE - At last year's 52nd National Inter-Schools Cross Country Championships, Victoria School's quartet of Bryan Yong, Marcus Ng, Joel-David Wong and Venuraam Selvan beat 62 other school teams to clinch the Boys' 'B' Division title. It was also the school's 32nd cross country title since 1998.

Keeping the tradition alive will be top on the Victorians' minds on Wednesday, as the cross country runners take on their rivals at the 53rd National Inter-Schools Cross Country Championships at Bedok Reservoir.

In an interview with TODAY School Sports, team coach Sheikha Fadzleen Shaik Yakob said the student-athletes would need to contend with traditional giants like 2011 'B' division silver medalists Hwa Chong Institution, Catholic High, and Raffles Institution - who clinched the 'C' Division title last year.

Said Sheikha: \"These schools have been our biggest competitors every year. As long as our morale is high, we will be able to beat our challengers in the field.

\"Victoria School Cross Country has always been in the top four positions for both 'B' and 'C' Divisions for the last 30 years and we intend to keep it that way. That's our tradition. Each year we aim for the title.\"

But one challenge that coach Sheikha and the boys will be focused on is the prestigious double gold medal win for both divisions, which Victoria School have achieved nine times in 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2006 and 2010.

\"The 'B' Division team will give everything they can to defend it\" said the coach. \"As for the younger boys, they have been working really hard to regain the title. I believe the competition this year is stiff with only a few points differentiating the top three positions.\"

Added Lim Chang Yu, captain of the 'C' Division boys: \"My target for my team this year is to get the title for our school ... our coach says we're up to it.\"

One athlete that Victoria School supporters will be looking out for along Bedok Reservoir's 4.3km route on Wednesday is 15-year-old 'B' Division team captain Marcus Ng, who clinched a bronze medal at the Asian Schools Cross Country Championships in Mongolia last year. Brothers Venuraam and Mahesvaran Selvan will also be looking to impress at this week's race, despite having to balance training sessions with both the cross country and hockey school teams. Elder brother Venuraam, 17, is also part of Victoria's track and field squad, winning the 2,000m steeplechase gold in 2010 and 2011.

Said Sheikha: \"A unique challenge to the B division team will be the rate of recovery for our two core runners. Training for both Hockey and Cross-Country could be back-to-back and this month, being the hockey season, it was a challenge for these Sportsmen in terms of recovery from training. We would want them to do well for both sports and thus there is strong collaboration between the Hockey coach and I to ensure that these two Sportsmen get as much rest as possible. However, the demands of both sports do cause fatigue, which is inevitable, so we are constantly managing that and hoping that they will be at their best and fittest on race day.\"

http://www.todayonline.com/SchoolSports/EDC120319-0000144/Victoria-Schools-aiming-for-the-top#.T2gsj2lZ9D0.facebook

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Former Victoria School student Malcom Tan, now a history teacher at Chung Cheng High (Main).


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WWII Japanese soldier bursts in... to teach history Secondary school teacher makes history come alive through use of roleplay and interactive lessons


By Amelia Tan Hui Fang
Mar 25, 2012
Straits Times

Like a time-machine traveller, the World War II Japanese soldier burst into the classroom. That dramatic entrance gave goosebumps to some of the 40 seated Secondary 2 students, even though they knew the sword-wielding Japanese sergeant was their history teacher, Mr Malcolm Tan.
No sir, it was not going to be another typical history lesson about the Japanese Occupation from 1942 to 1945.
'Today, you will learn about our way of life,' Mr Tan intoned, as his spiel began.

A laptop's speakers blared out the Japanese national anthem, Kimigayo, and the students had to bow and shout 'Banzai!' (the equivalent of 'Long live the Emperor!').
For the next 50 minutes, Mr Tan was not just a history teacher at Chung Cheng High School (Main). He was role-playing a Japanese sergeant in 1942.
A history buff, Mr Tan, 35, has been using his interactive method to engage his students since 2001, first at Bendemeer Secondary, and now at his present school.
'My aim is to open the doors of the mind - to make history not boring, but alive and relevant,' said Mr Tan, who has been teaching at the school for close to two years.

