Unity Sec Term 3 Newsletter (2023)

#OPPORTUNITY Unity Secondary School Termly Newsletter

In this issue:

Olympic Esports - Virtual Taekwondo Racial Harmony Day National Day Celebration Teachers' Day Celebration CCA Achievements

From the Principal's Desk (Term 3)

School Leaders with the Adviser & Chairman of Parents Support Group

Dear Parents, Guardians and Unitians, It is my pleasure to share with you some wonderful news and recognition earned by our Unitians.

In Term 3, four Unitians and our Uniformed Group CCA were featured in the news:

Natalie Tor, our Sec Three Track and Field student, was featured in the Straits Times on 26 June 2023 for representing Singapore in the Taekwondo Final at Olympic Esports Week: https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/allsingaporean-taekwondo-final-for-nigel-tan-natalie-tor-atolympic-esports-week PAGE 1

Ian Fareez Muhammad Fazlin, our Sec 1 Football student, was featured in the Straits Times on 19 July 2023 for his passion in Motocross Sport and competing in the Malaysian Motocross Championship: https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/2023/07/ motocross-passion-singapore/index.html? utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=s tfb Pan Jingzun Edison, our Sec 3 NCC student, was the Parade Commander for the Yew Tee NDP Observance Ceremony and both our Uniformed Group members and Edison were featured on Channel 8 on 9 August 2023: https://www.mewatch.sg/watch/Aug-2023-Morning-Express397129 Kelyn Leong, our Sec 2 Scout student, was on MOE’s Instagram and Facebook pages for her leadership journey and growth in the Scout CCA in Unity Sec: https://www.instagram.com/moesingapore/? igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D https://www.facebook.com/moesingapore/ The recognition is a testament to the dedication, resilience and leadership demonstrated by our Unitians as ‘Lifelong Learners and Inspiring Leaders.’ We believe that their successes also reflect the staunch support that they have received from their parents.

Thank you, parents, for your support!

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In Term 3, our teachers also geared up their efforts in preparing our Sec 4 and 5 students for their National Exams with intensive revision and timed-practices to ready them in their last lap.

Furthermore, Term 3 heightens the sense of belonging and pride our students have for the nation, as we commemorated Racial Harmony Day with an engaging discussion on contemporary issues, as well as class painting of RHD’s mosaic cloth banner, put together by our Parents Support Group. Our National Day Celebration rallied all Unitians together with the theme, ‘Onward as One’. We celebrated our nation’s birthday as one big Unity family through UG Parade, Active SG Workout, NDP lesson and concert.

We closed the term reminding students of 2 ‘Ts’ – Teachability and Teachers. To be teachable in reflecting on their Term 3’s Weighted Assessment performance and to embrace a growth mindset to actively seek feedback for improvement, and to believe that with effort and hard work, they can achieve their goals.

Teachers do an incredibly important job, and many teachers often go above and beyond to give their best for the sake of our students. We ended term 3 with our Teachers’ Day Celebration, when our students put together a ‘Magical’ concert and Carnival to appreciate and honour our teachers.

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As a new school term begins, I would like to encourage all Unitians to stay positive, stay focused and stay persistent in working towards your year-end academic and character goals.

Wishing you and your family a fulfilling new school term.

Stay Positive, Focused and Persistent!

Mdm Adel Ong Principal

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Olympic Esports - Virtual Taekwondo Unity applauds the unprecedented feat of Natalie Tor En Xing, our Secondary 3 student from Track and Field CCA, for achieving second place in the grand final of Virtual Taekwando at the Olympic Esports Week, held on the grand stage at the Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre recently. Natalie’s proudest moment came when she managed to overcome a four-time Olympian and two-time gold medallist in the semi-finals to make it an all-Singaporean Virtual Taekwondo final.

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Virtual Taekwondo is a competitive mixedreality sport that allows exponents to spar virtually through fullbody motion-tracking devices and sensors.

The virtual format required Natalie to be even more meticulous in strategising against her opponents.

Natalie commented that she tried to calm herself by imagining how she would play out the match with her rival in her head, and just “tried her best”.

The experience has definitely given Natalie confidence and renewed drive in training harder for upcoming Taekwando competitions, both in virtual as well as physical settings.

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Racial Harmony Day Celebration The school commemorated Racial Harmony Day on 21st July. Based on this year’s theme, ‘Our Multicultural Mosaic’, our students participated in a slew of activities that deepened their understanding of different cultures, knowing when certain actions may be insensitive, and learning how to be respectful. Decked in an array of ethnic costumes, students and staff sang along to popular ethnic songs performed on stage and voted for the best dressed CCA in the inter-CCA competition. There was also a photo booth for students to take pictures with the collage of RHD designs painted by the different CCA groups.

