Raffles Parents' Association

HCA/RPA Charity Golf 2012

2012-01-31T20:20:00.008+08:00

26 January 2012

Dear Parents,

HCA/RPA Charity Golf 2012

For the first time, HCA Hospice Care (HCA) is teaming up with the Raffles Parents’ Association (RPA) to jointly organise a Charity Golf Tournament. We would like to extend a warm invitation to you/your company to the fundraiser on 18 May 2012 at the Raffles Country Club. HCA's Patron, Mr Lim Boon Heng, will grace the event as Guest-of-Honour.

RPA and HCA are raising funds and awareness for the home hospice cause under a tournament tagline, “You Are Not Alone”. All proceeds will go to HCA Hospice Care.

HCA is a registered charity with IPC status, offering home hospice care to patients with life-limiting illnesses, free-of-charge. The largest such service, HCA provides over 75% of all home hospice care in Singapore. Dedicated doctors, nurses, medical social workers and volunteers care for over 3,300 patients a year in their own homes. Since 1989, HCA has reached out to more than 48,000 patients. Please visit www.hca.org.sg for more information.

This Charity Golf Tournament is HCA’s annual and main fundraising event, organised to supplement the funding received from the National Council of Social Service and the Ministry of Health.

Please feel free to contact Emma Goh at 6891 9507, email: emmaG@hcahospicecare.org.sg, Sharlyn Chua at 9239 6666, email: sharlynchua@gmail.com or Mrs Goh Swee Hong at 9456 8828 email: gohsweehong@pacific.net.sg if you have any queries.

Click here to print Response form.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Andrew Kwek	Ms Goh Swee Hong	Mrs Lim Lai Cheng
Fundraising Chairman, HCA Hospice Care	Chairperson, Raffles Parents’ Assoc.	Principal, Raffles Institution

RPA Career Talk 2011 - The Legal Profession

2011-12-24T17:10:00.000+08:00

We wrapped this year’s RPA Career talks with an informative session by A/P Lan Luh Luh, Deputy Director for the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, National University of Singapore. Held in Lecture Theatre 3 in the Year 5 and 6 campus on 15 October 2011 (Saturday), she gave an exciting talk about her experiences in both private practice and academia.

Prof Lan gave a comprehensive view of the legal profession and elaborated on the legal scene both locally and abroad. She recalled her days working in a private law firm and reminded the RI students present of the demands and commitment needed for the legal profession. Prof Lan currently holds a joint position in both the NUS Business School and Law School. Being part of the team interviewing prospective undergraduates for the Law faculty, she was able to share about the Faculty interview and written tests for the LLB programme in NUS.

Parents were very happy to have gathered many useful information and they were seen crowding around Prof Lan even after the talk. Responses from the parent survey showed that the talk was very well received.

2011 A-Level Suppers

2011-11-05T10:52:00.007+08:00

Dear RPA Members,

The A levels supper started on 17th Oct Monday ending on 28Th Oct Friday. We served an average of 400 students a night, a lot more since we started 4 years ago.
Menu changes every night. So far, we have served Japanese, Italian, Korean, Indonesian, Western, Stew, SSS (soup salad sandwich), devoting one day to fish and finally ending with International Fest. Judging from the students’ response, I believe they enjoyed the food a lot.
We also try to follow the theme for each night for the halal and the vegetarian meals as well.
Many thank s to the parents who came every night to serve the students. Many thanks to the councilors who partnered us to help with various tasks like setting up tables, serving the desserts etc. Many thanks to the parents who donated food. And of course , many thanks to the parents who made this possible with their cash donations.
RPA wants to wish all Year 6 students (and their parents) all the best for their A levels. We are very proud of them and know they are doing their best!
Please go to the website for more of the photos taken by our Honorary Secretary Mr Richard Wong.

DAY 9: International Fest, 28 October 2011

DAY 8: Stew Day!, 27 October 2011

DAY 7: Korean Day! 25 October 2011

DAY 6: Indonesian Food, 24 October 2011

DAY 5: Soup Salad Sandwich 21 October 2011

DAY 4: Fish Fish Fish, October 20, 2011

DAY 3: Wild Wild West October 19, 2011

DAY 2: Italian Food October 18, 2011

DAY 1: Japanese Food October 17, 2011

DAY 9: International Fest, 28 October 2011

2011-11-05T10:50:00.004+08:00

DAY

DAY 8: Stew Day!, 27 October 2011

2011-11-05T10:49:00.003+08:00

DAY 7: Korean Day! 25 October 2011

2011-11-05T10:47:00.001+08:00

DAY 6: Indonesian Food, 24 October 2011

2011-11-05T10:45:00.000+08:00

DAY 5: Soup Salad Sandwich 21 October 2011

2011-11-05T10:40:00.000+08:00

DAY 4: Fish Fish Fish, October 20, 2011

2011-11-05T10:35:00.000+08:00

DAY 4: Fish Fish Fish, October 20, 2011

DAY 3: Wild Wild West October 19, 2011

2011-11-05T10:30:00.001+08:00

DAY 2: Italian Food October 18, 2011

2011-11-05T10:25:00.000+08:00

DAY 1: Japanese Food October 17, 2011

2011-11-05T10:23:00.004+08:00

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

PSLE Mathematics Workshop – Part 1(9 July 2011) and Part 2 (13 August 2011)

2011-10-29T20:39:00.000+08:00

The first PSLE Mathematics Workshop was held on 9 July 2011. The speaker is the RPA Vice Chairman, Mr. Too Meng Ken. With several master degrees in Mathematics and vast experience in the field, he gladly shared techniques in solving challenging Mathematics questions with parents and students.

