a)What is the environment like?
The environment in the school is very conducive for studying,interacting with friends and that its atmosphere is very lively. During recess,breaks,lunch or even after-school, the noise level in the canteen is very high. Students are always seen laughing,smiling,chatting with each other in their own clique,probably discussing what had happened during the lessons or telling interesting accounts of what had happened to them.They seems to be very happy as this is one of the times in school where they can interact with their friends on non-academic topics without being scolded or caught.I feel that it is a great time to bond with our friends.They also seems very relaxed from their posture.However,some of the students talk too loudly and some of their actions which includes laughing too loudly may affect the other students.Junior high students normally hang out in small groups and sometimes in big groups with mixed genders.There will also be occasional singing of birthday songs and mini-celebrations in the canteen.So i think that RVians are not only bonded in class, but i can say that there is a bond between each and every student in school, since everyone will sing together the birthday song. Occasionally, some people that we don't even know will come to wish a the birthday girl/boy a simple but meaningful happy birthday. Students are also seen sitting quietly reading books in the library,engrossed.They can also be seen doing or discussing homework over there.
b)Students' feelings for the day
We interviewed a first student by the name of Huang Lijing from 3M.She is very happy today as it is her first day serving her class as a chairperson in her 3 years of life in River Valley High School.She looks forward to working with her class other chairperson,Tey Shi Ying to make the class a more joyful and awesome place to be in.She is also looking forward to collecting more red packets during the upcoming Chinese New Year.She is smiling the whole time while she is talking which proves that she is really elated.She also used words such as"yay"to emphasize on her happiness.She also jumped at the end of her interview,which proves that she is full of enthusiasm and looking forward to Chinese New Year.Hereby,wishing all a Happy New Year.
We interviewed a second student by the name of Lim Ying Hui from 3M.She is very tired today as she had finally ended lessons and she had slept at 12am yesterday,which caused her to be dead tired.She did not have enough rest yesterday,and thus has lost her vigour as shown through her actions.She was resting her head on her hand while saying how she felt with her eyes half-closed.Her voice sounds a little monotone and unclear too.She rested her head on the table after her interview to take forty winks,resting her head on the table.This shows how busy a schedule of a year 3 can be and we must have time-management to prevent similar cases from happening to us as our productivity level may decrease and we might not be able to concentrate in class.she also shook her head which may mean that she also disapproves of sleeping at such a late hour.
We interviewed a third student by the name of Chen Beiqi from 4H.She is very tired but happy today which is like a combination of the feelings of both of the previous two students that we had interviewed.She is feeling tired as she had lessons from morning to afternoon.However,she felt quite happy during English as what she had done was relevant to what her class had studied about education because she is involved in the Outreach which is for school ambassadors who went to primary schools for talks.It was very relevant to how holistic education system is like and hence she is catching up well and learning a lot.She is seen smiling throughout the interview.This is probably because she feels much more happier as compared to tired.She also seems very enthusiastic to share what had happened today which led her to feel that way as she made use of lots of hand gestures to emphasize her point.she also nods her head towards the end of the video,probably to agree with herself that she had done a great job today.
c)Are there special features ? What is so special about them?
The noticeboards in school are mostly decorated beautifully.Posters are also designed creatively and are brightly-coloured. I think they are important as students can get the the latest information about the school activities from there and stands out due to its beautiful decorations and bright colours.It also catches the eye of the students so that they would to look at them.There are also more posters in the school during this period of time as the candidates for the student councilor are running for the role and putting up their posters to gain publicity and allow students to know why they should vote for him or her.There is also something like a "art gallery"somewhere near the general office.It showcases posters that are made to show when concerts are being held.Even though the information is fake,it showcases RVian's talent of designing a eye-catching and pretty poster.There is also a noticeboard just beside the school library which shows some newspaper clippings on the riot in Little India.It allows students to know that such an incident happened and what are the views and opinions of some people regarding the matter.Even though one had went overseas when the riot happened,you can check out the notice-board to know more about the riot.I personally felt that this is very special as it allows us to gain more knowledge and encourages us to cultivate a habit of reading newspaper to stay up-to-date to what had happened in Singapore as well as what we can learn from the riot incident. In the library, there are also project rooms.Sometimes, i will see students gathered in groups, occasionally with a teacher's accompany, to discuss their work in the room. I feel that this is a very special feature in our school. this room provided us an opportunity to be able to discuss our projects or works in a more comfortable place, since the weather can be really hot sometimes. In other schools, the students will discuss their works in the library, which actually affected the other students who are trying to concentrate on their own studies. So it is a fortune for us to be able to enjoy such facilities.
d)What impresses you most from the surrounding? Why?
The school science garden impresses me the most as it is very beautiful and it is specially built to allow students to have an opportunity to observe the plants and fishes. I think the school has put in a lot effort in this school science garden as there is even a periodic table built on the tiles beside one of a pond there.The periodic table can be seen more clearly from the second floor.One may not even notice it if the one does not play close attention tot he ground.There is also information board that tells us that there is a periodic table and what a periodic table is.There is also small markers that tells us whats the name of that particular plant and occasional information board that tells us the uses of the plant or some brief description.I feel that the periodic table idea is very cool and unique.There is also a special fish in the pond called the archerfish. Archerfish are remarkably accurate in their shooting.They squirt out a stream of water that strikes down the prey when the prey is detected.By the time the insects falls and hits the water, the archerfish is already waiting in place ready to swallow it up.During year 1,our biology teacher,Mr Wong did a demonstration by placing a fish pellet on the concrete ground just beside the pond.The archerfish squirt a stream of water and thus moved the pellet further.The whole process happened i less then one minute and some of us did not see it.Hence the process was repeated once more. This is very interesting to me as we got to see it with our own eyes and not from online videos from youtube.We got to have the real procedure happening right before our eyes and I feel that it is a very meaningful and memorable experience for us.
e) What do you think life in RV is like for RVians?
For RVians,school life to them is both stressful and fun at the same time. Due to the heavy workload consisting of homework and projects, students have to rush their homework and projects in order to meet the deadline.Some of them even have to sleep in late when the amount of homework increases. However,I feel that with time-management,we would be able to manage our homework well.We should not wait for the last minute to complete our homework as we may not be able to finish them on time.Other than rushing to meet the deadline, students also have to commit to their co-curriculum activities.They may have competitions going on and thus would have lesser time to complete their homework.They should complete their homework bit by bit so that they would not be in a frenzy when the deadline is the next day.Some of the them would then resort to copying.In my opinion,I feel that we should not copy our friend's work.We would not only get into trouble,but not learn anything at all. However, the school does organize fun and interesting programs to aid in the students' studies such as the drama classes,OELP trips and Chinese calligraphy drawing courses.We had drama classes during year 1,this course allows us to build up our confidence and knowledge.At first,I did not even know what Minimata poisoning was. However,through these classes,i found out that Minimata poisoning is actually mercury poisoning in Japan.These classes also boost up our confidence level. For the upcoming OELP trip,we would be able to have a"hands-on "learning experience as we get to go to China or Taiwan to learn more about the country's culture and tradition,which would widens our knowledge. As year 2s,we are taking the Chinese calligraphy drawing course for our RV literature currently.This allows us to know how to draw certain drawing and some techniques as well as some background information on Chinese calligraphy drawing.
