On August 3-6, 2020, we officially commenced the reading test which was attended by students from Nursery until Kinder 2 level. In PIK – Center, the test was spearheaded by the Principal, Ms Amelia E. Manarang together with the Head Teachers : Ms Creselle and Ms Vera. This time they served as the examiners. These students from these levels were very excited to showcase their prowess in reading. The titles of the books are the following: ‘The cat’ for Nursery level, Kindergarten 1 – ‘Tick Tock’ and for Kindergarten 2 – ‘Thank You’. The test was done via the upgraded Zoom Educational Link from our school.

In addition to this, other branches of our school did a similar test with the supervision of the respective Principals. They are Ms. Dewi from Citra 6 branch and Ms. Rindang from Green Lake. Similar with the Center, they also give the test from Nursery to all Kindergarten 1 and 2. The students did their very best as well!

This test will be done almost every month to check the students’ development in reading. The students are able to adjust with regards to reading online and even teachers were challenged to be efficient and effective. With this, our students are encouraged to incorporate themselves at this point as they improve their skills.

The involvement and support of the parents are highly appreciated and commended. Indeed they are the partners of the teachers in the learning process especially during the Home-Based learning.

Regarding this, young ones can engage themselves into new things. They are definitely explorative with regards to learning.

PTM (Parents Teachers Meeting) is an event that allows us to introduce our teachers, and to inform parents about school programs for the current year. This PTM was the first virtual PTM that we ever held. The PTM was held on July 17 2020. We received such a great enthusiasm from parents, and higher number of attendance this year.

We have a question and answer sessions to let parents communicate their concerns, their questions, and to clarify unclear information. In this part, we received many constructive input from parents regarding learning activities at home.

Our focus on this PTM is how to construct a better, and more organized communication flow between parents and school. In this case, our class teachers has a very important role of communicating information from parents to school and the other way around.

Our great expectation is that with this PTM, we can ease parents’ concern and build a stronger cooperation with parents; all to support the continuous improvement of the education for our students.

See you at the second PTM!

 

 

On Thursday, July 23, 2020, students from G7 and G9 took The Psychology and Innate Talent Inventory Test. This test is done online at 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM at their respectives homes.

A few days before the test, the students have been given clear and detailed instructions on how to take the test online. Each was also given a username and a password to be able to access the website where the test will be taken.

On the day of the test, the students first followed the instructions for the test via Zoom through the guidance of Mr. Fidelis Waruwu from Edutraco Company, test organizer. Mr. Fidelis also directly accompanied the children when they took the test.

Mr. Ferry as overseer and Mr. Horasman as the PIC together with the class teachers helped to guide students when taking the test. In order for communication to run smoothly, the committee and homeroom teachers also created a WA group with Mr. Fidelis.

 

The Psychology and Innate Talent test ran successfully. Students were enthusiastic in taking the test because the results can be used to see their self-image and innate talent. This innate talent will be a consideration for  G9 students when they choose their class stream in G10.

The print out of this test will be given to parents of students. Soft copies will be given to homeroom teachers, disciplinarian  and counselor. The purpose is to understand  better the personality of students in guiding them. Later, after the results of this test come out, there will also be a special seminar for parents from Mr. Fidelis. The goal is for parents to understand the results of the tests and personalities of their sons and daughters.

This psychology test is an annual program of the Saint Nicholas Foundation.

On Friday, July 24, 2020, the Secondary Division held a Virtual Parent-Teacher Conference (PTC) at the 5^th floor of the Saint Nicholas building. The PTC event began at 8:00 am  and ended at 10 am.

The event was hosted by Ms. Christlyn and Mr. Yohanes.  It started with an opening prayer by Mr. Horasman followed by a welcome speech delivered by Mr. Lahagu as the Principal. In his remark, he said that the PTC event was an event  for both parties, the parents and teachers to communicate directly on matters and issues related to school programs and children’s learning problems. Mr. Lahagu admitted that there were many difficulties during the home based learning.

“All parties must have experienced many obstacles during Home Based Learning (HBL). There are many problems and struggles along the way. But by working together, all problems can be solved easier. Things that should be emphasized, continued Mr. Lahagu, is that education must remain a top priority even though both parties are in a difficult situation facing the Covid-19 pandemic. Educating the children is an investment  in the future,” explained Mr. Lahagu.