A total of 147 parents and students attended this workshop. The students were from 33 different schools including Tao Nan, Nanyang, RGS and Rosyth. 31 questions were set by Mr. Too and he gave advice to the participants regarding the mastery of problems from Paper 1 and 2 covering the topics including area, volume, geometry, speed and pie charts.

The second PLE Mathematics Workshop was held on 13 August 2011 again by Mr. Too Meng Ken. This workshop attracted 160 participants, even more than that of the previous session including some RI staff members. The participants came from 37 schools including the top primary schools in the country. In this workshop, Mr Too focused on the patterns, ratios, fractions, percentages and model building.

Participants enjoyed the workshop so much that all (100%) of them would recommend this workshop to their friends in the future. Some parents stayed back for another 30 minutes to pose more questions to our speaker. They were really eager to learn more about Mathematics. They even hoped that we could keep them informed about future workshops.

We got the following positive comments:

“I like the lecturer’s explanations as they are very clear and useful.” Mr. Lee

“An enjoyable workshop with useful information as well as a diligent speaker.” Mrs Ong.

“It helps me to have better understanding of PSLE questions in order for me to guide my child in this subject.” Mdm Winter.

“Thanks for your valuable advice to us fellow parents, Mr. Too and best wishes!” Mr Suguna.

“I understand a lot of good examples.” Mr Leong.

We would like to thank Goh Swee Hong, Cao Lin, Corinna Toh, Cathleen Ho, Richard Wong, Rina Mok, Sam Lam and Peter Lim for their help in registration and of course, Mr.Too Meng Ken for his time spent in preparing for and delivering this interesting workshop. Some of the highlights are shown in the photos enclosed.

Reported by Mrs. Adeline Wan

Date : 18-8-2011

RPA Registration Team and the Speaker on 9 July 2011

RPA PSLE Maths Workshop on 9 July 2011

RPA Registration Team on 13 August 2011

RPA PSLE Maths Workshop on 13 August 2011

Teachers Day Appreciation Lunch 1 Sept 2011

2011-09-18T22:25:00.014+08:00

Dear parents,

The Teachers ‘ Day Appreciation Lunch went extremely well. About 550 teaching and non-teaching staff made their way to the RI Boarding Hall for the event on 1st September, Thursday. Many parents also joined in that day to help with decorations, table-setting, serving of food etc.

This is the first joint Secondary School cum College Teachers’ Day Appreciation Lunch organized and hosted by RPA. My heartfelt and sincere thanks go out to the many parents who had come with their food, their enthusiasm to help as well as those who had generously contributed cash donations and gifts for the lucky draw.

The staff appreciated the lunch and this is made possible because of all of you!

Thank you once again to the following parents (in alphabetical order) who had contributed food, cash contributions, lucky draw prizes and/or helped in one way or another.

If I have inadvertently left out any name(s), please let me know by email at gohsweehong@pacific.net.sg so that we can edit the list for posting in our website.

