Term 1
TM Sparkles
TM Sparkles is a College-wide effort to encourage TMJC students to take responsibility of the cleanliness of venues they use frequently. This is in line with the Keep Singapore Clean Movement (KSCM) in Schools.
TM Sparkles aims to open eyes, change minds and inspire the hearts of our TMJC students using a two-pronged approach:
1. CG duty roster to promote daily clean-up
2. CG College clean-up regularly with the school attendants to show gratitude and appreciation to them
Through TM Sparkles, we hope to instil in our students, acts of civic-mindedness and social responsibility in keeping our community clean.
To ensure a smooth running of TM Sparkles, a pilot run was conducted on 12 March, Friday, from 2.30pm to 4.30pm by our JC2 student leaders: JC2 Student Councillors, JC2 CG Chairpersons and JC2 Peer Support Leaders. They were assigned areas to clean up and had the chance to work closely with the school attendants.
TM Run 2021
Every year, our College organises a run for all staff and students to promote physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. Last year, due to the escalating COVID-19 situation, the College-wide run was replaced by a CG-level run during their Physical Education (PE) lessons.
In 2021, undaunted by the challenges, the College came together to organise a College-wide run on 10 March. To prepare for the run, student competitors had been training diligently during PE lessons, and fellow classmates also showed their support by training alongside them as a form of camaraderie. In light of the logistical needs of the event that has to accommodate safe distancing measures and to ensure safety, students and staff readily volunteered to help out in various areas such as first aid, to be ushers, to be road marshals, to assist with registration and to be transition zone referees.
TM Run is indeed testament to our College’s ability to adapt and shine through adversity!
JC1 Parent Teacher Engagement
On 5th March 2021, TMJC hosted our first digital JC1 Parent Teacher Engagement (PTE) in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents, teachers, and students were digitally connected from their respective homes in the evening.
The purpose of PTE is to foster a strong partnership with parents to provide support for their child’s academic studies as well as their character development in TMJC.
In the first segment, we had a Webinar with our Principal, Ms Pamela Yoong, Vice-Principal overseeing JC1, Mr Ang Yeou Peng and JC1 Year Head, Mrs Sze-Seah Chai Ju sharing on the various aspects of the JC curriculum in TMJC to the parents. Mrs Agnes Teo, Head of Arts & Aesthetics/Partnership then shared the MOE Partnership Framework and a video of Mr Ahamed Ali Khan, a parent of our alumnus Naseemah D/O Ahamed Ali Khan (19A302) sharing some tips with the parents on how they may support their child in their JC journey. Parents were then encouraged to join our TMJC Parent Support Group. Questions from parents were also addressed in the Zoom chat.
The second segment were CG-based sessions that allowed parents the opportunity to be introduced to their child’s Civics Tutors via Zoom. Civics Tutors shared with parents essential information such as the contact information of their child’s Subject Tutors, key dates to be noted in the College Calendar, CCA matters and some tips on how parents and Civics Tutor can partner together to support their child.
Borrowing the African proverb, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, the College thus looks forward to a strong collaboration with our students’ parents for their holistic development.
TM Connects 2021
TM Connects is a community awareness event organised by the TMJC Values-In-Action Committee. The theme for TM Connects 2021 is “Opening Minds, Impacting Lives”.
Through TM Connects, we hope students can gain awareness and have a better understanding of different community issues, explore areas of interest and choose the organisations that they would like to serve. Thereafter, we hope TMJC students can seek to bring about positive change to the community.
We thank our partners who have shared enthusiastically with our students via a virtual platform during the session!
Due to the current Covid-19 situation, TM Connects 2021 was carried out virtually on 5 March 2021 from 2.30pm to 5pm via Zoom.
NUS Project and Facilities Management Essay Prize
In December 2020, three of our students participated in the inaugural NUS PFM (Project and Facilities Management) Essay Prize 2020 – a competition organised by the Department of Building of the School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore. We are pleased to share that Chew Zi Lim (20S212) was awarded Honourable Mention while Punnita Bumrungpanichtaworn (20S101) and Mai Nguyen Truc Linh (20S101) attained Certificates of Participation. Zi Lim was recognised in a prize ceremony at NUS University Town on 26 February 2021.
