It is that time of the year when we sit back and reflect on what we have accomplished, the lessons we have learned and the mistakes we have made.

The year-end holidays have always been one of my favourite time of the year. Not just because of the festivities but also because it is a time to look forward to the New Year and the new happenings it will bring.

Before we ring in the bells for 2019, follow me back in time as I review the highlights of 2018 with you.

Highlights of 2018!

January – The year began with lots of excitement as we were celebrating our Tenth Year in business. Since our centre began in 2008 at Novena with only four (4) students taking the Trinity Communication Skills Examinations, we now have more than two hundred (200) students taking the examinations on a yearly basis. To date, more than three thousand (3000) students have passed through our doors.

March – Another exciting event that started this year for our students was the Primary School Model United Nations Conference (PY-MUN) organised by Overseas Family School. It was a great milestone for our centre as we were the first enrichment centre in Singapore invited to attend such a prestigious event. Twenty of our most outstanding students were selected to attend. They spend two days learning the art of diplomacy and understanding the workings of the United Nations. The theme of the conference this year was “Waste Reduction”. The highlight of the event was when our student Laura Lang was invited to speak at the closing ceremony. She was selected from two hundred delegates who attended PY-MUN.  Watch the video of her speech here.

May – This was the month of Trinity Graded Examinations. We had a continuous four days of examinations, the most days since we started offering the Communications Skills Exams. One hundred and twenty (120) students took the Solo Communications Skills Exams while twenty-six (26) students took the Group Communication Skills Exams. We achieved 100% passes for the May examinations with 95% achieving a Distinction or Merit. The following students achieved Top Scores in their respective Grades at our centre:

1. Emanuel Quek – Initial
2. Li Xinyan – Grade 1
3. Jayden Joseph – Grade 2
4. Alison Kuo Kit Ying – Grade 3
5. Foo Shuen Hui Janelle – Grade 4
6. Foo Jiehan Jonathan – Grade 5
7. Sarrah Rose Binte Mikhail Leung – Grade 6
8. Jodan Kerk Yu Liang – Grade 6
9. Maya Raisha Zainudin – Grade 8

June – As usual, this was the month of DSA Interview Coaching. We had a large number of request for one to one interview coaching this year. In total, we conducted Seventy-seven (77) hours of DSA coaching in the month of June alone! We had to turn away many students as we just did not have the capacity to coach everyone!

July – One acronym to describe July and that is SPAF (Singapore Performing Arts Festival)! This was the second year J Carter Centre supported the festival. As a member of the Advisory Committee for SPAF, my goal is to eventually encourage 80% of our students to participate in this exciting event. This year, more than 50 of our students participated in at least one category while some participated in three. J Carter Centre also sponsored $900 in cash for the Gold Star Awardees in the areas of Public Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Storytelling, Verse Speaking, and Creative Writing. Six of our students achieved the Gold Star Award and received $100 each.

1. Laura Lang – Public Speaking
2. Maya Zainudin – Public Speaking
3. Sarah Limb – Impromptu Speaking
4. Jonell Leong – Impromptu Speaking
5. Ian Lai – Storytelling
6. Cayla Lee – Creative Writing

August – A few of our students were selected by their individual schools to participate in PESA 2018 (YMCA Plain English Speaking Award). Two of our students managed to make it to the Finals. For Lower Primary, Cayla Lee Xin En represented Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) while Lang Wen Ling Laura represented Methodist Girls’ School (Primary) in the Upper Primary category. Laura Lang achieved Second Runner-Up for her category and received her award at the prize-giving ceremony in September. Congratulations to both of our students.

September – Every year, our students would anxiously await the announcement to find out who had topped the grade in Communication Skills for the previous year in Singapore. These students were invited to attend the Trinity College London, Singapore Conferment and Award Presentation Ceremony where they were honoured for their achievements. Since the Award Ceremony was introduced in 2012, students from J Carter Centre have received this special award yearly. The award recipients for 2018 are as follows:

1. Grade 2 – Luke Wang
2. Grade 3 – Gauri Madhu
3. Grade 4 – Majeethia Himanshu
4. Grade 5 – Hasel Soh
5. Grade 5 – Sarrah Rose Binte Mikhail Leung
6. Grade 6 – Joye Lim
7. Grade 7 – Loh Yih Hang

November – It was the Trinity Communications Skills Exam Period again. This time we had 116 students participating in both Solo and Group Exams. We are confident that our students performed well and we look forward to receiving the results at the end of 2018.

December – Launch of 6 days Accelerated DSA Preparation Course. In response to the request by parents, I have amended the DSA Preparation Course in order to offer it during the December and June school holidays,  The response was encouraging as both classes were fully booked in December. However, we are still offering our regular 12 weeks semester classes. For those who are interested to enroll their Primary 6 children in this class in 2019, we do have a few vacancies left for the 12 weeks Semester 1 classes. However, places are limited so do call our centre at 67372700 for registration details.

There will be more exciting things happening in 2019 so do subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to receive information about what we are doing at J Carter Centre.

Thank you to all the parents and students who have supported J Carter Centre for Public Speaking over the years. We would not have lasted 10 years if you did not have confidence in our programmes. We look forward to your support for the next 10 years.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Jackeline Carter (Founder/Director)