Addy Suhairi Selamat		Lim Sao Hwee
Ang Pek Choo @ Inez Ang		Linda Quek
Adeline Wan		Lo Wei Min
Agarwal Kailah Baburam		Louisa Chong
Alison Yong		Loy Ming
Angela Choong		Lu Ying
Angela Choong		Lucy Lim
Anjali Ghandhi		Maggie Tan
Ann Leong		Manju
B Hema Malini		Margaret Koh Gaik Joo
Cao Lin		Marilyn Ong
Carol Ng		Marthius
Cathleen Ho		Mary Anne Heng
Catherine Kuek		Michael Oliver Ibach
Cecilia		Micky Yong
Chiang Kah Peng		Mohammad Ashraf Bhadelia
Chng Seo Ping		Moon Jeong Shim
Chua Wah Ann		Ms Ng Sheue Yng
Corinna Toh		Narayanan
Debbie Yap		Ng Kok Seong
Dfai Kai		Ng Siew Fong
Elsie Cheong		Ngampakdeepanich Chatchai
Eve Ng		Norma Padmaja Nair
Fang Wen		Patricia Lee
Gabriel Ng		Poh Li Lian
Gao PengFei		Qiu Hong Tao/Ma Ying
Geraldine Ong		R. Muthaiah
Giam Lay Hoon		Ragam Radha Madhav
Goh Swee Hong		Rekha Gunasingle
Helen Tan		Remya Aravamuthum
Hii Kuong Hua		Rena Tan
Ho Ai Gim, Cindy		Richard Wong
Ho Siew Fay		S Thilakavathy
Irene Kam		Sandee Yap
Ishak Ismail		Sandra Chen
Janet Chan		Sandra Tan
Jasmine Kng		Sathyavathi Vendidachalam
Jason Tang		Sharlyn Chua
Jayne Khoo		Sheela Mariamah
Jean Gan		Siew Kheng
Jolene Goh		Suguna
Julie Chew		Sujati Sastro
Kailash Agarwal		Tan Mun Bin
Kala Sundaram		Tan Sok Kiang
Karene Goh		Tan Yeo Chye
Kelly & Peter Tan		Tay Ai Hwa
Koh Guat Tin		Tee Yu Ping
Koh Tong Chia		Tern Seo Ping
Kow Kim Song /Pang Siew Lie		Theresia Hanapie
Lee Hon Mui /Anne		Too Meng Ken
Lee Lay Yem		Tow Heng Fong
Lee Lee Koon		U Aye Kyaw
Lee/Ng Foong Ming		Vandana Kackar
Lekshmi Jaya Prabha		Vijayalakshmi Jagadeesh
Li Shu Yun		Wimala Widjaja / Tjhin Maria Theresa
Li Xin		Wong Mee Ching
Lilian Lui Pek Wan		Wong Oi Mei

Many thanks too to our Bollywood dancers:

Ai Hwa	Poh Li Lian
Angela Choong	Preeti
Anjali Ghandhi	Rekha Gunasingle
Dai Kai	Sailekshmi
Esther	Sheela Mariamah
Eve Ng	Tee Yu Ping
Goh Swee Hong	Vandana Kackar
Hema	Vasali

And last but not least, our RPA MC who had worked very hard to make this event a resounding success:

Adeline Lai

Angela Choong

Cao Lin

Cathleen Ho

Chua Wah Ann

Corinna Toh

Gabriel Ng

Goh Swee Hong

Ho Siew Fay

Ishak Ismail

Julie Chew

Lee lee Koon

Marilyn Ong

Moon Jeongshim

R. Muthaiah

Rekha Gunasinghe

Richard Wong

Sandee Yap

Sandra Chen

Sharlyn Chua

Sheela Manoj

Too Meng Ken

Vandana Kackar

Vijayalakshmi Jagadeesh

Parents serving food

Catered food

Teachers Day Cake

The RI Boarding Hall where event was held

Our Bollywood dance team

Supervised Study Program (SSP) April-May 2011

2011-09-18T21:43:00.002+08:00

Raffles Institution has been organizing a Supervised Study Program for its Year 1 to 4 students since 2009. This program lasts for 2 weeks in May and 4 weeks in October just before Common Test and Year End Examination respectively. Students who achieve a GPA (Grade Point Average) of 2.8 and below for one or more subjects have to stay back in one of the 2 Lecture Theatres for self study for the duration between 2:00 -5:30pm. These students will be under close supervision by different subject teachers on duty. Students are encouraged to seek the teachers on duty for clarification besides revising their school work.

This year, the Apr-May SSP was another successful school event supported by RPA whereby we made sure students were given a quiet place and time with teachers who helped them revise their school work before Common Test.

RPA assists by organizing parent volunteers to help register the students upon their arrival. RPA also budgets a yearly amount to purchase snacks & drinks for the students’ consumption during SSP’s break. We are also grateful to have received sponsorship from a Year 6’s parent for bottled drinking water during this SSP. Parent volunteers helped to ensure SSP was conducted in a conducive manner and with minimum disruption to the teachers. Feedback from the school had shown that students who attended the SSP had shown improvement for their Common Test.

RPA looks forward to assisting the school for the next SSP in October.

(Photographs are not in this report for sensitive reasons).

RPA Career Talk 2011

2011-09-18T21:35:00.000+08:00

A Career in Medicine: Facts and Myths

This year, the first RPA Career talk kicked off with an exciting session by Dr. Chan Tat Keong, Senior Consultant Eye Surgeon of the Singapore National Eye Centre. Held in Lecture Theatre 2 in the Year 5 and 6 campus on 13 August 2011 (Saturday), more than 200 parents and students attended the talk.

During the talk, Dr. Chan shared his experiences and views with the audience. He reminded the students present that there are many other career choices available other than medicine.

Dr. Chan mentioned the different career paths in the medical field and went on to list the various stages of training a doctor needs to go through. “The life of a houseman is tough. I remember my 36-hour shift. At the end of the shift, my bed in the hospital still looked the same, totally untouched!” Parents were seen busily taking down notes on medical school application and related information.

This year, a special segment was added as we were able to invite an ex-Rafflesian to share about life in our local medical school. Miss Stacey Goh is a second-year student in NUS medical school. She talked about her medical school application and interview process. She also shared about her life as a first-year student.

