Inspirational Speakers and Events

Inspirational Speakers and Visitors

While the school’s events calendar was significantly impacted in the latter half of the year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, students still benefitted from a rich programme of educational opportunities and experiences. The following pages highlight just some of the high-profile speakers who worked with members of the school community, as well as major events hosted and organised by Tanglin – many of them supported by the TTS Foundation. LEGO Robotics Challenge Supported by the TTS Foundation This Saturday event in the Moot saw 60 Year 2 and 3 students working together to build and programme a robot that could move 10 LEGO blocks a distance of three metres. At the end of the event, teams were rewarded for their efforts and achievements with awards such as “Best Team”, “Best Robot” and “Most Creative Design”. The event also offered the children the chance to experiment with LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 robots – technology that is usually used by Senior School students – as well as Dash and Bee-Bot mazes. Students who excelled at the challenge were offered places on Tanglin’s LEGO League Robotics Team.

Hack to the Future Hackathon Supported by the TTS Foundation Led by Year 13 and Year 12 students, this exciting event required Junior and Senior school students to work collaboratively in addressing two themes of the UN Sustainability goals – Life on the Land and Life below Water – through the creation of an IT product. The students were assisted in their projects by Henry Simpson, Engineering Lead at metal and mining corporation Rio Tinto. There were also speeches by Mr Dinesh Sharma, Head of APAC FX and CPM Technology at Bank of America Merrill Lynch – who led a student workshop on cryptography – and Ms Aishwarya Prasad, Manager of Studio Technology at Lucasfilm. All students left with a product to be proud of and a desire to fix “big” problems.

US Embassy Visit Tanglin works closely with the US and Canadian embassies in Singapore to offer students workshops and fairs when universities are visiting the region. In Term 1, we hosted our annual talk for parents and students, Applying to the US, and were delighted this year to welcome in staff from the US Embassy to join in discussions on applying for a visa and work opportunities in the US, post studies. Speakers included Michelle Segal, Vice Consul of the US Embassy in Singapore, and Zehra Ratani, Director of EducationUSA.

Charles Tighe Supported by the TTS Foundation Charles Tighe is an Orff-Schulwerk practitioner from the US with a wealth of experience and expertise. Orff Schulwerk, or simply the Orff Approach, is a developmental approach used in music education that combines music, movement, drama and speech in an experience that mimics the way children play. In October, Mr Tighe led a bespoke programme in the Infant and Junior schools, guiding workshops for Year 2, 3 and 4 that incorporated music, poetry, movement and the visual arts. The children involved had a fantastic experience, actively participating in developing their own musicality across the curriculum and gaining the insight that music not a standalone subject.

Andy Mulligan Best known for his young adult fiction, British writer Andy is a prolific author whose perennially popular 2010 novel Trash was shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal. He has also won The Guardian Children’s Fiction prize. Following on from the publishing of his first adult novel, Train Man, last July, Andy visited Year 6, 7, 8 and 9 students in November 2019 to talk about his work and sign books for his fans. He also took part in a lively lunchtime Q&A session with Junior School Library student reps.

Mark Grist This British performance poet and former secondary school teacher is the winner of two Lovie awards that celebrate online excellence, and regularly competes in international rap battles. The wordsmith brought his flair for rhythm and rhyme to Tanglin Junior School this year, presenting some of his back catalogue to Year 5 and 6 students, and helping them to perfect their own performance poetry skills.

Mark Hill Mark is a physical theatre artist and educator who has worked with a range of drama students at Tanglin over a number of years and we were pleased to welcome him back once again to work with Senior School Drama students. Mark has worked with innovative international theatre companies such as Zen Zen Zo (Australia), SU-EN Butoh Company (Sweden), and Dairakudakan (Japan) and is a visiting educator at international schools around the world.

Chris Riddell Chris Riddell, OBE is an illustrator, an acclaimed political cartoonist for the Guardian and the Observer, and an occasional children’s book author. He was the UK Children’s Laureate between 2015-17 and has won three CILIP Kate Greenaway medals. In November, Chris visited the Junior School to lead a workshop of 16 Art Ambassadors, before signing books on the Mezzanine and later presenting some of his work to some 200 Year 4 students in the Berrick Hall.

