STORY PREVIEW

The team adopted the FIDS (Feel-Imagine-Do-Share) template as a process-oriented tool to challenge traditional assumptions, and redefine problems to identify alternative strategies and solutions. During our brainstorming sessions, students discussed and listed down some challenges faced by the school population. Some issues raised were on our school’s recycling efforts, food wastage, buddy system, Orientation Day for primary one students and many more. Some challenges facing our primary one students as they begin their academic year include the following: (1) Following instructions. (2) Building and maintaining positive relationships with one another. (3) Being attentive and understanding of one's emotions. (4) Regulating one's emotions, thoughts and behaviours.

As the team zoomed in on our target group, we decided to look at how we could enhance our school’s caring and enabling culture by providing opportunities for our Kindness Ambassadors to work with primary one students during their Orientation Day in November. Based on current practice, teachers in charge of the different primary one classes would talk to the students and take them on a school tour while their parents are briefed by the school leaders on policies and administrative matters. There are no activities organized for students to interact with one another although this would be their first meeting as a class. These new primary one students would not have opportunities to get to know one another during the Orientation Day. They would have to wait until the commencement of the school term in the following year. In line with one of our school’s core values, 'Team Spirit', we would like to ignite this amongst our primary one students so that they are guided to develop greater empathy for others and uphold the school’s vision of ‘Lives Empowered; Lives Touched.’

Our target group would be the new primary one students who would be joining our school in 2023. Their primary concerns would be assimilating with the school environment and achieveing positive personal well-being through interactions with peers.

The team identified these solutions to meet our desired outcomes. (1) Buddy system where the primary one students are matched with primary five students who will take care of them during the first week of school. (2) A robot digitized by an app to guide our primary one students during their school tour so that they get an opportunity to interact with one another while navigating with the I-pad. (3) Fun and interesting bonding games during Orientation Day that would encourage primary one students to interact and build the confidence to speak to one another. (4) Design a folio with activity sheets for all primary one students.

We decided to work on creating interesting activities for our primary one students during Orientation Day. When interviews were done on existing primary one students, many indicated ‘fear’, ‘anxiety’ and ‘insecurity’ as emotions they experienced during their first day at Edgefield Primary School. During the Orientation Day, new primary one students would meet their new teachers and classmates for the first time. The school environment would be completely new to them. The transition from pre-education to primary education is indeed a big step for many of the primary one students. The team believed that the best way to immerse their young peers into a new environment was to get them to be comfortable with their own classmates.

In implementing the solution, the Kindness Ambassadors had to go for a training at Maker Space by the teacher-in-charge to familiarize themselves with coding an app. The app would be used to navigate users to different parts of the school with the help of a mini robot. After familiarizing themselves with the app, the team tested it with some primary one students. It was recommended that a team should comprise four to five members with one team leader. Experimenting on the robot showed that students got the opportunity to collaborate with one another to achieve the learning intentions set out. Besides creating the app, the team was engaged in planning team games that would be implemented during Orientation Day for our new primary one students. Every student would be given a folio with activity sheets attached. One of the games proposed was ‘Building the Tallest Tower’. Students would have to use a given set of straws and sticky tape to build the tallest tower within stipulated time limit. The team took almost two weeks to pen their thoughts on fun activities they would like to include in the customized folio for primary one students. One more week was needed for them to go for the training at Maker Space to try out their app.

This project has brought the Kindness Ambassadors together to ideate, discuss and implement their suggestions. This would be the school's first attempt at involving our Kindness Ambassadors in P1 Orientation Day. This project supports the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) curriculum which builds upon a school culture where students feel safe and supported. Through this project, students are empowered to look out and care for others, and promote positive mindsets, prosocial behaviours and mental well-being.

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Aarika (Primary 5 Hope- Kindness Ambassador) “ This project will be helpful for our new primary one students. I enjoyed the experience of programming the robot to navigate my P1 peers around the school. I hope they will benefit from the team games we will be organizing for them.” Neha (Primary 5 Faith-Kindness Ambassador) “ This project helped me to understand the needs of my peers. I would really want the primary one students to learn to work as a team because they will develop social skills which are useful for them.” Yuni (Primary 1 Patience) “ I like the games. They are fun.” Yifei (Primary 1 Patience) Question: How did you feel on your first day in Edgefield Primary School.” “I was nervous. I have no friends.” Question: How did you like the team games? " It was fun. I learn to talk to my friends."

Our story is aligned to the global idea of education- equipping our young learners with specific social-emotional competencies in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. Through this story, we hope that our Kindness Ambassadors would be more aware of how they can show empathy for their fellow peers through an understanding of their needs. By crafting the team-bonding games, they learn to foster friendships and strengthen their bonds. It would also be a good platform for our younger learners (primary one students) to show appreciation and relate well with one another, thus, enhancing the school's caring and enabling environment.

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Quality Education

Our story supports quality education which is committed to providing learning experiences for students that go beyond the walls of a classroom. Through this project, students develop a sense of ownership and commitment to effect positive change in the school. This project intentionally shapes students experiences cognitively and affectively.

This project has only been shared with the teacher-in-charge of the Orientation Day for primary one. The teacher-in-charge is keen to provide our Kindness Ambassadors to lead with the team-bonding games for our new primary one students. This would require the team to share and train other Kindness Ambassadors in the school about the programme.

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Based on the responses and participation of the primary one students, this project should be taking place every year. There is a possibility of extending the games designed for other levels in the school to try out.