Keeping the school secure

At Northland Primary, the buck stops at Mr Nair when it comes to school security. As the school’s Operations Manager, he tackles tasks from maintaining bus operator standards and road safety to managing gate-opening times and canteen hygiene. He also ensures the smooth running of school events.

Besides maintaining the smooth operation and cleanliness of the school, Mr Nair (centre, in white) oversees measures such as pest control and canteen standards.

Mrs Lim Kian Huat, Principal of Northland Primary, says Mr Nair has “contributed much to making the working environment in the school a pleasant one.” Parents have also praised him in grateful letters, citing how well he has handled queries on school security, bus services and pest control, usually within 48 hours of receiving a case.

For instance, following a parent’s notification that her daughter had been bitten by mosquitoes in school, Mr Nair took swift action to activate pest control and ensure that no mosquitoes were breeding in the school. The parent wrote to thank him for his quick response, saying, “You have given us great assurance that Northland Primary School is free of mosquito and mosquito breeding.”

Mr Nair also oversees a team of security officers who prevent unauthorised persons from entering the school. At the same time, to accommodate parents who have valid reasons to be in school, Mr Nair has implemented systems such as having a “Bookshop Pass” which performs the dual function of allowing parents to enter the school and purchase items from the school bookshop.

Much of Mr Nair’s ability to juggle such a range of duties was acquired on the job, which he started in 2000. “It took me a while to get on top of things,” he recalls, “but I worked hard and was able to deal proactively with problems that were channelled to me. Helping parents with problems and finding solutions - this gives me great satisfaction.”

Technical Support Officer Mr Mohd Amin bin Kadir helps teachers by creating various teaching aids for their technical workshops.

Prime performance in technical support

Mr Mohd Amin bin Kadir does not teach, but as a Technical Support Officer at Pasir Ris Secondary, he is invaluable to his teaching colleagues in Design & Technology (D&T) and Art. He even helped a teacher prepare his class for D&T examinations, and the cohort eventually achieved 100% passes with 64.3% distinctions.

More typically, Mr Amin develops teaching aids to help teachers convey difficult concepts in mechanics and electronics. He keeps abreast of new ideas by attending seminars, visiting other schools and scouring websites and books. “Normally I’ll look around for new initiatives and solutions and jot them down on paper,” he says. “After that, I will brainstorm with my colleagues in an informal setting.”

Mr Amin played a key role in Pasir Ris Secondary’s move to a holding site in late 2005 while new school premises were being built. “Within an extremely short two weeks, Mr Amin helped to negotiate and make some last-minute changes with the movers to ensure the smooth and successful shift of the whole school,” says Ms Yap Foong Miu, the school’s Vice-Principal.

A track for testing model cars is one of the spaces in Pasir Ris Secondary School to promote creativity and experimentation, thanks to Mr Amin (on the right).

She adds, “Mr Amin has contributed many innovative ideas to develop the D&T rooms, office and the general surroundings to enhance the learning environment of the new school.” These include selecting vibrant colours for the workshops, helping to set up an I-Tech centre to enhance the learning environment and introducing an “open cafe” environment for students to promote experimentation.

Mr Amin explains that as the school curriculum stresses creativity, thinking skills and independent learning, he designed the I-Tech centre to “act as a one-stop portal for teaching electronics, mechanics and structure” and serve as a “resource centre for the incubation of ideas.” The open spaces he created would “encourage learning beyond the classroom” and help teachers forge “better rapport with the students”.

Apart from taking care of student needs, Mr Amin supports his colleagues as chairman of the Staff Welfare Committee, a post he has held since 2006. Described by Ms Yap as a proactive leader willing to put in extra time and effort, Mr Amin has introduced various programmes to cater to the needs of the staff, such as “In Conversation with the Principal”, which facilitates open communication between staff and management on work and personal issues.

“Having a good working relationship and good working environment is very important,” states Mr Amin. “I felt that if the staff members are happy, they become more productive and the students will gain from it.”