He has such interactive lessons up to six times a year.
His other 'personas' include a Japanese general, a British soldier, a 1950s riot policeman, British Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, and even Adolf Hitler.
And where did he get those immaculate costumes? They are mostly replicas or original items bought from online stores and eBay. He spends an average of $50 on each item.
Until two years ago, he merely dressed the part for each special history class.
But a visit to Hampton Court in England in 2009 - where he saw a re-enactment of King Henry VIII's life during the Tudor Age - inspired him to tweak his lessons. He now 'becomes' the person he dresses up in.
'It was so real, so alive and amazing. From then on, in my lessons, I took on the role of the people I play,' he said.
To prepare for these special lessons, he researches his characters beforehand, and tells his students personal details - such as of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong's four wives.
He also gets his students to 'develop empathy' by getting them to re-enact historical events.
For his lesson on the 1956 Chinese Middle School riots - coincidentally, Chung Cheng was among the schools involved - his students staged mock protests, marched around the school bearing posters, and gave rousing speeches.
He said: 'When my students try to find out more on their own - develop an inquiring mind - that's when I feel I have done my job.'
History is a passion carried over from his childhood days when he visited the wax museum at Sentosa with his parents, and listened to his grandmother's account of the war.
Even though history lessons - while he was studying at Victoria School - were all about 'reading and highlighting the textbook', he remained keen on the subject.
In 2008, the National Institute of Education-trained graduate did his master's in history at the National University of Singapore.
The principal of Chung Cheng High School (Main), Mr Pang Choon How, supports the interactive teaching style of Mr Tan, who won the 'Most Engaging Teacher Award' that the school gave last year.
One of Mr Tan's students, 14-year-old Jonathan Chan, said the lessons have inspired him to read up more.
'I'd go online to search for more than the information from the textbook, and find out more about, say, the Japanese.'
Fifteen-year-old Tng Shu Hui failed history in Secondary 1, but got a B in Secondary 2 last year after she was taught by Mr Tan.
She said: 'I never had a history teacher like him before; he gave us confidence to study history and we were encouraged to learn more.'
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Background story

His goal
'My aim is to open the doors of the mind - to make history not boring, but alive and relevant.'
Teacher MALCOLM TAN
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The result
'I never had a history teacher like him before; he gave us confidence to study history and we were encouraged to learn more.'
TNG SHU HUI, 15, who failed history in Secondary 1 but got a B in Secondary 2 last year after she was taught by Mr Tan

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School Sports: Victory for the Victorians


Floorballers win Boys 'B' title for the first time
By Ashriel Olimpo, Teck Whye Secondary School
11:02 PM Apr 03, 2012

SINGAPORE - The National Inter-School Floorball Championships Boys 'B' Division final at Yio Chu Kang Sports Hall served up a ferocious battle between Victoria School and Bukit Merah Secondary School on yesterday, with the Victorians claiming the title for the first time with a 6-3 victory.

Loud cheers and whistles from supporters of both schools reverberated throughout the hall as the first whistle was blown, with Victoria and Bukit Merah locked in battle on the floorball court for the gold medal.

Trailing after the second half, Bukit Merah's floorballers started to pick up the pace by scoring three goals to even the contest. But the Victorians turned on the pressure to notch another two goals before slotting in their sixth and final point in the dying seconds to clinch the victory, 6-3 over their opponents.

Victoria coach HMS Amir credited the team's hard work for the gold medal win, as he said: \"We had to play intelligently and keep the ball within our possession. The court that we are playing in is also slightly larger than the one that we use in school so we had to focus more on our passes instead of taking the ball by themselves to pressure the opposing team.\"

\"They have been training hard ever since they were in Secondary 1.This is also our first game that we are playing with them (Bukit Merah). The boys have their training at least three times a week and they have also participated in external leagues which has contributed significantly toward their development.\"

Added the coach, who had guided the Boys 'C' Division team to the title last year: \"It is a good game to play for everyone and for us in Singapore, we have the potential to excel in this sport.\"

In the Girls 'B' Division final, Bukit Merah's athletes did not disappoint on the court as the team clinched the gold in a nail-biting final against defending champions Teck Whye Secondary School that went down to the wire. The point-for-point battle saw both teams tied at 5-5 in regulation time, with Bukit Merah winning the match 2-1 on penalties after a thrilling shootout.

http://www.todayonline.com/SchoolSports/EDC120403-0000176/School-Sports--Victory-for-the-Victorians

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Victoria-Cedar Alliance Choir


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np7pSFRz82g

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Victoria School Concert Band

Percussion '2011-2012
Musical World XXIV
@ PLMGS Agape Concert Hall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV1PgcjD-1w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U2BUn_Gc9g

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Victoria-Cedar CLDDS Chinese Drama Joint Production @ VS Arts Festival


http://vs.moe.edu.sg/vsartsfestival/cldds.html

http://vs.moe.edu.sg/vsartsfestival/events.html

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Victoria School and Cedar Girls’ School Open Houses are on the same day and same time, but at different venues of course:

26 May (8 am to 1 pm)