JOSEPHIAN ANNUAL 2016 • LEARNING JOURNEYS 37
Peer Support Sharing
Led by Peer Support Leaders ( PSLs ) from SJI and Raffles Girls School ( RGS ), the Peer Support Sharing ( PSS ) on 23 July was a great opportunity for students from 14 schools across Singapore to share Peer Support ideas and work towards growing their communities .
The event titled ‘ Diversitas : Innovate , Integrate , Inspire ’ aimed to incorporate the values of diversity and acceptance in a community and hoped to motivate PSLs to work towards building an accepting and diverse society where students can strive to work with each other and for each other . Activities throughout the day were strategically planned to instil values such as teamwork , sacrifice , perseverance , creativity and friendship . There were also ample opportunities for students to share Peer Support ideas from their own schools for others to learn from .
The first major activity was a mass icebreaker where students wrote questions onto a paper airplane and threw it across the auditorium , for somebody else to find . The person who picked up your airplane would have to find you and answer the questions . This icebreaker gave each person an opportunity to meet a random person and be confident in opening up to them . Other icebreakers were conducted in groups to allow the members in each group to know each other better .
session as they all learned new and interesting things about each school . Abhishek Kumar ( Fintan 303 ) said , ‘‘ One that really intrigued me was the Madrasah School ’ s student room , which was a room where students could ‘ chill out ’ and enjoy with their friends .’’
A workshop by Ms Vadivu Govind taught the participants about the value of diversity in peer support . Through the movie ‘‘ Finding Dory ’’, the participants discussed and shared examples on diversity in their everyday life and how it can be related to them as a PSL .
One of the last major activities was a scenario sharing session where each group was given a scenario and asked to discuss how they would overcome the stated problem by thinking out of the box and applying what they had learnt .
Just like all other events in SJI , the PSS ended off with reflections and debrief followed by the prize presentation and closing address . Through PSS 2016 , many new friendships and bonds were formed . It is the wish of the organising committee that all participants would be able to innovate , integrate what they have learnt and to inspire each other when they return to their respective schools .
The most anticipated activities were the games which included an amazing race and a game of Capture-the-Flag . These activities encouraged teamwork to bring each group closer together . Bonding through games is important in each society as it supports community-building in a fun way .
After lunch , students proceeded to the PSS Sessions where a few schools had volunteered to share about their Peer Support Board for other schools to learn from . The participants enjoyed this