Citizenship
Discover how Park View Primary School builds national pride and identity through its Citizenship Education programme, using the CITE approach to engage pupils in Singapore's story.
The purpose of National Education is to develop national cohesion, the instinct for survival and confidence in the future by:
Fostering a sense of identity, pride and self-respect in being Singaporeans;
Relating the Singapore story: how Singapore succeeded against odds to become a nation;
Understanding Singapore’s unique challenges, constraints and vulnerabilities, which make us different from other countries; and
Instilling the core values of our way of life and the will to prevail, all of which ensure our continued success and well-being.
In Park View Primary School, we adopt the CITE (Create, Integrate, Teach and Experience) approach for our National (Citizenship) Education Programme. The CITE approach consists of the following:
Create an awareness of NE in our pupils through the various NE programmes like class pledge-taking, commemoration of core-NE events, NE Talks and reflections etc.
Integrate NE into our curriculum in the form of inter-departmental ownership for NE activities such as Young Nation Builder Card.
Teach our teachers with the necessary skills to conduct NE programmes and Social Studies lessons so that our pupils will enjoy and be engaged in their NESS activities and lessons.
Experience NE and learn about the uniqueness of Singapore through learning journeys. Through these experiential journeys, it is hoped that our pupils will learn more about the respective races, practices and cultures, and learn the value of respect and thus appreciate the different races in our multi-racial and cultural Singapore.
Young Nation Series
Young Nation Builder Card (YNBC) Programme (2007 – 2014)
The Young Nation Builder Card is Park View Primary School’s very own inaugural set of National Education (NE)/ Social Studies (SS) activity cards to let our pupils learn about NE and SS in a fun and engaging way. The school adopted a whole-school approach in promoting NE and SS through the use of the differentiated Young Nation Builder Cards for the respective levels.
In 2011, it was refined to another version which includes:
Alignment to Shared Values
Ownership of NE Message and
Use of ICT for learning
Young Nation Series (YNS) Programme (2015)
In 2014, the school decided that further refinements had to be made to align the YNBC to the changing CCE landscape and also to cater to our pupils’ learning needs. Focus group discussions were held with pupils, parents & teachers to gain insights on how we can further enhance the YNBC programme.
The revamped Young Nation Series (YNS) comprises of a series of 6 booklets. The key changes comprise of both curriculum and administrative changes:
Curriculum changes:
Alignment of tasks to the CCE Domains and CCE Learning Outcomes
Incorporation of NE Core Events, Learning Journeys and NE corners around the school.
Integration of Family Time component for greater home-school partnership
Infusion of Art & ICT to make the experience more engaging and interactive
Family Time component have been integrated with tasks from every level
Administrative changes
Booklets provide a one-stop documentation of pupils’ consolidated answers and learning so that it is easier for both teachers and pupils to track their learning.
Tasks in the YNB have been scheduled to be done by EL teachers during SS lessons on a monthly basis
Provision of guidelines for completion of tasks to better scaffold pupils’ learning.
The new features of the booklets also include:-
Differentiated designs of both cover page and title
- P1 Young Nation Seeker
- P2 Young Nation Adventurer
- P3 Young Nation Explorer
- P4 Young Nation Builder
- P5 Young Nation Traveller
- P6 Young Nation Voyager
National Education Resources
In order to reinforce the importance of National Education (NE) and Social Studies (SS) amongst its pupils, Park View Primary school sought to make SS and NE more pervasive in the school by building a vibrant and lively school environment, steeped in NE and SS elements.
Unravel Singapore Stamps
USS is a stamp display cabinet that showcases a wide array of stamps that are updated according to the events in the school calendar. Each stamp is accompanied by a write-up to explain its’ significance. While the lower primary will be involved in a quiz during recess, the upper primary will scan a QR code and answer the quiz via their smartphones or tablets.
World@PVPS
World@PVPS is a corner set up to promote integration amongst the locals and the International Students. The 2 storey corner has headings such as Currency, Famous Places, Famous Leaders, Costumes, Languages, Symbols and Food. Each term, 2 countries will be selected and the facts will be displayed around the corner. The corner is promoted during recess whereby traditional games from the displayed countries, videos and quizzes are held.
Roundabout Singapore
As you walk or drive around our roundabout, you would notice metallic display boards flashing information on famous places and icons in Singapore. These fun facts are often read and enjoyed by our pupils who play around the roundabout during their recesses.
