National Day Celebration
In line with Singapore’s National Day 2020 theme, “Together, A Stronger Singapore”, Jurong Pioneer Junior College (JPJC) commemorated our nation’s birthday with elements of blended activities (both online and face-to-face). This enabled the participation of the entire college despite the constraints posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, while simulating the traditional celebratory atmosphere of this annual affair. The celebration also aimed to provide valuable opportunities for active staff and student bonding while adhering to stringent Safe Management Measures (SMM).
This year’s celebration was unique, and saw the entire college participating in a coordinated programme involving intra-class activities and an inter-class quiz. Our JC2 students participated in the event on the JPJC campus, while the JC1 cohort celebrated from home via virtual conferencing. The ceremonial aspects of the celebration were retained, while the traditional finale mass sing-a-long session - now converted into Zoom videos featuring JPJC teachers and students - successfully caught the imagination of the students and ensured a memorable conclusion to the event. Students responded enthusiastically to the class bonding activities, including JC1 students who were at home and participating via Zoom. The individual designing of scrapbooks and tote bags gave them a rare chance to showcase their creativity in a hands-on activity, while the inter-class Kahoot! quiz gave them an exciting and entertaining environment to work together as a class for the first time in many months.
Finally, the mass sing-a-long session using recorded music videos proved to be a rousing finale for the celebrations, with the entire college reverberating with the sound of both staff and students singing the iconic National Day song ‘Home’, demonstrating that the joy of college bonding and human connectedness could still be achieved, with SMM in place. This was JPJC’s first attempt at conducting a college-wide event via an online platform, and its success highlighted how technology can be used to overcome the obstacles posed to citizenship education and bonding, in this challenging year.