After the talk, parents continued to crowd around Dr Chan and Miss Goh to find out more. The parents were very happy that they were able to get a new perspective about the medical career.

2011 Planned Activities

2011-08-29T22:27:00.027+08:00

S/No	Activity	Date
1	Principal's Breakfast	23-Apr 20-Aug
2	Supervised Study Program	25 Apr – 6 May Sep – Oct
3	Principal's Lunch	5-May 20-Aug 13-Sep Oct
4	RI Open House	21-May
5	Family Connect	28-May
6	Town Hall Meetings	2-Jul 30-Jul
7	PSLE Math Workshop	9-Jul 13-Aug

8	Teacher's Day	1-Sep
9	Career Talks	13 Aug 15 Oct
10	A-Level Dinner	17 Oct- 28 Oct
11	Fitness Activities Bollywood Dance Yoga	Jul started (every Sat 2.30 - 3.30) Jul started (every Sat 3.45 - 4.45)
12	RPA Charity Golf	23-Sep
13	Scholar Hosting	TBA
14	CNY Elderly dinner	TBA

Please note above activities are subject to change.

Bollywood Dance

2011-08-29T11:37:00.000+08:00

Bollywood Dance Sometime early last year, the then Raffles Parents Association, Management Committee’s chairman, Mr Chua Wah Wan came up with the idea of starting “Bollywood Dance” lessons for members. All work and no play was not fun, he thought! MC member Vandana was tasked to make the necessary arrangements. She was concerned, wondering if anyone would really join. However, to allay her fears, a number of MC members gamely agreed to participate and thus, our own “Bollywood Dancers” were born! Since then, once a week, members have been shaking their booty to the great sounds of Bollywood music. The highlight was when they decided to perform for this year’s Chinese New Year Senior Citizens dinner. The ladies danced to the famous “Jai Ho” song and it was received with loud cheers, clapping and even some “wolf whistles”! It was a fun filled event, which was truly worth it.

After a small gap, classes has resumed with an overwhelming response. We now have about 24 “dancing mums”! And to spice things up, our present RPA MC chairperson, Ms Goh Swee Hong has added yoga lessons to “limber those muscles” of ours!

              Envious? Don’t be!
                   Come join us in the FUN, exercise your body and soul.

                  For more information, contact
                  Vandana at vtikku@yahoo.com

                  Venue: RI Block B, Multi Purpose Studio Level 2
                  When:   Every Saturdays - 2.30 to 3.30pm - Dance
                                                          - 3.35 to 4.35pm - Yoga

RI Open House 22 May 2011

2011-08-20T20:45:00.003+08:00

It was an exciting day for our boys, teachers, staffs and RPA parents when they share with visiting parents and prospective RI recruits how they learn and have fun everyday.

RPA Kopidiam “Aunty” and “Uncle”

for a cuppa, and candy for kids

Sharing the experience of a RPA parent

Question for our Principal Mrs Lim?

Mummy come prepared … taking notes

Baby we are starting you young

RPA Family Connect 2011 – SATURDAY 28 May 2011

2011-08-12T17:43:00.000+08:00

“Raffles Families Connecting Through Fun & Games”

The light drizzle on the morning of Saturday 28 May did not stop the many who had turned up for the RPA Family Connect 2011. The annual event organized by the Raffles Parents Association, is into its second year. Once again grandparents, parents, siblings and relatives of our Raffles students came to form family teams in a friendly but spirited competition and more importantly building bonds of friendship.

As promised, it was a fun-filled day for all family members, young and old alike, and the families from Year 1-6 were represented. All who came were given welcome gifts and early birds had additional gifts too. There were family-fun telematch games and everyone walked away with great prizes too. And to top it all there was a lovely buffet spread too… including the ice-cream bar.

On hand to make sure that everything was well organized were the RPA MC members and also parent volunteers who displayed wonderful spirit and camaraderie.

A BIG salute to everyone who has contributed to make Family Connect 2011 a day of fun and joy and also a BIG thank you to the families who had taken their time on a Sat morning to support the event.

Echoing our Chairperson, Mrs Goh Swee Hong after the event - 'Raffles Parents Rock!!!'

RPA Career Talk Season 2 - Science and Engineering

2010-08-17T07:31:00.010+08:00

RPA Career Talk Season 2 - Science and Engineering

You want to be a Researcher? Find out more about what it takes and how it is like.

Career Choices in R&D and IT

Women in IT - why is IT a good field for women

Date: Aug 28

Time: 10a.m. to 12.30 p.m.

Venue: RI - Year 5 and 6 side of the campus LT3 (not Secondary school).

Fee: $5 per pax for RPA member/spouse/child; $10 per pax for non-RPA member.

Dear RPA Member,

In view of extremely positive responses for last year's talks, RPA is bringing back the popular RPA Career Talk for Parents this year.

The objective is to equip parents with knowledge and insights to guide our children in making key career and academic decisions.

