Special Programmes

 

Our newly launched Learning Space at http://primary.asknlearn.com provides a virtual space for all students and teachers to upload their creation and resources for sharing within the school.  This portal can be accessed from anywhere so that learning can be extended beyond the classroom.

Background

Engaging students in learning by doing has been the practice and the philosophy of the school since we embarked on Outdoor Learning and Outdoor Education / ODAC as the Cluster Centre of Interest in 2004.  Integrating the use of technology into the Outdoor Learning / Education drive is the next natural phase as part of our aim to achieve Programme for School-based Excellence status in 2006/7.

LEADIT Project -  SQ Ed-Venturer

Engaging students through technology used in the outdoors will enhance the integration between outdoor learning and whatever is going on in class.  The series of outdoor learning are expected to equip our pupils the skills to problem solving and this in turn promotes life long learning.  Strategies relevant to inquiry-based and experiential learning like Problem-based learning or Service Learning will be introduced to the relevant segments of the curriculum.  One of the key areas we hope to develop heavily on is Conservation Education. We hope to nurture Conservation Activists amongst the students by the time they graduate from Shuqun.  Students will Podcast their investigations and efforts over the internet to create a community of learners keen on conservation and environmental science.

 

This project will not just benefit pupils, but will also create an opportunity for teachers to conduct their lesson beyond classroom. With the natural environment as stimuli, teachers will be able to experiment and explore different outdoor teaching pedagogies, and most importantly, generate innovative strategies to further improve the pedagogical practice (eg, problem based learning). This in turn will generate the knowledge for the larger learning community.

 

 On the other hand, with the highly IT supported mode of learning, online resources and interaction with the experts are within reach anytime anywhere. With the fast pace of technological advancement, the school hopes that teachers could embark on the Action Research project as well as developing using IT as a culture for teachings. To achieve this objective, the school has deployed a variety of IT equipments and infrastructure support to support the process. Also, with the wireless connections, real time communications are made possible among schools. This enhances interaction and exchange of ideas among students from different schools through the virtual classroom.

Key Characteristics of  SQ Ed-Venturer

Aligning with our niche area of Outdoor Education and Learning, the school’s focus is in engaging our pupils in outdoor learning, experiential learning and action learning. The school plans to integrate technology into experiential learning trails to complement the different modes of learning and aid pupils of different learning capabilities to learn more effectively (HAMALA).  During the course of learning, the school will be deploying PDAs, Tablet PCs, Data Loggers, Mobile Wireless Network and Podcasting Studio to support the overall teaching and learning process. At the initial stage, pupils will utilise the PDA and Tablet PCs to access and upload data via the wireless network. At the same time, some pupils will also be capturing video clips to add on to the resources and data previously captured by the team members. Students will capture their learning and reflections in a portfolio (mind mapping, webpage creation etc) which they will continue to work on for the 6 years they are with Shuqun.

 

Technology

 

Data Collection & Documentation – technology like video / digital cameras, dataloggers, Global Positioning System or other input devices will help to collect data or document findings of experiences.  These devices give students to the power to capture and retain information.

 

Information Gathering and Referencing – wireless technology providing access to internet will help students to check on information on-the-fly instead of waiting for a chance to verify when they return to class / computer labs.  This enables students to ask relevant questions more speedily and mimics the way we work in the real world environment.

 

Data and Information Analysis – the tablet PCs or PDAs will facilitate students to analyse the data or information gathered while on site so that they will know how much more information they will need to capture.

 

Knowledge Creation – the mobility of the setup and the power of the hardware to enable students to create new knowledge such as new presentations, mind maps, papers or products will enables students to work from any where including their homes or MacDonalds.  The environment will help to stimulate students’ interest and motivation in the work / investigations they have undertaken.

 

Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration – ability to upload their findings on a live portal or produce a podcast for sharing are important ways to show the students that what they produce have an immediate and relevant impact on society.  This ability will broaden the students’ and teachers’ capacity to partner with relevant agencies or like-minded individuals to care for the environment.  Relationships are strong motivations to learn.

 

Conclusion

 

The project will provide teachers with the hardware to try something new – bring Outdoor Learning / Education to a greater height.  It will enable teachers to illustrate what real world learning or authentic tasks involve.  Teachers will then develop new methodologies and pedagogical approaches to support learning via authentic learning tasks.

 

On the other hand, the e-portfolio portal sets a reflective culture for our teachers and pupils to strive for continuous improvement.  The mobile Wireless system enables the teachers and pupils to create, assess and participate. The project will in fact enhance the teachers and pupils’ competency level in the aspects of technology and knowledge content.  Teachers will also get an opportunity to learn from the students as everyone, including the students, get a chance to use technology to reflect on their learning.

Student ambassadors will be prepared to show the best of their school and Singapore during the educational/cultural exchange trips. Upon the overseas exposure, they will extend and contribute their learning by building resources to benefit the rest in the school. They will assume the role of hosting overseas visitors, to interact and start conversations, to speak confidently about their student experiences.

Shuqun Primary believes in engaging students in authentic learning experiences or real life learning encounters.  As such, we have set a aside two days per level for each term for students to learn outdoors.  Since the beginning of 2005, our teachers have organised learning adventures to places like the Science Centres, Zoo, Chinese Gardens and Sungei Buloh Nature Park.  The difference between these adventures and normal excursions is that these lessons are multi-disciplinary and involve students doing activities which help them to learn against the backdrop of natural environment.  Some examples of such learning adventures like trails.

Dance and music have been identified as one of our key niche areas in Shuqun Primary School and we are aspiring towards being Centre for Performing Arts in the West Zones Primary school.

In order to provide our pupils with an experience in all art forms – mainly dance, music and art, the Performing Arts department offers a year-long dance education programme for all our Primary 1 and 2 pupils. This programme will be extended to the other levels in the future.

This programme aims to provide our pupils with a foundational understanding and appreciation of dance arts. It stretches the pupils’ creativity and learning capacity while integrating dance with the mainstream subjects like language, Mathematics and social studies, such that learning is fun, creative and beneficial for our pupils through a different medium. Our pupils are equipped with the knowledge about dance and they also get to explore other art forms like music, drama and visual art.

We seek to unveil the potential in each and every one of our pupils as we believe that every child can be a star!