Xingnan Pri Sch is the only school in Singapore that offers Diabolo a CCA.

Mr Gau (centre) and PSG members in front of the International Friendship Panel.

新加坡 Schoolbag 來採訪醒南小學 Parent Support Group-PSG （ 家長會 ）
將醒南家長會的功能，在學校所參與的活動,
以及家長會如何發揮溝通協調的角色,
幫助移民到新加坡的孩子及家長們適應此地的學習環境,
Schoolbag 做了一小時的訪談，文章出爐了，内容轉貼如下：

Parent Support - from across the World

Whenever students enter Xingnan Primary School,
they walk past the eye-catching International Friendship Panel,
a wall that features, among other items, a world map and 14 national flags.
This is no geography or general knowledge display;
each flag represents a country where the school’s international students hail from.
Malaysia, China, Myanmar, India, Australia, Taiwan and Korea - they’re all here.

The panel symbolises the friendship the school extends not only to its students,
but also to their parents.
The school’s Parent Support Group (PSG) has made it a point to actively
reach out to the parents of international students,
who now comprise almost half its membership.

Explaining the move to reach out to the international parents,
Principal Mr Gau Poh Teck says,
“In recent years, we’ve had more international students joining the school.
We were thinking about how to help them adjust well in school.
We thought if we involve the parents,
let them have a good understanding of Singapore’s education system and how they can contribute to their children’s learning,
then we should be able to better integrate the international students.

秀英，扯鈴隊的學生代表和我

International parents do their part

Some international parents feel so at home in the PSG that they continue to contribute
to the group even though their children have long graduated from the school.
Take for example Mrs Teo Hsiu Ying and Mrs Mandy Chen, both from Taiwan.
They have three children each and are active members of the PSG.
Mrs Teo is a former committee member while Mrs Chen is currently the PSG vice-chairman.

In 2003, Mrs Teo and Mrs Chen founded a new CCA, the Diabolo Club.
Students learn to juggle the diabolo,
whirling and tossing a spool on a string tied to two sticks, one held in each hand.

Today, the Diabolo Club has 80 members of all races.
Despite their children having graduated from the school (except for Mrs Chen's youngest child),
Mrs Teo and Mrs Chen continue to train students in the art of juggling the diabolo.
The students are so good that they have been invited to perform at public events,
and Xingnan Primary School is the only school in Singapore that offers such a CCA.

Reflecting on the PSG’s efforts to integrate international students and their parents,
Mrs Teo sums it up succinctly with her heartfelt words,
“I think there’s something very special about Xingnan Primary School.
The school is able to successfully integrate students from all different races and countries.
This is really amazing.”

She adds warmly, “For parents and students who have just come to Singapore,
they may have no friends. We become their friends
and are willing to help them whenever they need it.
After so many years in the school, I really feel that we are like one big family.”