Display Boards

With the furnitures unpacked, the teachers began working to transform the space into the learning environment that we are more familiar with. We decided to start decorating the display boards, in accordance with the educational theme of Plants for the months of April and May. With Ms Wong back, we are now operating at full force based on our initial staffing plan.

The teachers started conceptualising the design of the display board on Monday afternoon, ran out quickly to Popular to acquire the necesssary materials, came back and immediately got to work.

Even then, it took them till Tuesday afternoon to complete the two boards for the Nursery 1 class, where the focus will be on the things that we find "in the garden". Once we have children enrolled, the display boards will then have a larger component of children's work.

And with Xiao Laoshi here, we have the Chinese language represented on the boards too. So it's one class display board completed, and four more to go!

Over the weekend, with Ms Kiang's assistance, we managed to unpack and assemble all the furnitures, and distribute them to the various classrooms. They include toy shelves, cubbies, shoe racks, tables and chairs, book display shelves, teachers' cupboards, a selection which we can see here.

The big shoe rack is one of the heaviest items, but even the smaller one was backbreaking.

New cubby shelves for the children to put their bags and all sorts of barang-barang that they bring to school.

Good news teachers. You get new cupboards too!

It Takes a Village 1

Mrs Jen Hoult, mother of William, Edward and Lachlan, described Mothergoose as a "community for those of us with children who attend it." Looking back, we were really fortunate at Mothergoose to be able to rely on the goodwill and network of relationships with parents and families, that have been built up over a period of 26 years.

Orion Preschool, while inheriting a large chunk of the Mothergoose DNA, will now embark on a journey to build a name for ourselves. As we tread along a path that is unfamiliar and at times daunting, it gives us great comfort and encouragement when old friends turn up along the way to cheer us on, be it in terms of material, physical, or even just words of support.

Even before the dust has settled on the renovation works, we had an impromptu morning visit from Mrs Khee and Evann. Evann was previously attending Nursery One at Mothergoose, before the school ceased operating. Making their way carefully between piles of construction debris and tins of paint, they thus became our first visitors to tour the school premises!

Evann posing for a photo with mummy in front of the school building. Like many parents, Mrs Khee has always kept in touch with messages of support and encouragement throughout this time.

A few parents have informed us that they will be contributing used toys, books and even kitchen equipment to the new school. Mr Yong, father of Ryan and Keith, patiently waited more than a month for our premises to be ready, and then personally delivered the materials to the school last week.

Mr Yong brought a whole carload of things that Ryan and Keith have outgrown, including furnitures, toys, books and DVDs. It'll take us some time to sort through these stuff!

Fortunately (or unfortunately), Mr Yong arrived just before the lorry came to deliver our new school furnitures, and was therefore unwittingly roped in to help unload the packages from the lorry. As the delivery was confirmed at short notice, we had only managed to find another gentleman to come and assist with the heavy lifting. Interestingly, Wee Siong, who readily answered the call for help, also has links with Mothergoose. He is the uncle of two Mothergoose alumni.

BEFORE: Our unloading crew, posing quite happily before the lorry came. They still don't know what's to come! From left: Xiao Laoshi, Mrs Poh, Mr Yong, Wee Siong.

AFTER: Spot the difference. The same team, after unloading 46 packages from the lorry.

These are just part of the 46 packages. How did preschool furnitures become so huge and heavy?

There will be many more parents and families to acknowledge and thank by the time we get our licence to operate. But, even if you just happen to be in this area, do pop in and say hello!