Issue 1 / Mar 2021
THE BROOKSIAN TIMES Latest news from Northbrooks Secondary School
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE By Mr Nick Chan
Dear parents and the Northbrooks community, With the Covid-19 pandemic still looming over us, Team Northbrooks has continued to ensure that safe management measures are in place. From daily visual screening to temperature screening of students, it has certainly been an intense period for staff with this added workload. For this, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to all my colleagues for rising to the occasion and working assiduously to make the school a safe place for all. I would also like to thank our closest affiliated partners, the Parent Support Group (PSG) and parents for contributing to the school in various ways.
For example, it is heartening to see the PSG and parents distributing food during our Open Breakfast Programme for needy students and our new initiative, Project Sunshine, for needy families. A number of parents even went on to contribute grocery items towards Secondary 2T1’s donation drive for migrant workers, Project #TeamWorkers. These acts of volunteerism are exemplary and help Brooksians learn that as a community, we care for one other. We are also encouraged by our students’ adoption of technology to enhance their learning. The school has successfully redesigned our teaching to leverage technology with the National Digital Literacy Programme (NDLP). Our Secondary Two and Three cohort has started using iPads during their lessons since February while our Secondary Ones will join their seniors in April. It is indeed a wonderful sight to see our Brooksians using apps like OneNote and Padlet even outside their classrooms. This was made possible by working closely with the Ministry of Education’s Learning Partnership in Educational Technology Division and
Besides the NDLP, our school is wellprepared to gear our Brooksians towards being future-ready with other 'Learn for Life' programmes such as Full Subject Based Banding and Blended Learning. We also have a new studentinitiated platform, Brooksian Time, where our Brooksians champion various causes such as the environment, and mental well-being. Every student can actively contribute to class discussions, learn valuable social and life skills for character building and problem solving. To conclude, while this period of time has been challenging, there is a lot of good which has and can come out of it. So, let’s continue to encourage one another. To encourage someone is to give heart to and give courage to that person, as well as to show care. Let’s show that ‘I Care’ and ‘We Care’ in our individual and team capacity. Thank you. Soaring Yet Rooted!
was his tough childhood that inspired him to work hard.
FACES OF NORTHBROOKS
"It's those days of hardship that drove me to be where I am today."
Bringing you closer to
Indeed, several decades on, Dr. Chandroo has achieved his dream and is now a successful businessman. He is the Chairman of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI) and Modern Montessori International (MMI), an international group of companies with over 100 teachertraining centres and pre-school centres all over the world. In addition, he also serves as the MMI Group’s CEO.
Dr. T. Chandroo By Ahmad Mikhail Rauff (4G) & Yohannce Tan SY (4G)
Growing up as a young boy from a humble background, Dr. T Chandroo would wake early in the morning to wash his father’s taxi before rushing to school. In the afternoon, upon returning from school, he would then bring the family’s goats to graze grass. To help ease the load of his father, who was the breadwinner for his family of seven, Dr. Chandroo would also supplement the family income by selling curry leaves at the nearby market on Saturday mornings. While carrying out these seemingly menial tasks, the young Dr. Chandroo would often dream of a future life of success and wealth. Speaking to The Brooksian Times from his office in South Bridge Road, Dr. Chandroo shared that it
supported by the Apple Education Team. You can read more about our school's use of iPads for teaching and learning on pages 3 and 4.
Dr. Chandroo remarked: “There’s nothing wrong in you being born poor but you should not die as a poor man. If you are born poor, it is unfortunate. But if you die poor, then blame yourself because you have your lifetime - seventy, eighty years – you should make full use of it.”
It’s those days of hardship that drove me to be where I am today.
It is with this belief that has also led Dr. Chandroo to use his success in a meaningful way – by helping students, Continued on page 3.