Triple Science is the most popular subject combination for our children in RI. Many of our brightest kids go on to cling A*Star scholarships (and be bonded for 6 years after their PHD courses). It will be a misery to be bonded to do something if one does not enjoy it. Hence, it is worthwhile for us to develop a better understanding on the Science and Technology industry from the horses' mouth. This time, we have Industry veterans in the R&D and IT sector to talk to us about career choices in these fields.

Speaker:

Dr Pantelis Alexopoulos

Executive Director, Data Storage Institute (DSI)

Dr. Alexopoulos is a 29-year veteran in the data storage industry. He started his career, after graduating from Cornell University, in IBM Almaden Research Centre where he spent 14 years in various technical and managerial positions. In the late 90s through to early 2000, as CTO of Maxtor, he set up a 200-man R&D team in Singapore and collaborated with DSI in many hard disk drive related projects.

Prior to joining DSI as Scientific Director in February 2010, Dr. Alexopoulos was the Vice President & GM of Hitachi GST Head Business Group. He has also served as Chairman and CEO for TDK Fujitsu Philippines Corporation, and as a member of DSI's Scientific Advisory Board from 2003 to January 2010.

Harish Pillay

Chief Technology Architect of Red Hat Asia Pacific

Harish Pillay is currently the Open Source Evangelist with Red Hat Asia Pacific. He has been active in the Free and Open Source arena since the late 1980s. He is one of the founders of the Linux Users' Group(Singapore) which was set up in 1993. He continues to be a leading spokesperson and a thought leader in the open standards, FOSS and the general use of technology in advancing society. Harish holds a BSCS and MSEE from Oregon State University and is an inductee of the Council of Outstanding Early Career Engineers, Oregon State University.

Yes, you can bring your child along. Yes, he needs to pay too.

Do NOT miss.

Dateline for registration: 20th August

Any queries please email Siew Fay at sfayho@gmail.com.

Our Rugby C Division Team Is The New Champion!

2010-08-15T13:15:00.049+08:00

Dear Parents,

Great news!

After fourteen long years, our C Division Rugby team successfully clinched the Goh Keng Swee Shield by beating ACSI 8 - 5 in a tense and closely-fought final.

Let us put our hands together to congratulate all our heroes. Keep it up, Champs!

Our Rugby C Division Team with the Goh Keng Swee Shield.

Yishu scored a try in the finals against ACS I.

Chang Kyu scored a penalty in the finals against ACS I.

Edgar, the Man-Of-The-Match, winning the ball during a line-out.

To view pictures of the finals, click on the links below:

Pictures Of The Finals 1
Pictures Of The Finals 2
Pictures Of The Finals 3
Pictures Of The Finals 4

Enjoy the pictures.

HELPING PARENTS UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS REALLY LIKE TO BE A LAWYER

2010-08-05T07:33:00.000+08:00

HELPING PARENTS UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS REALLY LIKE TO BE A LAWYER-MYTHS VS REALITY

In the second of a series of career talks organized by RPA ( Raffles Parent Association ), Mr Sreenivasn, Managing Director of Straits Law Practice and an ex-RI boy, gave a firsthand, insightful account of the life of a lawyer.

For about an hour of presentation, Mr Sreenivasn shared enthusiastically on the personal attributes of what it takes to succeed as a legal practitioner. He also covered pertinent areas of concerns such as entry routes into the profession, internships, the various types of legal practices, as well as the demands and rewards of the profession. About 120 parents and students of Year 1 to Year6, gave their full attention to Mr Sreenivasn’s candid and lively presentation.

Following the presentation, about 30 minutes were given to interactive Q&A during which parents engaged Mr Sreenivasn with specific questions on compensation, entry requirements, comparisons between the rewards of different forms of legal appointments, as well as what it takes to reach the top echelon of legal practices.

A highlight of the talk was Mr Sreenivasn’s response to the a parent’s question : “Are there evaluation tests to assess a student’s aptitude for the legal profession?”. Mr Sreenivasn listed the five key indicators of a up-and-coming lawyer : a strong sense of justice, enjoyment of analyzing difficult problems, a strong personal mission to make a difference through justice, empathy, and the ability to relate to people from all walks of life.

Parents brought home practical tips from Mr Sreenivasn on how to help their children make the right career choice and to prepare for the commitment necessary to succeed in the legal profession.

Mr Sreenivasn’s passion for his work motivates him to stay in the legal profession for at least another twenty years, which will be to him, a continuous journey of learning. He encourages all like-minded youths to take up the challenge of embarking the legal profession, where rewards for long hours and hard work are transformed into a high level of self-actualization.

Supervised Study Program (SSP)

2010-07-12T16:35:00.001+08:00

Supervised Study Program (SSP)

In April 2010, RI implemented a new program called ‘Supervised Study Program (SSP)’. The objective of SSP is to provide Year 1-4 Rafflesians who have been identified by their subject teachers as requiring more focused preparations toward the year’s mid-year common tests (CTs) and end-of-year (EOY) examinations. All SSP sessions are conducted by teachers in RI Lecture Theatre 1, at the following timings :-

2.30 pm – 5.30 pm on short days (Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays)
3.30 pm – 5.30 pm on long days (Mondays & Wednesdays).

