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Dr Shaireen: Welcome back to our second episode of Playing to Our Children’s Strengths. This is a podcast all about supporting our children for the transition to primary school. I’m Shai, and today I have with me, Mrs Lillian Chen, our special guest who is a primary school principal in Singapore. Welcome to the show, Lillian. 

Mrs Chen: Hi, everyone. Hi, Shai. Thanks for having me on the show. 

Dr Shaireen: Thank you for coming and spending some time with us today. So, Lillian, I’m really looking forward to hearing about your expertise and your experience as a principal in relation to our topic today. So maybe we can start with a little bit of background. Could you tell us a little bit more about the primary school landscape today? Because some of us, we haven’t been in a primary school for such a long time or seen what’s happening over the last few years. What do things look like in terms of parents getting their children ready to start school? 

Mrs Chen: I think over the past few years, what we observe is that the children are more and more ready for primary school, ready in terms of confidence level. They are a lot more vocal, even in the very first week that they enter primary school. I think the parents have done a very good job, so have the kindergartens. 

Dr Shaireen: I’m glad to hear that, especially since I’m from early childhood education. Could you let us know, what do you notice in terms of the preparation so far? In which areas are they preparing their children for? 

Mrs Chen: We do observe that parents have been preparing the children mentally for some of the massive changes that they’re going to experience in primary school, which is very important because for the kindergarteners to come into the primary school context, there are big changes ranging from the class size to the number of subjects, the number of teachers, the length of the curriculum time, even the sheer size of the school campus as compared to a childcare centre or a kindergarten. Talking to them ahead of sending them to primary school, I think is very important. Also preparing them, social-emotionally, how do they make new friends, how do they interact with new friends, and so on. So, these are very good approaches that parents are taking. But at the same time, we also notice that more and more parents are sending their children for tuition and enrichment classes. 

Dr Shaireen: I’m really interested in that, but we’ll talk about that a little bit more. But maybe I want to ask you a little bit about how some of them often want to get that head start, and you talked about preparing from your experience. Would children necessarily do better the more the parents prepare them for primary school? 

Mrs Chen: I think when it comes to sending children for enrichment classes and tuition, overpreparation and too much of it can be unhealthy. We have heard from parents and children about the assignments that tuition centres and enrichment classes provide for the students, and it can be beyond what is deemed as age-appropriate. Too much of it can actually take away the joy of learning because students start to associate learning with stress, a packed schedule, or even overly challenging tasks. I think if a child’s schedule is all packed with such classes, naturally something has to go, right? So, it naturally might take away the unstructured play, which is very critical in a child’s life. More seriously, I think if the child is overprepared for some of these learning, it can actually lead to boredom in class, because we do understand that many of these tuition centres and classes, they actually prepare the students way in advance, ahead of the syllabus. That might result in students losing that excitement of coming to class to pick up something new. And later on, down the road can lead to things like boredom, disengagement, and even discipline. 

Dr Shaireen: Is this something that you see happening a lot? I mean, have your teachers seen this as a continuing trend, this overpreparation? And if so, what is it that would be asked of teachers to parents in terms of being able to prepare, but not overpreparing? 

Mrs Chen: In MOE schools, we do believe that actually the children can cope very well. They don’t need all these extra classes because our teachers are trained and our teachers are able to pace the lessons accordingly to suit the needs. Nowadays, we talk about differentiated instruction. We do know that in one class, there are different learners who learn at different paces, but we are able to use strategies to allow the approaches to suit the needs of different segments of students. Our teachers have been trying to reassure parents that as long as the child is actively engaged in the classroom. He or she is willing to be self-directed enough to ask questions, to ask for help if he or she requires help in the class, follows up with assignments, and basically just does frequent revision for his or her work in class, there shouldn’t be any issue. So instead of overpreparing, and we do see instances of students in class being very bored, and when asked why are you not engaged? The child’s reply can be, usually, I have already learned this two weeks ago during my tuition class. That can be actually detrimental because in class, we don’t just talk about learning hard skills and knowledge. We also talk about picking up soft skills through collaborative projects, working together as a group. When the child is disengaged in class, it does affect some of these other aspects of learning. 

