GESS Secondary 1 (2025) e Registration

17 DEC 2024

On behalf of all staff and students, we welcome you and your child/ward to our Gessian family! Your child/ward is now part of a well-established school that has produced Gessians of Excellence, Standing and Significance. Please note that students do not need to report to their posted secondary schools upon receiving their S1 posting results.

We have uploaded all the relevant information for the Secondary 1 (2025) e-Registration on this webpage. Please refer to the attached documents and links.

(1) Online Information Form

Secondary 1 Registration will open at 8:00 am on Thursday, 19 December 2024. You can access the link https://go.gov.sg/gesssec1registration2025 to complete the Online Information Form to confirm your child’s/ward’s registration as a student of GESS.

The online registration will close at 12pm the same day.

If you intend to transfer your child/ward to another school, you will still need to register him/her with us first by completing the Online Information Form. You may then proceed with the transfer process to another school.

Our Online Information Form will also help us to collate other information we will need for administrative purposes like your child’s/ward’s medical condition (if any), cohort T-shirt size, whether parents are on-board Parents Gateway (PG) and a short feedback on the registration process. We would also like you to indicate on the form if you would be attending the Meet-Parent-Session on 10 January 2025, Friday, 5 pm.

Parents can also use this platform to ask any question(s) they may have after our e-Registration webinar.

(2) Secondary 1 (2025) e-Registration Webinar

To share with you some of the key information about the school as well as administrative matters pertaining to the registration process, we will be conducting a Zoom Webinar at 8.30 am on 19 December 2024. There will also be a talk by our Senior School Counsellor, Mr Sim Kwang Mong, on how to support your child/ward in his/her transition to a Secondary School. Details of the webinar will be sent to parents via PG on 18 December.

(3) Class Allocation

Details of the Secondary 1 class allocation will be sent to all parents via PG by 19 December 2024, 8 am.

For parents who are not on-board PG, your child’s/ward’s Form Teacher will contact you to inform you of your child’s/ward’s class after the e-Registration webinar.

(4) Purchase of Books and School Uniform

For the purchase of books and school uniform, please refer to the following links for the necessary information:

· Purchase of Books

(a) Letter to Parents - Books [Textbook] Letter for Parents - Sec 1 (2025)

(b) https://www.ganengsengsch.moe.edu.sg/school-information/school-bookshop-and-booklists/

· Purchase of School Uniform

(a) Letter to Parents – School Uniform [Uniform] Letter for Parents - Sec 1 (2025)

(b) https://www.ganengsengsch.moe.edu.sg/school-information/school-uniform-supplier/

· For students who are on Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), parents are to collect the FAS Authorisation Letter from the GESS General Office before proceeding to collect the books and school uniform.

(5) Subject-Based Banding (SBB) Offer

· Parents on-board PG

For students in the G1 and G2 Posting Group who are offered subject(s) at a more demanding level, parents will receive the digital offer letter via Parents Gateway for the respective subject(s) offered. Please submit your consent through Parents Gateway by 23 December 2024.

· Parents not on-board PG

For parents who are not on-board Parents Gateway, the Form Teachers will be calling the parents during the e-Registration day on 19 December 2024 to confirm if the child/ward is taking up the offer. A hardcopy of the offer letter will be issued to these students on the first day of school. Please submit the completed offer letter to the Form Teachers by 3 January 2025.

(6) Mother Tongue Languages (MTL)

There will be a briefing on MTL by the Head of Department / Mother Tongue Languages, Ms Laura Lim, during the e-Registration webinar on 19 December 2024. Slides will be uploaded to the school website after the briefing.

For further queries pertaining to Mother Tongue Languages, please contact Ms Laura Lim via email at lim_hwee_mean@schools.gov.sg.

(7) First Day of School Programme

All Secondary 1 students are to reach school and report to the Arena (school’ parade square) by 7.30 am on 2 January 2025, Thursday.

They are to engage in silent reading while waiting for the morning assembly to start.

The reporting attire will be school uniform with white short / green skirt. Students who have yet to purchase their GESS school attire may report in their primary school uniform.

All students are to bring along the following items:

· an appropriate story book for the Silent Reading Programme;

· notebook and writing materials;

· thermometer for temperature taking exercise; and

· GESS school badge (for submission to Form Teachers).

The first day of school programme will be sent via PG by 27 December 2024.

(8) Secondary 1 GESS Camp

To familiarise the Secondary 1 students with the rich history and culture of GESS as well as to ease students’ transition into secondary school life, all Sec 1 students will take part in the Secondary 1 GESS Camp conducted by the Student Leaders’ Committee.

The camp is non-residential and will take place on 8 January (7.30 am to 4.15pm) and 9 January (7.30 am to 5.00 pm) in school. Meals will be catered for your child/ward for these two days. Please ensure that you update your child’s/ward’s medical condition and dietary restrictions (if any) through the Online Information Form.

Please access the link below for more information on the Secondary 1 GESS Camp programme.

