Junyuan Primary School Visit

I spent a few hours on Tuesday ay Junyuan Primary School in Singapore, which serves students ages 6-12. Sharifah Osman is the head of the IT department at the school, and she shared lots of interesting information about how Singapore has roles out out their IT plan, starting way back in 1997.

The front desk at Junyuan Primary Scool. Just like the clerks at elementary schools across the U.S., this woman helped take care of many things even while I sat for a short time waiting for Sharifah to show me around - two sick boys, one bandage for a girl with a skinned knee, a request from the principal, two teachers needing some papers, greeting a visiting parent.

I slipped into the library for a quick peek - students told me they get to go twice a week and can take out 4 books at a time. Harry Potter? Not so much. But The Lightning Thief is a favorite series, the teacher was walking back and forth (below) between the library and the kids who already had their books and were reading out on the sidewalk (no enclosed halls here! Everything open to the elements!)

 

Chinese New Year takes place over about two weeks, with celebrations occurring throughout. I was invited to join the staff and parent group for a "Lou Hei" ceremony - everyone has a pair of chopsticks and stands in a circle around a plate of shaved carrots, cucumber, cabbage, raw salmon, garnished with crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, and sweet and sour sauces. On three, everyone dives into the plate, throwing the salad up in the air, chanting good wishes for a prosperous new year. It's a relatively new tradition, started in Singapore! The folks to my left: assistant principal Tony, head principal Madame Law, and assistant principal Hielda. There are 1,070 students in grades 1-6 at the school.

 

This is the school's Eco-garden, located in the courtyard. There are several different mini-biomes - a cactus desert, a pond, a rainforest. The science teacher has set up stations in the garden, and, using QR codes and tablets, students make their way through, completing tasks and assignments. If a student has a question along the way, the tablets are set up so he or she can Skype teacher on the spot!

The school has also chosen to purchase Samsung Tablets instead of iPads, mostly because of the functionality of Flash (or non-functionality in the case of the iPad).

Here are a couple of classrooms (above and below), both using Promethean boards. The IT person explained that they checked out both SMART Boards and Prometheans, then gave teachers the choice. They overwhelmingly chose Promethean - they liked the interface much better.

 

This is a set-up that students can use during recess - the computers (below) are kept in these boxes, made to look like a train. If they choose, they can have 20 minutes of computer time on some days.

There are three computer labs serving the school, 40 computers in each. Each class is expected to go to the lab 2 hours per week. The lab below is a laptop lab so the computers can also be carted down to the classrooms.

And just like every school I've ever been in, READING, READING, READING is the key! Actually, science instruction is not started until about 3rd grade, rather, they emphasize math and reading until then. Thanks, Singapore! On to Malaysia....

 

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