School visit: Montfort Junior School

My second school visit was to Montfort Junior School. On this day, I was given a tour of the school, which was great to see all that the school had to offer! This post has a lot of photos to document my school visit.

First, I visited a P3 (3rd grade) class that was studying states of matter for science.

The teacher used powerpoint slides to organize and facilitate the lesson as students worked in groups to think about what things have mass, and create lists of things that have matter that they can find in the classroom, at home, and in the outdoors. Students kept science notebooks where they recorded important science definitions and concepts.










The second class I visited was a P6 (5th grade) class that was studying cells. This class used the school's science lab rooms to look at pre-made slides of different types of cells under a microscope.

There were 40 students in the P5 class, which seems to be the standard class size in Singapore. First, students rotated around the 8 lab tables to observe cells. Then, in the hallway, students were given pieces of paper with an organelle written on it. Students were to act out that organelle (without talking!) to try to find their matching partner. Once they found their partner, they went back into the lab to watch a powerpoint slideshow by their teacher explain some of what they had seen under the microscopes.






After the class, I was given a tour of the entire school building. Here are some photos of some of the interesting spots!

Students don't eat lunch at school (their day ends around 1:30pm) unless they stay for after school tutoring or clubs/activities. So, during their morning recess they have a pretty substantial snack, which looked like lunch to me! They had so many multicultural food stalls to choose hot, cooked food from. I enjoyed a peach iced tea. It was raining, otherwise students can play in the school courtyard during their recess. Today students stayed at the tables or in the hallways.







All of the primary schools in Singapore have an eco-trail at their school. Montforte used their outdoor space as learning space.

On the top is the school's eco-trail and stairwell. Below are photos of their butterfly garden. They initially had fabric to enclose the butterfly garden, but it didn't work, so now they just have it as an open garden with butterfly-friendly plants to attract butterflies.







Here are some other things I though were interesting!

The top pictures here show the "LEGO" room. It was donated by an alumnus to the school. In the LEGO room students can go during their free time/recess time to build things out of legos. Parent volunteers staff the room.

The bottom pictures are of the school's project of growing corn on their rooftop. Each year they grow corn, harvest it, and record their data.

Clockwise from left, a photo inside their school library, the teacher room (teachers do not have their personal work desks in their classrooms, they have them in a very large shared workspace... it's nice to know teachers' desks look the same around the world, though!).

The bottom photos are of the school's "Innovation Room." Teachers can bring their students to the room when they want to encourage their students to think differently and creatively. See the pink thing hanging from the lights? That can be lowered like a tent for when student groups want to work in secret!



Lastly, as different at some things might have seen in Singapore, there was also a sense of familiarity. Below, I met the teacher who is basically the school's "Mrs. Hansel" (our reading recovery teacher). She works with the students who need extra support in English literacy.

I also saw that Montforte also has an Environmental Club, just like us! I am very thankful to the teachers and school for opening their classrooms and school to me!