YMCA SCC @ PUNGGOL WATERWAY NEWSLETTER J A N – J U N 2 0 1 8
Happy New Year 2018 to all the children and parents! We hope you have had a wonderful year so far. As we enter a new chapter, there are many new exciting programmes lined up for our students in PWSCC.
This time is no different and we are thrilled to share some of the fun activities we had early this year, so read on to join us on our adventures!
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YMCA SCC @ PUNGGOL WATERWAY NEWSLETTER J A N – J U N E 2 0 1 8
Huat ah, it’s our favourite time of the year again! Let’s take a sneak peek at how students and staff of PWSCC celebrated this joyous occasion and welcome the year of Dog together. The children were all enthusiastic for CNY celebration party as they dressed up and enjoyed all the delicious goodies. During the celebration, they learnt about the Legend of Nian and refreshed their knowledge of the Chinese customs we practice today. Children also applied what they learnt in the Chinese Idioms Guessing Game to win some “gold coins”. Last but not least, they also designed their very own greeting cards using red packets in celebration of CNY for family and friends!
Not all March holiday activities were created equal, and we are kicking it up a notch for our students this March holidays! Our students went on their first trip to the Art Science Museum. Future World takes students on an exciting journey of discovery through 4 narratives. It began with a playful glide down the slide into Town. The children used crayons to draw and transformed their drawings into animated objects through a scanner. The best part was they could also print out their drawings into paper craft models- what a perfect take-home souvenir! Just a step away from the urban bustle of Town, children continued their journey to Park. A space filled with multi-coloured beach ball-sized globes. Children could touch any ball to change its colour and sounds to create a playful and dynamic space together. Lastly, our journey ended on a note of wonder Page | 2
YMCA SCC @ PUNGGOL WATERWAY NEWSLETTER J A N – J U N E 2 0 1 8
in astronomical Space. This stunning artwork is created with 4-D Vision technology and more than 170,000 LED lights, giving the illusion of stars moving in space. It was no doubt one of the most memorable trips for the children thus far!
& All kids love doing a variety of arts and crafts as an outlet to be creative and have some fun. As we all know, it is great for their hand-eye coordination and even their development! This March holiday, PWSCC had a collaboration with students from ITE College to conduct an Arts & Crafts Workshop for the children. They had a lot of fun experimenting with different colours to paint using sponges. In addition, they were taught how to fold origami papers and transformed it into handicrafts to be brought home as souvenirs. It was very encouraging to see how the children showcased their creativity through this workshop.
Javier Seah & Jayden Lee working on their handicrafts.
Bethany Kong having fun with “sponge painting”! Page | 3
YMCA SCC @ PUNGGOL WATERWAY NEWSLETTER J A N – J U N E 2 0 1 8
In collaboration with the Singapore Kindness Movement, the Seed Kindness Fund Junior is a new initiative for students in student care centres to advocate the values of kindness and graciousness in their community. 9 of our students were chosen to be the Kindness Ambassadors and attended a half day workshop at the YMCA headquarters. During the training, the children were equipped with thinking skills for project management and problem solving. They had to identify the issues in their community and brainstorm to come up with ideas to tackle the issue creatively and effectively. At last, they decided to approach the senior citizens in their community and passed each of them a small gift. Be kind, Make a Ngee Cheng Jie passing his handmade bookmark difference. May our YMCA SCC students go forth and with well-wishes to an elderly in Waterway Point. spread kindness to everyone in their community!
Our little handworking assistants at the fishing booth, Ngee Cheng Jie and his brother Cheng Kai.
Every year, students at YMCA student care centres undertake the Y Junior Entrepreneurship Programme (YJEP) to learn soft skills and raise money for the less fortunate. This Sales Day was highly anticipated as it was different from the past years. Not only were there food and snacks to savour, there were many exciting carnival games to play too. PWSCC was assigned to do a game booth under the theme “Hidden Treasures”. No doubt, the children were over the moon and all of them decided to give their best. Students and mentors worked around the theme together and came up with a “Fishing” game. Every student played an important role and made significant contributions. Some of them Page | 4
YMCA SCC @ PUNGGOL WATERWAY NEWSLETTER J A N – J U N E 2 0 1 8
helped in the preparation work, many also volunteered to role-play or assist at the game booth. All of our hard work paid off when PWSCC was awarded as the Top 6 Earners. It was such a satisfying and fruitful day for the students and mentors knowing what we did was for a good cause. PWSCC is also taking this chance Look at their excited faces! They were so joyful here to thank the parents for all your support in making to shake hands with our Prime Minister Mr Lee this event a success! Hsien Loong.
