LLP WHIZZ

Learning for Life Programme (LLP)

WHIZZ – We are THinking, Inventive and Zealous KIdZ who serve the community.

Rationale:

Globalisation, changing demographics and technological advancements are some of the key driving forces in a fast changing world. To enable our pupils to face the challenges and capitalise on the opportunities of the future, the school has developed a value-based curriculum which develops pupils’ critical and inventive thinking where they apply various thinking skills and systems to derive alternative solutions and perspectives and relate to real-life problems.

Philosophy:

We believe that the critical and inventive thinking skills that one acquires when he/she is young will ultimately determine his/her level of success in the future. Thinking habits and systems such as Appreciative Inquiry (AI), Systems Thinking, 6 Thinking Hats, PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Action) Cycle, Innowits Protocol and Design Thinking promote critical and inventive thinking. These systems require pupils to have an intentional process to derive new, relevant solutions that would create positive impacts. As the customised curriculum is values-based, it would develop our pupils with some core values and give them the moral compass to be rooted to Singapore. We believe that early exposure to thinking dispositions and values-based inquiry would groom our pupils to be lifelong learners and prepare them for greater goals in their lives to serve the future of Singapore.

Outcomes:

Pupils are

• Able to apply the following thinking skills/systems/processes : Appreciative Inquiry (AI), Systems Thinking, 6 Thinking Hats, PDCA cycle, Innowits and Design Thinking

• Able to demonstrate awareness of the global issues related to Singapore and other countries

• Able to generate ideas and explore different pathways to an issue/challenge

• Able to accept different perspectives, solutions and / or methods, even in the face of uncertainty

• Able to use evidence to explain his/her reasoning and decisions

• Able to demonstrate awareness of the importance of participating in school and community activities/programmes and actively participates in them

• Gracious, responsible, open, enterprising, wise and resilient

Implementation:

CareIN Programme

CareIN is a 15-hour curriculum developed by the school to educate pupils on values and to build citizenry in them. The school uses the Appreciative Inquiry (AI), Four Player Model and Systems Thinking to engage pupils in their discussions. The package consists of worksheets, articles for discussions and pupils’ reflections on real-life local and foreign current affairs which are aired weekly through News-in-Class, a Mediacorp production. Issues presented would serve as triggers for discussions or debates on character and citizenry values. Pupils would then do reflections on how they are able to lead positive changes to the issues in groups or individually. (Refer to sample lesson plans attached)

Values in the Woods Programme

The Mother Tongue and Art department staff and pupils have come together to develop a school based programme to be conducted during CCE lessons. The values stories are written by MT/CL teachers and are translated into EL for scaling up to ML and TL versions. Our pupils take the lead in crafting the scenes and illustrating the stories with characters based on our school mascot, OWL, in various families of different races living together. This storyboard is further animated. Through the pupils’ work, they actively transmit the school values to the student body through authentic satires happening around them.

Lifeskills Programme

Lifeskills programme consists of Form Teacher Guidance Period (FTGP), 7 Habits Lessons and Financial Literacy. Through the 7 Habits lessons, pupils develop good habits for them to develop their social emotional competencies and enable them to interact effectively with their peers and others.

Enchanting Experiences in collaboration with Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM)

This is a community project in collaboration with ACM and Greenwood parents to engage pupils to learn and appreciate historical bearing on character development. The school is partnering ACM to design a learning day at the museum using Design Thinking methodology for the pupils and parents. The learning experience requires parents’ active participation to co-construct knowledge and understanding with their children during their 2-hour discovery journey at the museum. Together with their parents, they would draw perspectives of how history and culture shape character. They also learn to appreciate the community and what it is able to offer for their development. For the year 2014, pupils are required to lead some of the learning activities for their parents. For the year 2015, student leaders who are involved in the learning journey in 2014 would take the lead to design the learning activities for P3 pupils.

Values in Action (VIA) in collaboration with Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH)

This is a community project in collaboration with KTPH as part of service to the community and at the same time enriches the career education of our pupils. Each year of the collaboration would be based on a theme – related to Science and Health Education learning such as digestive system, circulatory system, muscular and skeletal systems. Once a term, the pupils in the performing arts CCA would perform for an hour during the visit to KTPH. After the performance, the hospital would conduct health talks on the healthy lifestyle and habits that would affect that particular body system as well as the careers in the health industry pertaining to the care of that body system.

As part of the Education and Career Guidance (ECG) programme, our pupils lead as health ambassadors of the school. They will give talks and share tips of good health habits to the school community, family members and the community around us pertaining to the body system in the theme of the year. We aspire that our pupils would be able to empathise with or inspired to be future workers in the health industry and serve our aging nation.