Life at Temasek Poly

Well, it was quite the ride, last week.

In between letting the results of your O level sink in and choosing your next school, we saw a lot of questions raised during those 5 shorter-than-expected days.

So, now that the dust has settled somewhat, we’d like to look forward a bit and help with something else – what happens after the JAE posting results come out, and the JAE Appeal process.

Posting Results Day
The posting results are coming out on January 30, 2012. What you will know that day:

• The course you’ve been posted to
• This year’s cut-off points of all the courses

Accepting the Offer
If you are fine with the course offered to you, you must then access the system to accept the offer (the system’s URL will be made known to you that day).

Those who signed up by both JPSAE and JAE will receive two posting results. If they’re both the same, accepting either one is fine. If they’re different, you can choose between the two.

JAE Appeals
If you don’t want the course you’ve been offered, you can appeal.

• To be eligible to appeal for a course, you must first meet the course’s 2012 Cut-off Points. You can then access the JAE Appeal system and register your appeal choices.
• This official appeal process is, like the JAE itself, based on merit. Once the appeal process has been completed, students will be posted based on their results.
• Students who successfully appeal into a new course will NOT have the option of going back to the course they were first offered. In other words, do not appeal unless you really do want a change.
• Students who do not successfully appeal will still be able to accept their previously-offered course. In other words, an unsuccessful appeal will not leave you without any course.

Many do ask us how high a chance they might have of appealing into a course. We can’t actually predict, so what we can do is to describe the process in simple terms to help you understand it a bit better.

Let’s assume that Course XYZ has an intake of 100 students.

Out of them, 85 students accept the offer. 15 other students do not, either because they’re offered another course via JPSAE or because they want to appeal into a different course.

This, technically, leaves 15 places available for appeals. 30 applicants try to appeal into XYZ, and the system chooses the best 15.

Remember that this is a simplified explanation of the process, but this should at least let you know that, yes, there’s a chance for your appeal to be successful.

Hope that helps! Do let us know if you need anything else.

And it’s finally here: the Temasek Polytechnic Open House.

From tomorrow onwards, we’ll open our doors (and gates and bridges) to everyone and anyone who’s interested to find out more about our Poly. And now that MOE has announced that the O level results will be released on 9 January 2012, well, we know there’ll be a lot of questions during the Open House.

So whether you’re an O level graduate, an ITE graduate, a student or event a parent, we figured that we could give some quick and easy advice on making the best of your visit to our Open House.

1. Think about your areas of interest

Do you like science? Or perhaps you’d like to work in the mass media industry? Have a passion for fashion?

Wandering around the Open House might be fun, but doing that after you’ve checked out specific areas of interest will increase your chances of finding courses that suit you. Shortlist your interests and seek those out first.

2. Go beyond the course name

Alright, we’ll confess – we try our best to make our course names sound awesome. But that shouldn’t stop you to ask more about the courses we offer.

If a course interests you, ask about the modules they offer. Go for the details – what’s taught? How is it taught? What will I learn at the end of the day, and how is that relevant to the industry?

You can also ask about other special opportunities that the course might give you. Many of our courses have interesting internship opportunities, additional certifications, special training or even competitions you can participate in. It’s all part and parcel of a poly education, so ask, ask, ask.

3. Collect brochures and other handouts

Our brochures and other handouts are FREE and have a LOT of information on our courses and opportunities. Don’t be shy, take as many as you want! More information to make your decisions is always a good thing.

4. Observe our students and lecturers

The Open House isn’t just to showcase our courses or facilities. It’s a chance for you to get to know our students and lecturers better as well.

Believe me, you will see all *sorts* of people here. From the cheering and singing iGuides (who will be the first to welcome you) to the students manning the course booths (they’ll answer your questions!) to the TP student walking to a lecture – take a look at our school culture, our enthusiasm, our life.

While you understand our courses best by asking, you’ll understand life at TP best through its people. Oh, and don’t worry – we don’t cheer *everyday* of school here. It’s to make you feel welcome. Plus, it’s a lot of fun. =D

So these are some of the things you should consider when you’re visiting us tomorrow (or Friday, or Saturday), and we hope they’ll help make your visit to TP that much more fruitful.

Welcome to TP folks!

One of the various things we’re doing to help O level school leavers understand TP better is the TP Chat 2012.

From 5 – 13 Jan, you can log on to the TP Chat page and start chatting with graduated TP students. As alumni, they’re particularly well suited to answer questions regarding courses, admissions and student life in TP.

And to put things into perspective, over 30 (!!) chat operators will be manning their computers over those 9 days, together with many TP staff as well.

I sat down with 5 of the operators to ask, well, why did they come back?

“I loved TP, and wanted to help other students understand our school better.”

This sentiment was echoed by everyone. Meihui, Jing Yi, Leonard, Celeste and Jennifer might’ve come from different courses and graduated at different times, but their love for the school was their unifying factor.