RPA’s Role in the Supervised Study Program (SSP)

RPA plays the supporting role by organizing two parent volunteers at each SSP session, to help with attendance-taking, noting of the report-in and out time of the boys, as well as collecting excuse slips from student-absentees. Parent volunteers also help teachers keep watch for errant behavior so as to maintain a conducive environment for the SSP in session.

The first round of SSP for CTs was conducted from 26 Apr – 7 May 2010. RPA appreciates parents who applied for leave of absence from work to help with this program, and would like to thank all parent volunteers who helped. While it is not compulsary for parent volunteers to provide snacks and drinks, some parents went out of their way to show their encouragement and support for the boys, by making available buns, packet drinks, catered food and even home-cooked snacks, etc. Special mention goes to Angela, Smita and Viji, who put in that extra effort. Such dedication on the part of parent volunteers as these, certainly lends strength and success to RPA.

The next SSP is scheduled for 13 Sep - 8 Oct. As it is a four-week period, RPA requires more volunteers to ease the roster, and hopes that more parents will come forward to help.

To parents who can avail themselves, please contact Sandee(97594969) or Lee Koon(97676206) for more information on time scheduling and roster.

Year 1 Welcome Tea

2010-06-03T08:29:00.000+08:00

RPA organised a tea get-together to welcome the Year 1 parents on 27 Feb 2010, from 3 to 5pm. The Welcome Tea provided a platform for the parents to interact and network among themselves. As part of the programme, the parents attended a talk on ‘How to Help Your Child Phase in to RI’ by RI’s former Vice Principal Mr Kenneth Kwok. This was followed by a very active Q&A session.

About 150 parents turned up for the event. RPA also took the opportunity to highlight upcoming events and activities to gain support and participation of the parents. The event achieved its objective in that we saw parents exchanging contacts and networking among themselves beyond the close of the event at 5pm.

RPA Career Talk Season 2 - Law

2010-05-30T09:44:00.008+08:00

HELPING PARENTS UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS REALLY LIKE BEING A LAWYER - MYTH VS REALITY

Date: July 10

Time: 10a.m. to 12 p.m.

Venue: RI(JC) LT3 (Not Secondary school)

Click here for detail.

Report on 1st RPA Town Hall Meeting

2010-05-30T09:24:00.012+08:00

The 1st RPA Town Hall Meeting with the RI School Management was successfully held on Nov 21 from 9am to noon. The School was represented by Mr Kenneth Kwok, Vice-Principal, Student Development, and Mr Edward Ng, Dean Internationalization and Boarding.

Town Hall Meeting serves as a platform for increased communication between parents and school management, for the express purpose of enriching our children's experiences in RI and to make them more rewarding.

Parents actively participated by raising concerns on Leadership Development and Character Development programs and opportunities in RI. Exchanges between parents and the school management team were lively and relevant. An example of an issue that was highly debated, was the extent of competition in CCA participation. The question was raised as to why CCA no longer existed for interest development, but was focused on accepting only the best of student participation so as to stay competitive. Could RI be taking meritocracy to the extreme? Another issue was whether RI should consider applying a limit to the number of leadership positions that could be held by a particular student, so as to avail the same opportunities to other deserving ones.

The 2nd Town Hall Meeting on Academic topics will be held in the second half of 2010. It will be an open dialog between parents and Mrs Theresa Lai (Dean of Academic Studies) and her team. RPA looks forward to your participation.

ORA Family Fest 2010

2010-05-30T09:01:00.002+08:00

The ORA Family Fest was held on 17 Apr 2010 on the campus grounds of Raffles Girls Secondary School. Resources from RGS and RI were pooled to raise contributions for the 1823 Fund, Singapore Cancer Society, RGS School Development Programme, as well as the Raffles Schools’ financial assistance schemes.

The Fest kicked-off with a Walk-a-Jogathon at 7.30am. Sixty exciting food and game stalls were put up by parents, students, staff and groups such as the RGS Chapter, ORA, PRGS and RPA. RPA’s stall sold sushi and katsudon, Nespresso coffee, cold drinks, home-made cookies and rice cakes.

RPA thanks all parent volunteers who turned up to help at the stall. It was hard work, but there was no lack of fun and goodwill at the event, which ended at around 2 pm. RPA would also like to thank those parents who gave generous donation for this good course.

Principal's January Message

2010-01-30T09:06:00.004+08:00

Dear parents,

Read about Mrs Lim's recommended book list for our boys and ourselves in her January message for RI parents..

January: Every Rafflesian a Lifelong Reader A good friend who has two children was recently lamenting to me that they do not like reading and because of that they are not scoring good enough marks for English. So he tried to take them to bookshops and libraries and stipulated a few hours of reading each day. He reported that they did not take to this regimentation very enthusiastically.

Click her for full text..

