You have succinctly recalled your process, and enjoyment, in preparing and delivering The Interview.

I am glad that this process has crystalised for you your core values, principles and philosophies in your career as an educator. Just remember your 3 tenets, your discovery of your personal conviction This will see you through many more years and challenges. (cryptic, huh?)

I do not think the act of teaching itself will instinctively polish the skills of the teacher, even when done over a sustained period of time. Being more familiar with the mode, yes, but not necessarily better. It is those who takes time to reflect and is mindful of the required changes who will grow.

On the other hand, those who are inert and not receptive to the changes which demands of them will be left behind, and gradually, find themselves more and more irrelevant to their environment. Staying relevant or not, is a decision that one has to make.

I suppose the exercise trains the schools in our readiness to deal with large groups of affected personnels. That with an orderly system in practice, we are more ready to cope with such stresses should the flu situation evolve to another state of caution.

Wow! I had no idea she was your ex-pupil! This positively shows that you had passed on the passion of music education to those who you had taught.

The teachers play a critical part in re-establishing the reasons why the pupils are taking part in a competition like this. That enjoying themselves through the beautiful expression of music is indeed much more important than the ‘prize’ in the end. And what ‘prize’ is this in the end really?

One positive thing in this whole SYF experience which I gather is that pupils get really emotional about it, and they train really hard to achieve their ideals (whether it is a medal for the school or to just be their very best on show). This cannot be bad, as it develops them in so many other ways that the typical classroom cannot provide. Through such experience, their passion for the art form and hunger for excellence deepens, and that cannot be bad.

We can sometimes get a bit too critical and only look at the glitches, but we must not neglect all the strengths we have already built up through our experience. We should continue to capitalise on these abilities which have proven to be effective and keep getting better in what we do.

Your pupils must be enjoying their learning

It is always good to be critical as it forces us to think, and children should start doing this from young. This is definitely a deficit in our culture in this part of the world, it impedes creativity and breeds mediocrity.

There is a parallel in the manner we analyse movie-making in visual arts too. At some stage during the analysis of a film clip, the sound is switched off, with the full focus on just the visuals. This allows us to isolate specifics of the production so that we can understand and learn them better.

The point about class dynamics is very true and this must be well taken care of for any meaningful teaching to take place. In an environment of positive work ethics and culture, things are done with pride, purpose and having emphasis on efficacy. The reverse can most certainly also be true of a class devoid of such a culture, making our teaching a lot more difficult.

Can they perform for the school during assembly?
Would be lovely to hear pupils’ work.

Yes, setting high expectations of pupils can drive towards higher achievement. And having yourself a high expectation is equally, if not more, important.

Well done.