Dr Shaireen: You know, Lillian, the thing about it is I think every parent’s intent is a good one, right? When they send the child. But I suppose the focus has always been on the academics because that is something that is more visible to them, that they can see what the child is learning. I think it allays a fear. But it’s not about the topic, it’s not about the skill in terms of the academics. It’s actually, and I like what you said just now, it’s about being self-directed, being engaged. As a principal, how do you think parents can help in that process of supporting their child in being more engaged in the class or focusing on these other softer skills? What can parents do? 

Mrs Chen: One way is for parents to speak the same language as the teachers in the classroom. So, for example, in our school, we advocate play-based learning, and we try to infuse play into the different curriculum subjects simply because we think that playing is so natural for them, and children learn best when they play because they are so good at playing. What we do is that we infuse play-based elements, and we try to get them to interact with their friends, to go through happy activities so that they can continue to want to learn even more. We allow them opportunities and platforms to ask questions, to show curiosity in learning and also to exhibit skills like collaborative skills and critical thinking through very specially curated activities in class. So, what we advise parents to do is to take the same tune as us. Many a times we actually have projects and activities whereby the children can actually bring it back home. It is part of bonding with the parents. At the same time, we also want the parents to understand what the child goes through in the classroom. By staying in the same tune and encouraging the child to do likewise, at home, I think the child will get the message that this is the right way to go, and my parents are supportive of the way I learn in school. 

Dr Shaireen: I really like that, Lillian. I mean, in early childhood education, we also talk a lot about learning through play, and the fact that some people may think that playing is just a waste of time, but actually a lot of learning, and as you say, social learning, the art of collaboration, all this creativity that they develop through the process of play is actually very important. It’s really interesting that you said that in your school, you are integrating some of these play-based strategies. Maybe you can share a little bit more about how this looks like, because I think parents who, the first time that their child is going to a primary school, may want to learn more about it. 

Mrs Chen: So, Shai, it started with a small group of teachers together with the school leaders, including myself. We did quite a bit of reading, and we do believe that play is the right way to go. So just the eight of us, we started up a task force, and we decided to experiment. I mean, we also have to role model the spirit of play, right? So, we experimented, we did up resources on our own, and we tried it in class. We actually piloted it with two classes. I understand that at first there was quite a bit of apprehension, even from us ourselves because we were not sure whether… I think there’s always this struggle that whether play and the learning outcomes, are they dichotomous? Can they coexist? So, there was also this fear in us initially, but we decided to just take the leap of faith and we decided to try. Firstly, what we saw was the engagement level in the students in that pilot class. It was so evident that the students really enjoyed the learning. What we believe in is that when the students are engaged, naturally, they will be more motivated to continue to want to learn. 

Mrs Chen: That is, of course, the first battle won for us. We have things like the end-of-year exams and the weighted assessment, things that parents really find that it is high stakes. We have tracked the outcomes and we found that, interestingly, this pilot class has done better than the rest of the classes in the level. That actually can debunk the misconception that when you have too much play in class, learning does not take place. In fact, it makes it even more natural. And the students being able to enjoy the activities, it makes it easier for them to remember the concepts, link it to the learning, and be able to internalise what they have learned in class. With that, we upscaled it. Today, this is the third year that we are doing it. We have already upscaled it to two full levels, all the P3s and the P4s. Many of the lower-pri students and even upper-pri teachers have picked it up, even though we didn’t make it mandatory. This actually shows how much the teachers have witnessed in terms of the positive outcomes of play-based learning. The journey is ongoing, we are still learning, but we are very heartened with the results that we have seen in terms of both the academic outcomes, if we’re talking about that, as well as the soft skills, because we do see that the children in the classes where play-based elements are infused, they are a lot more engaged, they are a lot more articulate, they are more confident to collaborate with one another. 

Dr Shaireen: So I’m going to put you on the spot here a little bit, Lillian, and just ask you, I mean, it’s quite tough for parents to shift their mindset, but it sounds to me that you’ve done a wonderful job of converting them to be advocates of play. What is your message, in a sense, for parents to accept a little bit more willingly that play is actually a central core in learning for the ones who are transitioning into primary school? 

Mrs Chen: To be honest, we didn’t do very a deliberate take-in or buy-in, but we just naturally, if there’s anything deliberate, we found opportunities and platforms to let teachers and parents see for themselves the positive outcomes of play-based learning. To give you an example, we have this activity or this programme within the science department. It’s called the Scisational. 

Dr Shaireen: Scisational? Oh, that’s a snazzy name. 