1st RPA TownHall Meeting for all Members wtih School Management on Leadership Development for the RI Boys

2009-11-01T15:15:00.026+08:00

7th November 2009
9.00 a.m - 11.00 a.m
Venue: RI

Do you have any questions or concerns on your child's Leadership Development in RI?

Do you have any feedback on how RI's Leadership Program can evolve or be enhanced?

Join us in the 1st RPA Town Hall Meeting with the school management to discuss these topics and any other matters you are concerned with.

Click here to register for the Meeting or to read more details about it..

RPA Parenting Talk: Not to be Missed!

2009-10-17T08:30:00.060+08:00

“Are You a Hinderance to Your Child’s Future Success?”
The Well-Meaning, Bad Parent

We all want our children to be successful in life. But sadly, we often employ strategies that actually work against this very goal without even realizing it.

RPA is organizing a talk on “The overlooked-secrets of Success – The Well-meaning, Bad Parent". This talk provides a close look on the crucial but often overlooked factors which contribute to a person’s success in life. He will share the findings of a 30-year longitudinal study by a Stanford psychiatrist which debunks some common beliefs and provides insights for successful parenting. Drawing upon research data and case studies, our speaker will vividly illustrates successful people have in common. The speaker will also discuss common parenting mistakes which result in children developing negative traits that hinder their future success.

Speaker Profile:

Dr Gan Kok Wee holds a PhD in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore as well as a PhD in Chinese Philosophy from East China Normal University. His broad training in technology and humanities, coupled with his exposure to both eastern and western ideas, empowers him with a multi-disciplinary mindset and valuable insights into issues confronting societies today.

Dr Gan was Assistant Professor in Computer Science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for 6 years. Subsequently, he became Senior Life Trainer and Coach for 12 years where he focused on developing social-emotional skills to help people improve their lives. He has served as a life coach to more than 1,000 people, including CEOs, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, home-makers and students.

Dr Gan also acted as founding Principal of a kindergarten, primary and secondary school in Guangdong which he started. He also served as principal of a special school for students with mild intellectual disability in Singapore. Currently, Dr Gan serves as Group Manager in a public-listed company in Singapore. He idirects the company's education and training, focusing on leadership development programme for the group’s large and culturally-diverse distributors in Asia Pacific.

In 2006, Dr Gan was featured in a book, “COLLECTION OF INTERVIEWS WITH PRINCIPALS IN SINGAPORE”, by senior LianHe ZaoBo journalist Poon Xing Wah.His unique life story, which saw him switching from a career in technology to become a school principal in China and a Life Educator, was televised by MediaCorp on prime time TV in 2005.

This Talk is not an IQ vs EQ vs AQ talk.

This Talk will share ideas beyond what is commonly known.
This Talk will help you reflect on yourself as parent.

Register now!

Dates : 31 Oct, 2009 (Sat)

Time : 10.30a.m. - 12.30 p.m..
Venue : RI(JC) LT3
Registration:
  Email : rpatalk@gmail.com   & provide following info:
   name, child’s name & Level, h/p number, RPA member?
  Dateline: 28 Oct 2009
  Fee : RPA member- free
   Other RI & RGS parents - $5/ptx
   Others - $10/ptx
   (Pay at entry)

Ho Siew Fay
RPA Management Committee

Have your child watch this ! Great Speech from Prof Koh to RI Management & Student Leaders

2009-10-01T10:31:00.004+08:00

Full transcript of Prof Koh's speech

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RI Principal's Message to Parents on "Speak Good English"

2009-09-21T22:19:00.003+08:00

Dear Parents,

The Minister for Education, at the recent Workplan Seminar for MOE staff and principals, highlighted renewed efforts to get our schools and students to raise their English proficiency level. Nurturing the communication and language skills of young Singaporeans is crucial in ensuring that they will be able to thrive in our increasingly globalised world.

As parents, you may like to know what RI does to expose students to good English and to ensure a high standard of language use, both in written and oral forms.

Read Mrs Lim's full message by clicking here ...

Obama Address American School Kids

2009-09-14T09:08:00.000+08:00

Video of Obama's speech

Principal's Founder's Day Message, 15 Aug

2009-09-02T09:43:00.000+08:00

Transcript of Mrs Lim's Founder's Day Speech

Listen to Mrs Lim Lai Cheng talk about the Rafflesian spirit, the ONE Raffles.
Listen to the story of last year's A-level top student Soh Ming Quan ..For 6 years, he took MRT from Jurong East to Bishan at dawn to go to school..reading his notes in the train..
Listen to the number of scholarships awarded to RI students this year, e.g. 4 of 5 EDB scholarship; etc
What are the charateristics of successful students ?

YES ! LISTEN ! NOT READ ! RPA brought you the video of Mrs Lim's speech right here..

Stay-tuned....

RPA Career Talk #2:Career Choice in Academia”

2009-08-24T17:37:00.009+08:00

RPA Career Talk is back by popular demand !

