From pottery to sign language, here’s what students learn when given free rein to explore

What would students pick up when given time to learn something new outside of their usual curriculum? Students from Kent Ridge Secondary, East Spring Secondary and Anglo-Chinese Junior College share what they have been up to for their Student-Initiated Learning projects.

By Owen Tan

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Nur Nazrina Binte Muhammad Nazri had always wanted to learn how to bake but never found the time to do so. When she learnt that she could pursue her interest for a Student-Initiated learning (SIL) project, the Secondary 2 student from Kent Ridge Secondary School immediately knew what she wanted to do – attempt a traditional kueh bahulu recipe, for a start.

After a few botched attempts resulting in batches of burnt cakes, Nazrina is now experimenting with more complicated recipes and is even considering a baking career.

Like Nazrina, students across all secondary schools, junior colleges and Millennia Institute have had the chance to learn something that interests them through their SIL projects. The self-directed learning initiative is a key component of Home-Based Learning (HBL) implemented by the Ministry of Education since 2021.

Dedicated time is set aside for students to pursue their interests and learn outside their curriculum. “Students are encouraged to be curious and use these projects as an opportunity to be resourceful in exploring their interests,” explains Mrs Tan Jiayi, Head of Department (HOD) of ICT at Kent Ridge Secondary School. 

Mr Mohamad Shaiful Bin Suradi, HOD of English Language at East Spring Secondary School, says that projects that students may embark on are based on their interests. They are also advised to try something new and to keep their projects simple. “They are not meant to overwhelm or be additional work.  They can be as practical as learning how to fold laundry or tying a necktie,” he adds.

To celebrate the students’ efforts and inspire other students to explore similar interests, schools showcase the SIL projects on various platforms. At Kent Ridge Secondary for example, students share their learning as part of the school’s National Day Celebrations. Over at Anglo-Chinese Junior College, teachers organise an SIL Festival where classes are paired to share their learning experiences with each other.

“Through this process, I’ve seen how students developed a sense of agency to explore their passions and interests. They have a greater understanding of self and their strengths”, says Ms Rosalind Huang, HOD of Special Projects at Anglo-Chinese Junior College.

So, what interests do students choose to pursue outside of their usual curriculum? Schoolbag speaks to students from Kent Ridge Secondary, East Spring Secondary and Anglo-Chinese Junior College to find out what their SIL experiences are like. 

Meet the budding baker

Nur Nazrina Binte Muhammad Nazri, Secondary 2, Kent Ridge Secondary School

For her SIL project, Nazrina from Kent Ridge Secondary School decided to try her hand at baking. It was something that she had always wanted to do. “I didn’t sign up for a baking course, but instead researched recipes online and watched YouTube tutorials to learn how to bake,” she says.

The first obstacle that she had to overcome was the fact that she had no oven at home. Undeterred, she asked a friend, who had an oven and was willing to join her on her baking adventures. Using her own savings, Nazrina purchased the ingredients based on the recipes she found online.

From butter cookies, traditional kueh to cupcakes, Nazrina soon uncovered her flair for baking, much to the delight of family and friends who enjoyed her baked treats and started suggesting what she could bake next.

“It makes me happy to see how they enjoy what I have baked. I’m now even considering baking as a career opportunity,” says Nazrina. 

 

Picking up a new sport to keep fit

Ow Zun Sin, Secondary 2, Kent Ridge Secondary School

Zun Sin was keen to learn a new sport as he wanted to keep fit.  When he saw an invitation from the Woodball Association (Singapore) to attend a training session, the active Secondary 2 Kent Ridge Secondary School student thought, why not? The invitation was part of his school’s partnership with the Association to introduce the sport to students and parents.

In woodball, a mallet is used to pass a ball through gates. The sport can be played on grass, sand or indoor. 

“I enjoy learning how the game is played. It gives me great satisfaction when the mallet hits the ball correctly,” he says. Zun Sin’s interest in the sport grew and he started attending training sessions regularly on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Zun Sin trains with players young and old, including an experienced player who is over 80 years old. “I’ve improved my stance and swing from observing how he plays,” reflects Zun Sin. “This experience has taught me discipline, from waking up early on Saturday mornings to being focused during training so I can play well.”