After the remarks was the introduction and explanation of the vision and mission of Saint Nicholas and the implementation during HBL by Ms. Cindy, as the Curriculum Coordinator, followed by the delivery of school programs for one semester by Vice Principal, Mr. Kriston and the provisions regarding quiz, CA and SA. Even though children study at home, all event programs and learning evaluations are carried out.

In this meeting, parents were also reminded about the rules and regulations during HBL. Mr. Alfons as the disciplinarian in the Secondary, emphasizes several important rules that must be followed.

“During the online class, children must wear the school uniform and be on time when attending zoom sessions. Likewise during quizzes and other tests, students are still required to always be honest,” explained Mr. Alfons.

This meeting , we conveyed to parents about some excellent programs in the Secondary that will be continued to be done. The intended programs  ae Checkpoint at G8, IGCSE at G10 and AS and A Level at G12. Exams from Cambridge will be conducted in April-May-June 2021 but the preparation must start now.

 

Furthermore, this PTC also provided enough time for discussion with parents. Parents were given the opportunity to raise their  ideas, proposals or questions related to school programs and other matters related to home based learning.  A number of questions and suggestions were raised by parents and responded directly by the teachers.

The PTC event which was attended by 80’s parents, ran smoothly and successfully. This PTC event was previously called PTM (Parent-Teacher Meeting) during normal time that is one of the annual programs of the Saint Nicholas Foundation. PTM is held twice a year, namely at the beginning of the school year and at the middle of the school year to open an official communication with parents (AL).

Monday (7/13/2020) was a special day for the Secondary division of Saint Nicholas School. We started the new Academic Year 2020-2021 and held our first ever online school orientation program.

We have been preparing for this activity for a month led by our Ms Mega Prisay Sidabutar as the chairman. As everybody in the committee, she admitted that she was a little worried about the technical implementation of the orientation because this is the first time we do it online.

“The Orientation Program in 2020 was held virtually because the situation of the pandemic outbreak in the City of Jakarta, Indonesia has still not improved and is not yet possible to gather many people in one place,” said Mega.

All Saint Nicholas School students, parents and teachers don’t seem to want to miss this important moment at the beginning of the school year. Traditions that have been carried out for many years in our school must continue to be implemented even though it is done remotely using the ZOOM virtual meeting application. Teachers and staff prepare activities at school while students remain at home following the entire series of events.

 

Regardless of the hectic schedule, Ms. Lasriana Sinurat, the deputy chair of the committee, remained optimistic about the attention of the students even though the Orientation was held online. Lasriana revealed the entire series of events programmed by the committee for the two-day event.

“We do not eliminate the mandatory activities that must be carried out during the Orientation, it’s just the shape that we adjust,” Lasriana said.

The Orientation program begins with the flag raising ceremony. Appearing as a ceremony organizer, Mr. Soleman Pepang who is the registered National Principal of Saint Nicholas delivered his message to the participants of the ceremony.

“There are two things that I will emphasize. First, the pandemic situation is still not improving, all Saint Nicholas residents are expected to comply with the health protocol recommended by the government. Secondly, students should have the same seriousness as teachers who have tried as much as possible to prepare material during this online learning, “said Mr Soleman. He closed his speech while officially opening the 2020 Orientation activities.

After the flag ceremony took place solemnly, the activity continued with remarks from Mr. Asa’aro Lahagu, the Principal for Secondary School. A speech given by Mr Lahagu was also followed by a teacher’s introductory session to the students.

The activity continued with a brief seminar from Mr. Kriston Nainggolan with the topic “Assessment Systems and Effective Learning Methods”. The activity lasted for 20 minutes and continued with the explanation of the rules of distance learning conducted by Mr. Alfons Yulius as a familiar disciplinarian for students. The first day was finally closed with a meeting between the class teacher and students in their virtual space – each class.

The second day’s activity (7/14/2020) was no less lively as morning reflections managed to cool the online orientation atmosphere. Opened with worship songs from teachers and passionate sermons from Mr. Horasman Munthe, our Christian religion teacher. Not wanting to lose the enthusiastic moment of the students, Mr. Figur Wening Aji, our sports teacher, invites all participants to do physical fitness exercises from their respective rooms. Not only students at home, but also the teachers also took gymnastics seriously. The activity was followed by a brief presentation on Scouting and Paskibra by Mr. Yohannes Sahat, who is the Scoutmaster and Student Council coach at Saint Nicholas School.