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National Day Commemoration Unity celebrated our nation’s 58th Birthday on 8th August with an impressive line up of activities that included the special segment - Active SG Workout, in addition to the NDP Parade, NDP Concert and CCE Curricular Engagement lesson package! The Environmental Science Club and Library Club collaborated to organise a competition for students to create either a 6-panel comic strip or a 1-minute TikTok video challenge on the theme of “Food Sustainability in Singapore, Our Concern”. This year’s National Day theme, “Onward as One” calls upon Singaporeans to look forward confidently and move onward together in building our shared future as one united people. On top of that, our Uniformed Group cadets marched with pride in the Yew Tee Observance event at Choa Chu Kang Stadium on 9th August which was graced by our Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Lawrence Wong.

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Learning Journey to The National Museum of Singapore In conjunction with National Day, the Secondary Two cohort went on a learning journey to the National Museum of Singapore. They visited several exhibitions, one of which is called ‘Semangat yang baru: Forging a new Singapore spirit’ where they learnt about the prominent leaders in the early years of Singapore between 1950-1970s. Students also pondered on how the Singapore spirit has changed over time and what it means to them now.

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Teachers' Day Celebration The staff at Unity stepped into a world of wonders, as Unity celebrated Teachers’ Day on 30 Aug in the school hall with much fanfare and love. There were a wondrous variety of student-initiated activities organised by the Unity Council and CCALs like Magical Enchantment (Concert), Wonderland Carnival & Escapeland (Games & miscellaneous magical activities). This was followed by Magical CCA Moment (CCA Appreciation time for teachers).

Teachers added a dash of glitter as many dressed up glamorously in Wonderland/ Disneyland theme for the year!

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Student Leaders’ in Action A group of our Unity Councillors, CCA leaders, and LEP Students participated in Marsiling-Yew Tee - The Voices of Youth dialogue session, an engagement effort, as part of the National Day Rally (NDR).

The dialogue aimed to better understand the views, concerns and aspirations of our youths on the initiatives mentioned in the NDR, as well as to provide a platform for them to seek clarifications. The dialogue was hosted by Advisers to Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC Grassroots Organisation, DPM Mr Lawrence Wong and Mayor of Northwest District Mr Alex Yam. The session also provided our student leaders the opportunity to discuss relevant issues with peers from other schools.

CCA Achievements

NCC - Annual Air Competition We are pleased to announce that our National Cadet Corp (NCC) cadet, Lay Jee Kheng, managed to clinch first position in the “Paper Glider (Longest Aloft)” category of Annual Air Competition held at Greendale Secondary School on 22nd June.

Every year, National Cadet Corp (NCC) organises the Annual Air Competition to encourage NCC cadets to hone their aeromodelling skills and to represent their school unit in the competition.

In this air competition category, cadets constructed paper gliders using standard pieces of A4 paper, and launched them by hand. The glider that managed to stay airborne for the longest possible time was declared the winner. Jee Kheng showed remarkable resilience and dexterity in constructing the winning glider.

Congrats to Jee Kheng and all those involved!

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MOHAMMAD AKMAL HAZIQ BIN MOHAMMED NASSER

FOK ZIXUAN

NCC - Outstanding Cadet Award The National Cadet Corps (NCC) Outstanding Cadet Awards (OCA) is the highest award that is given to Sec 4 NCC cadets. This year, two of our Secondary Four NCC cadets, MOHAMMAD AKMAL HAZIQ BIN MOHAMMED NASSER and FOK ZIXUAN from Learning Group 4A were awarded this highest award in recognition of their good leadership and contribution to the unit.

The two OCA Awardees were invited to attend the 2023 OCA Presentation Ceremony (OCAPC 2023) on 6th June 2023.

We congratulate them on their accomplishments!

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Uniquefusion Dance - Super 24 Dance Competition Our Dance CCA members participated in the Super 24 Dance competition 2023 (secondary school category). The platform not only allows students to showcase their talent but also their ability to work in unity, as the unique concept of the competition requires teams of only 24 members to dance a strictly 90-second routine within an 8m by 8m square area. Our dance crew persevered and stayed committed throughout their intense training sessions, with a shared vision of presenting a mesmerising performance for the audience. Kudos to the dancers for their outstanding effort and attaining 5th place in the finals!

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National School Games BASKETBALL C DIVISION GIRLS 4TH IN WEST ZONE NATIONAL SCHOOLS GAMES

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Visit our school website: http://unitysec.moe.edu.sg/ Follow our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/unitysec/

See you in Term 4!