Staff Fitness Test

On 18th April, SWC had catered the day for our fitness test. We had a Walk or Run test to check on our fitness.

Signing out,

SWC blogger

February Health Tip

Feel pressured at work? 

We understand, especially with exams coming up soon and the stacks of marking to be done.

No worries! Here are some ways to help you relax your body, mind and soul after a long busy day.

Healthy ways to relax and recharge

• Go for a walk. 
• Spend time in nature. 
• Call a good friend. 
• Sweat out tension with a good workout. 
• Write in your journal. 
• Take a long bath. 
• Light scented candles. 
• Savor a warm cup of coffee or tea. 
• Play with a pet. 
• Work in your garden. 
• Get a massage. 
• Curl up with a good book. 
• Listen to music. 
• Watch a comedy. 

So, try one of the activities and we guarantee that you will feel much better.

Signing out, 

Yours truly SWC blogger

Goodbye, our dear Mr Ngiow

Valentine's Day is a day filled with romance and love.

However, the air in Poi Ching School was filled with sorrow and tears of goodbye.

We bade farewell to our dear vice-principal, Mr Marcus Ngiow.

We wish you all the best in your new career. We would like to thank you for all your support and guidance throughout the short time with us. :)

Goodbye, Sir.

Signing out,

SWC blogger

Poi Ching School Pink-Day on 3rd February 2012

Our SWC team came up with an arrangement of having a themed dressing among the staff every 1st Friday of the month.

We started our February with a colour theme - Pink! Nope, we were not promoting any cause or organisation with our theme. It was just for the sake of fun and encouraging staff bonding.

Let's see what our sporting staff wore on the day!

Look out for our theme colour next month on 3rd March 2012. :)

Yours truly,

the SWC blogger

 Our Health Tip for the month!

Abstracted from website: http://www.helpfulhealthtips.com/whiten-teeth-naturally/

Almost everyone wishes for sparkling white teeth. The appearance of every person makes a lot of difference these days. It is true that smile of a person makes him/her more attractive. In order to look more attractive, people wish for getting sparkling whiteness in their teeth.

In Summary of the article, here are some ways of whitening your teeth.

Number One

 First, strawberries can be used for teeth whitening. In order to whiten your teeth, you should mash strawberries to make a paste. This paste should be applied on the teeth. It will help in whitening your teeth. However, one should know that strawberry paste can be harmful for teeth if it is applied with force on gums. This is due to the presence of acid in strawberries. Therefore, after applying strawberry paste on your teeth, you should rinse your mouth or brush your teeth within a short period of time.

Number two

Vegetables like carrots, celery, cucumbers and broccoli are abrasive in nature and they act as a natural teeth whitening agent by brushing off the stains from teeth. Therefore, one should eat these vegetables. These vegetables will provide vitamins and minerals to you. Along with this, you would also be able to get whiter teeth.

Number Three

One should buy some baking soda from the market and mix it with salt. The quantity of salt should be less in this mixture. The mixture of baking soda and salt should be applied on the teeth with fingers in a very gentle manner. You will get excellent results from this method. The best thing about this method is that the results are fast. However, one needs to apply this mixture in a gentle way on the teeth. Otherwise your gums will be damaged. Another thing to take care of is the amount of salt in the mixture. Always keep the quantity of salt less otherwise your gums may be damaged.

By using all or one of the ways mentioned above, you would be able to get whiter teeth.

February Birthday Celebration

We began the month of February with a birthday celebration for the teachers whose birthday is in February.

This year, we made a little change where each birthday boy and girl will receive a personalised cupcake as a birthday gift.

Below are some photos during the short celebration.

The personalised cupcakes for the birthday boy and girls,

Just look at their happy faces!

Do look out for our heath tips of the month and also, our PINK surprise blog post!

Signing out,

SWC Blogger

We, the Staff Welfare Committee from Poi Ching School, would like to wish all our Chinese colleagues, parents and pupils a very Happy Chinese Lunar New Year.

Term 4 Domestic Workshop

We had our last Domestic Workshop on the last week of Term 4. The two workshops were Nail Art and Thai Tom Yum Soup.

The Nail Art workshop was a favourite among the ladies. It was conducted by Erin and Veron. It was a fruitful learning experience on tips to groom your nails as well as to make them pretty and unique. Who might have thought you could use acrylic paint to decorate your nails?

Nail Art workshop

The Tom Yum soup workshop was conducted by our professional Thai chef, Anna. She showed us the authentic tom yum recipe and the techniques on making an authentic Tom Yum soup. The mothers were in awe and enjoyed some delicious, spicy authentic Tom Yum Soup.

Tom Yum Soup workshop

YEAR END STAFF CHALET

Our Staff Welfare Committee held a Year End staff chalet on Friday, 25th November 2011. It was a great turnout. We had some staff bonding over dinner and a barbeque session. Overall, it was a perfect gathering between friends to close year 2011.

Some snapshots of the chalet.

September Birthday Celebrations

We celebrated the birthdays which falls on September today.

Happy Birthday to all of you!!

August Health Tips

Do you know that flossing your teeth daily can reduce the chance of that dreaded heart attack?

