The First Day of the New Academic Year - From a Grade 6 Student

Have you ever felt the excitement of the first day at a new school? It was the first day of upper primary at Sampoerna Academy, and it felt great. There were new students and teachers, including Laoshi Zhang, who is now our Mandarin teacher. Grade 6 has new students, including Jose, also known as Rafael, and Story.

I met new classmates, most of whom were my friends from last year. Some of us made new friends, while others had to say goodbye as some left the school. We also voted for a class captain and some vice captains to keep our classroom in order. I was chosen as class captain, and Anna and Darrell became vice captains.

This year, we will have a national assessment by the government and Cambridge Checkpoints to test our readiness to move up to Secondary classes. As part of preparing for the exams, we are also learning to keep taking notes so we can review them later. Sometimes, I take notes too fast until it looks like Russian cursive, with loops in a roller coaster that have gotten smudged to the side. Additionally, we had to adapt to the frequent tests, homework, and major assessments coming up soon. I wrote a little too much on one day because, when I was half asleep that night, my fingers started twitching as if I were writing an exam. 

We have also been introduced to the IGNITE award, which will be presented on graduation day by the principal to only a few chosen students who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and behaviour. Earning one would be complex and time-consuming, but if you put your heart into it and go the extra mile, you might be one of the few people to be given this award.

How did my other classmates feel? Darrell, an enthusiastic Grade 6 student, described his first day of this year as energetic.  He also said this would be his final year of primary school, and he is very excited about secondary classes.

I really look forward to having an incredible journey through 6th Grade. I also look forward to discovering new hobbies as the semester goes on. So far, the semester has been hard work, and I am setting my expectations high for a wonderful semester ahead.