Welcome back to EDP - The first 3 days

Hi all
First of all, let me wish everyone a happy new year!

I am always excited about the first day of school and this year was no exception. From my observations on the first day, I am quite sure it was an exciting day for everyone.

For the first 3 days, our main aim was to ensure that our pupils familiarise themselves with the school routines with regards to the morning assembly, the recess period and dismissal time, with special attention being paid to the Primary One pupils. I am happy to share that the everything went smoothly as planned for the first three days.

Next week, we will see the P1 pupils being taken care by their assigned buddies from the P3 classes. From our past experiences, this process have resulted in many benefits for the P1 pupils as well as their P3 buddies. The P1 pupils learn important recess skills from the P3 buddies, skills like buying food and learning how to play with each other. The P3 buddies have the opportunity to develop their competencies of showing care and compassion for others. In Endeavour, we believe it is very important that we provide meaningful learning opportunities for our pupils to develop their social skills. Mrs Pek, our new Principal, myself and our teachers will be at the canteen and the play areas to monitor and help the pupils during these 3 days.

I must add that our P1 parents have been most cooperative and understanding during these 3 days. Thank you parents!

Let's Endeavour all the way for 2013!
warmest regards
bhim gurung

Confident, Curious and Cooperative pupils @ Endeavour

Recently, I spent some time talking to all the Endeavour pupils. The focus of my talk was about our whole-school approach to strengthen our pupils' confidence, their sense of curiousity and their desire to work well together in teams. I thought I would like to share the key points covered and attached are the notes of my conversation with the pupils:

Oops.. I really thought that I had already put up this blog and not residing the the edit mode..


During the June holidays (as part of our school's ASEAN Friendship Programme) our P3 pupils went on an overnight trip to Malacca while a group of P4 pupils were given the opportunity to spend 4 days to explore Vietnam. In the second week of June, 20 P5 pupils and 5 staff members embarked on an expedition to Mt Kinabalu.

The trail was quite challenging, with long vertical climbs for most of the way, but the pupils were able to reach their destination for the day in good time. In fact, adult trekkers that we met along the way were quite fascinated to see our pupils making their way up the difficult trail.

During this expedition, pupils shared many memorable moments and I am quite sure that for the pupils (as well as the adults), this expedition would be one of those unforgettable moments in their life.

Community Aerobics Session @ Endeavour

We are proud to announce the start of a weekly programme that allows parents, pupils and teachers of Endeavour to come together to be engaged in a truly meaningful activity...exercising together to the the beat of music for an hour on Fridays from 5pm to 6pm. On 27 March, we (about 50 parents, pupils and teachers) had our first exercise session, led by Mr Alex Tan. The next day saw quite a few of the participants experiencing muscular aches, a testament to the good workout that they had experienced. This event, which is sponsored by the NWCDC, is open to all parents and we look forward to more parents joining us ( just turn up on Fridays at 5pm). I was hoping to include some photos but the the shots from my hp camera were not too clear..

Meeting P1 Parents who want to help...

It is already the end of the third week and it is quite heartening for me to see that our pupils (especially the the Primary one pupils) are settling well into the normal school routines.
Last Saturday (16 January), we had a fruitful meeting with our P1 parents who had expressed an interest to volunteer their services to the school. The conversations during the meeting were lively and interesting with many parents contributing useful ideas for the school to consider. The parents expressed their interest in helping the school in the following areas:
- Assisting in the school Library
- Adult Chaperones for school's various Learning Journeys
- Conducting Phonics lessons for groups of pupils
- Assisting in major school events eg. P1 egistration etc
- Initiating and maintaing a PSG Blogsite

We are encouraged to see our parents taking an active interest in the welfare of the pupils in our school and stepping forward to offer their help.

My first month into Term 3

The past month has been quite eventful.It was heartening for me to see our school managing the H1N1 situation very well, pointing to the existence of a tight-knit relationship between the home, school and the local community. We will continue to be vigilant.

My interactions with the pupils and the parents volunteers have been most interesting and informative. The pupils are inquisitive, expressive and interesting to talk to. They are a happy lot and they enjoy coming to school. I would want to ensure that our pupils continue to display these qualities throughout their time with us in Endeavour.

Our parent volunteers give from their heart. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their service to the school and I look forward to being of service to them too.

First posting by the new Vice Principal

Hi Everyone
Glad to be posted to Endeavour Primary as the new Vice Principal and appreciate the warm welcome accorded to me by everyone in the school. My full name is Bhim Bahadur Gurung and have been in the teaching service for 25 years now. I have just returned from a 1-year study leave and I am really looking forward to contributing back to the teaching service. I have been thinking of the most appropriate words to describe my feelings about getting posted to Endeavour Primary School. I feel privileged and fortunate but the overwhelming feeling is one of excitement.

I am excited at the prospect of being in Endeavour Primary School because, as a prototype single-session school, we are going have a say in setting the standards on how single session schools are going to function in the future. Our school’s vision “Leading schools into the future” is a bold declaration of our intention and I see this vision as our key driving force.

I am also excited at the prospect of belonging to this pioneer batch of teachers and pupils, working together to create in our school, a most conducive teaching and learning environment for the holistic development of our pupils. For example, the current “No Heavy School Bag Programme” (NHSB) and the “Every Child Holistic Programme”(ECHP) are two key programmes that hold the promise to define what Endeavour School stands for. They encapsulate the school’s mission to develop our pupils in the cognitive, aesthetic, moral, physical and social (CAMPS) domains.

Finally, I am excited because the school’s guiding philosophy resonates with my own belief that every child can not only achieve but actually excel, given the proper guidance, motivation and support. I am really looking forward to my experience in Endeavour Primary School and I am confident that it will be a learning experience that will leave a lasting impression in me.

Warm regards
bhim