eInternationalisation

Regent Secondary School had its first inaugural Internationalisation Programme with students from Botany Downs Secondary College, Auckland, New Zealand at the end of Semester 1 this year.

The Internationalisation Programme aims to equip Regenites with a global perspective. With globalisation, students will need to possess multi-cultural literacy and the use of technology which is becoming increasingly important. Bearing the concept that “The World is my Classroom”, this international exposure provides opportunities for students to engage in real-world application of knowledge, skills and values which will be beneficial academically and holistically.

After the opening addresses by our Principal, Mr Leong Kok Kee and Head of Social Sciences of Botany Downs Secondary School College, Ms Karen Douglas, the sharing commenced and students had the chance to interact with each other and share about their country, their school life and environmental sustainability.

From Regent Secondary School

One of the students, Bryan Wong (3-Integrity) said, "It was good to meet them ‘live’ on-screen and to share with them about our hawker culture and interesting places in Singapore. We also introduced them to Regent Secondary School. I hope that we will be able to interact further with Botany Secondary School students in future and forge new friendships with them.”

Environmental Sciences CCA leaders, Joeie Neo (3G) and Grier Quah (3-Empathy), shared, "I liked the sharing on environmental sustainability in Botany Downs Secondary Collège and hope to implement some of their ideas in our school. When I knew that I was selected to participate in the e-internalization program, I had a mixed feelings of excitement and being nervous. Throughout this e-internalization, I gained a better understanding of what New Zealand schools are doing to protect the environment and observed how their lifestyles are very different from ours."

Kar Yan (3 Empathy) noted, “The students were very friendly. Initially, I was scared and nervous, but I overcame this when I realized that they were students of the same age. They were open to sharing of their learning experiences and I hope to meet them one day.”

From Botany Downs Secondary College

It was fun to see how they spend their mornings in Singapore. I liked their uniforms because they were very classy and looked excellent. It was fascinating learning about Singapore. Singapore looks like a great place to live and learn. I now want to move there, they made it so appealing. - Maddy

I really enjoyed listening to the entire presentation and meeting people from a different part of the world. I learnt a lot about Singapore and how they spend their mornings quite differently from ours. It gave me an opportunity to compare how our life is in New Zealand to theirs in Singapore. I particularly liked the uniform and the presentation about the different types of foods you can get in street stalls and restaurants. I was quite surprised but impressed with the ban on chewing gum and how people abided to the rule. Overall, I think this was a really great opportunity to meet new people from around the world and compare how different our lives are. - Nyesa

I really liked learning all of the new information about Singapore and their way of life. It was nice hearing about the culture and the food along with the tourist attractions as well. Their school life was the most intriguing to hear about since it was so starkly different from ours in New Zealand. They have so many eco and environment programs and competitions in school. Hearing about the mix of cultures and food was also quite nice since New Zealand is also a mix of cultures and religions. Looking at the presentation slides about food made me quite hungry since the pictures made the food looked so delicious. Overall, it was a very entertaining session where everyone learned something and enjoyed themselves. - Raunaq

In conclusion, as it was a first for us, we were very pleased to hear positive comments from both schools. Though we were on a tight schedule, it was a good start to allow our students to connect with students from another side of the world. It was heartening to see the students expressing interests in having another ZOOM meeting with their new friends, exchanging emails and Instagram accounts to keep in touch and maintain this new friendship.