We as parents, want to help the
school to realise its vision of creating an outstanding and
vibrant learning community …
| Interviewers:
|
Good Morning, Mr. Teo. On
behalf of Fairfield Methodist Secondary School, we would
like to say `Thank You', for taking time off from your
busy schedule to be with us and be interviewed.
We understand Fairfield Methodist Secondary School's
Partners in Education group - the PIE group has been
formalised this year. As such it is something new to
most of us. We would like to hear something about yourself
- your family, job and your aspirations, besides being
a chairman of this group - as we want to know and hear
about the other side of you.
|
| Mr Teo: |
To begin with, I have two
children - one boy, who is in Fairfield Methodist Secondary
School and a girl in Fairfield Methodist Primary School.
I'm self-employed dealing in Insurance and Financial Planning
business. As for my aspirations…well… I think
I really aspire to be a successful businessman besides
being an effective chairman of PIE. |
| Interviewers: |
What does your role as chairman
of the Fairfield Methodist Secondary School's Partners
in Education group, require you to do? |
| Mr Teo: |
 Well,
for me as the Chairman, I think my role is to get all
the other parents in the school to come and work together,
to help the students, the school and at the same time
to help themselves and other parents as well. |
| Interviewers:
|
What is your vision for the
PIE group? |
| Mr Teo: |
I have the same vision as
the school….. ours is just action on the vision
- that is, we as parents help the school to be an outstanding
and vibrant learning community that provides an excellent
and progressive education grounded in Christian values
and nurtures Fairsians and Staff members to become active,
lifelong learners and influential leaders of sterling
character and current competencies who positively impact
the local and global community. |
| Interviewers:
|
What are some of your plans
to promote the collaboration between parents and Fairfield
Methodist Secondary School? |
| Mr Teo: |
PIE has just started a few
months ago, so we have some small plans and definitely
some big plans too in terms of collaboration. The small
plans would be working on some projects involving a small
group of parents at the moment. One of which is the `Teen
Chat'. The big plans would be involving the community
leaders, business leaders to get the students out into
the market, out of school, and that would be very interesting
programmes. Out of school would also mean out of the country
and that is going to be very exciting, if you can imagine
going to China, Japan or even Europe and doing some projects,
be it learning from the people there or they learning
from us. |
| Interviewers: |
You have a heavy schedule.
Yet you are willing to give your time to serve the school.
Any specific reason ….? |
| Mr Teo: |
As I have said earlier, because
I've seen the school's vision and I thought it was a very
good vision and also because the vision can only be realized,
if we take action. That's the reason why I came forward
to serve the school though I am very involved in my work.
|
| Interviewers: |
What keeps you `going'? |
| Mr Teo: |
At this moment, it is the
core members (parents) who are so supportive, cooperative,
dedicated and so focused…..all together they keep
me going. And I think Miss Lim, the Principal and Mr Low,
the Vice-Principal are also very supportive and cooperative.
They are very much of … strong leaders who are giving
me the push to go forward. |
| Interviewers:
|
Do you have any suggestions
as to how `we' as students can play an active role to
make this group (PIE) successful/meaningful/effective? |
| Mr Teo: |
Students can play a
big and active role by taking part in the all different
projects and programmes that we have planned. .. for
example the T-ZONE.. we set it up on 30th of June 2003.
This room is next to the students' lounge. We will serve
food and drinks here. It will be also a place where
they can come to read and study from 2:00 pm to 4:30
pm. This is one area, where students can play an active
role. The other programme is the `Teen Chat' where students
can come every fortnight to ask questions and get answers
from professionals whom we have engaged. We have a parent
who is a trained Professional Psychologist and she will
come in on that day to answer questions. We have already
conducted two sessions on BGR - they were wonderful
sessions. The success of PIE hinges on how best we can
support the school and the students. As such, it is
our desire to provide meaningful and effective programmes
to benefit the students. |
| Interviewers:
|
To end off, we would
like to know why did you choose Fairfield Methodist
Sec for your son, though there are so many other good
schools around? |
| Mr Teo: |
Fairfield is a school with
a strong tradition and long and illustrious history. I
have an eldest sister in her 50s who is an old girl of
Fairfield Methodist. So my strong impression of Fairfield
goes long way back. I am for the school. As a Christian,
I want my children to grow up in a mission school environment.
Besides, Fairfield is a school where values and character
development are integral in its all round education for
the students. Hence it was an easy and obvious decision
on my part to put my son in Fairfield. I look forward
to having my daughter joining the school too after she
completes her primary education. |
| Interviewers: |
Again, we would like to thank
you for giving us the time, and answering all our questions
patiently. On behalf of the student population, a big
THANK YOU for giving of your time and efforts to support
us through PIE. We wish you and PIE all the best and God’s
blessings. |
| |
|
| |
Interviewers:
Mabel Koh (3A) & Steffi Teo (3A) |
