Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to the RGS PeRL Symposium. As many of you know this biennial event was first organised in 2014 to celebrate and share ideas on good practices and pedagogical innovations, and to provide a platform for us educators to network and learn from one another. The Symposium is also part of our mission to promote an Asian discourse in education through research and knowledge creation.

The theme of today’s Symposium is “Transformative Teaching and Learning”. The theme invites participants to Pursue, Discover and Develop best practices, technology-enhanced pedagogy and high-yield instructional strategies to maximise the impact on student learning.

This year, for the first time, we are offering a new segment - the Masterclass sessions. This is in response to our own observation that teachers are keen to connect with ideas and perspectives beyond our own school walls. We want to gain a better understanding of the emerging challenges, trends and innovations that may invigorate or impact teaching and learning. And so, I am very pleased that we have this afternoon, a line-up of experienced and distinguished speakers from both the public and private sector who will offer their insights into the enterprise of educating young minds.

Last year, we had planned for the Symposium and looked forward to welcoming you at our new Braddell campus. But that was called off in March 2020 as we entered the Circuit Breaker phase. Since early this year, the PeRL Team had meticulously planned for a face-to-face Symposium - anticipating various scenarios and planning around the prevailing Covid-19 measures. But alas, it was not to be. I am very proud of this team of very passionate educators in RGS PeRL, for their deep commitment, in making today’s PeRL Symposium happen, taking each change that came our way in stride. In this regard, we would like to express our appreciation to our Speakers and Presenters for their understanding, their prompt response to our requests and instructions in the last few weeks, and making the necessary adjustments.

While we are not able to offer the Open Classroom this year because of Safe Management Measures, we hope to be able to bring this, as well as the Student Voice segment which allows educators to listen to, and gain insights from students directly on their experience of learning, back, when we have the next PeRL symposium in the coming years.

I’d like to thank Mrs Poh Mun See, former RGS Principal, for her presence and continued support for the Symposium. I also like to warmly welcome S7 Cluster Superintendent Mr Koh Chong Mong to this event.

We are very grateful for our Keynote Speaker, A/Professor Chen Zhi Xiong, Assistant Dean (Education), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore;

Our Masterclass Speakers, Mr Bilahari Kausikan, Chairman of the Middle East Institute, Ms Jennifer Loh, Social entrepreneur & Co-founder of Playeum, Ms Cindy Khoo, Director, Strategic Planning, Singapore Prime Minister’s Office, and Mdm Lim Puay Yin, Master Teacher (Geography), Academy of Singapore Teachers;

Our Concurrent Session Presenters from the 10 schools.

And I would like to thank all our Participants - we have more than 300 today from 61 secondary schools, including many of you who had registered with us last year but had to wait one year before we are finally able to meet today - hope that we have not kept you waiting for too long.

I wish everyone a fulfilling and joyful afternoon of engaging with ideas that can transform education, and learning together.

Thank you.

Ms Haslinda Zamani

Principal

Raffles Girls' School