Juniors Prepare: Y4 Bicul Camp
BLA Camp 2017
Perhaps you’ve seen crowds of people and the whiteboard (with the impressively drawn Mockingjay logo) on the MPC (multi-purpose court) and wondered, “What’s this about?”
Mass game at MPC
It’s the very first mostly-full-day bicul camp that the school organised, involving the entire Y4 cohort for three days (22-24th May) during the EnC week. Living up to its name as a Special Assistance Plan school, RV has taken a step further to encourage students to fully appreciate bicultural learning.
Highlights
Day 1:
Current affairs quiz
After the preliminary rounds conducted in each classroom, the game stepped up a notch in the Finals, held in the auditorium, where each class sent three representatives for a battle of the classes, consisting of three rounds. The quiz was conducted using Kahoot, a games-based learning platform, to maximise the competitiveness and exhilaration.
While most of us (I think) were pretty much clueless about the answers to the questions, it didn’t stop the cheers for our fellow comrades onstage (whose backs were facing us) and our jamming to Bruno Mars and Chainsmoker.
As a testimony to the difficulty of the quiz, the top few classes only obtained 50-60% correct answers. Who could forget the notoriously mind-boggling second segment (points were awarded only if the sequence of the four options was completely correct), where every class except 4J got a 0% success rate for the first few questions.
Not only was the quiz informative, winning classes also received a grand prize of POPULAR VOUCHERS. If anything, the main highlight was the class spirit displayed by the RVians, which couldn't be hindered by the distance between the stage and the audience.
Day 2:
Xinyao sharing by RV Alumnus (Ms Tay Sia Yeun)
At the end of the Xinyao sharing, we had a session with Ms Tay Sia Yeun, some Y4 students, as well as Mr Yeo, singing Xinyao songs together ( 我们这一班and青春彼岸) and a jazzy rendition of 小幸运.
(Wonder how these RVians got the chance to perform? Check out our other article Geek to gig!)
Amazing Race
Mass game in Hall
Guess the world icon (the answer: Statue of Liberty)
过河拆桥
Unsurprisingly, this was the most hyped-up segment of the camp. Games included 模仿秀, 过河拆桥 and others, putting a bicultural spin to classic camp games, as participants were required to think of names of capitals across the world, both in Chinese and English, or act out Chinese or English proverbs.
Prep for bicultural presentation
Participants were given a few hours to discuss how to put up a presentation on various topics, such as “tiger mom parenting”, “portrayal of Chinese culture in Hollywood” etc. using random props like a toy monkey or a toy peach. (This makes you nostalgic of Y.LEAD seminar, eh? )
Just like the 15th hour challenge we had in Y.LEAD, there was a lot of music, temporary brain dead-ness and of course a lot of discussion.
Are you as puzzled as we were about how a toy monkey can be used as a relevant prop? Continue reading to find out.
Day 3:
Bicultural Presentation
A variety of props were used for the presentations held at three venues.
In the venue I was at,
Memorable instances include:
Two male students cross dressing as tiger moms (4J)
Powder wharfing in the air (4I)
Coincidentally, both 4I and 4N came to the same conclusion: toy monkey= baby. (4N used it in a comedic scene where a tiger mom warns her son about getting pregnant)
It was impressive how every class managed to extend their presentations to 20 minutes.
And now for the finals...
Each class which emerged as victors obtained...you guessed it! MORE POPULAR VOUCHERS.
This is one of the most extensive bicul initiatives in RV to date. While there were some hiccups, the bicul camp had its fair share of enriching, fun and memorable moments.
Do you look forward to more of such initiatives, or is there much left to be desired for future bicul camps? Do leave us your comments! We would be thrilled to hear what you think about the camp.
Photo Credits: Bicultural Leaders’ Academy