NYConnect

A very happy new year to all of you and a warm welcome to all Secondary One parents of the NY Family! We are delighted to have your daughters with us as we take them through an exciting line-up of school programmes and events that are in store for them this year. Do visit this page for the latest happenings in school as well as helpful parenting resources on positive parenting, fostering healthy relationships with your children, mental wellness and developing positive mindsets. Here's to a fulfilling Term 1 ahead!

School Happenings

Secondary 1 Orientation

This year's secondary one orientation programme was an extended affair for the Secondary One students as they enjoyed not one but two weeks of orientation! Through a host of engaging activities such as mass dance, class bonding activities and CCA fairs as well as a rousing campfire, the newest members were able to quickly integrate into the NY family and firmly forge friendship bonds with their peers and seniors with much ease.

This was followed up with the Induction Programme which comprised a series of positive classroom experiences specially designed to facilitate the Secondary Ones' transition as they got to know their classmates, teachers and school system better. Students were introduced to the school's signature programmes such as Design Thinking as well as attended an enlightening positivity programme conducted by BOLD Academy.

We welcome the Secondary Ones to our NY Family once again and look forward to seeing them grow and make meaningful contributions to the school!

School Visit: The Affiliated High School Of Peking University

The school had the pleasure of hosting 28 students and 3 teachers from the school’s long-term partner school, The Affiliated High School Of Peking University（北京大学附属中学 from 22 January 2024 (Monday) – 1 February. This proved to be a highly anticipated event for some of our girls assigned to be buddies to these students whom they may have met during their Virtual China Immersion Programme last October. Aside from attending selected classes , the visitors had an enriching time attending a two-hour Bespoke Drama Workshop and a Makers workshop. We look forward to their return again !

Gallery

Secondary One Orientation and Induction Programme

Parenting Talk by 尤今老师

School Visit by The Affiliated High School Of Peking University

Heritage and Culture

Purchased in November 1930, the original 2-storey building at the King's Road campus was refurbished to become the first school building.

"In 1930, the increasing number of students from various parts of South East Asia meant that the school had to seek bigger premises. The Board of Directors heeded Honorary Chairman Mr Aw Boon Haw's advice, held a meeting and formed a committee to take charge of buying the plot of land required for the new campus. The planning committee planned for the start of the school year for the pioneer batch of high school students, revised the Board of Director's constitution and renamed the school "Nanyang Girls' High School". Next, they planned a gala event at the Victoria Memorial Hall to raise funds for the new campus. Former Principal Mdm Liew Yuen Sien also went personally to various places in Malaya in June to raise funds. In November 1930, with the $17000 raised, they bought a plot of land at King's Road in the Bukit Timah area. It had a two-storey building sitting on a land area of 6 acres. The building was renovated into a school and Nanyang Girls' High School moved there during the holidays."

Source: Nanyang Schools Alumni Association and Nanyang Schools (2017). Nanyang Centenary: A Vision Celebrated. p.18

Parenting Sense

ST Minor Issues Series: Helping your kids to be 'indistractable' in 2024

"My view is that our kids today see tech as the gateway to freedom and friendships. To villainise tech is to villainise their outlet for freedom and friendships. This might get them to go underground, which is counterproductive to what parents are trying to achieve."

~ Professor Abel Ang

Through his review of the book, “Indistractable” by best-selling author Nir Eyal, Professor Abel Ang of Nanyang Business School shares how he has come to understand what distraction triggers are and what it means to manage them. He also makes his case about how we can help our kids stay focused by empowering them to control their own time and choose what they want to focus upon instead of blaming technology.

Stop Trying to Raise Successful Kids

"As we’ve seen, overemphasizing individual achievement may cause a deficit of caring. But we don’t actually have to choose between the two. In fact, teaching children to care about others might be the best way to prepare them for a successful and fulfilling life."

~ Adam Grant and Allison Sweet Grant

With the continual decline of kindness among children being a cause for concern , organizational psychologist and writer (and parents themselves) Adam Grant and Allison Sweet Grant make their case about why prioritising kindness as a core value in our children would not be made at the compromise of individual achievement and personal success and how to go about doing so - by redirecting our parental attention on helping others and actively modeling caring behaviour.

ST Minor Issues Series: What I learnt when I stopped shouting at my children

“If a child makes a decision I disagree with, instead of losing my cool, I ask questions in a neutral tone to first try to understand the issue.

