The Singapore Study Tour gave our Year 6 students the opportunity to experience the richness and diversity of life in Singapore while developing a broader understanding of Asian cultures and communities.
The Singapore Study Tour is an incredible opportunity for our Year 6 students to learn, explore, and grow beyond the classroom The study tour provides our students with the opportunity to experience the richness and diversity of Asian cultures and communities, helping them appreciate differences, develop greater cultural understanding, and broaden their worldview.
We began the tour with a visit to the Australian International School, where our students participated in activities alongside year four and year six AIS students.
We established a long partnership with the students from AIS by drawing what Singapore and Darwin City would look like combined together, and we learnt about their interests.
We used traits from Darwin and traits from Singapore cities to make one big city, where we looked at all the ways to get around, all the different parks and pools, and things like that. It was great to see our students confidently communicating, making connections, and sharing their experiences of life at Larrakeyah Primary School, while learning about life in Singapore firsthand.
We also got together and talked with the other students, getting to know each other, and it was honestly a great time there.
Our cultural day was another highlight, with students visiting Chinatown and Little India, learning on the ground what life is like, and the history of Singapore. We learnt about their culture, their history, and their different types of food.
The food was very diverse. There was a lot of different types of meals. There was, like, laksa’s. There was Hainanese chicken rice. There was dumplings. A lot of different things. And it was honestly great to try and open our palate and try something different there.
An important part of the tour is also developing students’ independence and responsibility. While traveling, students are required to organize themselves, manage their belongings, be punctual, and make sensible decisions throughout each day. They also are responsible for budgeting for their own spending money, making choices about what they purchase, and understanding that they may need to manage their money across their entire tour.
We learned how to have more self-dependence, how to, like, spend our money better, and because if we were going to spend our money, we thought, “Was it really profitable?”, “Is it healthy for us?” And we thought things like that.
As teachers, it has been great to see students developing these skills in real-world situations. They are learning that independence comes with responsibility, and that the choices they make have consequences.
The impact was that how we learnt about all the different cultures, how we could handle money, and how to, like, safely board trains and trams.
Of course, there’s plenty of time for enjoyment and fun too.
We went to Universal, we went to Chinatown, we went to see the Supertree light show at the Gardens by the Bay, and we went to the Singapore Zoo.
My favorite thing to do in Singapore was definitely go to Universal. There, I got to see all those crazy rides, seeing the reactions of other people, and really having a fun time with all the friendly themes there.
As a teacher, it’s incredibly rewarding each year to watch students grow and step out of their comfort zones, embrace new experiences, and develop confidence throughout the tour, becoming global citizens and representing our school with pride.
