building dreams, restoring hopes

Transcription

1 Students Care Service ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014 building dreams, restoring hopes Annual Report 2013/14

2 Corporate Information Registered Name Students Care Service ROS Registration Number 0248/1975CAS Charity Registration Number UEN Number S76SS0021F IPC Registration Number IPC IPC Sector Administrator Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) Nature of Governing Instrument The governing instrument of Students Care Service is the Constitution. Students Care Service is governed by a Board consisting of voluntary members. The Board members and Office-Bearers are elected at an Annual General Meeting and the term of office shall be for one year. A Board Meeting shall be held at least once very three months. Principal Funding Sources Main income sources are: 1) grant from NCSS/Community Chest, 2) fees from services rendered to schools, MSF and others and 3) donations raised from corporations and the public. Corporate Website Corporate scs_hq@students.org.sg Registered Address/Headquarters 463 Hougang Ave 10 # Singapore Tel: Fax: CENTRES Clementi Centre 329 Clementi Ave 2 # Singapore Tel: Fax: scs_c01@students.org.sg Hougang Centre 463 Hougang Ave 10 # Singapore Tel: Fax: scs_h01@students.org.sg Yishun Centre 202 Yishun Street 21 #01-89 Singapore Tel: Fax: scs_y01@students.org.sg Central 298 Tiong Bahru Road #03-03 Central Plaza Singapore Tel: Fax: scs_central@students.org.sg AUDITOR Odds & Even Associates 151 Chin Swee Road #06-01 Manhattan House Singapore BANKERS OCBC Bank 65 Chulia Street #29-00, OCBC Centre Singapore DBS Bank 6 Shenton Way DBS Building Tower One Singapore

3 Contents CORPORATE OVERVIEW 02 Mission / Core Values 03 Board Members 04 Sub-Committees and Centre Advisory Committees 05 Organisation Structure 06 Staff Structure 07 Staff Team 08 Services and Programmes REPORTS AND MILESTONES 10 Chairman s Statement 11 Executive Director s Report 12 Significant Milestones 14 Quantitative Achievements Donors and Sponsors HIGHLIGHTS OF SERVICES AND PROGRAMMES 18 Educational Psychology Service to Engage, Enrich and Enable 21 Scoring the ACE Academy 23 Step by Step: Enhanced STEP-UP 24 Caring for the Young: School Social Work for Youth and Children (SYNC) 28 Timely Guidance, Right CHOICES 29 Enhancing Capability - Training and Consultancy Division 30 Mind Matters: Community Mental Health 31 Developing Volunteers 33 Community Partnerships FINANCIAL REPORTS 36 Balance Sheet 37 Statement of Comprehensive Income 38 Statement of Changes in Accumulated Funds 39 Cash Flow Statement 40 Governance and Disclosure

4 Mission To be a leading social work organisation in enabling students to maximise their potential. Core Values We COMMIT to serve our clients We listen to their needs and serve to empower them. We demonstrate the highest ethical standards. We UPHOLD professional excellence We emphasise integrity, teamwork and quality in our work. We treat our colleagues and co-workers with respect and dignity. We think and work creatively. We grow in our knowledge and skills. We learn from our mistakes. We VALUE our volunteers and service partners We develop and empower our volunteers. We support collaborative relationships. We recognise and celebrate contributions and accomplishments. 2 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

5 Board Members CHIEF ADVISOR Mr Low Siak Meng Eric, BBM(L) CHAIRMAN Mr Goh Chee Kong Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (Independent Consultant) VICE CHAIRMAN Dr Ang Seng Bin Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (Consultant, Family Physician; Head, Family Medicine Service; Head, Menopause Unit; KK Women s and Children s Hospital) HONORARY SECRETARY Assoc Prof Rebecca Ang Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (Head, Psychological Studies, National Institute of Education) HONORARY TREASURER Mr Naidu Sundraj Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (Chief Financial Officer, Epsilon Global Communications) BOARD MEMBER Mr Chee Wai Pong Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (Advocate & Solicitor, Commissioner for Oaths, Notary Public; Chee Wai Pong & Co.) BOARD MEMBER Mrs Ivy Goh Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (Regional Finance Director, Advanex (S) Pte Ltd) BOARD MEMBER Mr Albert Lim Song Khiang Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (Independent Structured Trade Consultant) BOARD MEMBER Mr Lim Tuang Liang Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (Head Air Operations, Republic of Singapore Air Force) BOARD MEMBER Mr Sophian Abdul Rahman Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (General Manager, StemLife Berhad) BOARD MEMBER Mr Vidyut Gandhi Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (Director, Link Vue Systems Pte Ltd) BOARD MEMBER Mr Wan Chee Foong Date of Appointment: 24 August 2013 (Head of Group Business Development & Group Commercial Development, PSA International) ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014 3