We are proud of our students’ achievements!
JC1 Initiation Ceremony
On 22 February 2021, the College held our annual JC1 Initiation Ceremony. This Ceremony is another TMJC tradition that the College has established despite being a young College. The ceremony is intended to symbolise the seniors welcoming the juniors and the journeying together of the JC1s and JC2s as they move ahead together as one TMJC student body.
During the ceremony, that took place across various venues due to Safe Management Measures, CG Chairpersons and Peer Support Leaders from each JC2 class presented the College collar pins to their JC1 juniors, to welcome them to the TMJC family. The JC1s then proudly put on their College collar pins, to signify them embracing and being part of the TMJC family officially.
Total Defence Day Commemoration 2021
TMJC commemorated Total Defence Day (TDD) from 17 to 24 February 2021 under the theme “Together, We Keep Singapore Stronger”. Introduced in 1984 to mark the day Singapore fell to Japanese troops in 1942, the annual TDD Commemoration exhorts every Singaporean to play their part to keep Singapore safe, secure and independent. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the significance of Total Defence becomes more pronounced. Social cohesion is imperative to successfully battle the virus. In light of this, during their Character & Citizenship Education lessons, students learnt about recent developments that undermined Singapore’s ability to overcome the pandemic. These include lax adherence to Safe Management Measures among some, the bystander effect and fake news regarding vaccines. They also learnt about the significant role they can play in fostering Psychological and Digital Defence in the community. The commemoration culminated in a Wall Art Display outside the General Office with students’ pledges as part of the design. We were honoured by Ms Ranjit Kaur, our Cluster Superintendent, who graced the occasion. The Wall Display functions as a daily visual reminder to all TMJC students on the importance of being ‘Stronger Together’ to combat COVID-19.
Release of GCE A-Level Examination Results
On 19th February 2021, our JC3s returned to college to receive their GCE A-Level Examinations results.
With the current ongoing pandemic, our seniors cooperated well with the necessary Safe Management Measures in place to ensure a smooth collection process as we welcomed them warmly back to our campus.
The decentralised collections at the various classrooms began with a sharing by Ms Jacqueline Tan (Subject Head, Education and Career Guidance) on the pathways post-JC education, and the various support the College is providing to support the students in their decision-making and application processes. Subsequently, our Principal, Ms Pamela Yoong, shared the achievements of the 2019-2020 Cohort via a live broadcast. With anticipations escalating, Civic Tutors then distributed the results to individual students.
As they plan their next step, may we wish our JC3s a wonderful journey ahead filled with courage and resilience. Our heartiest congratulations to you for your stellar results. TMJC is very proud of you!
Tree Planting Ceremony 2021
On 19th February 2021, TMJC held our 2nd Tree-Planting Ceremony. It represents a new beginning for the Class of 2020 as they graduate from College, whilst leaving fond memories deeply etched to the grounds of the College.
The Tree-Planting Ceremony is a tradition TMJC started in 2020, as it commemorates the shared experiences and achievements of each cohort of students.
The tembusu tree which was chosen to be planted, is a large, evergreen tree that matures with stately beauty, and can provide shelter for all. It is highly robust and can grow in almost any type of soil, testifying to its resilience. Such attributes symbolise the values and character that the College hopes to imbue in TMJC students.
This ceremony was led by the School Leaders, together with student representatives from the 2019-2020 Student Council: Naseemah D/O Ahamed Ali Khan (19A302/ President), Vaishalika Jain (19A202/ Vice-President); Chantal Poh Cheng Hoon (19A201 / Vice President) and Sivalogamoorthy Shrikeesan (19S212/ Vice President).
