NE Commerative Events
International Friendship Day (IFD) celebrates the friendship that Singapore shares with its neighbouring countries and schools are encouraged to commemorate this by having programmes for students to understand the cultures of these nations. In the Primary school setting, IFD provides an opportunity for students to learn about and appreciate other cultures in cosmopolitan Singapore. Schools nurture the spirit of friendship and collaboration among different peoples through this celebration and also guide them to keep an open mindset and express an appreciation of the contributions of foreigners living, working and studying in Singapore.
IFD has a strong showing each year in Queenstown Primary School (QtPS) due its strong support and partnership with its Parent Support Group (PSG). One unique feature that QtPS possesses is the diverse backgrounds that students come from. Many schools focus on the 10 ASEAN countries but QtPS brings this celebration one step further by garnering support from its multi-cultural PSG community. QtPS celebrates IFD through our assembly programme and various recess activities but the highlight is the IFD fair set up by the various PSG members.
The booths are painstakingly set up and embellished with items specially identified as a representative of the culture of the various nationalities. To guide our students in their cultural quests for learning. “Passports” are issued at the beginning of the session and students get a stamp only after they have visited a country’s booth and interacted with the parents and the exhibits. Fun and interactive quizzes are also designed to evaluate what students have learnt from the various booths. Through this fair, the students deepen their learning and appreciation of the cultural diversities surrounding them. Apart from the 10 ASEAN countries, nationalities that are featured in this exhibition include Spain, Peru, Japan and even Denmark.