6 Sub-Committees and Centre Advisory Committees Audit Committee CHAIRMAN Mr Sophian Abdul Rahman MEMBERS Mr Koh Thong Wee Benny Mr Lok Lai Cheng Finance Committee CHAIRMAN Mr Naidu Sundraj MEMBERS Assoc Prof Rebecca Ang Mr Goh Chee Kong Staff & Services/ Programmes Committee CHAIRMAN Dr Ang Seng Bin MEMBERS Mr Lim Tuang Liang Mr Naidu Sundraj Mr Vidyut Gandhi Mr Wan Chee Foong Daisy Phay Foundation SCS Scholarship Award Committee CHAIRMAN Mrs Ivy Goh MEMBERS Ms Rosaline Chan Mr Ong Chee Siong Gabriel Fundraising Committee CHAIRMAN Mr Wan Chee Foong MEMBERS Ms Amanda Chen Mr Choy Wei Hsien Mark Mr Lim Song Khiang Albert Ms Mita Natarajan Charity Golf Tournament Organising Committee CHAIRMAN Mr Low Siak Meng Eric, BBM(L) MEMBERS Mr Peter Yeo (Tournament Director) Mr Eric Chen Mr Chua Swee Ann Mr Francis Koh Mr Jeffrey Koh Mr Jeffrey Lim Mr Jonathan Yeo Clementi Centre Advisory Committee CHAIRMAN Mr Wan Chee Foong MEMBERS Mr Kenneth Pereira (served till 31 December 2013) Mr Lee Tiong Peng, BBM Mr Ong Chee Siong Gabriel Mr Tan Siang Yuen Bentley Assoc Prof Yeo Lay See Hougang Centre Advisory Committee CHAIRMAN Mr Lim Tuang Liang MEMBERS Assoc Prof Rebecca Ang Dr Ang Seng Bin Ms Rosaline Chan Mr Choy Wei Hsien Mark Mr Gopinath Menon, BBM Assoc Prof Vivien Huan Mr Toh Weng Choy Yishun Centre Advisory Committee CHAIRMAN Mr Vidyut Gandhi MEMBERS Mr Chee Wai Pong Mr Chinnu P Velu Mrs Ivy Goh Mr Koh Thong Wee Benny Dr Kumudhini Rajasegaran Mr Sophian Abdul Rahman Assoc Prof Vilma D Rozario 4 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

7 Organisation Structure Clementi Centre Hougang Centre BOARD Advisory Committees Yishun Centre Scholarship Award Committees Audit Fundraising Finance Staff & Services / Programmes ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014 5

8 Staff Structure Social Work Service Clementi Centre Centre Director Assistant Centre Director Head of Service (Youth) Social Worker Programme Executive Admin Assistant Cleaning Assistant Social Work Service Hougang Centre Centre Director Assistant Centre Director Head of Service (Pre-teens) Social Worker Programme Executive Admin Assistant Cleaning Assistant Social Work Service Yishun Centre Centre Director Assistant Centre Director Head of Service (Children) Social Worker Programme Executive Admin Assistant Cleaning Assistant EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Educational Psychology Service (EPS) Director, EPS Educational Psychologist Associate Psychologist Learning Specialist Training & Consultancy Division (TCD) Director, TCD; Clinical Director Research Executive Corporate Services Director, Corporate Services Accounts Executive Admin Assistant Community Partnership Manager, Community Partnership Community Partnership Executive 6 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