Chinese New Year 人日 (Ren2 Ri4) Celebrations
Still soaking in the festive atmosphere, TMJC came together to celebrate 人日 (Ren2 Ri4) in advance on 17 February 2021. Our Staff Welfare Committee prepared cookies and cakes for each department to enjoy.
On behalf of staff who contributed funds on a voluntary basis, our School Leaders presented angbaos to appreciate our College cleaners, attendants, IT support staff and security guards, for keeping our work environment clean, safe and conducive.
TMJC Chinese New Year Celebrations 2021
On 11 February 2021, the TMJC family celebrated the arrival of the Chinese New Year. The festive celebration consisted of two components.
The first component, “Understanding the Uniqueness of Singapore’s Chinese Culture via the Lens of the Chinese Diaspora”, is anchored in Citizenship Education. It aims to foster national pride in our students and to highlight Singapore’s unique Chinese culture amidst the threat of cultural dilution wrought by globalisation. In this segment, a 30-minute student-directed mini-film, consisting of 3 parts: Looking Back, Looking Out, Looking Forward, was screened and broadcasted to various venues.
The second component of the celebration offered challenges to the JC1 and JC2 Civic Groups (CG) titled “The Plum Blossom Challenge” and “The Lantern Making Challenge” respectively. In the first challenge, each JC1 CG had to complete five tasks related to the Chinese New Year, and prizes were given to the top 5 CGs who completed the tasks in the shortest time. For the JC2s, each CG had to make lanterns using red packets which were later hung on display within the college premises. Similarly, the 5 CGs with the most creatively designed lanterns won prizes.
Despite all faces covered by masks due to the pandemic, the joyous expressions and emotions shone through brightly. The event ended in high spirits with the School Leaders completing the Plum Blossom Tree with the “Plum Blossoms”.
Have an Oxpicious Year!
Chinese New Year Celebrations with our International Scholars
On 11 February 2021, TMJC gathered our international scholars to exchange well wishes for the Lunar New Year. Given the global pandemic, our international students were unable to return to their home countries to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families nor have their families visit them in Singapore. To help make the festive season meaningful for them nevertheless, our 24 JC2 scholars and 26 JC1 scholars met our Principal, Ms Yoong, to exchange well wishes. During the session, Ms Yoong shared words of blessings to them on behalf of the College, and each of the student then shared words of blessings in their native languages to Ms Yoong, who symbolically received the words of blessings on behalf of the College.
Staff Professional Development Day 2
TMJC’s Staff Professional Development Day 2 focuses on the principles of sound e-pedagogy, as Singapore schools gear up for the implementation of Blended Learning. After a keynote sharing on the “Whats” and “Hows” of effective E-Pedagogy, capped by an exciting Kahoot quiz, teachers also had the opportunity to have hands-on practice on ICT tools such as the new features of Student Learning Space (SLS), Google Classroom, and Powtoons.
CCA, Modern Dance’s Participation in the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC IAEC Virtual Deepavali Celebrations 2020
On 28 November last year, our CCA, Modern Dance, was invited to put up a dance performance for the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Virtual Deepavali Celebrations, where Senior Minister & Coordinating Minister for National Security, Mr Teo Chee Hean was the Guest-of-Honour.
This was an important event for the residents to come together to celebrate this festival and enhance the mood of celebration amongst our residents of Pasir Ris and Punggol. To thank our dancers for being part of this, the organisers have thus presented the College a Certificate of Appreciation for our involvement.
On 8 February 2021, Kelly Tan Jing Ying (20S303) and Camille Chua Yu En (20S101) therefore represented the dancers in presenting the Certificate of Appreciation to our Principal, Ms Yoong. The dancers thanked Ms Yoong for her support and having provided them the opportunity to perform for this meaningful virtual celebration.
Good job, dancers, for your service to our community!
JC1 Orientation & CCA Recruitment Exercise
On the 29th of January 2021, TMJC kicked off our Orientation, ARISE, to receive our 4th batch of students. The theme, “ARISE” was a call to action for our incoming JC1s to build upon the legacy of their seniors by upholding our College values of Integrity, Courage, Resilience and Compassion.