In order to increase the motivation for students during this distance learning, the orientation committee presented the Saint Nicholas School Academic Head, Ms. Cindy Mutiara Ratu, as she give a self-development seminar on the topic “Success Study During Pandemic”. Students are equipped with a variety of successful strategies and various tips to maximize learning and internet resources during online learning in pandemic situations.

In general, the activities went very well. Mr Soleman Pepang officially closed the orientation activities and welcomed the students. The committee hardly experienced any significant technical problems and the enthusiasm of the students who took part in the activities was very high. “More than 90% of students attended based on our record. Those who did not attend have their reasons that we can understand in difficult times at this time,” Mega said. (YS)

Experience in Scientia Square Park
By: Ms. Ferawati

Our very first trip was held on Monday, October 14, 2019. We went to Scientia Square Park, it was the first and the best trip ever for our K1 students in Green Lake and Citra 6. This is the first time that the branches have collaborated for one of the most exciting program of the school.

Everything we had experienced in Scientia Square Park became our best moment. Especially for the kids, it was their first experience to ride the school bus and meet new friends. They couldn’t help but keep asking and be curious of anything that passed by our school bus. It was all good that their vocabulary is enhanced. When we arrived at the spot, we couldn’t wait no more for our first clay art making. Some of kids were afraid of making their hands dirty, but we convinced them not worry about it and to enjoy their clay art. This was good to further their hand-eye coordination and develop their fine motor skills.

For the second activity, we were excited about to meet and to touch the animals. We met David and Victoria, the bulls. They were so tame that we could ride them. There were also two owls that awaited us to interact with. We were delighted to see the butterfly but unfortunately we couldn’t find any one of them. But, we were entertained by the love birds. They were so colorful and tiny. One of our favorite things to do with the animal was feeding the rabbit. We might not able to ride the horses and pat the dogs but, we still could see them. Then the koi was the last one we visited. To meet and interact with the animals was good for their visual, auditory and kinesthetic in learning about the real animals rather than seeing them only in the story book. Then the next activity was the gardening. We were able to see some vegetable plants and harvested them. We brought home a bunch of spinach. The paddy field was one of the exciting places we visit¬ed. We learned to pick some vegetables and to get to know some kinds of vegetables. The last activity was the free time. We were allowed to try the wall climbing and the giant swing. The children learned to take their turn and share when they play in the public play area. But the most memorable thing that happened on that field trip was gaining a friend, talk with, seat with during the trip and share the amazing stories we experienced. It was sunny and hot day but it turned to be a happy day when we enjoyed the field trip. We can’t wait for the next field trip.

Simple Mathematical Concepts
by: Ms. Margareta Triwidjiyanti

By setting the foundation to understand terminology and concepts early, children are prepared to apply the information in a classroom set¬ting. The concepts are already understood, so elementary teachers are able to focus on the application of ideas. While preschool children might not yet be ready to learn the practice of the math skills, they can gain a basic idea of the practice through language and practice. While kindergarten classes review the basics of counting forward and backward, early childhood educators can set a stronger foundation by focusing on learning to count before reaching elementary school. By focusing on number sense, teachers are providing math skills that are necessary for future concepts and advanced calculations. On the 27th of September, Kids Land held Mathematics com¬petition for all levels from Toddler to K2 levels. They were divided into 2 sessions : morning session and afternoon session. The purpose goal of this com¬petition is to inspire math students to greater achievement.

