Public Speaking Programme

Chong Pang’s Next Top Speaker 2022

After a hiatus of two years due to COVID-19, Chong Pang’s Next Top Speaker was back once again. Eight students from Secondary One to Secondary Three took part in the competition, which pits the best speakers from the secondary schools in Yishun against one another. Elamaran Tarana (2E4) made the school proud by clinching the Crowd Favourite for the Impromptu Speech segment of the competition.

AI’s Next Top Speaker 2022

In this year’s rendition of AI’s Next Top Speaker public speaking contest organised by the English Language Department, in conjunction with the school’s National Day Celebration, participants delivered a speech on what they wish to see for SG75. Among the three finalists, Toh Jun Yi Jamie (2E1) emerged as the best speaker of AI’s Next Top Speaker 2022

• Champion: SHREYA S NAIR
  
• Second Runner-Up : MOHAMED MANASEER MASROORA
  

“…higher…higher…HIGHER… LOWER… lower… lowest…” 

Make no mistake! This is not a choir practice but a session during this year’s Public Speaking Workshop run by the renowned Julia Gabriel Speech and Drama Centre. Participants were given tips on how to carry themselves and how to speak off the cuff, a feat that is daunting to most. 

Boosted by the training, students put the skills they acquired to good use.  They participated in public speaking competitions and were handpicked to host events in school. 

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2019

Few things strike fear into the hearts of students as unequivocally as these two words: public speaking. Hence, it is all the more commendable that 20 of our Secondary 1 to 3 students, identified through a stringent selection process, managed to successfully complete the Public Speaking Skills Programme conducted by Julia Gabriel Centre.

The purpose of this programme is to equip our students with emceeing and persuasive speaking skills which they can apply when giving presentations. All participants have been given opportunities to emcee for a variety of school events, ranging from formal occasions like Achievement Day to adrenaline pumping festivities like the National Day Celebration.

Besides participating in inter-school competitions like Chong Pang’s Next Top Speaker, our public speaking students also took part in the annual AI Speech Competition. After a hard-fought Preliminary Round in which students had to give one-minute impromptu speeches, Shreya S Nair (1E2), Nurul Ailis Lee (1N1) and Loo Carol (3E1) emerged as the top three contestants and proceeded to the Final Round.

During the Teachers’ Day Celebration, the three girls spoke about gratitude for teachers, giving engaging and heartfelt speeches that moved the audience with their sincerity.

Izwan Bin Indra, 2018 Chong Pang's Next Top Speaker



Izwan Bin Indra (3E2) was declared 2018 Chong Pang's Next Top Speaker after battling with 8 other finalists.  He exuded commanding stage presence and delivered his speech with conviction and flair. A pertinent speech (entitled Anti-social Social Network) wrapped in sincerity and adorned with a sprinkle of humour, it made us laugh, and it made us think. He also won the Crowd Favourite for Prepared Speech. Watch Izwan in action below.

Winner of Unseen Poetry Debate at National Schools Literature Festival

One may say it was beginner’s luck that 4 students bagged a trophy in their maiden debate competition, but a stroke of luck it wasn’t. With all the weeks of practice, mock debates with teachers, and video-calling to discuss and hone their arguments, these Pure Literature students from 4E3 demonstrated nothing less than pure grit and determination, scrutinising two poems in preparation for the Unseen Poetry Debate. New and inexperienced in debate they might have been, but won the praise of the judges they did for their close analysis. Winning despite being up against a debate-trained team from Evergreen Secondary School really gave these 4 young ladies a boost of confidence! Congratulations, Sarah, Sarefina, Serena and Chi Rou!

Winners

1. Sarah Tan Xin Hui 4E3

2. Sarefina Sindhu Victor 4E3

3. Yong Yi Xuan, Serena 4E3

4. Tay Chi Rou 4E3

In its second year of running, the Julia Gabriels Public Speaking Course aims to provide opportunities for interested students to hone their public speaking skills. 

The course consisted of a series of workshops conducted across Semester 1, where students were taught pronunciation, speech development, voice projection and improvisation. 

After the programme, the participants were given opportunities to apply their public speaking skills in many school events and public speaking competitions. Students served as emcees in major events such as Achievement Day, and school celebrations such as Teachers’ Day and National Day. In addition, students also represented the school in public speaking competitions such as YMCA’s Plain English Speaking Awards (PESA) and Chong Pang’s Next Top Speaker 2017.

