SUPPORTING CHILDREN
AND
FAMILIES
Families are at the heart of what we do. Leaving no one behind, NTUC First Campus (NFC) extended support for families whose livelihoods continued to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. We also provided high-quality pre-school education for more children and supported more working families with the growth in enrolment.
Serving More Children and Families
175
145
20
10
My First Skool
Children at My First Skool at 51 Fernvale Link are learning about plants from Chinese Teacher Xue Jiaojiao.
My First Skool (MFS) continues to provide high-quality child development and care services to working families in every Singapore neighbourhood. In 2021, MFS served some 22,000 children across its 145 centres.
Children at My First Skool at 51 Fernvale Link are learning about plants from Chinese Teacher Xue Jiaojiao.
A teacher at Little Skool-House At-OCBC-Tampines is reading a storybook to her class.
Little Skool-House
A teacher at Little Skool-House At-OCBC-Tampines is reading a storybook to her class.
Little Skool-House’s (LSH) 20 pre-school centres serve over 2,400 children in Singapore. LSH enables high proficiency in both English and Mandarin in children with its immersive bilingual curriculum.
afterschool
Children at afterschool are posing with their artwork.
afterschool, NFC’s student care arm, operates nine student care centres and one KCare centre, providing families with holistic, reliable and quality school-based student care service.
afterschool offers quality, affordable and accessible care and education for children from 7 to 12 years old, through its signature Experiential Education Programme, which is designed to complement MOE’s Primary School Curriculum objectives.
In 2021, afterschool served 1,000 children, a 13.6% increase from 2020.
Children at afterschool are posing with their artwork.
Outreach
Find out more about the NFC’s CSM here.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to disrupt the livelihoods of families under our care for a second year, NFC extended its support to those in need, so that our children can keep up with their learning at school, and achieve their best potential.
In 2021, NTUC First Campus’ Child Support Services (CSS)
Spent Over
In 2021
Benefitted
Children from My First Skool
Disbursed
Under the Bright Horizons Fund
Supported
Children from low-income families
Support for Low-income Families
In 2021, NFC through Bright Horizons Funds launched four new programmes to increase financial support for families, and bridged learning gaps worsened by the pandemic.
1. NTUC First Campus One-off CDA Top-up Programme
In May 2021, 4,300 children received a one-off $400 disbursement to their Child Development Account (CDA) to help defray various child-raising expenses.
2. NTUC First Campus Sponsored NTUC Membership Programme
In June 2021, 2,700 families received a sponsored NTUC Membership worth $117 per annum (one parent per family) to enjoy the various financial and employability benefits offered by NTUC.
A family portrait of Mr Roy Ng and his family. His three daughters, Avery, Bernice and Cassey, attend My First Skool.
In August 2021, our whole family was down with COVID-19 and it was a stressful period for us. As we were all stuck in isolation, our children’s daily supplies, such as diapers and wet wipes, started running low. I didn’t know what to do then. Luckily, NTUC First Campus (NFC) sent us daily necessities like groceries and even activity kits for my children. It lightened my burden and mental load.
We also made good use of the Kopitiam cards and CDA credits received from NFC. The Kopitiam cards allowed us to have a good meal as a family. We used the CDA credits to buy necessities for our children, as well as to pay for our children’s school fees.
Roy Ng
(Block 54 Chin Swee Road)
3. Food and Nutrition Programme
Mohamed Rafi Bin Abdul Jameel, Child Enabling Executive from NTUC First Campus’ (NFC) Child Support Services Department, provides a food pack from NFC’s Food and Nutrition Programme to Mr Roy Ng.
In 2021, 2,900 food packs worth $80 each were distributed to families and children. These food packs comprised food items such as fruits and vegetables, healthy food products such as whole wheat spaghetti, daily necessities such as cod liver oil and vitamin C pastilles for children. 2,500 children also received Kopitiam cards worth $40 each.
In a bid to equip families with useful information on health and nutrition, NFC also organised Food & Nutrition Workshops for 180 families, and distributed Food & Nutrition themed Family Bonding Kit to 5,400 families to encourage parent-child bonding.
The initiatives amounted to $350,000, with each family receiving support worth more than $100.
Mohamed Rafi Bin Abdul Jameel, Child Enabling Executive from NTUC First Campus’ (NFC) Child Support Services Department, provides a food pack from NFC’s Food and Nutrition Programme to Mr Roy Ng.
With the iPad loaned under NTUC First Campus’ Digital Kampung Programme, the parent and child from My First Skool are able to participate in digital learning amid the pandemic.
4. Digital Kampung Programme
With the iPad loaned under NTUC First Campus’ Digital Kampung Programme, the parent and child from My First Skool are able to participate in digital learning amid the pandemic.
NFC embraced an omni-channel approach – leveraging on both physical and digital platforms – to ensure our children can continue with their learning regardless of the circumstances. However, NFC acknowledged that there are low-income families with children in My First Skool (MFS) who do not have access to suitable digital devices at home and lack the knowledge to use such devices. Therefore, the Digital Kampung Programme was launched in 2020 to bridge the digital divide for more than 2,000 low-income families and their children over three years by enhancing digital access and strengthening digital literacy.
In 2021, the programme was further rolled out to 46 MFS pre-school centres, benefitting 315 children from Nursery to K2 levels who received loaned Apple iPads to help with digital learning for up to three months. The Apple iPads were pre-installed with educational materials and applications to support the children’s learning and encourage high-quality screen time, as well as resources for parents to communicate with the pre-school online.
Parents also received a “Digital Kampung Programme Starter Kit” which contained a useful step-by-step guide on iPad usage, recommended screen time for children and cyber-wellness tips, to strengthen their digital literacy. In addition, NFC provided SIM cards for low-income families without WiFi access so that they can access the internet.
Tele-intervention for Children with Learning Needs
As the pandemic situation evolved rapidly in 2021, NFC’s Child Support Services continued to stay agile in providing intervention services for our families and centres. At the heart of the Development Support and Learning Support Programme (DS-LS), the Therapists and the Learning Support Educators worked in tandem with Early Childhood Development Agency’s (ECDA) advisory and protocols to remain flexible and prompt in our service delivery to 141 MFS centres.
When the spike in COVID-19 cases between May and October caused more children to stay home for prolonged periods in the year, NFC’s Learning Support Educators and Therapists adapted their delivery models to incorporate a hybrid approach – offering both in-person and online intervention sessions.
Suthashini d/o Suria Narayanan, Learning Support Educator at NTUC First Campus’ Child Support Services Department, is working on an activity with a child during a tele-intervention session.
Suthashini d/o Suria Narayanan, Learning Support Educator at NTUC First Campus’ Child Support Services Department, is conducting a tele-intervention session with a child.
With safe management measures in place and thorough planning, our Learning Support Educators and Interventionists could conduct most intervention sessions and in-class support sessions physically at the centres.
Meanwhile, the prolonged pandemic prompted people’s willingness to adapt to a New Normal. Families proactively supported their children’s learning by engaging them at home through tele-intervention. NFC’s interventionists also created engaging online materials such as interactive teaching and hands-on activities that parents could use to engage their children at home.
In total, NFC supported 30 individual families through tele-intervention services between May to December 2021.