High 5: 28th May 2015 by Mrs Tay Boon Eng

Good morning Mdm Tan, Mr Lee, Mr Tan, Fellow Colleagues and Gessians.

Please take out your GESS Life Book to take down important notes.

Today marks the last day of Semester One, and I have very important messages for you to take away so that you can do some deep reflection for this semester and also make plans for the coming holidays.

By now, you would have gained a good understanding of your academic performance. By now, Lower Sec you would have attended your Gatekeepers and Assistant Year Heads’ addresses; and today, Upper Sec you would attending yours. Some of you will also be attending the Parent Teacher Conference tomorrow. Those who have performed well, congratulations and do keep working hard. Know what your success factors are and keep them up. Those who did not, do not give up. Michael Jordan, the legendary basketball player once said,

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Indeed, ‘Keep trying, keep going’ is what I would like you to bear in mind. What the tests and mid-year exams have shown to you does not stop at the percentage recorded in your report book. They show you where you have improved on and where you need to put in more effort.

Gessians, your teachers have respectively advised you on adopting a growth mindset and the belief in positive change. Changing a fixed mindset about yourself can open up to growth and help you attain self-improvement.

So now, in your GESS Life Book, I would like you to write down a goal and three steps you would take to help yourself stay on track and work towards it during the June holidays. These steps should be concrete like when will you follow through your plan? Where will you do it? How will you do it? I will give you one minute to do this.

[one minute pause] One minute’s up.

Gessians, now I would like to take this opportunity to close the Aesthetics Week.

Last week I shared with you how everyone can be an active participant in the Aesthetics. I hope you all would have taken the opportunity to during the Aesthetics Week to be engaged in performing, doodling, or appreciating the arts. The cupcake decoration competition newly introduced this year also saw some potential bakers out there. I am pleased to observe much enjoyment and participation from you all. Gessians, your role as an audience, performer, entrepreneur, or AV supporter in the arts forms have not only made the Aesthetics Week a meaningful one for yourself, you have also widened the window of Aesthetics Discovery, Expression and Appreciation for our school.