The first day saw a series of informative Academic Subject Talks and a Dialogue with School Leaders and Academic Heads that allowed students the opportunity to get a better understanding of the academic demands and rigour of the various disciplines. Students were also enthusiastically brought around the campus by their Orientation Group Leaders (OGLs) to orientate them to the College layout and facilities.
The subsequent days of Orientation were when the fun truly picked up. The TMJC Spirit caught on fast amongst the juniors. Day 2 started with the vibrant walk-in dances that the OGLs had rehearsed for months to perform as a warm welcome to the JC1s. The JC1s also had a chance to get up on their feet and learn the 2021 College Mass Dance choreographed to the song, “This Is Me”, which was carefully selected to empower the JC1s to be themselves and celebrate what is unique about every one of us - a reflection of the College culture we want to nurture.
On Day 3, the adventures continued with games that provided bonding opportunities and gave them a taste of TMJC life. It also featured cheers that were pre-recorded with the help of our alumni so as to keep our traditions alive across the generations of TMJC students.
Day 4 brought the Orientation to an exciting end. Our JC1s were also able to watch the pre-recorded Finale performances by their talented OGLs. The OGLs continued to model the way by encouraging their juniors to innovate and upcycle used bottles through a Make-Your-Own-Instrument competition during this segment as well. The day ended with a colourful CCA Recruitment Exercise where our Performing Arts, Sports, and Games as well as Clubs and Societies Leaders shared with their juniors about CCA life in TMJC, and the unique experiences their CCA can offer, so as to help our JC1s to make an informed choice regarding their CCA.
Our JC1s enjoyed the experience, grew in character, and became a part of the TMJC Family. Our JC2 OGLs also rose to the challenge of inducting the JC1s in an innovative way amidst the challenging considerations to keep the College family safe.
Welcome to TMJC, once again, JC1s!
TMJC “EXCEL FEST”
From 20th Jan to 3rd Feb 2021, TMJC held its inaugural “EXCEL FEST” to celebrate our culture of staff innovation and collaboration.
In line with safe management measures (SMM), the “Fest” was an example of blended learning in action.
First, staff were given access to the new Cool Moves Online Gallery, which is a Google Site where the winning entries for the College’s “Cool Moves Teaching and Learning Innovation Awards” were curated. On the site, staff could access resources shared by the teams as well as a video presentation about the project.
Next, staff signed up for panel discussions with winning teams so that they can pose questions and engage in dialogues with them to find out more about the nuts and bolts of implementation, etc. It was heartening to see that staff were engaged in these “Kopi Sessions” and asked many good questions!
Looking forward to the next TMJC EXCEL FEST where we can showcase even more of our colleagues’ innovations!
JC1 Awards Ceremony
On 27 January 2021, TMJC held our JC1 Awards Ceremony to recognise and celebrate the achievements of our students in their JC1 journey in 2020.The ceremony began with our principal, Ms Yoong’s Opening Address, in which she highlighted the intent of two of the awards. The first was the TMJC Book Prize, which serves to recognise students who have consistently demonstrated stellar academic performances over the milestone assessments throughout their two years with the college. The second was the TMJC Alumni Scholarship, which is made possible only due to the generous donations of our parent colleges’ alumni.
Mr Shawn Ng, our Guest-of-Honour, who is an alumnus of Meridian Junior College, then took the stage to address his TMJC juniors. In his address, he encouraged his juniors to begin with the end in mind, foster meaningful friendships, and support each other, not to sweat the small stuff and enjoy the process.
The ceremony then proceeded to present the following awards: the TMJC Book Prize (Bronze), the MOE Edusave Character Award, and the TMJC Alumni Scholarship.
Our heartiest congratulations to all awardees!
Staff Professional Development Day 1
The Staff Professional Development (PD) Day 1 is the first in a series of in-house professional development activities lined up for the year.