Click on the following link to read more!

Broccoli and Flossing Helps.

Teachers' Day Dinner 2011

Presenting the details for Teachers' Day Dinner 2011!

Look forward to a night with lots of fun and laughter!

Come and join us!

Signing out,
The-already-so-excited-SWC-blogger

July Staff Outing!

We are back!

We had our July Staff Outing last Saturday at Tebing Lane in Punggol.

Guess what we did this month?

We went prawning!

Prawning is a hobby or activity that became popular recently. It is similar to fishing, but instead we are fishing for prawns.

Our first experience was an enjoyable one. Prawning itself requires a lot of patience. The waiting of course took some time but the excitement came with our fishing line moved and also, the size of the prawn itself.

So to sum things up, Enjoy the photos below! :)))))

For more photos, do look up on our Facebook page: PCS Staff Welfare Committee.

Signing out,
the-ever-so-sporty SWC blogger

Health tips for Month of July

Is sleep really that important? Especially for us teachers who need to conquer our mountains daily, can we let afford to sleep?

Or should the question be: Can we afford NOT to sleep?

Studies show that such short-term sleep deprivation leads to a foggy brain, worsened vision, impaired driving, and trouble remembering.

Long-term effects include obesity, insulin resistance, and heart disease.

So what should we do?

Unfortunately, it takes more than one long sleep marathon to catch up on your sleep debt.

Some interesting facts:

The negative symptoms of sleep deprivation:

• Daytime drowsiness
• Mood shifts, including depression, increased irritability, and loss of sense of humor
• Stress, anxiety, and loss of coping skills
• Lack of interest in socializing with others
• Weight gain
• Reduced immunity to disease and viral infection
• Feelings of lethargy
• Reduced productivity

So remember! Do have a good night rest every day and your body will be very happy. :)

Some useful web links as follows:

http://www.lifeevolver.com/pay-sleep-debt-smart/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-can-you-catch-up-on-sleep

Health Food tips from our SWC Health Master Lim

Here are some tips from Health Master Lim:

Some "Bad" Foods You Should Be Eating

Peanut Butter

The bad rep: Peanut butter is super-fattening.

The good news: Peanut Butter is high in fat but that doesn’t mean it’s fattening. (Gaining or losing weight, and body fat, basically comes down to balancing calories.) That said, peanut butter is a concentrated source of calories, so you don’t want to go overboard. But you don’t need to eat tons to feel satisfied: just a tablespoon (90 calories) or two of peanut butter goes a long way. Plus, peanut butter provides protein and folate, a B vitamin important for the healthy development of new cells.

Eggs

The bad rep: A significant source of dietary cholesterol, egg yolks are off-limits for those concerned about heart health.

The good truth: Medical experts now emphasize that saturated fats and trans fats are bigger culprits in raising blood cholesterol than dietary cholesterol is. Plus, eggs are super-satisfying: in one study, people who ate a scrambled-egg-and-toast breakfast felt more satisfied, and ate less at lunch, than they did when they ate a bagel that had the same number of calories. Egg yolks contain lutein and zeaxanthin, compounds that research links with reduced risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in people over 50.

Chocolate

The bad rep: Chocolate has lots of fat, lots of sugar—and it tastes amazing, so it must be bad for you.

The good news: Dark chocolate contains flavanols, antioxidants that seem to have a blood-thinning effect, which can benefit cardiovascular health. And, recently, researchers in Switzerland reported that eating dark chocolate (1.4 ounces of it) every day for two weeks reduced stress hormones, including cortisol, in highly stressed people. But be sure to account for the calories (1.4 ounces delivers 235)—or you may be stressed to see extra pounds creeping on.

More "Bad" Foods you should be eating, visit the following website:

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/bad_foods_you_should_be_eating?page=8

Have fun reading and eating!

Signing out,

the-not-very-healthy SWC blogger

SWC workshops Term 2

Good morning everyone!

Just a quick update on the termly domestic workshops which were conducted last week.

Traditional Malay Kueh workshop

There were lots of people who attended this workshop and we could see their enthusiasm to learn how to make the two kueh, Kueh Dadar and Pumpkin Cake.

You need a lot of practice making these kueh, especially assuring that the crepe for the Kueh Dadar is not too thick. If the crepe is too thick, you may not be able to roll the filling nicely.

Do take a look at the pictures below. We will try to post the recipes of the kueh-kueh for those at home who might want to have a go at it.

One of the most important ingredient, sugar!

 The coconut filling for Kueh Dadar,

 The green crepe,

 The two hardworking instructors,

 The enthusiatic homemakers,

Scrapbooking Workshop

This workshop was conducted by Mrs Jeanette and Mrs Justina Yew. There were some good insights on scrapbooking. We learnt that there is no right or wrong in scrapbooking. It all depends on our own creativity. There was a variety of materials to choose from, all laid on the table. We finally had an experience with the die-cutting machine and it was absolutely fun! At the end of the workshop, the teachers went home with big smiles and a very nice collage of their pictures.

Materials for the collage,

 Our instructors for the day,

Look out for our next domestic workshop next term!

Signing out,

the-enthusiastic-SWC-blogger