NTUC First Campus' Care Ambassador Award recipient - Gillian Neo
Instead of ignoring a boy who could not adapt to the childcare centre environment, former teacher Gillian Neo took action to help the student. As a teacher at NTUC First Campus Cooperative Limited’s My First Skool (MFS) in Hougang, she found out that the boy was from a hearing-impaired family and took the trouble to reach out to his mother.
After finding out she had trouble getting him to go to the childcare centre, Ms Neo took it upon herself to ferry him to the centre every day for a month. She also taught him to communicate verbally with his peers at the centre and made the effort to learn sign language to communicate better with his parents and better understand his needs.
From a boy of few words, Yen was able to express himself and relate to others confidently. Today, Ms Neo still makes a difference to children’s lives as Principal of My First Skool in Ang Mo Kio.
NTUC First Campus' Care Ambassador Award recipient - Christina Han
Her belief that every child counts helped transform a difficult child in danger of expulsion into a model student.
When she was with NTUC First Campus Co-operative Limited’s My First Skool at Block 96 Bukit Merah, Ms Christina Han almost had to make a decision to remove Joe, a hyperactive, anti-social and disruptive toddler from the childcare centre. But after finding out that his caregiver grandmother had to confine him in a carton box at home to keep him out of danger, Ms Han, who is currently the Principal of My First Skool at Block 106 Henderson, worked with the family to help him.
Through a Therapy Outreach Programme, buddy system and rules system, Joe was able to develop a sense of responsibility and belonging, self confidence and social skills, and complete his tasks in class. In fact, he became such a good student that he even played host to the Guest-of-Honour Indranee Rajah at the centre’s Community Partnership Programme launch.
