First Person: Kids in charge

What happens when a group of 11-year-olds plan a school-wide celebration, and that, too, virtually? Would it be sheer magic or sheer chaos?  Student Leadership teacher representatives, Mr Heng Kai Le and Ms Low Yihui had front-row seats. They share their experience.

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Every year, student leaders at Naval Base Primary School look forward to organising the annual Teachers’ Day celebrations. That’s because for this event, they get to make all the decisions and see their ideas come to life.

It’s a big project for a group of 11-year-olds to manage, but their teachers from the Student Leadership committee are on hand to guide them to be responsible and learn about leadership and teamwork.

But this year, their task (and ours) became even more challenging.

The next level after HBL

Due to safe management measures, students of different levels could not meet up to discuss and work on the event face-to-face.

The students were used to learning remotely after Full Home-Based Learning (HBL), but planning a school-wide event online was a big leap for them. What made this even more difficult was that some of the team – made up of 26 Primary 4 and Primary 5 Prefects and Sports Leaders – had never met. Now they would have to come up with ideas and make them happen, virtually.

At our first online meeting, the students’ morale was rather low. A few of their peers hadn’t received the message about the meeting and missed the session. Those who were present were shy about speaking up in this unfamiliar setting.

To break the ice, we improvised short games during the first few meetings. We sent the kids on scavenger hunts around their house, and got them to draw, in one minute, an animal that best represented them. This not only got the students to open up, but also served as a demonstration of how an online game could be run – something the students would have to do for themselves later!

New ideas, new skills

Although we preferred meeting physically, online meeting platforms have their advantages.

During the brainstorming session for the event theme, for example, the students were arguing passionately for and against the ideas raised. We introduced them to the poll function, so that they could come to a consensus.

The winning idea? Animals.

The students explained that they were inspired by the activity we had done and felt that the theme served to highlight positive qualities that the teachers have. For instance, teachers are as ‘wise as owls’, and ‘as hardworking as ants’. Well, we felt flattered for sure! They also came up with an event title, “Jumanji: Breath of the Wild”, alluding to two popular adventure games, so as to appeal to their peers.

In the next session, the student leaders divided themselves into teams to work on the games, gifts and performances for the event. We showed them how to use the ‘Breakout rooms’ function on the online platform to facilitate their discussions. To help everybody keep track of the discussion, the students were also taught to write minutes of their meetings using Google Docs.

Overall, the students picked up these work processes very quickly and were soon able to work with their teachers to run effective meetings.

Step up, and out of digital space

As useful as the online platforms were, we also wanted the students to have the courage and confidence to present their ideas in person to their stakeholders. A few students were selected to represent the team and get the school leaders’ approval for their proposal.

They were nervous, but their effort in preparing for the presentation paid off. They were able to stand by their ideas and even convinced the Vice-Principal to take part in one of their activities.

As the event drew closer, the teams met in small groups to rehearse and prepare the logistics. Some stepped up and volunteered to host the programme that would be screened live to all classes on the day. To build their confidence, they practised their spiel with their parents at home. We also arranged one-to-one sessions in school to coach them on the delivery of their speech.

Others took charge of making cards for the teachers or supervised the playing of the games. Everyone found ways to contribute.

‘Breath of the Wild’

It was no surprise to us that the event went smoothly that day. Our colleagues praised the programme and the students had a lot of fun too. But none were more impressed than us, because we got to witness first-hand how hard the student leaders had worked behind the scenes.

Unlike previous years, we had to adopt a blend of online and face-to-face activities in planning the event. While we showed the students the tools and guided them in the process, we largely allowed the students to step up and lead. They asked questions, tried to solve problems on their own, and did everything they could to ensure the project was a success.

Faced with unfamiliar situations, the students rose to the challenge. In this aspect, they were ‘as brave as lions’.