Mrs Chen: Yes, that’s right. Whereby we actually teach concepts via very hands-on activity. It can be giving them a challenge for them to create something using some recycled materials, and this has to hold the weight of 5 kg, something along those lines. It can even be some games to teach the attraction and repulsion of magnets, the different poses of magnets. Whenever we have such activities, we will share them on social media for our parents to see that it’s really that twinkle in the student’s eyes when they discover something that they would not have discovered so intuitively if it is just reading off the textbook. We will show them videos like that. At times, we get parents to come in as well. So parent volunteers can also help us to spread the word when they come for some of these activities. I think that beats giving a speech to share with parents the benefits of play-based learning. They have to see it for themselves. And of course, our students, I believe, even though we don’t train them to become our mouthpieces, they are naturally our mouthpieces because they really do enjoy the lessons in the classroom. In fact, they go back home and they speak to their parents about it, so much so that there are parents coming to me to share with me what they have heard from their children. So it didn’t deliberately come from us, but the children brought back the happy learning experiences to share with their parents. And now that I’m talking about students being very excited, I also recall we did this activity called the Running Dictation. You know dictation, right? In language class. And also group spelling rather than the very traditional, I just hand you a piece of spelling list, and then one week later I will just get it. 

Dr Shaireen: Right. Yeah. 

Mrs Chen: So we actually tried play-based within these activities because spelling is still a relevant task. It’s just that we want to make it more playful. And because of that, we actually get many of them scoring full marks. And what’s more impressive is that many of them went to the teacher to ask, when is the next spelling? 

Dr Shaireen: Wow. That motivation. 

Mrs Chen: Yeah, it speaks volumes because we do have children who dread spelling and dread some of these more traditional assignments. But the teachers played a very big role in making this come alive, and that is by infusing the play-based element. 

Dr Shaireen: Back to my initial question to you about the landscape. I think it really has changed, and I think it really is a start from what we went through in school before and what is actually happening even in primary one today. I think it’s also important for parents to know what is happening in the primary schools because the strategies are different, the skill sets are different, and what is valued as important is different. In a sense, it’s more holistic and more towards building the confidence of the child. And I love the way that your teachers have done this in a very play-based way because really it’s going to school and playing, but at the same time, it’s very much targeted and structured in a way that they also learn. So I think these things may be escaping, maybe parents may not know so much, but I like the way that you also talked about informing the parents through social media and capturing the documentation. Thanks for that. So, Lillian, since you talked about preparation of the children, and these are some of the important things that schools look at, are there any parameters that schools lay out during orientation days? Maybe it’s a practice across all primary schools or maybe something that parents should take note of as a way to equip the children or support the children during the transition to their first day of school? Anything that they should know about? 

Mrs Chen: If I can tweak it a little, not really on the first day, but the first few weeks where they are the most anxious and they find the environment the most unfamiliar. So what we do during orientation week, at the end of the year, usually before the year where the P1s enter, we will remind our parents to let go and to allow the children to soar. So in our school, we always show that slide. We will encourage the parents to allow your child to soar because they can actually perform a lot more than we think. Letting go in terms of we might want to get them ready for some of the more independent tasks that they can achieve on their own. Even things like packing their school bags with a given timetable. Do not do that for them. So usually this is what we will tell the parents. Teach them simple concepts of money, but allow them to try because they will be purchasing food on their own in the canteen. Toilet routines in the kindergarten and childcare, perhaps sometimes a teacher will bring them to the toilet and all that. There are slightly different routines in a primary school. We also encourage our parents to talk to the children about it, but allow them to try on their own. Even things like forgetting to bring things to school because they can actually be a lot more independent and do a lot better than we think they can. The little ones, usually they will excel. Within one or two days, they are able to adapt to the new environment. That is our observation for most of the children. We will advise the parents to prepare them but allow them to do some of these tasks on their own. For example, even packing school bags. Usually, we will discourage parents from doing it for the child. We will also encourage the parents not to call the form teacher every day. We do have anxious parents who might call every day to check about the homework, but we do want to encourage the students to be self-directed to take ownership of their learning, which is why from as young as P1, we do encourage the students to copy down the homework for the day using the student’s handbook. So these are little things that will go a long way in training them to be independent and self-directed and know that they are responsible for their own learning. If you ask me, this will be a key piece of advice that we will give to our parents. 

