Hong Wen School Celebrates Children’s Day with a Difference

Every year, children look forward to Children’s Day, as they get to receive gifts and celebrate the joy of their youth. This year, over 1,300 students from Hong Wen School celebrated Children’s Day with a difference, as they lived out the philosophy of ‘to give is better than to receive’ by contributing to the needy.

Accompanied by over 100 staff and 30 parent volunteers, Hong Wen School students from all levels contributed to the needs of patients at the nearby Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital. This was part of the school’s Project CARE “Children Actively Relating with the Elderly”, which has involved students, teachers and parent volunteers since 2006.

“Project CARE is a good platform for students to put the values of care, compassion and respect into action. The school had intentionally planned the visit to coincide with Children’s Day to remind our students to put the needs of others above themselves, not just those of their loved ones but also the elderly who once contributed actively to the society that we live in today,’ said Mr Lim Chong Eng, Vice-Principal of Hong Wen School.

For the past month, the school had been busy collecting and packing necessities such as milk and biscuits to be distributed to the elderly residents in the hospital. Students took time to plan their contributions, and even worked with their parents and teachers to source and pack the items into 390 goodie bags. With the help of teachers and parent volunteers, lower-primary students brought goodie bags to the hospital while the upper-primary students distributed the bags and served breakfast to the elderly.

Students felt that Children’s Day this year was particularly meaningful as each of them played their part to help the elderly before heading back to school for a carnival.

“I am very happy today as we did a good deed and we also get to demonstrate the value of compassion on Children’s Day. One of the elderly patients was so touched that she kissed and hugged my hands, which was something I never expected. As children, we do not get the chance to relate to the elderly very often so I am grateful that we are able to use this opportunity to connect with them,’ said Jian Xin Min, a Primary Six student in the school.

Hong Wen School constantly seeks to provide meaningful Values-in-Action (VIA) experiences to its students, and hopes to inculcate the values of care and compassion so that students will continue to be actively involved in the community even after they leave school. On top of that, the school seeks to customise their Values-in-Action programmes for students at every level so that every child can be actively involved within their own means.

For example, lower-primary students are encouraged to help out at their homes while the upper primary students are engaged in team projects such as donation drives to raise funds for the needy.

Lynn Tan, Chairman of Hong Wen School’s parent support group, is an advocate of these VIA initiatives. She feels that her children have benefited from the projects as these experiences help them to widen their world view.

“As parents, we must understand that our children’s progress is not merely limited to academic excellence. These VIA programmes enable our children to see that we do not live in isolation and there are many others in the community who need our help and support,’ says Mdm Tan, who has been actively involved in the Parent Support Group for five years.