Campaign Trail
The campaign trail begins from the school’s main gate and stretches along a covered walkway all the way to the school canteen. It showcases familiar and endearing campaign posters of the past. On display are a total of 10 large-sized campaign posters dating from 1977 to the early 1990s, each addressing different issues concerning Singapore at that time. Posters were used as they are powerful tools persuasion, and significant and familiar feature of Singaporean life.
NE Corner
Our NE corner at level 3 brings pupils on a journey from the 1800s to the colonial times and finally to Modern Singapore. The timeline provides our pupils with the essential knowledge on the transformation of our nation. There are also traditional artefacts and games displayed at the corner. Pupils get a chance to mingle with their peers and play the games that their parents played while growing up. There is also a segment on ASEAN nations whereby pupils can learn about Singapore’s friends around the region.
Integration of International Students
PVPS Family of International Students
Our school philosophy states, “Every Child Matters.” Be it Local or International Students(IS), Park View Primary School recognizes the needs of every child and provides the platform for them to fulfill it . We believe that it is vital to integrate IS to school life and life in Singapore. Therefore, PVPS creates the opportunities for the IS to interact with Singaporeans and also provide them with the opportunity to forge emotional ties with Singapore through the various programmes that we have in place.
Reflections from our IS parents
“Park View is a very good school and is very well-organized. We are from Malaysia and we are very glad that our child is in Park View.”
– Victoria Hwang parent of Hwang Zhe Hui from Malaysia
“I feel my child is fortunate to be a part of PVPS!! I am impressed with the Principal & staff & the performances.”
- Shailey Luthra parent of Ayanna Luthra from India
“It is a great performance and as International Student, it is a good experience. Thanks for inviting the parents. We enjoyed a lot.”
NE Learning Journeys
In Park View, we provide an opportunity for our pupils to acquire and experience National Education through fun and interactive learning journeys. At the end of a pupils’ primary education, he/she would be equipped with the necessary knowledge to appreciate and understand the cultural diversities. Let us now take a look at our pupils’ P3-P6 learning journeys.
P3 LJ to Singapore Discovery Centre – Total Defence Day
At the ripe age of 9, our pupils annually attend the Total Defence Day Exhibitions at the Singapore Discovery Centre.
This experience:
Highlights the progress of Total Defence over the years and illustrates how it has contributed to our country’s development
Ignite pupils’ awareness of their potential as agents for change and challenge them to play a greater role in Total Defence
Builds a sense of confidence in Singapore’s ability to continue thriving
P4 LJ to Singapore Discovery Centre – Racial Harmony Day
1 of our 6 NE Core Message states that, ‘We must always preserve Racial and Religious harmony’. It is imperative for our pupils to know the importance of understanding our differences and not let it hinder our unity. Therefore, as our pupils mature at P4, they will go for the Racial Harmony Day Exhibitions at Singapore Discovery Centre.
This experience:-
provides an awareness of the consequences of a breakdown in racial and religious harmony
drives home the message on the importance of peaceful co-existence for different races and religions
highlights the danger of taking racial and religious harmony for granted
P4 Heritage LJ to Kampong Glam
As part of their Children’s Day celebrations, P4 pupils will go to Kampong Glam to get to know more about the Malay culture through food, fashion and music. Pupils will tour Malay cultural sites and explore the trade and occupations in Kampong Glam. They will also witness the different architectures of the residential and commercial sites. This experience allows our pupils to:-
discover the rich and vibrant heritage of our early Malay settlers
learn more about the Malay musical instruments, costumes and handicraft
use mathematics in context to solve inter-disciplinary word problems
experience how different races interact with one another in Singapore
P5 Heritage LJ to Little India
As part of their Children’s Day celebrations, P5 pupils will go to Little India to get to know more about the Indian culture through food, fashion and music. Pupils will tour Indian cultural sites and observe preparations leading to Deepavali. They will also understand the existence of various religious sites along Serangoon Road such as temple, church and mosques.
This experience allows our pupils to:-
discover the rich and vibrant heritage of the Indian community
learn about the dried spices and their traditional uses by the local community
use mathematics in context to solve inter-disciplinary word problems
appreciate how the different races live harmoniously together by respecting and valuing our differences
P6 Heritage LJ to Chinatown
Our P6 pupils bring their NE Learning Journey experience to an end by touring Chinatown. Apart from knowing about the past and present of Chinatown, cuisine, costume, architecture and religion, pupils also visit places of worship of the 3 main races.
This experience helps our pupils to:-
appreciate our heritage and the cultural diversity of the different ethnic communities living in Singapore
appreciate the importance of groups and individuals in the community
understand and appreciate the beliefs, customs and traditions belonging to the communities of Singapore
value Singapore’s socio-cultural diversity, and promote social cohesion and harmony