Welcome back, 6 Ga!

Hi again,

          I am delighted to teach 6 Ga again and I am really excited at the challenges we will be facing this year. I hope we are work and play hard together in our journey through 2008. Here is a an inspirational true story about Abraham Lincoln- a former US president on no quitting.

From http://www.rogerknapp.com/inspire/lincoln.htm

Lincoln Never Quits

Abraham Lincoln Didn’t Quit

Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. If you want to learn about somebody who didn’t quit, look no further.

Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.

He could have quit many times – but he didn’t and because he didn’t quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of?the USA.

Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up. Here is a sketch of Lincoln’s road to the White House:

• 1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.
• 1818 His mother died.
• 1831 Failed in business.
• 1832 Ran for state legislature – lost.
• l832 Also lost his job – wanted to go to law school but couldn’t get in.
• 1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
• 1834 Ran for state legislature again – won.
• 1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
• 1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
• 1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature – defeated.
• 1840 Sought to become elector – defeated.
• 1843 Ran for Congress – lost.
• 1846 Ran for Congress again – this time he won – went to Washington and did a good job.
• 1848 Ran for re-election to Congress – lost.
• 1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state – rejected.
• 1854 Ran for Senate of the United States – lost.
• 1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party’s national convention – get less than 100 votes.
• 1858 Ran for U.S. Senate again – again he lost.
• 1860 Elected president of the United States.

End of School Year

Dear 5GA,

It is the end of the academic year and I must say it has been a good half a year with you. Please remember to revise your p5 work during the holidays. Of course, do take time out to play and relax as well. It will be a challenging year ahead for all of you and you must believe in yourself. Work smart and hard! I hereby congratulate all of you on your promotion to Primary Six and take the opportunity to highlight special mention to the following pupils for their achievements in 2007.

Academic 

First in Class: Leawin Leong

Second in Class: Anna Belle Ho

Third in Class: Sharmaine bte Yacob and Toh Zheng Xue

Top in English: Faiqah

Top in Maths: Win Kai

Top in Science: Yue Jun

Non-Academic Areas

Model Student and Head Prefect Nominee : Anisah

SINGA Award: Kellyn Teo

Class Monitors: S. Danial and Amir S.

Happy Holidays.

Mr. Ho (benjaminhojw@gmail.com)

“Cremated son” turns up alive

LONDON (Reuters) – A mother cremated a body she thought was that of her dead son, only for him to turn up alive later, police said on Friday. Gina Partington’s 37-year-old son Thomas Dennison was reported missing last month and a body was found in Rusholme, Manchester, three days later. The 58-year-old mother, from Urmston, Greater Manchester, formally identified the body as that of her son and, following an inquest, the body was cremated on October 30. But police had actually found Dennison, living rough in Nottingham, four days earlier. The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission to discover why Partington was not told of her son’s discovery in the days before she attended the cremation. Inquiries are continuing to formally establish the identity of the body, but Greater Manchester police said they believe they know who he is. Next of kin have been informed. Police said in a statement: “This set of circumstances is clearly distressing and urgent inquiries are ongoing to establish how this happened.”

Best wishes for your coming exams!

Dear 5GA,

I wish you all the very best for your coming exams.

Mr Ho

SA2 Dates

Thurs, 4th Oct - EL Paper 1 and Listening Comprehension

Mon, 8th Oct – MT Paper 1 and Listening Comprehension

Tues, 9th Oct – EL and MT Oral

Mon, 29th Oct- MT

Tue, 30th Oct- English

Wed, 31st Oct- Maths

Thurs, 1 Nov- Science

Happy Children’s Day!

Dear 5GA,

Happy Children’s Day!

Do you know that different countries celebrate Children’s Day on different days? Click on the link to find out more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children’s_Day

Enjoy yourselves and study hard

New class blog!

Dear 5GA,

ShanJie, together S. Danial’s and Sheralyn’s help, have created a wonderful blog for our class. Do take a look when you are online.

Cheers!

http://5ga.blogspot.com/

You have a choice!

Dear 5GA, something meaning to share with you.

Have a nice weekend ahead. 

I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the clock strikes midnight.

I have responsibilities to fulfill today and I am important.

My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.

Today I can feel sad that I don’t have more money or I can be glad that my finances encourage me to plan my purchases wisely and guide me away from waste.

Today I can grumble about my health or I can rejoice that I am alive.

Today I can lament over all that my parents didn’t give me when I was growing up or I can feel grateful that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns or I can celebrate that thorns have roses.

Today I can mourn my lack of friends or I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work or I can shout for joy because I have a job to do.

Today I can complain because I have to go to school or eagerly open my mind and fill it with rich new tidbits of knowledge.

Today I can murmur dejectedly because I have to do housework or I can appreciate that I have a place to call home.

Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped. And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.

What today will be like is up to me. I get to choose what kind of day I will have!

Have a GREAT DAY … unless you have other plans and please remember, a ‘Smile’ will make the days go better.

Author Unknown

Attitude

Attitude

The longer I live
The more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than the past,
Than education,
Than money,
Than circumstances,
Than failures,
Than success,
Than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance,
Giftedness or skill.
It will make or break an organization,
A school, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day
Regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past.
We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do
Is play the string we have.
And that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me
And 90 percent how I react to it.
And so it is with you.

• Added: April 01, 2000
• Author: Charles Swindell

Welcome back

Dear 5Ga,

Welcome back to school after your break. Finally we are at the final term of the year and it is time to stay focused for your year end examinations. I believe that all of you will be able to do fine as long as you do your best! Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.