Year 7 Learning Exhibition, 25/10/18: A World Apart

On Thursday 25th October, Y7 learners welcomed their parents, guardians and peers to the MPR for a celebration of their first term’s work. Despite a fiendishly busy week with many other commitments, the learners took time and care to present their work from the Unit ‘All about me’ showing their learning across Music, Science, Art, Humanities, English, Drama and Digital Skills and working collaboratively to showcase their achievements.

The vibrant displays, performances and superb written work were a credit to them and demonstrated the journey they have been on since joining the Secondary School. A highlight had to be their 3-D worlds with many visitors donning goggles to step into a virtual environment. Congratulations to our Year 7 Learners!

Jenny Murray, Learning Area Leader: English

Diversity Week, 22 - 26 October

Thank you to all the enthusiastic stall owners who spent many hours preparing food and designing fun activities, we raised over $1000 which will be put to good use by one of our associated charities. Looking forward to doing it all again next year.

Ms Newman and Ms Victoria

Y7 Overseas Trip to Tioman Island, Malaysia, 8 - 12 October

55 intrepid explorers and five Nexus teachers spent a fun-filled and fantastic five days on Tioman Island. Favourite daytime activities were trekking, kayaking, snorkelling and beach olympics. A visit to the Juara Turtle Project led to a number of our learners sponsoring a turtle and we look forward to updates on this. Evening activities kept everyone busy and a firm favourite was Coco House, where learners showcased their many talents and got their teachers involved too. The teachers also surprised the learners with their very own ‘Casa del Fuego’ drama activity which cooled everyone down on a hot night.

Learners made new friends, existing friendships were strengthened, challenges were undertaken, parents were missed and rooms were cleaned and swept. There was an abundance of positivity and relationships between learners, teachers and the camp providers were excellent. All learners developed new skills and certainly rose to the challenges in front of them. Roll on next year!

Libby Ince, Phase Leader: Years 7 to 9

Y8 Overseas Trip to Telunas, Indonesia, 8 - 12 October

The Year 8s went on a residential trip to Telunas island in Batam. The reason why the Year 8s went on this residential trip was to build teamwork, overcome fears, challenges, and most importantly make new friends and create relationships with students outside of their classroom and with the village children.

To get to Telunas, the learners arrived at school bright and early at 6:15am on October 8th. From Nexus, they boarded the coach buses and headed off to The Harbourfront Ferry Terminal. At the terminal, the learners excitedly waited for the beginning of their new adventure . Once the gate opened, they then got on the Ferry and an hour later, they arrived in Batam. They were then split into their travel groups and entered two traditional Malay longboats to go directly to the island. It was a very interesting and new experience for most of the learners, they had such a fun time just travelling there!

The day they arrived the staff already had a whole activity planned for them on raft building, each group made their own raft which they had to put into the water, ride along a rope, ride it back, take it out of the water without it breaking and then disassemble it all. They then had free time, ate dinner and had their first night in cabins in Telunas.

On the second day in Telunas, the learners took a trip to a neighbouring village called Setongang to help build a wall for the island’s only school and interact with the local community. This was very exciting for all the nexus learners but equally nerve wracking as we had to help make cement and build a wall which some of the learners were nervous about. Then after they made the wall the learners took a tour around the village while making friends with the young kids. While they were there, they listened to a powerful speech from one of the community school teachers and the Principal. For lunch, the Year 8s were introduced to a delicious Indonesian meal. After many fun games including Volleyball and Football, the Setongang children even performed a few dances to the learners and even taught them a dance! After some sad farewells, the Year Eights had to leave and return back to Telunas Island. When they came back, the Telunas staff taught them how to tie difficult knots, and how to make a hammock needed for the next day. After that, the students had an hour of free time, where they could swim at the beach, go low deck jumping, hang around in the rooms, or buy souvenirs from the shop. Once it was night time the learners went shrimping which is when you catch shrimp using a long, fatal, and evil fork.

On the third day, before going camping, the learners departed to go on a two hour hike, and long boat journey to a waterfall on one of the many Islands around Batam. Once they got there, they ate their packed lunch, swam in the black waterfall and jumped off the rocks. It was very fun and exciting, but after a few hours there, they had to retreat and go back to Telunas to pack for the camping trip. Then, after the students were packed and ready to go, they were put into five camping groups and in those groups, headed off into the jungle. In the jungle, each group went to their separate campsite and started putting up their Tarp (the waterproof sheet to put above the hammock), Hammock, and Mosquito net. For the students, it was a very hard and complicated challenge, and what made it worse was that halfway through the process, it started pouring! It then became even more difficult to complete the hammocks without making them wet and everyone became soaked but in the end it was all worth it because at night, the year eights were able to sleep soundly and comfortably.

On the fourth day, the Year 8s woke up, had breakfast, packed their hammocks away and trekked back to the cabins. They then got into two groups, and took turns doing both building ceramics, and doing the low ropes course. In the ceramic building, they made square pieces that were going to be used in part of the walls in the Setongang school. After that, the learners went high deck jumping which can only be done when it’s high tide and that was the only opportunity to jump. Then they learnt about the lifestyle of most of the local people. The students learnt about crabbing, handline fishing, and a game to teach them about catching using nets. Then came another round of free time and for dinner, every student made their own pizzas and ate them at the bonfire.

On the fifth and final day, the learners woke up, ate breakfast, packed and headed on their way, back to Nexus.

Coming towards the end of the trip, the Year 8s had taken time to reflect on what they have overcome with their personal fears and challenges, many students were able to do this. It was sad for all the learners on the last day as everyone had an amazing time during the trip and established new friendships. Sleeping overnight in the jungle in hammocks was a fear for some of the students but in the end everyone got over their fears.

It was such an adventurous journey, learning new things every day. We were scared to do some things that went out of our comfort zones but we all pushed past it and such a fun time. We loved it so much!

Telunas was a very memorable and one of the best experiences the learners could have had.

Sophia and Scarlett 8W

Y9 Overseas Trip to Ipoh, Malaysia, 8 - 12 October

The Year 9 learners, along with Ms Aine, Ms Nicola and Mr Wilson, set off on their epic adventure to Ipoh on the morning of October 8th. Boarding the tiny propeller plane at Changi Airport, we felt extremely excited about the week ahead.

Upon arrival at Nomad, the group enjoyed a quick lunch before setting off to explore a deep, dark cave in the middle of the jungle. It was an amazing experience knowing that even though many of us felt nervous about the dark, anything was possible when we supported each other. The next morning, we braved the rapids and developed our water safety skills before undertaking a two-hour white water rafting adventure. It was so much fun and only a few of us fell out of the boats! Success!

The fun didn’t stop there, one of our favourite days in Ipoh was spent at Mountain School. Here we jumped from 13 metre heights, climbed huge rock walls and zip-lined through the jungle. Once again, Nexus learners showed the importance of risk-taking and supporting their peers. Amidst all the adrenaline - seeking activities, we still found time to do a spot of shopping at a local market to find goods to make a traditional cake. We even lit our own fires to bake the cakes for a few hours before dinner.

After five whole days of team-building, overcoming obstacles and challenging ourselves to the maximum in Ipoh, we arrived back to Singapore knowing that the memories we made would last a lifetime! Thank-you to everyone who made this week possible!

Aine Gibbons, English teacher