Last year, 9 inspiring English teachers were awarded for their passion and commitment. This year, 10 teachers were chosen to receive the award as the most Inspiring English teachers of 2009.

From left:
1. Mr Arthur Kok – Nan Hua High School
2. Ms Chan May Ling – Clementi Pri Sch
3. Mr Ong Chin Meng – Anderson JC
4. Ms Toh Ji Rong – Greenridge Sec Sch
5. Mr Kelvin Yew – Millennia Institute
6. Mr Alan Johnson – St Joseph’s Institution
7. Mrs Yvonne Cheen-Tay – Hong Kah Sec Sch
8. Ms Foo Soo Ling – Nanyang Girls’ High Sch
9. Mr Adrain Bell - Anderson JC
10. Mdm Jaswinder Khosa – Huamin Pri Sch

Find out more about them at here!

The Inspiring Teacher of English Award ceremony was held at the Pod in the National Library Building at 7pm on 22 October 2009. Mr S Iswaran, Senior Minster of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education graced the ceremony as Guest-of-Honour.

Mr Goh Eck Kheng, Chairman of the Speak Good English Movement, delivered the welcome address. In his speech, Mr Goh announced plans to form an action group of Inspiring Teacher of English Award winners, which aims to tap on their insights and skills. “We want to make it possible for them to share their passion and expertise not only with other teachers, but also to help the Movement inspire, impress and intoxicate then man on the street with good English,” explained Mr Goh, referring to the tagline for this year’s Speak Good English Movement – Impress. Inspire. Intoxicate.

In his congratulatory speech to the award winners, Mr S Iswaran said, “By sharing their expertise and passion and, where necessary, offering their guidance and support, our awardees, and other teachers like them, can develop a truly collegiate spirit towards the development of English. Such camaraderie and commitment will be vital to nurturing a whole school culture of English proficiency and fluency.”

Before the certificates were presented to the nominees, students from Huamin Primary School treated the audience to a vivacious performance. They performed a rap titled “It’s Her”, which was written by the students themselves, in praise of their teacher Mdm Jaswinder Khosa.

3 girls from Nan Hua High School also staged a sketch called “Nan Hua Speaks” – a programme pioneered by Mr Arthur Kok, in hope to bring awareness to the commonly mispronounced English words. The witty exchange between the girls demonstrated the highs and lows of learning English in Singapore.

Nominees from the primary schools

Nominees from the secondary schools and junior colleges

The 10 recipients of the Inspiring Teacher of English Award 2009 were then presented with a trophy each and a personal cash award. Their schools’ principals were also present to share this significant moment with them, accepting a plaque on behalf of their schools.

These 10 winning inspiring teachers went through 2 rounds of selections and an interview before being chosen as the award winners. The panel of judges included English Language Master Teachers from the Ministry of Education, and representatives from The Straits Times, British Council and the Speak Good English Movement.

Mr Peter Hamilton, British Council, receives a token of appreciation.

Ms Laraine Bamrah, British Council, receives a token of appreciation.

Ms Connie Seng, Ministry of Education, receives a token of appreciation.

Mrs Joy Lee, Ministry of Education, receives a token of appreciation.

Mr Philip McConnell, Ministry of Education, receives a token of appreciation.

The English Language Master Teachers from MOE and representatives from British Council received tokens of appreciation at the Inspiring Teacher of English Award ceremony for their tremendous support and great help in the selection of this year’s most inspiring English teachers.

“The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates.
The GREAT teacher INSPIRES.”
- William Arthur Ward

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Mr Yew uses a variety of media platforms in his teaching, resulting in his students’ letters being published in YouthInk and their thoughts being voiced on 938 Live on a campus forum. Mr Yew also initiated ‘MI Wired’, an interactive online platform where students report on school events, and introduced ‘Interactive Reading Programme’, a weekly student forum on international issues.

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Having brought up in a family of teachers, Mrs Cheen-Tay’s secret is to touch her students’ hearts so as to motivate and encourage them. Both she and her students keep personal writing logs which they share among themselves. Her students have also adopted her practice of sending notes of encouragement to them and send such notes to each other. Mrs Cheen-Tay sums up her caring philosophy with a simple phrase, “As long as I can touch one student, it’s worth being a teacher.”

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He is a role model English speaker who engages his students by tailoring lessons for each class to stimulate learning and response. Under his guidance as Head of Department, students and staff alike have benefited from Nan Hua Speaks, a weekly sketch performed by teachers and students on commonly mispronounced English words to the school. Mr Kok has raised both the standard of English in his school as well the competence of his fellow English and Literature teachers.

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She keeps her lessons interesting by utilising different strategies and approaches for each topic. Ms Foo possesses a great drive and positive attitude towards learning and is an inspiring influence on students and fellow teachers alike. Among other things, she also initiated a specially tailored reading programme that encourages her students to cultivate and share their love for reading with each other.

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His passion for theatre and music has found its way into the classroom, where he uses rock songs to teach his students about symbols, and brings his students on excursions to plays and museums to enrich their knowledge. Mr Johnson also inculcated a growing culture of debate in his school, starting with class debates where quieter students are encouraged to speak, and culminating with his guidance of a debate team that reached the finals of The Arena, a televised interschools’ debating competition.

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She focuses on student-centred approaches that excite her students and build their confidence in using English. Through friendly competitions and computer-based learning using informative websites, she has ignited her students’ interest in English and improved their skills. Ms Toh also initiated an English grammar programme for Secondary 1 students in her school who have been identified as being weak in grammar.

She also enriches each lesson by sharing her personal experiences so that each student can relate better to the lesson. She creates context for each lesson with PowerPoint slides that help her students understand the topic better. Ms Chan also enriches each lesson by sharing her personal experiences so that each student can relate better to the lesson. The effect of her lessons can be seen in the competitive nature of her students, who strive to achieve the highest number of perfect scores for their grammar tests in their teams.

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She always demands the best of herself and seeks to evoke the best in her students and continually renews her teaching and leads others through sharing best practices at local, national, and international forums. Mdm Khosa engages her students by weaving interesting anecdotes and stories into her lessons so that her students can relate better to them.

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While pursuing a PSC Scholarship in Science where he took some required English Language modules, he fell in love with the language and consequently switched to Arts. Mr Ong, who came from a Chinese-speaking background, designed his lessons in a way that cater to a wide range of learning styles and give his students many opportunities to learn from each other.