The "Creativity, No Boundaries!" National Children's Story Writing Competition & National Vlog Competition for Singapore Primary School Students Award Presentation Ceremony cum Launching of the Chinese Graded Readers was successfully held on 16 September 2022 at Ministry of Education Edutorium. The event was jointly organised by Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (SCCL) and the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL). The Guest-of-Honour was Ms Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Manpower, Chairperson, CPCLL. Other distinguished guests included Dr Foo Suan Fong (Executive Director, SCCL), Dr Jocelyn Lim (Deputy Director, Mother Tongue Languages Branch, Curriculum Planning and Development Division, Ministry of Education), Ms Wu Xinping Jennifer (Deputy Director, Mother Tongue Languages Branch, Curriculum Planning and Development Division, Ministry of Education), and Dr Neo Peng Fu (Director, Confucius Institute, Nanyang Technological University).

          There are a total of 36 distinguished achievement awards and excellence awards presented to the student and open categories of the "Creativity, No Boundaries!" National Children's Story Writing Competition as well as 24 winning entries in the three categories of the National Vlog Competition for Singapore Primary School Students. Besides the first, second, third place and five excellence awards, there is a Viewer' Choice Award for each category. Minister Gan presented trophies and certificates to the winners of the two competitions, and presided over the launch of the newly published "Unboxing the Treasured Memories" Graded Picture Book Series (Grade 1-3) with other distinguished guests.

          One of the highlights was the sharing session by Master Teacher Mr Zhou Enguo on how to use the graded reader in teaching. The representatives of the panel of judges, Mr Ace Khong and Ms Tarin Teo (Lecturer, Ngee Ann Polytechnic), were invited to share their comments on the entries of the two competitions respectively. Afterward, the awardees of the story writing competition shared their inspiration for their stories. They are Wang Borui Borain (Bukit Timah Primary School), Ryan Teo Wen Hao (Marsiling Secondary School), Sun Zhiwei (Open Category), and Chen Le, Sean Zhang Ling Cheng (Open Category: Parent-Child).

          A video recorded by the vlog competition's awardees was being played on the ceremony. The winners of the three categories: Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), Kong Hwa School, and West Spring Primary School, shared their creative processes and thoughts in the video.

          Besides the awardees, the judges for the competitions, the illustrators, teachers and parents also turned up. The event attracted around 400 participants.

          42 sets of "Unboxing the Treasured Memories" Graded Picture Book Series (Grade 1-3) were delivered to each and every primary schools under MOE. Teachers are welcomed to watch the re-recorded video of Mr Zhou's sharing on SCCL Youtube Channel for reference.

          The "Unboxing the Treasured Memories" Graded Picture Book Series (Grade 4-6) will be launched in September 2023 tentatively.

 

Group photo of the awardees of National Vlog Competition for Singapore Primary School Students with Minister Gan Siow Huang, the distinguished guests, and the judges

Group photo of the awardees of "Creativity, No Boundaries!" National Children's Story Writing Competition with Minister Gan Siow Huang, the distinguished guests, and the judges

 

Launching of "Unboxing the Treasured Memories" Graded Picture Book Series (Grade 1-3)
From left: Ms Wu Xinping Jennifer, Dr Jocelyn Lim, Minister Gan Siow Huang, Dr Foo Suan Fong,
and Dr Neo Peng Fu

  

Master Teacher Mr Zhou Enguo sharing how to use the graded reader in teaching

  

Mr Ace Khong, the representatives of the panel of judges, sharing his comments on the entries of the "Creativity, No Boundaries!" National Children's Story Writing Competition

  

Ms Tarin Teo, the representatives of the panel of judges, sharing her comments on the entries of National Vlog Competition for Singapore Primary School Students Award