Notes of Appreciation

Appreciation by students & parents

From: Emmanuel Deron 
Sent: Sunday, 22 August 2021 7:49 PM
To: Contact Us (MOE)
Subject: Appreciation to GMSP

To: Ministry of Education

I am Emmanuel Deron, an ex-student of Geylang Methodist School (Primary). I’m currently studying at Geylang Methodist School (Secondary), Sec 1-7. I have a medical condition which is called Myopathy (Muscle weakness), which causes my body to have many medical conditions. I have to be in and out of the hospital. But despite my medical condition, I persevered and worked hard for my education.

I would like to thank my ex-principal, Mrs. Jennifer Choy, and the ex-teachers there. GMSP is my second home. The teachers and principal supported me both mentally and emotionally. I am thankful for the teachers and principals in GMSP, as I can never go as far without their support.

My medical condition was discovered in my P1 and P2 days. My body was easily fatigued and I couldn't concentrate in class. Ms. Wendy Lin, my then form teacher (P1 Diligence), gave feedback to my mom and we went through a lot of medical tests. Through the tests, the doctor diagnosed me with a medical condition. When I’m hospitalized, Ms. Theresa Tong and Ms. Wendy Lin will visit me.

During my P3 and P4 days, my medical condition worsened, the doctor diagnosed me with more medical conditions. I went through surgery and have to be hospitalized more frequently. After the surgery, I had to be in a wheelchair. Mr. John Tan, my then form teacher (P3 Diligence), also made arrangements such as arranging for my classmates to help me push my wheelchair and arranged another table suitable for use when I’m sitting on the wheelchair. He also gave me extra Math lessons as Math was my weakest subject. When I’m hospitalized, Ms. Mavis Tan and Mr. John Tan would also visit me in the hospital after both of them spent a long day in school.

Moving on to my P5 journey, there was once during an assembly, I felt unwell and was in the midst of fainting. A group of teachers rushed to help me get medical help. The teachers were Mdm Leow Ching Lee, Mr. Mohammed Farid Bin Rozalli, Mr. Hidayat Bin Rahmat, Mdm Maszlita Abdul Aziz, Mdm Sulistiati Bte Idrus, Mr. Sim Wei Zhang, Mrs. Anna Quek, Ms. Mavis Tan, Mr. Saravanan, and Mr. Julian Lau. After I got medical help, the doctor then diagnosed that my muscle condition affected my heart, therefore having a new condition (Mitral Valve Prolapse). After this incident, I had to be in a wheelchair again. Mrs. Ariel Koh and Mr. Saravanan don’t want me to miss this memorable memory (NDP). So, they made special arrangements by asking the SAF officers accompanying the school to help me push my wheelchair. My mom also posted this good deed to Stomp.

Moving to 2020, my P6 journey, I was so stressed because it was during the Covid-19 pandemic. Plus, this year is my PSLE year. But thankfully, some of my P5 class teachers were also my P6 teachers. Such as Mr. Saravanan, Mrs. Anna Quek, Mdm Leow Ching Lee, and Mdm Mazlita Abdul Aziz. A few months later, the whole nation was under Circuit Breaker. We had to study at home due to Home-Based Learning. It was so stressful because I don’t have a laptop and using my smartphone for my work was so troublesome. Therefore, I needed to borrow a laptop from my neighbor.

Earlier this year, the school pioneers even awarded me an award called the “INSPIRE Award”. I’m very grateful to the school.

The purpose of emailing the ministry is to ask for permission to go back to GMSP to take a photo or video with the teachers and principal, during Teacher’s Day, to show my juniors the contribution of the teachers and principal there. I also hope the ministry can share my story with the MOE Facebook Page.

Schools and teachers do not teach students about taking exams or scoring high marks for their exams. Instead, the purpose of a school and a teacher is to help students learn about academics and moral values. Academics may be important, but morals and character are the success of life.

I hope to hear from the ministry soon.

Yours sincerely,
Emmanuel Deron

“I would like to compliment Madam Chow from Geylang Methodist school primary for being such a caring and dedicated teacher. She was concerned about my daughter Esther’s wellbeing, set aside time to do online homework. She took effort to make sure my daughter can catch up in school. Kudos to Mdm Chow!”

”Thank you to Mr Ong, from Geylang Methodist school primary for being a fun and loving teacher. My daughter Esther enjoyed his interactive and interesting zoom lessons. He put extra effort to ensure she can catch up after her LOA. He encourage her to improve. Motivating and inspiring teacher!”

Mrs Irene Ho ~ Thank you for being patient and always motivating us to study harder.

Mrs Chan Wai Leng ~ Thank you for keeping us active and healthy !! Happy Teachers Day!!

Mdm Syafiqah ~ Thank you for being such an amazing teacher. HAPPY TEACHERS DAY!!

Nur Sharifunnisa (P4/1)

Dear Mrs Choy,

Happy Teachers' Day! This is a day where we take a moment to reflect and appreciate the devotion and passion of the wonderful teachers who faithfully wake up early, plan the curriculum and stay up late to mark papers, especially during this difficult time. On top of all, your team are unsung heroes who are passionate with your vocation. 