To bake, to bake, it’s not a cake… Wondering what is cooking in the centre this time round? It is the children’s all-time favourite - Chocolate Chip Cookies! Our Y Junior Master Chefs programme allowed the children to bake their very own delicious cookies from scratch. From adding various ingredients to mixing, Junior Chef Kayden they listened attentively, followed each step very closely and were really enjoying Lim with his cookies themselves. At the end of the day, they could not wait for their cookies to be fresh from the oven! baked and taste it for themselves!
June holidays are finally here! In par with our holiday theme “Animals Around Us”, YMCA SCC students went on an adventure at a horse stable. To many parents the idea of riding on horses seems to be a little scary for kids. But fret not, because we have trotted the island to discover where we can saddle the children up for a pony ride instead. We found Gallop Stable with its 13 friendly and schooled ponies stabled at Pasir Ris Park. The children were given a tour around the stable as well as an introduction to the animals living there. It was a first time for many to have such a close encounter with the horses.
Chloe Cheow enjoying her ride on a friendly white Pony! Page | 5
YMCA SCC @ PUNGGOL WATERWAY NEWSLETTER J A N – J U N E 2 0 1 8
As the children’s love for the ponies grew, they used this perfect opportunity to learn how to groom and feed their favourite pony! The most exciting part for them was to get saddled up for the long awaited pony ride. They could not contain their excitement as it was such a unique experience! Along with the instructor’s guidance, everyone took turns to ride on a pony around the arena.
Our students embarked on their second outing during this holiday to the Oh Chin Huat Hydroponic Farm. It is a local high-tech hydroponic farm containing 220 greenhouses, which can produce about one ton of vegetables each day. It was the perfect place for children to learn more about plants outside their textbooks. They were guided around the farm and introduced to the different stages of planting. Such as the germination room, nursery greenhouse, hydroponics greenhouse, nutrient mixing room and the harvesting centre. They were taught how to plant seedlings and also DIY their pots. At the end of the trip, each of them went home happily with a free goodie bag and a starter kit for them to start planting at home.
To end this June Holiday with a blast, the children went for a fun adventure at a massive indoor playground at Big Box. My Little Giant may appear as a typical indoor playground that most shopping malls have, but it has so much more to offer! It has a huge trampoline and a slide into a pool of balls. This playground puts children below 12 in a fantasy world of learning and discovery. Our sole reason for choosing an indoor playground for our students is in hope that every child has a great childhood memory shared with their friends. In addition, a safe and fun environment to ensure a fonder memory.
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YMCA SCC @ PUNGGOL WATERWAY NEWSLETTER J A N – J U N E 2 0 1 8
Y Sport Stacking is back again as the enrichment program for Term 2! Children could not wait to start stacking as it is really fun and challenging at the same time. Cup stacking, also known as speed stacking, is a sport which can be played individually or as a team. Participants need to arrange and stack specially designed cups in pre-determined sequences within a time limit. This activity is recognised world-wide as a sport, and has been shown to help improve motor skills, dexterity and Brandon Wong together with his team hand-eye coordination in mates competing in the Upper Primary participants. Our students have Relay Event. been practising hard for this year’s competition and their effort paid off! Proudly announcing our representatives, Christie Chen from Lower Primary has won the Championship in the Individual 3-3-3 Event. Together with her team members (Lim Xinyi, Liu Muge and Jenelle Lim), they have also won the 1st Runner Up in a Team 1st Runner up in Lower Our Champion in Lower Pri Relay 3-6-3 Event. Congratulations to our fast Primary Team Relay Event. Individual event. Great job stackers in YMCA SCC @ Punggol Waterway! What spendid teamwork! Christie Chen!
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony is held every year on August 6th. It is the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and located at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. In Japan and around the world, people will gather in early August to float lanterns in remembrance of the war victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and all those who have gone before us. This moving tradition provides a chance to reaffirm our commitment to building a better future. Every year, students in YMCA play a part in this beautiful tradition whereby they will fold cranes and decorate paper lanterns with their well-wishes. Their paper cranes and lanterns will then be sent to Japan for this floating ceremony. Page | 7
YMCA SCC @ PUNGGOL WATERWAY NEWSLETTER J A N – J U N E 2 0 1 8
That’s all folks! As we look forward to the next half of 2018, our PWSCC staff team hope to bring more fun and enriching experiences to the students. The following activities will be coming up in the next half of the year: • • • • •
Storytelling Competition Children’s Day Party Christmas Celebration September and December Holiday Outings Enrichment programme for Term 4 (Imagination Gone Wild)
Do look forward to the articles of our exciting events in the next issue!
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