|
REELING THEM IN: At North Vista Primary, pupils have a say in the design of the library. Now, library users have fish and other marine creatures for company in their cheerful-looking 'aquarium'. A model of a shipwreck with bookshelves and a submarine-themed video room complete the aquatic theme. -- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG
|
AT NORTH Vista Primary in Sengkang, teachers do not have a set lesson plan. Instead, the children decide what they want to learn and the teachers shape lessons around their suggestions.
The method is based on a famous Italian approach called Reggio Emilia, which is named after a northern city admired for its preschools. The free rein is said to encourage creativity and help children absorb lessons they might otherwise find dry.
North Vista Primary, which opened in January, is one of many new neighbourhood schools experimenting with revolutionary teaching methods that rival those of established schools.
Even though the well-known schools get all the attention during the rush for Primary 1 registration, there is a quiet revolution going on in these neighbourhood schools, which are eager to attract pupils.
North Vista's principal, Mr Phua Kia Wang, said he was intrigued by the Italian approach after seeing it applied first-hand.
Teachers in his school have set topics to teach, but personalise them to suit each class.
The school's Reggio Emilia approach is not limited to the classroom. When the school was designing its library, it asked the pupils to draw their 'dream library'.
The exercise yielded suggestions such as 'submarine', 'ship', 'jungle', 'aquarium' and 'ice-cream parlour'.
Save for the ice-cream parlour, which is still in the works, all other elements have been incorporated into the impressive-looking library.
Among other things, it includes a shipwreck model with bookshelves and a submarine-themed room where the children can view videos.
Mr Phua said his aim is to make North Vista Primary a fun place for its 200 pupils 'so that they love coming to school'.
So, while a typical schoolday is 90 minutes longer at North Vista than most other primary schools - it runs from 8am to 2.20pm - pupils get two recesses.
'Children need to play, to interact and pick up social skills,' said Mr Phua.
In Punggol, another new school, Greendale Primary, is also taking a novel approach. It has introduced science from Primary 1, a subject that is usually taught only from Primary 3.
During the hour-long lesson once a week, pupils learn to use their five senses, picking up skills such as observation, comparison and classification.
Teachers said the hands-on activities help to keep pupils, who have short attention spans, interested.
Moses Low, eight, who is in Primary 2, said he enjoyed the science classes.
'I smelled a powder and guessed that it was pepper, and felt for numbers inside a bag to match them,' he said.
Meanwhile, Innova Primary in Woodlands is placing heavy emphasis on sports and fitness. All Primary 1 to 3 pupils get four periods - or two hours - of physical education lessons a week.
The school has hired coaches to teach sports like fencing, swimming and badminton during curriculum time.
Principal Michel Saw said he hopes to groom the pupils so that they can make it to the nearby Singapore Sports School.
'It's part of holistic development of children and if they are talented, this would give them a headstart.
He also hopes to teach his pupils values through sports.
'If the children can bounce back from defeat, this would put them in good stead.
'I hope they will be humble as a winner, and learn that you are only as good as your last victory,' he said.
|