Seeing things from his or her perspective without immediately judging has helped me temper my annoyance. I can then share my thoughts in a calmer way…”

~ Jane Ng, The Straits Times

ST correspondent Jane Ng made a new year resolution to change a habit every well-intentioned parent may all too well be guilty of - yelling at her children and shares what are some proactive steps she took without resorting to the need to raise her voice.

Ted Talk: Teach Girls Bravery, not perfection Reshma Saujani

"Some people worry about our federal deficit, but I, I worry about our bravery deficit. Our economy, our society, we're just losing out because we're not raising our girls to be brave. The bravery deficit is why women are underrepresented in STEM, in C-suites, in boardrooms, in Congress, and pretty much everywhere you look."

~ Reshma Saujani, Founder of Girls Who Code and the Marshall Plan for Moms

As we continue to empower our girls to be strong, confident women who embrace their strengths, it is just as crucial to teach them to embrace their flaws.

Reshma Saujani, Founder of Girls Who Code, makes an impassioned plea in this Ted Talk parenting series to socialise young girls to have the courage to take risks and be comfortable with imperfection.

Parenting Podcast 1: Healthy Vs Helicopter Parenting (The Mom Hour, Episode 194)

In this episode of The Mom Hour series, media veterans and hosts Meagan and Sarah (who share eight kids between them) share about what it means to tread the line between helicopter and healthy parenting and how to navigate between the cultural and societal pressures of our society while meeting the needs of our children, as well as tips on how to manage our own needs to control every outcome. Tune in to find out!

Parenting Podcast 2: How to Listen and Invite your Kids into Conversation (ParentEd, Episode 95)

Getting our children to listen and heed our words amidst a noisy world filled with distracting devices and other things can be an uphill task.

How can parents listen well and invite our children into conversation with us?

Join Aaron Ng, as he speaks to mother and daughter pair, Gina and Christabel, as they share insights and techniques on how to better communicate and understand each other in your parent-child relationship.

Parenting Talk by You Jin 尤今老师亲子讲座

The NYGH PSG and the school had the privilege of inviting esteemed educator and writer, You Jin 尤今老师, to share about her latest book 《杏坛岁月》 at the Siew May Auditorium on Saturday, January 20.

Senior Teacher, Character & Citizenship Education, 戴老师 shares with us her own thoughts and views about what she gleaned from this informative lecture:

2024年1月20日，星期六早上10点，适逢大寒节气，一早细雨纷纷，湿冷的天气，却阻止不了一群热心亲子教育课题的南中、南小家长以及校友们, 冒着风雨，齐聚南中秀梅大会堂，共赴一场和尤今老师的约会。

这是尤今老师第一次和家长谈创作和教学理念，讲座由南中家长协作会主办。教学经验丰富的尤今老师，风趣幽默地和家长们分享她在《杏坛岁月》这本最新出版的书里的真实故事，她语重心长地叮嘱家长，要让孩子快乐地学习！

以下是尤今老师当天分享的一些重点：

1. 让孩子阅读故事书。每个孩子都喜欢听故事！让他们快乐、惬意、沉迷在故事中，慢慢吸取文字的养分，巩固词汇。

2. 如何帮助孩子汲取记忆词汇——培养孩子建立“小字库”，以小本子把学过的词汇记下来，天天勤复习，日积月累，日久了这些词汇就会住在脑子里，以此为家。

3. 培养孩子用“心眼”看众生百态，从生活中吸取缤纷多彩的创作素材，找到创作的“亮光”，这样孩子才能创作出有深度的作品。父母可以在日常生活中把握随机教育的机会，和孩子讨论生活的点滴，让孩子从平凡

中看到不平凡。

4. 尤今老师通过“苏佳燕的故事”，告诉父母：孩子如果生而为一个冬瓜, 父母却硬要她做一个西瓜，最后她会被逼成一个傻瓜！她呼吁父母要尊重孩子的独特性，让他们好好发挥潜能，开心学习。

5. “蓝勤学”的故事是典型的父母爱孩子却不得其法的例子，孩子活在刀光闪闪的母爱里，痛苦不堪，家长应以此为警惕！

尤今老师's insightful book talk was also featured on 联合早报 which you may view here.

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