Woodlands Primary Celebrates 40th Birthday

I have no idea that my alumni primary school is only 40 years old.

Joey is in P4 this year and she is privileged to be part of the celebration. She has to report early on Saturday to prepare her game stall and did her duty or 1.5 hours. I think she really loves to give instructions to others, totally into her role, explaining the rules to students coming forward to play.

Jayne is still too young to be involved, maybe when WPS celebrates 45 anniversary, Jayne will have chance to serve too.

For now, she is satisfied to just enjoy herself without her elder sister.

 

Fill up the box with marbles in 1 min’s time. She was so fast, she completed the task with much time to spare.

Stack the paper cups.

Target shooting with rubber bands. This may look easy for adults but for kids, they are still developing the skill to pull, aim and shoot.

 

Every empty space in the school compound has been transformed for the carnival, a time for parent-children bonding, a time for alumni like myself to reminisce the old days.

Even the canteen stall owners came back to prepare some special food to support the event.

Parent Volunteers lived up to their name and helped to man a stall for some good old goodies.

And no school carnival is complete without the Milo Van.

The highlight for an old boy like myself has to be the well thought of idea to invite all the past years’ principals to come back and grace the occasion.

Happy 40th birthday WPS! So proud that my girls are part of the same legacy I was in before.

Primary Concern

It is almost 3 weeks of school since the beginning of this new academic year. This year Jayne finally stepped into her journey of studies from Primary all the way to University (hopefully). Looking back just a few months back when I just attended her K2 graduation ceremony, I was slightly worried if this little girl would make it in Primary school or not. As compared to her elder sister, Jayne is more willing (fearless at times) in adapting to new environment and things. Talked to a few other parents, made me realized that 2nd born are usually more “garang”.

It might be because Jayne tends to stick to me more than Joey, I had this feeling that she is not ready for Primary school. Plus her small frame really didn’t add much confidence to me. She is still just my 小不点.

Joey on the other hand tends to be a bit more reserved when it comes to trying new things. But I have seen her grew so much in the past 3 years in her Primary school life.Though as parents, they will always stay like a child in our hearts, but Joey has taken her role of an elder sister very well. Maybe it’s in her just like me to be the one who will take charge most of the times. Looking at her, I really see so much of me. She hardly needs us to coach her in her school works, always clear of what to do and bring for school, sometimes I even hear her telling Kless what to do too.

On the first day of school this year, we woke up early to ensure that all the necessary items are prepared. Jayne put on her school uniform and was so eager to go. If I remembered correctly, Joey was not as excited as Jayne 3 years back. Looking at both of the girls in the uniform that is so familiar to me, brings forth a special pride in me. My girls are in Primary School now!

And Joey is a full-fledged Prefect this year. I was a Prefect too =)

My primary concern for both of them is to enjoy school and learn as much as they can. I do wish to be a stressful father,  stressed out with their results and in turn stressed them for performance. I know to survive especially in Singapore, academic results are extremely important, but if a person is bad in character and has no love for others, being the brightest kid really doesn’t matter much. I just want my girls to have lots of friends in school, loved by most of their classmates, have respect for teachers, not afraid to learn, and takes care of one another.

Simple? I don’t know too. Just try lah.

Family Wellness Day

The last time we accompanied Joey for her school’s Family Wellness Day was already one year ago. Time really flew past so quickly, and this year the Parents’ Volunteer Group took over the rein and planned the activities for more than 100 students and parents to the Kranji Farms.

First stop was Hay Dairies Goat Farm, and I think Joey appreciated this visit much better than the last because she can finally understand the process of milking and hopefully appreciate the goat’s milk delivered to our home every week.

On this trip we were able to see her interact with her classmates and in turn she introduced to us her BFF, Xuyuan (the girl on Joey’s right).

Xuyuan seems to be a very popular girl, most of the classmates like to hang around her (later we got to know she is in the school volleyball team and their primary school is famous for volleyball). But at some point on the trip, Jayne asked Xuyuan is she also Joey’s BFF, Xuyuan shyly nodded her head. That moment was precious. As a father who is slightly concerned that my elder girl is too bossy around her friends and sometimes too “tom-boyish”, knowing that her BFF also likes to be with her is a huge burden off our shoulders.

Back to the goats. Goat milk is good for people with asthma, skin problems, and those who have allergies to dairies. Goat’s milk is alkaline in nature thus more acceptable for the body. If you are interested, check out more on this website. We orders 2 bottles of goat’s milk weekly to replace the milk intake for Joey. I consume it too.

 

After the milking, the goats are led back to their tent.

You can almost see that some of them are so sad to be back into the tent.

Bearing the smell from the animals, the children were still very excited to be able to touch the kid (baby goats).

 

Jayne is a bit too short to reach over the fence. So cute!

 

This photo will surely be reviewed by the group of friends after many years later.

Second stop was to visit the Wheat Farm or Organic Farm in the same vicinity.

This farm produces Wheatgrass 小麦草, Black Fungus 黑木耳, Mushrooms, Cactus, Pea Sprouts, Aloe Vera. The presenter was quite funny and explained quite candidly about the benefits of the different products. Like Black Fungus is very good for people with high cholesterol. Cactus is good for controlling diabetes. Check out the website for more detail benefits.

 

Jayne and Kless.

The two good friends never went any place without each other.

Passed the camera to Jayne and these are her photos.

A great day to spend some time in the open under the sun with the girls. A friend later commented that we are very “on” to bring the girls out for events, my reply is just doing my best to provide a balanced lifestyle.