The COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore has impacted our lives in many aspects - how we lead our lifestyles, the state of our mental well-being and social interactions with one another. In February when the cases of the coronavirus were reportedly on the rise in Singapore, the pre-schools stepped up on the precautionary measures to ensure a healthy, hygienic and safe environment for the children and staff.
To raise the children’s awareness of the coronavirus, the teachers informed the children of the most current COVID-19 situation locally as well as across the globe during our Current Affairs. One of the topics that we discussed was the contribution of frontline workers who worked long hours and beyond in providing the essential services to the people amid the tough times during COVID-19. The teachers checked in with the students on their prior understanding on who the frontline workers are and what services they provide. One of the frontline jobs that were highly regarded by the children as critically important roles were the healthcare workers, as the children reasoned that the doctors, nurses, paramedic and other healthcare professionals helped to care for the patients who are diagnosed with COVID-19, day and night.
Discussion with children on the Current Issue ‘Appreciation for the Frontline Workers’
Displays of children’s afterthoughts on the Current Affairs Boards in K1 and K2 classrooms
As we talked about how these frontline workers made huge sacrifices in battling against the COVID-19 pandemic to help others, the children were also motivated to do their parts to reach out to the frontline workers and show their appreciation to them. We are thankful to Be Kind SG for their great initiative in rallying Singaporeans’ support for the healthcare workers and putting up care packages for the staff at National Centre for Infectious Diseases and Tan Tock Seng Hospital. We are also grateful for this wonderful platform to channel our thankfulness and messages across to the frontline workers effectively.
When the children were told of their ‘little mission’ to cheer up the frontline workers, they were extremely excited and happy that they could contribute a part to brighten up someone else’s day with a simple gesture no matter how small they are.
The K1 and K2 children worked harmoniously together to draw and write words of appreciation on their thank-you cards.
Some #shoutouts from our lovely children to the frontline workers:
“Take care of yourself!”
“Thank you for helping us!”
“You are special!”
Though the children were unable to present the personalized thank-you cards to the healthcare workers in hand in view of COVID-19, the teachers shared with them on how their kind actions and thoughts were appreciated by the organiser as well as liked by many others on the social media through Facebook. The teachers also read to the children a thankful note from one of the recipients of their thank-you cards together with the care package and that made the children’s day!
What further flutters and warms the little hearts of the children was that one of their appreciation cards was honourably signed by our dear President, Madam Halimah Yacob!
“Love makes the world go round, if everyone takes a little time to care. The battle against COVID-19 will be long, but let’s stay united and overcome this as one.”
Disclaimer:
Photos of the activities were taken before implementation of the COVID-19 measures of social distancing and wearing a mask.
