Graduating from kindy

Last Sunday was Yiu Yiu’s kindy graduation and awards ceremony.  The kindy organize a big scale concert cum graduation every two years, alternating it with sports day.  And this year happened to be sports day so the graduation ceremony was done on a much smaller scale, attended only by the 6yo students.

The students were to report to the kindy by 3.30pm, and we were there 10 minutes before, which was a good thing as it started to pour soon after.  The event proper commenced at about 4.30pm with the students marching in by class, all smartly dressed in their graduation robes.  This was followed by the national anthem, and three girls welcoming came up on stage to welcome the parents in English, Malay and Mandarin respectively.

Following speeches by Pastor Daniel Ho and the principal, the children came on stage one by one to receive their awards.  This year, the kindy decided to present each student with an award as an encouragement and to recognize that each child is unique.  Yiu Yiu was awarded the Best Helper in her class.

 

 Each child's name and their award was flashed on the screen as they went on stage

The graduating Petunia class

Performances soon followed, kicking off with a light and easy dance routine to the tune of Rhythm of the Falling Rain.  Yiu Yiu’s class was up next with a pom-pom dance, followed by a percussion ensemble playing Rasa Sayang and finally, a choral speaking about a bear hunt.

Rhythm of the Falling Rain, percussion ensemble and choral speaking

All the students then got back on stage to perform two sings – one in Mandarin and one in English, in appreciation of their parents.

At the end of the two songs, Pastor Daniel went up on stage again, and invited everyone to join him in prayers for the children’s future as they begin a new chapter of their lives.  I got really emotional at this point and started tearing.  I was standing on a chair at the back of the auditorium trying to get a good shot of the group at that time, and one little girl among the audience kept staring at me – she must be wondering why this auntie was crying!

Pastor Daniel standing beside Yiu Yiu

With mei-mei 

With some of her friends

 Doing the split

It’s just a few more days before she closes this chapter of her life, and I believe the three years at Tadika Juara Cerdik had done her a world of good, setting the foundation not just for her onwards journey in education, but also positive virtues and values in her life.