In fact, this is Jennifer’s second time as a chat operator. She enjoyed the experience so much in 2011 that she jumped at the chance again this year.

“I loved the experience because I felt I was doing something that was really important and helpful to the O level students.” She added she really understood how a student freshly graduated with an O level cert felt – excitement and worry rolled into one – and was glad to act as a mentor to them.

They also recounted some of their most significant memories during their early days of visiting or studying at TP.

“The Orientation and the lecturers,” said Leonard. “The cheering of the Open House!” chimed Celeste. The group brought up many other things, ranging from friends to school life to their learning experience.

And it’s these experiences, and more, that our chatters will be bringing to the table when the TP Chat starts this Thursday. It’s free but most importantly, manned by people who’re genuinely interested in helping.

The 5 TP Chat operators also gave some advice on what you can think about before you chat with them, or before you come down to our Open House this week:

• What do you want to be in the future?
• What modules does this course offer? Do they interest you beyond the course name?
• What subjects or topics were you interested in back in school?

Frayon: Fanning! FANNING! Quick, we’re on! *Ahem*. HELLLOOOO everyone!

Fanning: … Frayon, you’re looking in the wrong direction.

Frayon: What? Oh. Right. *turns around* HEL-

Fanning: SHUT UP. … … Wow. It certainly feels good to be able to say that to you again.

Frayon: Still as grumpy as ever, eh? Some things don’t change.

Fanning: Considering how you’re posing like a monkey as you talk, clearly some things don’t.

Frayon: I’M FLEXING.

Fanning: You’re lifting up your arms with a constipated look.

Frayon: The army has helped me refine my highly toned physique into a well-oiled and lean machine of manliness.

Fanning: You got skinnier and you got a tan. That’s all I see. AND WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP “FLEXING”?

Frayon: You can no longer hurt me! I’m tougher and stronger and bigger than I ever -

*THWACK*

Frayon: AAAAH MY TOE!!!

Fanning: Oh how I missed the joy of bringing you pain. I guess this will work out for us again after all.

Frayon: *whimper*

Fanning: Oh for crying out loud… MAN UP.

—

Hello folks, how’ve you been? TP sure has changed a lot since we’ve graduated earlier this year. The Open House is coming really soon, and since Frayon and I are subject matter experts on Temasek Polytechnic, we got called back to do a series of posts on our dear alma mater.

Today we’re gonna talk about the Beyond O Level Seminar (for short, we call it the BOL Seminar). It’s happening on 7 January 2012 (Saturday) at 10am and is totally free-of-charge.

As a simplified way of describing the Seminar, you can think of it as consisting of 3 “parts” – the sharing sessions, the Q & A and the school tours.

Sharing Sessions

There will be a total of 3 sharing sessions during the BOL Seminar. TP Registrar (the staff in charge of all administrative work regarding admissions), an alumnus (a graduated student like us) and a group of current students will be sharing information based on their respective areas of expertise.

Our Registrar, Ms. Sharon Soh, will help to shed some light on the various admission exercises and procedures.

The TP alumnus, Victoria Li, will share about her life in TP to give you a “beyond the O levels and beyond TP” look on life.

And finally, Mrs Mary Thomas, a senior lecturer with our School of Business will facilitate a “talk-show” session with a couple of TP students to give you some first-hand accounts on what it’s like to study in Temasek Poly.

Frayon: I’d share about how TP is awesome by sheer virtue of the fact that I studied there.

Fanning: I’d share the pain of knowing you, but then it’s plain to see.

Q&A Session

The BOL Seminar will be fielding a panel of staff that will take questions from the audience. You can ask anything you’d like regarding our courses, admission requirements and student life!

Frayon: You know, I never understood why they didn’t ask me to be in that panel. Besides being an expert in all-things-TP, I’m also ruggedly handsome.

Fanning: The only thing you’re an expert in is being delusional.

School Tours

Attendees will then be brought on a guided tour to a school in TP of your choice – Applied Science, Business, Design, Engineering, Humanities & Social Sciences or Informatics & IT.

This tour will focus on showing you the facilities and opportunities available at those schools, and if you still have any unanswered questions, you can ask the facilitators at the tours.

Of course, since our Open House is still ongoing on that day, after the tours you’re free to roam around TP to discover more about the rest of our school!

Fanning: I was once a guide for the school tours, and I must say it’s great fun seeing visitors explore TP for the first time.

Frayon: I’m surprised they didn’t just run away, screaming in horror when they saw you.

So if any of you wish to register for this Seminar, simply head on over to http://www.tp.edu.sg/events/bol – see you in TP!

TPRAWKS, Walk for Rice, lots of rain. Those, and more, marked the month of November for Temasek Polytechnic. It was one of our busiest and most eventful months of 2011, and we look back on it fondly.

Also, as promised we’ll be contacting a number of people who contributed to this MiT for a photography workshop with Juff. Check your emails soon!

One our Cliquers involved with TPRAWKS had this shot taken of her with celebrity George Young (and is still proud of the shot). Sent in by Elizabeth Tang.

