Singapore Polytechnic invited iC2 PrepHouse to be part of their first ever inclusivity event titled ‘Everyone Matters’. It was held on 27 October 2023. The event was aimed to educate and bring awareness to its attendees. In the iC2 PrepHouse booth, participants were given the opportunity to listen and type without seeing the screen, find at least two words in a wordsearch while using a portable handheld magnifier or to decode a phrase that had been typed out in braille. Each activity brought its own challenges. The participants were seen trying to overcome the obstacles which led them to have empathy for their fellow students with visual impairment. The iC2 teachers were humbled to see so many participants at our booth, attempting our activities and interested to know more about visual impairment.

Parents who signed up to join our committee of the Parents Support Group (PSG) held their inaugural meeting at iC2 on 21 October. Three parents attended the meeting which was facilitated by Teachers Ying Zhi and Lay Hong.

Parents discussed about the frequency of PSG meetings and the kinds of topics they would like to have. It was agreed at this meeting that the PSG’s first activity will be to organise the Chinese New Year Lo Hei for 2024. Parents were excited about this, and a meeting to start planning was verry quickly decided upon for mid November.

We look forward to exciting events to be organised by our parent volunteers, and we will support them in whatever ways we can to ensure the PSG is a success!

Following our earlier presentation to Macquarie Bank, a bowling event was organised and a total of six iC2 students and their siblings as well as two teachers participated at the event. Participants were placed in groups of six per lane and two games were played. Everyone had a lot of fun competing against each other and trying hard to better their own scores for their team.

Over $6000 was raised from this event for iC2. We thank all the staff from Macquarie for their generous support and for the fun time for our students.

On 14 October, iC2 student, Eliot Yeo Tat Koon, aged nine, participated in the Haw Par Youth Para Swimming Championships, 2023 organised by the Singapore Disability Sports Council.

Held at the Singapore Sports School, a total of 50 youths took part in the championship, competing in over 20 events.

Eliot took part in four events and he gave an excellent performance of his swimming skills and abilities. At the end of the day, Eliot took home three gold medals and one silver medal. Congratulations, Eliot!

Boys 9-10 100m Backstroke : Gold
Boys 9-10 100m Freestyle : Gold
Boys 9-10 50m Butterfly : Gold
Men 9-18 (Mixed class) 400m Freestyle : Silver

iC2 was invited by Guide Dogs Singapore (GDS) to join them in their community event to create awareness on visual impairment. The Chairman of the Board from GDS, Dr Wong Hon Tym presented iC2 with a token of appreciation for participating in the event.

All teachers from iC2 worked in shifts during the event to ensure a wider coverage of the duration. We had a range of fun activities catering to all ages (decode the code, a braille activity; tactile tic tac toe; picture search using handheld magnifier) to demonstrate how our students with visual impairment can access information and learn.

We thank GDS for giving us the opportunity to join them in creating awareness and advocating for all with visual impairment.

Posso Preschool @ Fernvale recently joined forces with iC2 PrepHouse for a special collaboration as part of this year’s SSDB (Start Small Dream Big) initiative. The aim of this project was to raise awareness about visual impairment, provide an experiential learning opportunity for assisting the visually impaired, and foster an understanding of how our young learners acquire literacy skills through Braille and tactile materials. Posso Preschool extended a warm invitation to Teacher Ying Zhi and Teacher Amanda to organize and lead a half-day event that engaged students ranging from PG to K1.

Teacher Ying Zhi, working closely with Miss Michelle, Posso Preschool @ Fernvale Centre Principal, and Teacher Estrella, undertook the planning of activities relating to visual impairment. These activities included the use of simulated eye masks to simulate various eye conditions, an obstacle course guided by sighted peers to understand the concept of sighted guides, and a unique opportunity for students to experience typing on a Perkins Brailler.

Thank you to Posso Preschool for this invaluable partnership!