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Punggol Primary’s transition to a five-day work week was achieved
by streamlining its programmes, said its Vice-Principal, Mrs
Cheok Jit Nuan. And it was a change that the school took only
three months to implement, considering that some programmes
for the year were already planned for.
Explaining how her school made the switch, Mrs Cheok said, “We
were conscious and considerate about how time was used. Therefore,
the year-end planning had to be thorough if we were to minimise
ad-hoc activities for the following year. Last year, the school
tried as far as possible to reschedule events to make the five-day
week possible. For example, enrichment programmes and the annual
Meet-The-Parents sessions, which were held on Saturdays, had
been moved to weekdays.”
But some events, like the oral and listening comprehension components
of the Primary School Leaving Examination, as well as the Gifted
Education Programme screening test, were set for Saturdays.
These could not be rescheduled.
However, whenever a public holiday fell on a Friday or Monday,
the Saturday of that week was designated ‘family day’. Mrs Cheok
said, “It was like protected time to encourage a balance between
work and family.”
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five-day work week gives more time for fun and interaction
for the Punggol Primary family. |
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Leveraging on IT to disseminate information
also ensured that precious time will not be
wasted during the school’s weekly contact time
on Wednesday afternoons. “We made information
available through our in-house television messaging
system, the school’s intranet and EduMail. School
announcements were made on PowerPoint slides
and broadcast through the system for a week,”
said Mrs Cheok.
The school also integrated various programmes
with similar objectives into a single platform.
Department meetings were absorbed into one of
the contact time slots while the first few days
of the term vacations were set aside for meetings
and school-based workshops. |
The only CCA group that needed to come back
to school on Saturdays was the Boys’ Brigade
(BB). Even then, its teacher-in-charge was not
required to work on Saturdays as the BB activities
were coordinated by a volunteer adult leader.
Mrs Cheok said, “Teachers were not required
to be in school on Saturdays but many of them
still wanted to do so as they wanted to use
the time to organise activities for pupils.
It was also common to see teachers coming in
on Saturday mornings to complete their marking
and prepare for the following week.” |
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Teachers who spoke to Contact felt that the new five-day
work week gave them time to reflect on their work and spend
time with their families.
Madam Loh Ka Yee, Level Head for Pri 1 and 2, felt that the
new five-day work week gave her more time for her family. She
said, “I live in Hougang while my mother lives in Jurong. When
I had to work on Saturdays, I could visit her only every fortnight.
Now, with Saturdays free, I visit her every week. I can also
spend more time planning for a second child and cooking lunch
for my family on Saturdays.”
Her colleague, Miss Lee Kai Sin, Level Head for Pri 6, chipped
in, “My weekends are now used to reflect on my work and to catch
up with family and friends. Then I look forward to coming back
to school on Mondays with what I’ve thought of during the weekend.”
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