Day 3 ( 14 September 2010 )

Greetings from Perth! Rise and shine at 5.30am. Chilly weather with a lots of sunshine though... Back at Endeavour School, Mr Hansen, the principal gave all of us a treat to the traditional Australian 'Limmington Cake'. It is a sponge cake covered with chocolate and grated coconut. "Yummy!"
Back in the artroom, everyone let down their hair and got their hands dirty doing some fun-filled printing lessons.

After lunch at Harbourtown Shopping Mall, we went to the Victorian-era Mammal Gallery at the Western Australian Museum. The pupils were fascinated by the huge and varied displays of primitive-age mammals skeleton models and their fossils. They even touched dinosaur 'poo' which after years of landscape, weather and environmental changes had become a 'stone'! Imagine having an artifact at present time which discreetly tells a history of life long ago...

Here, Vienna is being bitten by a native mammal. "Ouch! That hurts!"

A stone's throw away from the museum is one of the busy shopping streets in Perth. The street is flanked with shops along both sides of the walkway and a bronze sculpture of a man doing a hand-stand in the middle. This street is like our Orchard Road (minus the nudging crowd). Our pupils got themselves warm and cosy and started assimilating the beautiful sight of some victorian, renaissance and contemporary buildings. Then their pencils started doodling. VOILA! An artist in the making...

Look at how engrossed the pupils were!

Right after sketching, we proceeded to a nearby Indonesian restaurant for our 'tuka'. We had ayam goreng (fried chicken), beef rendang, omelette and some vegetables with fruits as dessert. It was simply heavenly... Cheers!

Then it was meeting time and bedtime. Goodnight!

Day 2 ( 13 September 2010 ) Part 1

Up and about at 5.30am on Monday. Everyone had a scrumptious breakfast at The Esplanade Hotel Cafe. It was a cold, windy and frosty morning with vapour spouting from the everyone's mouth when we were outdoor.
After breakfast, we proceeded to Endeavour School, a 45-minute drive from where we stay, for our long-awaited school immersion programme. The children were very EXCITED!!!

Mr Hansen, the school principal greeted us with a warm welcome and jovially, he introduced our pupils to their Australian buddies. Our pupils were quite reticent at the beginning...

But soon the ice melted... and they interacted enthusiastically.

Then the children were led to their classes and had their lessons with their Australian counterparts. It was indeed an enriching experience!

Day 2 ( 13 September 2010 ) Part 2

The pupils had their 'maiden'art lessson with their buddies and the Australian Art Specialist, Mrs O.S and Mrs Ryan. They taught the children with enormous creativity, love and patience. Everyone was engaged and on-tasked. All the pupils love her VERY MUCH!


Pupils had tea breaks with the Australian kids and for lunch, our pupils had prepacked food from 'Rooster', the Australian version of our 'KFC'. Then we headed out for Secret Harbour. It was an awe-inspiring sight with huge waves and wind. We even spotted a brave youngster riding the waves at the freezing temperature of about 13 degree celsius on top of the strong gust. Children posed for photo takes and enjoyed sinking their feet into the fine sand.

Our next destination was one of Perth's must-visit attraction, King's Park. Children had an opportunity to sit on the soft and beautiful carpet grass to sketch the surroundings. It was truly a memorable sight we would not want to forget or miss.

Soon, darkness enveloped and we had to proceed to 'Love & Care Restaurant' for our 'tuka', meaning food in the Australian native language. The children had a fulfilling dinner...

Among us was a shy and reserved birthday boy, Lucas. We sprang a surprise on him and bought a chocolate cake... JUST FOR HIM. We were so envious...

Day 1 (12 September 2010) Perth Trip

On 12 September 2010, 28 visual arts students embarked on a visual arts learning journey to Perth. Here are some of the highlights for day 1 of the trip. Enjoy!

Enthusiastic students are waiting to enter the gate (C20) at Singapore Changi Airport.

First destination after the arrival.

Students are given some time to sketch kangaroos. Guides at the Caversham Wildlife park offered educational commentaries about the habitats of the famous animals such as the Koalas, wombats as well as the kangaroos.


Here are some students doing a live sketching of the kangaroos.

Group photo at Caversham Wildlife Park.

There will be more pictures to be uploaded on the school website. Stay tuned

Communication Tool for Updates

Dear Parents of the VA Club members,

this blog will serve as updates for your child who will be embarking on the

learning journey to Perth.

Pictures and news will be updated daily so as you can know how the day

went for your child.

The teachers-in-charge will be posting entries whenever there's an

internet connection available.

We understand your concerns of the easy accessibility to contact your

child.

However, we are unable to give you direct phone numbers of the

teachers.

You can call Admiralty Primary School during school hours and they will

contact us if there's a need to.

You can also call the hotel we are occupying in the evening if there's a

need for you to talk to your child.

Rest assured, we will try our very best to have this learning journey, a

safe and enriching experience for your

child.

It may be their first time being away from Singapore and their family.

But here are some of the things your child may gain from this trip.

1) Increased self confidence – having to face up to new challenges alone is difficult for any of us at any age, but for students and young people the challenge can be so incredibly rewarding and it can build significant self confidence. Those who take the challenge and accepting all the tests that decision can bring, end up coming out of the experience so much stronger.

2) Increased maturity – it may be just five days but they will learn a great deal about another country, culture and people, about themselves and about getting things done. This naturally leads to a rapid advancement in terms of gaining maturity, and this stands an individual in good stead for the immediate and long-term future.

3) Develop a broader mind – they say travel broadens the mind, and for youngsters who go abroad on their own and are willing to remain open and accepting of change and cultural differences, the experience can indeed be mind altering! Those who get a chance to go abroad at a young age have a much broader view of the world and don’t just see things in relation to their own home environment.

4) Learn more about different cultures and values – as part of the concept of travel expanding the mind, those who spend some time abroad in a different culture begin to better understand their own culture and their own values and biases as well as those of their nation as a whole. This enables one to get things more in perspective in life, and appreciate that we are all individuals, we are all different, and we all deserve the same amount of respect.

5) Make more friends – anyone who embraces the idea of going overseas for a period of time will find that they make so many more friends! It is par for the course when living in a new country that you will seek out those who can make the experience easier and more fun – and in so doing an individual immediately vastly widens their circle of friends, and for many people these friendships exist for life and are life enhancing!

6) Learn new skills – some people who travels learn so much more than just the languages, they learn new skills and passions that influence the whole of the rest of their life.

7) Acquire a lifetime of benefits!Finally, it seems that those who get a chance to go overseas gain so many rounding experiences and skills that their lives are positively and profoundly altered forever.

Hope you will find this entry useful for your reading pleasure.

Countdown to the Learning Journey

Dear VA Club Members,

as we are approaching to 12 September 2010, don't forget to pack all your luggage and backpack.

Remember, you are not allowed to bring any food items with you.

Do bring along your art bag and your art materials with you.

I believe all of you are so excited now.

To all parents -

The flight will be at 0900 hr.

The pupils will be boarding Qantas Airways Flight Number 72.

They will be assembling in school at 0500 hrs.

To all those who want to see them off, you can be there at 0600hrs at Terminal 1 Row 10.

Please be punctual so as we can have a smooth and safe journey to Perth.

Learning Journey to Perth, Australia

The VA Club members are going on a Learning Journey to Perth, Australia. These pupils are specially selected to embark on this journey so as to polish up their skills and techniques in art. These are the 28 pupils who are leaving on a jet plane this Sunday, 12 September.

Hope the pupils will be having a fruitful and beneficial learning experience in Perth.

Bon Voyage!