2025 Secondary 1 GESS Camp Programme 2025 Sec 1 GESS Camp Programme

(9) CCA Orientation

CCA Orientation will be conducted on 10 January 2025, Friday, 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm.

Please access the link below for more details on CCA Orientation and relevant schedules.

2025 CCA Orientation Schedule 2025 CCA Orientation Package

(10) Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Membership

All parents/guardians are automatically members of the GESS PTA. The school will be making a one-time collection of $24.00 based on an annual subscription of $6.00 per year on 8 January 2025. The amount collected will be used to support school activities like the supervised self-study programme for students.

Students with older siblings in GESS would only be required to make payment for the remaining years they have left in GESS upon graduation of their older siblings. (e.g. if a parent has an older child in Secondary 4, 2025, he/she will only need to make a payment of $18.00 for the remaining three years in GESS for the younger child, i.e. for 2026 to 2028.)

The school hopes to promote greater parental involvement in school activities as well as PTA related programmes. Kindly complete the PTA registration form via the link: https://go.gov.sg/gessptaregistration2025

Alternatively, you may scan the QR code below to access the registration form:

(11) Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS)

For parents who have successfully applied for Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) in the child’s primary school or if their child has siblings under FAS in another school, they may come to the GESS General Office with the FAS approval form from their child’s primary or sibling’s schools to collect the authorisation letter for collection of books and school uniform.

For new FAS applications, parents may refer to the MOE FAS Brochure for more information on the criteria and benefits of the scheme. Parents can either download and complete the FAS Application Form as shared in the link below or come to the General Office during office hours to get the hardcopy form.

a) Information on MOE FAS MOE FAS Annoucement for Sec1 (For 2025)

b) FAS Brochure (Chinese) MOE FAS pamphlet (CL)

c) FAS Brochure (English) MOE FAS pamphlet (EL)

d) FAS Brochure (Malay) MOE FAS pamphlet (ML)

e) FAS Brochure (Tamil) MOE FAS pamphlet (TL)

f) MOE FAS Application Form MOE FAS Application Form (For 2025)

For Secondary 1 students who have older siblings currently in GESS under FAS, please check whether their names have been included in their older siblings’ application form when they applied for FAS in GESS previously.

· If yes, the school will issue the authorisation letter for the collection of books and school uniform to both the Secondary 1 student and his/her siblings.

· If no, parents would need to submit a new FAS application form for the Secondary 1 student.

Parents may approach the school’s General Office for assistance from Monday to Friday, 8.30 am to 5 pm.

FAS application will take about 1-2 weeks to process. Do submit all the necessary documents as stated in the application form to avoid delay. Parents will be notified of the outcome via phone call from the school.

(12) Art Elective Programme (AEP) and Music Elective Programme (MEP)

Students who are interested in the Art or Music Elective Programme at an external centre may refer to the following link for more information:

2025 AEP and MEP Centre Briefing Slides_GESS Students

For further queries pertaining to AEP and MEP, please contact Mrs Clara Chua, HOD/Aesthetics, at teo_phin-phin_clara@schools.gov.sg.

(13) Road Safety

The safety of your child/ward is of utmost importance to us, and it is essential that our students and parents observe the rules with regards to road safety.

Please note that all vehicles that are arriving after 6.45 a.m. are required to turn left upon exiting the school’s main gate.

(14) School Smart Card (SSC)

All students entering Secondary 1 will be issued a new Secondary Level SSC. While waiting for their new SSC to be ready, Secondary 1 students can continue to use their Primary Level SSC for concessionary travel till end of April 2025. Secondary 1 students can purchase the Bus Concession Pass (BCP) using their Primary Level SSC but they will need to purchase the BCP for secondary school students.

(15) Photo-taking for Secondary 1 Students

There will be a photo-taking session for all Secondary 1 students in February 2025. Photographs will be used for the students’ report book and school cockpit system. The 8 passport-sized photographs will cost $5.00 and the money is to be paid directly to the photographer on the day itself.

More information on the date of the photo-taking will be provided at a later time.

(16) Hardcopy Forms to be issued on the First Day of School

Do take note of the following forms which will be issued to your child/ward for follow up on the first day of school:

· Offer Letter for SBB / subject(s) at More Demanding Level*

· Offer Letter for HMT*

(*if applicable)

Please complete and return the forms to the Form Teachers by 3 January 2025.

(17) Parents Gateway (PG)

We would like to encourage all parents/guardians to come on board PG and to check it regularly as the school uses it as the main platform for communications.

Please access the links below for more information on PG as well as the onboarding process.

PG Onboarding Video for Parents

PG FAQs for Parents

(18) e-GIRO

We would like to encourage parents/guardians to register for e-GIRO if you have not done so. Please click on the link below for more information:

User Guide on e-GIRO application User Guide on eGIRO

(19) GESS Student Handbook

The GESS Student Handbook contains many useful information that a new Gessian needs to know. Please spend some time to read the Student Handbook so that you know what to expect when your child/ward joins us.