It was a joy to witness these students grow as confident and persuasive communicators.

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Reading Programme

The AI Reading Programme aims to encourage a love for reading in our school where every student is a reader who enjoys the process of reading. Be it through stimulating activities at the library or schoolwide reading subscriptions, we ensure no one gets left behind in discovering the page-turning worlds reading offers. Our wide range of programmes for students also helps students develop a positive disposition to reading so that they can become informed readers who read critically and deeply from an eclectic range of sources.

Top Borrowers 2022

What could be better than immersing yourself in a riveting world of stories? That, and being commended for doing so!    

Each term, we round up our top readers in the school and present them with a certificate and vouchers to encourage readership in our community. 

VALENTINE’S DAY with AISS LIBRARY

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Writing Programme

2022 Creative Writing Programme 

 Writing as a performing art? With singing and serenading to boot? 

This year’s Creative Writing workshop conducted during the first week of the June holidays was a great cathartic release from the online versions conducted over the past two pandemic years. While acquiring writing strategies over online sessions was plausible, nothing could beat meeting face-to-face. Students enjoyed impressing their peers with their brave attempts at acrostic poetries, visual poetries or prose embellished with detailed descriptions enhanced by carefully chosen literary devices. There was also a sensory walk to the nearby Sembawang Hotsprings to stimulate participants’ imaginations.     

Two workshops by established contemporary Singapore writers, Balli Kaur Jaswal and Jennifer Anne Champion, were also conducted, giving participants greater insights into the myriad possibilities of writing. 

2022 Creative Writing Camp 

Picture this. The words you have penned on paper dances to the beat of spoken word poetry or plays with images to form multimodal works of art, enchanting your audience. 

This is what students from our AISS Creative Writing Program experienced during this year’s Creative Writing Camp, conducted during the first week of the June’s holidays. It was a great cathartic release from the online versions conducted over the past two pandemic years. While acquiring writing strategies over online sessions was plausible, nothing could beat meeting face-to-face. 

Through a series of workshops led by our teachers as well as established contemporary Singapore writers, Balli Kaur Jaswal and Jennifer Anne Champion, students gained great insights into the myriad possibilities of writing. Not only that, but they also went on a sensory walk to the nearby Sembawang Hot Spring Park and gained an immersive experience on how creative works can be inspired by what we see, hear, smell and so on. 

By the end of the camp, they learned how to bring their written words to life as they performed or presented their works in front of an audience. It was a joy to see them impressing their peers with their brave attempts at acrostic poetries, visual poetries or prose embellished with detailed descriptions enhanced by carefully chosen literary devices. 

Student Mentors for AISS Creative Writing Programme   

Students in our writing program  have the exciting opportunity to become mentors to their juniors and help them to discover their vast potential in their creative expression. Through encouraging feedback and role modelling, they nurture their juniors to revise their works and try out new and different literary styles.   On 12th April 2022, our Student Mentors, Arlynn Natasha Binte Rahimi, Bellelyn Ong, Dawn Alethea Lowe En, Klenn Teo Yuan Jun Kai, Marsha Ardyana Binte Shahiman Azmi and Nadira Aisyah Shahrin received certificates of appreciation in grateful recognition and appreciation for their mentorship for our AISS Creative Writing Programme in 2021. 

Singapore’s Writers’ Festival 2022 

AISS Creative Arts Programme writers and our Pure Literature students were treated to one of the few multi-lingual literary festivals in the world, The Singapore Writers’ Festival (SWF). Organised by Arts House Limited, SWF is a much anticipated event on the cultural calendar, presenting the world's major literary talents to Singaporeans while shining a spotlight on home grown and Southeast Asian creative talents. Students had fun engaging in meaningful conversations with the writers and attending workshops that will help them in their writing and literary works. 

Nyla Batrisyia Evbuomwan, 3N1

Anagha Jiji, 2E3

Derick Goh Zhen Yu, 2E4

Terry Zhang, 2E4

Lucas Lim Jun Hui, 2E1

Wichelle Tan, 2E1

Jamie Toh Jin Yi, 2E1

Caden Toh, 2E3

Nur Insyirah binte Mohamed Azhar, 4E2

Ting Ze En Ada, 3E4

Jayden Png Jun Eng, 3N1

Caleb Ng Jin Kai, 2E1

Chong Ning Xin, 2E1

Chua Wee Jia, 2E1

Tan Kai Leng, 2E1

Ng Yu Xuan Constance, 1N1

Events

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