I would like to commend your leadership, Ms Tse, Mrs Liow, Mr Calvin Eng and Miss Tan Li Ling for their exemplary works. 

Mr Eng amazed me when he set up a class dojo account for all P1-2 Chinese class students during the 1st week of Primary 1 school term, to assure parents and give us clear instructions on how we can support GMSP to nurture and unleash the potential in the child. For P5-8 Higher Chinese Class, he always encourage parents to take care of students’ well-being, not only academic but mental health. Mr Eng conducted a virtual workshop session for parents in term1, in order to explain the higher Chinese syllabus which helped us a lot. Mr Eng is definitely an IT expert, my two sons enjoy his computerized lessons very much, and they have also developed a great interest in learning Chinese, 

Miss Tan Li Ling is an encouraging teacher who helps Lucas Yu to build the right foundations in his English and Maths. We appreciate her being strict and how the right methods must be applied. Miss Tan is extremely patient, responsive and understanding. She always reply parents’ questions promptly, remind parents the important information clearly. She provided positive encouragements on my son’s work every time, I always look forward to see her comments, as well as my son. When Lucas is absent, Miss Tan took initiatives to arrange the work and pass to his older brother Marcus. 

Ms Tse taught Marcus Yu when he was in P3, Marcus can still remember the class party that Ms Tse organized. Marcus shared with my recently he will be extremely happy if Ms Tse can follow his class up to P6. We are grateful for the opportunity for Marcus to be a class monitor, this provided a chance for him to show his leadership quality. I can still remember the phrase that you shared during Marcus’s P1 orientation few years ago, ‘Enter to learn, depart to serve’, this inspired me in my son’s education.

Marcus enjoys Science and Maths lesson. He is eager and look forward to learning new knowledge and skills from Mrs Liow because the lessons she planned are interactive, fun and engaging. There are room for group discussion, teamwork and chance for each child in the group to sharpen their leadership skills. During HBL, Ms Tse and Mrs Liow checked in with students every time, even the lesson is virtual, they will create different rooms for discussion. I was impressed by their engaging lessons. Mrs Liow provided chances for Marcus to participate in Maths and Science Olympiad, regardless of the results, these are all precious experiences for Marcus.

Beside of all core subjects’ teachers, Lucas shared with me he likes Ms Wong’s music lesson, Mr Chris’s PE lesson, we appreciate the teachers to conduct such engaging lessons to let student enjoy attending school. 

We would like to show our appreciation to educators who love their jobs and how their extra efforts help shaped Marcus and Lucas’s perception of lifelong learning. With your team, Lucas transited very well from kindergarten to Primary school. These are not possible if your team had not done what you believed strongly in. Here is a song performed by Marcus and Lucas, to appreciate all the GMSP teachers.

Thank you and we will continue to support GMSP, we wish all teachers in GMSP a Happy Teachers’ Day! 

Warm regards, 

Mrs Yu 
(Mother of Marcus Yu ZeXi P5-8 and Lucas Yu ZeCheng P1-2)

From: Robin Loh
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2021 2:25 PM
To: Jennifer HAN (SCHOOLS)
Cc: Chomnaphas Chadatarn
Subject: Letter of Commendation for Ms Hoong Yan
Date: 10th May 2021

Attention: Mrs Jennifer Choy , Principal 
Geylang Methodist School (Primary)

Dear Principal Mrs Choy,

Good day to you. The purpose of this letter is to compliment and to commend one of your lower primary teachers Ms Hoong Yan for her exemplary dedication in teaching and assisting my daughter. 

My daughter RAINIE LOH is in class P3-8 and Ms Hoong Yan is her form teacher. Due to work issues, both myself and my wife had to return back to Bangkok Thailand during this period since March 2021, and we had to bring along our children, and hence, Rainie had to apply for Leave of Absence. After knowing about this situation from us, Ms Yan volunteered to teach Rainie via Zoom online once a week, as she is afraid that Rainie may not be able to catch up with her school work once she is back in Singapore. Since the 2nd week of March 2021, Ms Yan has been conducting weekly Saturday morning Zoom lessons with Rainie, each session lasting average around 3 hours or more, in her personal free time. Sometimes she would do it on Friday evening instead if Saturday is not available. This very action of hers speaks a lot about her dedication to her students, and it is very rare to find such a teacher in this day and age. Her tireless effort and dedication is something that I would like to praise and to make known to you. It's very fortunate for the school to have her as your teacher, and also fortunate for Rainie to have her as her form teacher. 

I sincerely hope that if there is any service excellence award nomination, I would vouch for her exemplary conduct in teaching and dedication, and nominate her to get the award. Also, I do hope that this letter of commendation will also assist in her annual grading for performance bonus, and to a larger extent, accelerate her career prospects in the near future to come. 

Should you need any further information, I can be reached at whatsapp call or email. Thank you for your time and wishing you best for your school. Take care and stay safe.

Best regards, 
Robin Loh