For each level, this is the list of winners:
Toddler :
1st – Victoria Isabelle Pramana (Tod A)
2nd – Kennice Richelle Lim (Tod B)
3rd – Hayslie Frodi Tjandra (Tod C)
Nursery :
1st – Victoria Kathlyn Handres (Nsy B)
2nd – Luke Asher (Nsy C)
3rd – Bianca Mila Sung (Nsy A)
4th – Melody Fu (Nsy B)
5th – Kenzie Kenedy Tan (Nsy B)
Kinder 1 :
1st – Ethan Ezekiel Wijaya (K1C)
2nd – Aiden Nathaniel Lie (K1A)
3rd – Jesslyn Airin Setiawan (K1B)
4th – Elio Euston Hernando (K1A)
5th – Clayton Nathanael Setiawan (K1A)
Kinder 2 :
1st – Crystal Annabelle Zhang (K2B)
2nd – Nathania Eleysia (K2B)
3rd – Gerard Ritz Wirjanto (K2A)
4th – Ren Nakashima (K2C)
5th – Oliver Ricardo Handres (K2B)

Learning From Scientia Square Park
By: Ms. Septiya Rini

On the 11th of October 2019, Kids Land PIK Division had a field trip for K1 and K2. This time we went to Scientia Square Park, Tangerang Selatan. We chose that place because the students could learn a lot about some animals that were there.

In the morning, all the students gathered in their respective classes. All the teachers found the students that were based on the groups and name tag that was already given by the PIC, this time the PIC divided all the students and the teachers into 5 groups. After the teachers already with their groups, we immediately went to the school lobby to gather and pray before we go to Scientia Square Park. On our way going there, all students were very excited, they were very impatient to arrive there.

we arrived there, we gathered in front of the Scientia Square Park to have a photo session and we have also a briefing with the tour guide. Each group had their respective tour guide, after each groups was already with their respective guide, they immediately started the activities based on the rundown that was already given. We had a lot of activities there such as butterfly park, rabbit island, understanding koi farm, clay art, edible garden,
meet David the buffalo, At the butterfly park, the students learned about the growth of the butterfly, they could touch the butterfly but they should be careful with it. At the rabbit island,the students gave the carrots to
the rabbits and learned how to carry the rabbits properly. At the koi farm, the students fed the koi fish, each of them got the fish food in one small plastic. At the edible gardens, the students had a chance to revoke the vegetables there, the guide gave the instruction how to revoke the vegetables properly. Some of the students
were very excited to revoke the vegetables until their shoes had much soil on the shoes sole. The students also got a chance to try the fun climbing games, the guide helped the students one by one to climb. We also made a clay
art at the hall inside the mall; each student got the clay and the clay molder. The students made the shape of an airplane, crabs, teddy bear and so forth. They were very happy to play with the clay. Besides that, we saw David the Buffalo, the eagle and the owl. Each of the student took a photo with the animals, but some of the students were afraid to take a picture with them. After all the activities were done, the students and the teachers ate their lunch together at the park. After we were done eating, we gathered together again and went back to the
bus to go back to the school.

On 17 September 2019, Our Saint Nicholas students competed at Permai Cup for soccer. Upon looking at the other players from the other school, fear already struck their hearts. “It’s kind of like fighting with the giants,”
they all said. They lost the first game to Permai School. On 19 September 2019, our soccer team went for another bout of hopefully winning the game. Again, they lost the game however there has been a great improvement since their first match. Our Soccer Team was taken from our Soccer Lifeskills. The coaches tried their best to lead the students and the students really tried their best to win the game. But this time, trying is not enough. This has been an eyeopener for the coaches and students to practice some more and to give time for practices if they want to improve their games. Win or lose, they learned a very important lesson. Sportsmanship! Even if their facial expressions show that they are really disappointed, they still console themselves saying, “It’s only a game. Better luck next time!” Now, they are looking forward to the next competition and hoping that they would soon bring home the trophies in the future.

Last September 23-25, the K2 students of Kidsland Division had their orientation. This orientation is held to give a taste of what it’s like when they will be promoted to the Primary level.

The activity started at 7:45 to 8:00 in the morning for the assembly which was led by the primary teachers. The students enjoyed singing and dancing with discussions about weather and colours. Selected teachers entered and taught in some classes for three days with a variety of topics that introduce the students to primary 1 topics. The different topics include verbs in the form of storytelling, shapes, numbers, fruits and the five senses. The students actively participated and based on their reactions, they are truly ready and excited to become primary
1 students. The goal of this activity was achieved and that is to promote fun learning activities for the incoming primary students as they enjoy learning. This is also in line with the school’s mission “of exposing our students to a wider scope of knowledge so they may excel academically, develop strong moral characters, be physically fit and be able to appreciate arts, music, and culture.” We also believe that training young minds is a good beginning to achieve greater things. As it is said in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”