The focus of PD Day 1 is to orientate the teachers regarding the use of the TMJC Professional Development Toolkit. After self-assessing their level of practice in the areas of “Learner”, “Learning” and “Environment”, teachers formed small groups to co-construct their professional development plans for the year, including peer observations and dialogues.
The programme concluded with the launch of the TMJC’s first EXCEL Fest week, showcasing the winning projects from the College’s own Cool Moves awards which recognises purposeful innovation in teaching and learning.
The National Young Leader Award
The National Young Leader Award was launched by Halogen Foundation Singapore to recognise young leaders who have demonstrated passion and conviction in activities that make a positive impact in their communities.
We are proud to announce that the following TMJC student leaders are recognised as being in the Top 50 for the National Young Leader Award 2020:
Rashi Ketan Jobalia (20A202)
Chantal Poh Cheng Hoon (19A201)
Vaishalika Jain (19A202)
Our heartiest congratulations to our three student leaders. We are proud of you!
E-Open House
Tampines Meridian Junior College conducted our first ever E-Open House this year!
Since December 2020, parents and students have been able to ‘visit’ the College via our E-Open House website. Visitors are treated to many colourful snippets of College life in TMJC, through the eyes of our very own students. These comprises first-hand walkthroughs of the College grounds, our CCAs and programmes offered at TMJC.
A highlight was our Live Webinar held on 13 January, Wednesday. Our School Leaders introduced our College to participants, and engaged in an informative Q&A session. We thank all parents and students who joined us online for the Webinar, and thank you for your lively participation.
The format of the Open House this year has certainly been a novel way to experience the warmth and culture of TMJC. We look forward to welcoming our new batch of JC1s!
DSA Induction Programme
At TMJC, we believe in supporting our students in every way possible.
13 January marks the day we welcome our J1 students who have joined the College through the Direct Schools Admissions (DSA) pathway. Our School Leaders, Admissions In-Charge and Year Head met them and shared the Induction Programme that has been planned specially for them.
To give the students a head start to the instructional programme and build their academic foundation, they will be undergoing a curated series of lessons over the next couple of weeks before the rest of their peers join them.
Here’s wishing our 2021 DSA students all the best in their new journey ahead!
Tampines Meridian Student Leaders’ Investiture
The Tampines Meridian Student Leaders’ Investiture was held on our first day back in College on 11 January 2021. The Investiture marks the day our Tampines Meridian Student Council, CG Chairpersons, Peer Support Leaders, and CCA Exco members are recognised as the new student leaders of the College. This year, the theme chosen was ‘Spark’. It is chosen to remind our student leaders that they are the ‘sparks’ that have the spirit to push others through tough times, and ignite the fiery passion within the students in TMJC.
During the event, our student leaders were presented with a student leaders’ badge as a symbolic token of recognition of their undertaking. The design of the badge in the form of a compass serves to remind our student leaders that they are to serve as a guide to their peers. The event drew to a close with a badge-pinning ceremony and the recitation of the Student Leaders’ Oath.
First Day of School at Tampines Meridian Junior College 2021
On 11 January 2021, TMJC welcomed our students back to College with a series of “Back-to-School” activities lined up for them to reconnect with their friends and teachers.
For the first time, the College used the Broadcast System to broadcast the National Anthem and the College Anthem to students in their respective CG classrooms for the Morning Assembly. The day then began with the Student Leaders’ Investiture which was streamed live to the cohort in their respective classrooms. As a symbolic gesture of appreciation and care, and a treasured tradition of TMJC, Civics Tutors presented lollipops to their students and students presented apples to their teachers in return.
The “Back-to-School” programme includes a Dialogue Session with our School Leaders, a communal breakfast provided by the College for the students to bond with their Civics Tutors and fellow classmates, and five different games such as Taboo, Football, Captain’s Ball, Basketball and Orientation-style games where staff and students had friendly matches against each other. It was indeed refreshing to see staff and students playing hard, and all showed courage and resilience!
Here’s to a great 2021 ahead, TMJC! Let’s “Be Better, Together”.