Learning a new language

Esquivel Joanna Richelle Santos, Secondary 3, East Spring Secondary School

While scrolling through the social media platform TikTok, a tutorial on the basics of British Sign Language (BSL) piqued Joanna’s interest in sign language. She decided to learn the visual form of language as her SIL project.

The East Spring Secondary School student says, “It was like learning a totally new language; there were so many hand gestures to memorise. I thought it was impossible to learn but I persevered and managed to learn the entire BSL alphabet.”

While researching BSL, Joanna found many resources online. Videos on YouTube were especially helpful as she could ensure that her hand gestures were performed correctly. “I selected the videos that had multiple viewpoints of the gestures. This way, I could have a clearer view of how to sign,” she says. 

With these new skills, Joanna hopes to be able to communicate confidently with the deaf community one day. “To me, this is the start of an ongoing process of learning (something new) and I am excited to continue to learn this new language,” she says. 

Bringing art to life with animation

Ruqayyah Binte Mohd Redza, Secondary 3, East Spring Secondary School

Ruqayyah viewed her SIL project as an opportunity to further explore one of her passions – art. The East Spring Secondary School student had previously experimented with different mediums to create artworks and was now keen to try digital art, specifically 2D animation.

“I had previously drawn a character from the game Genshin Impact and was excited to see if I could make it come alive with animation,” Ruqayyah says. She found a free-to-use mobile phone application called FlipaClip, which was highly recommended by other budding animators on social media.

Ruqayyah followed explainer videos on TikTok to get started on her animation project. It took longer than she expected. For an eight-second clip, Ruqayyah spent over an hour creating the layers that would animate the different elements of her character. However, she has no regrets and enjoyed the process.

“To learn something, I need to put in the hard work. With more practice, I will be able to improve on this skill further,” she says.

A deep-dive into big data

Das Srija, JC 2, Anglo-Chinese Junior College

After watching the documentary ‘Human Face of Big Data’, Srija was curious to know what companies did with the vast amounts of data collected from their consumers. The Anglo-Chinese Junior College student, who is in her second JC year, chose to explore data analytics – the science of analysing large amounts of data to help solve problems –for her SIL project.

“I explored a plethora of resources, from scholarly articles to websites, on how organisations gain insights into human behaviour and trends,” she says.

The JC 2 student soon found that some of the Maths concepts that she learnt in school were seamlessly applied in the realm of data analysis. “From hypothesis testing to linear regressions, I find it quite remarkable how these concepts help to classify and interpret vast datasets,” she says.

After spending a term researching on data analytics, Srija has come to appreciate its multifaceted application across various fields such as healthcare, education and finance.

“I wish to delve deeper into fraud analytics,” she says. “I can see the importance of using data to uncover and prevent frauds and would like to learn how companies go about doing it.” 

 

A lesson in patience and acceptance

Nguyen Thi Que My (Tammy), JC2, Anglo-Chinese Junior College

Most of Tammy’s hobbies are related to sports. For a change, she decided to explore pinch pottery for her SIL project. It turned out to be a lesson in patience and finding beauty in imperfection.

After joining a pottery class for beginners, which was conducted by an art teacher in her school, Tammy realised that making a pinch pot is not as easy as it seems. “Pinch pots are the most basic form of pottery, but it was challenging for me to get the form of the pots right,” the Anglo-Chinese Junior College student says. “I needed patience to continuously knead and shape the clay so that it would become smooth and symmetrical.” 

What she found most interesting about her SIL endeavour was the process of glazing the clay after moulding it. The glaze colours looked very different before and after the firing process. “A dull turquoise could give the most vibrant blue after firing,” she notes.

Despite the initial challenges, Tammy found the experience of working with clay rewarding. “It feels satisfying to see the final product. While it is not perfect, it is still a product of my hard work,” she reflects. 

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