TEDx Tanglin Trust School In the spirit of “ideas worth spreading”, TEDx is a program of local, self-organised events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. In November, members of the Tanglin community gathered in the Berrick Hall for Tanglin’s third TEDx event; a fun and engaging evening that aimed to spread ideas, and encourage debate and discussion on pressing issues. We were privileged to hear from six of Singapore’s “thinkers and doers”, including financial analyst and pioneer in the energy industry Christine Amour Levar, and Yuxhuan Chua, Creative Manager of Singapore’s largest humour network, SGAG.

EPIC Arts Supported by the TTS Foundation The Junior Drama department welcomed back EPIC Arts from Cambodia this year; EPIC Arts is an inspirational organisation which promote diversity and accessibility to the arts for people with disabilities. All students in the Junior school participated in a workshop and performance during House Day, and a smaller group also participated in a weekend festival with the company. See the Arts section for more information on this exciting occasion.

Zoe Griffiths Supported by the TTS Foundation As she has done in previous years, Zoe visited Tanglin to give presentations to and lead workshops of Years 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 students during maths lessons. Featuring ideas, puzzles and concepts, these sessions aimed to build enthusiasm for mathematical thinking, and stretch students to think about maths in new ways. A “real world” approach helped demonstrate just how and why maths is relevant, and Zoe’s enthusiasm for the subject made a tangible impact.

Clive Leach Supported by the TTS Foundation Clive, an organisational coach who works widely across the education, government and corporate sectors, spoke to both students and parents on the first day of Term 1. He talked to Senior School students about their character strengths and “mental toughness”, introducing the idea that this is an attribute that can be learnt, developed and strengthened. This message was reflected in parent talks on developing resilience and resourcefulness in young people, and helping them to flourish. Both talks were part of a larger program that aims to provide all students with the skills and mindset to flourish both while at school and as Alumni. X-Periment! @ One-North Festival Back in September 2019, Tanglin Senior School students shared their STEM projects and research at this annual festival organised by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Singapore Science Centre that gives the public an opportunity to test and try the latest innovations in AI across a multitude of fields.

2019 Inspired: Singapore International Schools Art Exhibition This exhibition was started in 2011 by a small group of art teachers to help inspire students and the Australian High Commission offers the use of their gallery space each year for this purpose. Tanglin Trust School is at the heart of the huge exhibition and indeed was one of four schools that initiated the project. The Senior School’s Head of Art and Design Robert Le Grice now leads a team of 15 teachers from a variety of schools, as the showcase grows from strength to strength. Each school selects outstanding artwork from its older, usually (I)GCSE, IB Diploma and A Level, students that exemplifies their creative energy and skills. A selection of 10 Tanglin students’ artwork was selected this year to be displayed in this prestigious art show. We are well-known for the ambitious and diverse range of experimental techniques evident in our work. This year, around 500 students, parents, teachers and guests attended the celebration evening.

ParentWise Programme Tanglin’s ParentWise programme was established to enable our community to connect with the school, and provide a toolkit for Tanglin parents and carers to gain knowledge, increase confidence and seek assurance. Courses, information sessions and workshops cover four main themes: Educational and Curriculum Support, Parent and Student Wellbeing; Hot Button Topics and Inspirational Speakers. While the ParentWise calendar was impacted this year by the Coronavirus pandemic – and, more specifically, the necessary restrictions on visitors to campus – a varied programme took place in the early part of the academic year. Talks included All About Sleep: The Impact of Sleep on Mental, Emotional and Physical Performance, with Educational Psychologist Clare Lancaster. Practical workshops included Helpful Helpers - Sharing Stories – a popular session offering strategies for helpers to use at home when sharing stories with children and supporting them with home readers – and an Early Years Foundation Stage Maths workshop, both led by Heads of Faculty in the Infant School.