The Goodfellas opened the TPRAWKS Jam & Hop with “Dynamite”, and likewise blew up the stage with amazing music. Sent in by Elizabeth Tang.

The Million-Dollar Retailer’s Challenge – one of the many activities Rawkers got to enjoy at TPRAWKS – was organised by students from our Diploma in Retail Management.

This group shot was taken when Glamish Purple came by. Sent in by Valarie Ong.

It wasn’t just us who were snapping pictures during TPRAWKS. George Young also took a picture of the Rawkers, which he shared on his Facebook later on.

This shot was sent in by Alexandra Teng, who accompanied us to shoot for the Mediacorp artistes’ visit. You can find more of her shots in Alex’s TPRAWKS Flickr set.

“This is my class, 1R04, from biz school RMT course ”

Photos keep memories alive, and class 1R04 from the Diploma in Retail Management would like to keep as many of them fresh as possible. Sent in by Ching Si Min.

In between takes, some of our Communications & Media Management students decide to have a bit of fun. Sent in by Alexandra Teng.

She walked for rice… and left her shoes behind. Sent in by Anonymous. (If you’re the person who shot and sent in this picture, please let us know! We’d love to give you proper credit).

Walk for Rice drew large groups of walkers from all over TP. Kai Jun took part, and took some shots while he was at it. Sent in by Lee Kai Jun.

“I’m sharing with you as it brings memories of Temasek Poly to me as I’m graduating soon. This photo shows the first memory I had regarding the school even before I came as a TP student.”

Sent in by Zulhairi Anaqi.

Clouds gathering over the horizon on one of the many days it was raining. Sent in by Dian Sofia, Interactive Media Design Year 1.

Though the rain sometimes makes us forget how bright the sky can be, perhaps all we need to do is look up. Sent in by Muhd Aidil.

It’s been a rainy November, and this shot was taken outside the library after a long rain. Sent in by Christopher Tan.

The setting sun accompanies our students home. Sent in by Michelle.

For those of you who don’t know, we hold a photo collection “event” every month that we call Moments in TP.

We call for photos that depict anything about our students’ lives in TP, from candid shots of them in classes to special events that happen here on campus. Submissions came from students’ iPhones, digital cameras, DSLRs, Lomo cameras and more.

Well, this has caught the attention of one of TP’s resident photographers, Juff.

He has contributed many amazing shots to TP, which you can find on many, many Flickr sets that we have.

Well, Juff came to us one day with a pretty awesome suggestion. For contributors to our November’s Moments in TP collection, he’s volunteering to conduct a FREE half-a-day workshop to share some of his skills and insights into the craft with those who’re interested in photography.

So here’s how it’ll work:

• We’ll be contacting a handful of contributors to November’s MiT to ask if you’d like to join this workshop.
• Contributors can also contact us to express interest in the workshop, and we’ll consider each request on a case-by-case basis.
• Since this development came at the end of November, we’re extending the deadline to this month’s MiT to the end of this week, a few days into December (it’s usually by the end of each month).
• The workshop will be held during the term break in December. The exact time and date will be announced to the workshop participants later.

We hope that this, in its own way, will be a small “thank you” to those who have contributed to MiT. Of course, we’d like to extend this, eventually to past and future contributors of MiT as well – if there is space for past contributors this time around, we’d love to do it.

To send a photo to Moments in TP, simply email your photo to admin@temasekpoly.sg. Please include your name, course & year (for current students) and a description of the photo.

We told you to join TPRAWKS to experience what life in TP is like.

This doesn’t mean, of course, that TP students cheer all day and party all night… or that every step of the way, TP students have seniors watching over them and leading them from point to point.

TPRAWKS doesn’t exist to let you experience TP’s practices.

So what do we mean? Why do we do it?

Why do we invite stars to come and meet with our Rawkers?

To show you the opportunities you can, and will, get in life. And that when it comes, seize it.

Why do we open our entire school to show you our facilities?

It’s not to show you what we can do, it’s to show you what YOU can do. It’s to show you how far you can bring your dreams, and how you can reach them.

Why do we have a Jam & Hop?

Because life, even in a Poly, is more than just projects and submissions. That we must work hard, but we must also play hard.

So why does Temasek Poly organise TPRAWKS?

It is, frankly, a lot of work. Our students and staff go through months of brainstorming and planning and preparation to put it together on top of everything else they have on their plate. Schoolwork must still be completed, lessons must still be taught.

We do it to let you experience TP’s spirit.

For these past 3 days, TPRAWKS became a way of life to the Rawkers and to TP. The cheers, games, XPs, Jam & Hop, Rawker’s Challenge and everything else in between – those are now precious memories we all share together.

Whether we will walk together, once again, when you decide where you’ll go next after your results are released, just know that TPRAWKS was special not because of the games, but because of the bonds we have formed with you. These bonds are the spirit of TP.

So be it just for these past 3 days or the next 3 years, welcome, Rawkers, to the TP family.