Dr Shaireen: Okay. So it sounds like not too different from what we do in preschool as well. Usually, self-management skills in terms of being independent. So it sounds to me that there really is a thread between what is being done in preschool to what is being done in primary, or is expected in primary school. But these are really good advice. If parents are not aware of it, all the more, this should be something that they should observe whether the children are doing it and also support the children. Rather than do it for them, they should ensure that the children feel supported to do it themselves before they get to that first day of school or the first month of school. Thank you for that, Lillian. 

Mrs Chen: I think you are right to say that some of these routines are quite aligned when it comes to what the kindergarten has been preparing the little ones and also how they transit to primary school. The messages are quite consistent, but if there’s something else that I can add in just to gently nudge our parents, that is not to stop allowing your children to play once they enter primary school. So toddlers and nursery students and kindergarteners, they play a lot. But we do see that for some parents, when the children enter primary school, it seems like, okay, this is the end of the playful journey. Now it’s serious matters and it’s serious work. But I feel that the more they should continue playing so that the curiosity doesn’t stop here, the exploration doesn’t stop. So I think that is a very important message to all parents. 

Dr Shaireen: That’s wonderful advice, Lillian. And I think the seamlessness of what the practices are across the two systems—I like what you said in terms of play is actually the thread, and the other bit are some of the practices. So two P’s, the standards of these practices that we expect of children are actually very important for them to be able to overcome some of those anxieties when transitioning into primary school. You’ve given us one piece of advice just now in terms of what parents could do. Any other advice that you have for parents or families out there who, maybe, this is the first time that their child or their first child is going into primary school? Any advice for them at all? 

Mrs Chen: I will still end off with play. So the three elements that I would like to share to encourage parents to include in whatever they are doing with the children at home. I recently just read this play-based learning book, and this person was talking about in order for a learning experience to be effective, there needs to be three elements, and they are very simple elements. Sometimes being underestimated, they are delight, wonder, and awe. Delight meaning the joy. I encourage parents, whatever you do with your children at home, you can be reinforcing the learning in school, you can be having some bonding activities, do bring in that delight bit of things because we all know that whether it is adults or children, when we find and we derive joy in whatever we’re doing, we will be more engaged and motivated to want to do even more. So that’s delight. Wonder, it means that sense of curiosity, being inquisitive in whatever you do with your children at home, do encourage them to ask questions. There are no silly questions. Get them to want to explore as much as possible. Because I think wonder actually drives us to want to seek more answers, want to learn more, and ultimately, you will create that very proactive approach towards learning, and that is what we want to see in our children. Last but not least, my favourite, that’s awe. That is an emotion that’s so powerful, but sometimes we neglect that emotion. So I shared during play-based learning lessons I witnessed how the students’ eyes twinkled. For example, they actually made slime in the science lab, and thereafter, used slime to learn about how do you measure volume of a solid and liquid and things like that. When they actually got their slime, handmade, you can imagine the twinkle in their eyes when they start stretching and playing with the slime. That is awe. They discovered something new about what they can do. This emotion is so powerful, it can actually push us to challenge our own existing knowledge, our own assumptions, and actually prompts us to think in more creative and critical ways. Instead of three pieces of advice, the advice is really to play, play, and play more with your children, bring in delight, bring in wonder, bring in opportunities to bring about awe, because with this emotion and this disposition, I’m very certain that our students will grow up to be very self-directed, to be able to be very comfortable with the uncomfortable, and that’s very necessary in this new world, and they will continue to be lifelong learners. 

Dr Shaireen: Thank you for that, Lillian. I think in closing, I also have delight and wonder and awe. I am exceptionally delighted today as an early childhood educator to hear that some of the practices that are already in early childhood education are, in a sense, transitioning into the primary school system, where once it was quite a stark change. But I’m really delighted to hear that there is this seamlessness in the transition process in the way that learning is being done. I do wonder what more parents can do, and I also encourage parents to wonder whenever they want to sign up for an enrichment class, please wonder a little bit more following what you have mentioned today. And I am also in awe of the work that your teachers have done in your school to very much in a very specific and targeted way, ensure that the learning is what it’s meant to be, purposeful for the child, meaningful for the child, and engaging. With that, I really thank you today, Lillian, for a very wonderful sharing. I think there’s so much that the preschool and the primary school can continue to do together. But I thank you for all your wonderful, wise words today. 

Mrs Chen: That’s a very beautiful way to end the session. Thank you so much, Shai. I enjoyed the session thoroughly. Thank you.