What happens when international students and local students collaborate? At TK campus, learners join forces to “build bridges” in more than one way! To sustain the partnership established with Fuchun Primary School in 2015, TK hosted another memorable event for a large group of Grade 5 students.

In preparation for the visit, TK students participated in a hands-on engineering task by investigating the features of five different kinds of bridges and the materials needed to sustain them. Learners experimented with different tools and through trial and error, used a range of strategies to deepen their understanding of what makes bridge structures sustainable. This process would eventually play an important role in building bridges with Fuchun Primary students.

Fuchun visitors included 25 students, chaperoned by administrators and teachers. Our Fuchun visitors toured our campus grounds, visited a Grade 5 classroom and received an official welcome and introduction led by a class of TK students focused on “What is STEAM”? Personal anecdotes included dynamic examples of what it is like to learn through the design cycle in the Makerspace room. They also shared ‘in-progress’ prototypes for playground games created during CCA lessons.

With great anticipation, students curiously introduced themselves to each other and regrouped into highly motivated STEAM teams! The provision of very few teacher guidelines, a variety of recyclable materials and a challenging time frame. They quickly put on their “investigative hats” and delved into authentic investigations about how to best build a sturdy bridge. The adults in the room were genuinely impressed at how well the students collaborated and cooperated as they applied prior knowledge, generated hypotheses and adopted the role of “risk taker” from beginning to end.

After the final countdown, Mr. Ben Cooperman measured the distance between the two tables that joined the foundation of each bridge. Nest he used weights of different sizes to measure their individual strength. As all students moved from table to table to observe results for each team, the momentum increased and waves of excitement filled the gymnasium. As cheers and murmurs of anticipation filled the room, students from both schools identified the many elements that contributed to their team accomplishments.

Later that same day, two Fuchun Primary students presented a slideshow about their community and their school’s history. Students were pleased when they recognised that both schools have CCA blocks that include sports, arts and aspects of student leadership. In celebration of Singaporean culture, Fuchun students also taught TK students two traditional Singaporean games: 5 stones and chapteh. They were delighted to learn that despite being at very different schools, they shared similar values.

All students participated in a reflection time towards the end of the visit, and students from both schools captured the essence of why this type of collaboration is so meaningful. Students shared openly what aspects of the visit they would remember in five years. Some TK students commented on how great it felt to meet local school students and to make new friends by “building bridges”. Other students mentioned the great challenge of experimenting with design factors to find out which techniques are best in the construction of a sturdy bridge.

Fuchun Primary School administrator, Mrs. Zarina Abu Bakar (a Tanjong Katong Girls School alumnae), who visited with students, shared inspiring words about the continued growth of the TK - Fuchun Primary Partnership:

“Thanks so much for hosting our pupils. They really enjoyed themselves. Through the hands-on curricular approach (STEAM), pupils not only interacted with each other, but they also worked together as a team and used their creativity and imagination to construct a bridge. One group of pupils were able to construct a bridge that could hold 5kg of weight! Thank you for providing a platform for our pupils to interact with yours to learn from each other.”

A heartfelt thank you is extended to Mrs. Christene Tipping (Grade 5 Lead Teacher), Mr. Ben Cooperman (STEAM specialist) and all students for their flexibility, enthusiasm and interactive contributions, which were vital to the success of this event!

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