August 29th. 2.30-4.30pm. RJC(LT3)

Speaker is Associate Professor Dr.Lan Luh Luh from NUS.

Find out more about:-

· Career opportunities in Academia world

· Does this profession suit everyone ?

· What is considered a successful Professor?

· What is Life like as a Professor?

· The unglamorous bits (boring,unappreciative students..)

· Admission Criteria to NUS Business and Law School

· Career opportunities for Business Graduates

Click here for more details & Registration:

Principal's Speech on College Day 2009

2009-07-29T08:17:00.009+08:00

"........ What next? With the reintegration of RI and the JC, we will be working towards international benchmarking, and reconnecting alumni to build an even stronger institution. We will also draw on external partnerships to further our strategic goals. One such plan is the Global Alliance – a network that we have formed with Winchester College in England that includes top schools such as................"

To read full text of the speech by Mrs Lim, , visit http://rafflespa-pri-message.blogspot.com/

RPA Career Talk #1

2009-07-04T19:32:00.016+08:00

“Career Choice in Medicine” - 11 July

Helping Parents to understand what is it really like being a doctor - myth vs reality
Parents can develop better understanding for the profession so that they will be in a better position to offer sound advice on their children’s University and Career plans...
Hightlight of the talk for those who missed

Singapore Parenting Congress 2009, 11-12 July

2009-06-23T17:14:00.004+08:00

Please visit this site for details.

http://www.mediacorpradio.sg/SPC09/

RI parents enjoy 50% refund on ticket price. For refund AFTER you have purchased your tickets, Please send an email to Ms Juliet Seno , rjc-sfe@ri.edu.sg .

Parenting with Confidence Workshop

2009-06-21T17:15:00.013+08:00

Click here for registration (closed)

This workshop by Focus on the Family aims to give parents the tools to equip their teenager with a strong sense of self, responsibility and resourcefulness. This training will enable you to assist parents of teenagers in their journey of letting go and handing over some of the controls as their teen learns to fly solo.

Key Topics

• Change
• Expectations & boundaries
• Communication with teens
• Low self-esteem
• Coaching teens through romance
• Unmotivated teens

Session One: Atmosphere
- 'Teenager' is Not a Disease - Making the Most of the Changes - What Makes Teenagers Tick - Teenagers and Chores

Session Two: Boundaries
- Parenting Styles - 'V of Love' for Teenagers - Safety and Trust - Rituals and Rites of Passage - Boundaries and Consequences - Bullying and Disrespectful Teenagers

Session Three: Communication
- Mealtimes - Using the Family Council - Effective Communication - Real Life: Music Culture

Session Four: Discipline
- Honouring Your Teenager - Consequences - Teenage War

Session Five: Esteem & Expectations
- Healthy Thinking - Teenagers and Younger Siblings - Flying Solo - Blended Families

Session Six: Future Focus
- Dating and Romance - Unmotivated Teens - Twenty-something and at Home - The Big Things

Raffles Parents' Association

HCA/RPA Charity Golf 2012

RPA Career Talk 2011 - The Legal Profession

2011 A-Level Suppers

DAY 9: International Fest, 28 October 2011

DAY 8: Stew Day!, 27 October 2011

DAY 7: Korean Day! 25 October 2011

DAY 6: Indonesian Food, 24 October 2011

DAY 5: Soup Salad Sandwich 21 October 2011

DAY 4: Fish Fish Fish, October 20, 2011

DAY 3: Wild Wild West October 19, 2011

DAY 2: Italian Food October 18, 2011

DAY 1: Japanese Food October 17, 2011

PSLE Mathematics Workshop – Part 1(9 July 2011) and Part 2 (13 August 2011)

Teachers Day Appreciati​on Lunch 1 Sept 2011

Supervised Study Program (SSP) April-May 2011

RPA Career Talk 2011

2011 Planned Activities

Bollywood Dance

RI Open House 22 May 2011

RPA Family Connect 2011 – SATURDAY 28 May 2011

RPA Career Talk Season 2 - Science and Engineering

Our Rugby C Division Team Is The New Champion!

HELPING PARENTS UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS REALLY LIKE TO BE A LAWYER

Supervised Study Program (SSP)

Year 1 Welcome Tea

RPA Career Talk Season 2 - Law

Report on 1st RPA Town Hall Meeting

ORA Family Fest 2010

Principal's January Message

1st RPA TownHall Meeting for all Members wtih School Management on Leadership Development for the RI Boys

RPA Parenting Talk: Not to be Missed!

Have your child watch this ! Great Speech from Prof Koh to RI Management & Student Leaders

RI Principal's Message to Parents on "Speak Good English"

Obama Address American School Kids

Principal's Founder's Day Message, 15 Aug

RPA Career Talk #2:Career Choice in Academia”

Principal's Speech on College Day 2009

RPA Career Talk #1

Singapore Parenting Congress 2009, 11-12 July

Parenting with Confidence Workshop

Teachers Day Appreciation Lunch 1 Sept 2011