9 Staff Team MANAGEMENT Tan-Wu Mei Ling (Executive Director) Chuah-Toh Yin May (Director, Training & Consultancy Division) Koh Hwee Cheng Esther (Centre Director, Yishun) Lee Seng Meng (Centre Director, Clementi) Nguang-Low Ching Voon Geraldine (Director, Educational Psychology Service) Oh Kwong Wee (Director, Corporate Services) SENIOR SOCIAL WORKERS Fang-Luen Wai Sum Jenna (Assistant Centre Director, Hougang) Teo Chye Hee Benjamin (Head of Service, Youth) Ang-Yeo Sock Ngen Jennifer Goh-Ang Kai Fen Ler-Lim Wan-Li Melissa Lim Shu Hui Wang Peishan Theresa Zhuang Xinyan SOCIAL WORKERS Chng Yuan Yun Eunice Ho Min Choo Gwen Koh Cindy Lim Jia En Lim See Leng Shylock Nur Fadhli Bin Prayitno Ong Jie Wen Cheryl Peh Yin Yee Soh Xiaohan Tan Hock Chiang Jason Tan Shi Min Elaine Tan Shu Yun Charmaine Tan Shu Xian EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST Teo Shu Hsien Esther ASSOCIATE PSYCHOLOGISTS Su Liying Tan Jie Ying LEARNING SPECIALISTS Loh-Lee Yin Wan Magdalen (Senior Learning Specialist) Loo Yu Zhen Geraldine Soon Bee Siang Sherry Tan Bao Min MANAGER Ngan-Mok Rui Wen Rae (Manager, Community Partnership) EXECUTIVES Chia-Tan Yee Min Elizabeth (Senior Research Executive) Chiam Weng Foo Samuel (Programme Executive) Lam Yee Siang Adrian (Programme Executive) Muhammad Zaki Bin Matohar (Programme Executive) Nur Izyani Bte Noorghani (Programme Executive) Tay Meng Choo Corrine (Senior Accounts Executive) Wong Zhi Xin Charlene (Research Executive) ADMIN ASSISTANTS Chau-Goh Sing Xuan Candice Lai-Tay Soi Soi Betty Loh-Yew Chai Yin Bessey Toh-Lee Sock Kiang Veronica CLEANING ASSISTANTS Kang Geok Lan Serena Kua Annie Siah Bee Kim Ivy ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014 7

10 Services and Programmes SERVICES AND PROGRAMMES Educational Psychology Service Social Work Service Training & Consultancy CENTRE-BASED CENTRE-BASED SCHOOL-BASED SPECIAL PROJECTS CENTRE-BASED Consultation & Assessment Intervention Developmental & Preventive Training & Education Casework & Counselling Drop-in & Outreach Children, Pre-teens & Youth Programmes Groupwork Guidance Programme Public Education/ Training Volunteer Development Programme Mentoring Programme Casework & Counselling Drop-in & Outreach Groupwork Enhanced Step-Up Talks & Workshops Developmental & Preventive Consultation for Teachers & Parents Overseas Service Learning & Community Service Project Family-Oriented Events Consultation Service for Professionals Social Work & Casework Supervision Training Seminars & Conferences Research Publication Needs Assessment Programme Evaluation 8 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

11 Reports and Milestones 10 Chairman s Statement 11 Executive Director s Report 12 Significant Milestones 14 Quantitative Achievements Donors and Sponsors

12 Chairman s Statement Chairman Mr Goh Chee Kong Leadership Transition Students Care Service (SCS) turned a chapter in its history last year when the leadership baton was passed from the immediate past Executive Director (ED), Ms Morene Sim to the current ED, Mrs Tan-Wu Mei Ling. Morene served as ED of SCS for 13 years. During her term, SCS expanded its services through setting up of the Training & Consultancy Division and a new centre at the Social Service Hub, Tiong Bahru. It also established its credibility as a student-focused organisation through a series of professional seminars that were successfully conducted and the number of awards won by staff and programmes at the community and national levels. Staff also had more opportunities for development and contribution with more progression pathways and nominations for external development programmes. These, together with the strong governance and enhanced organizational structure Morene put in place, provided SCS with strong fundamentals to begin the next chapter of our history. The Board and Staff of SCS would like to sincerely thank Morene for her years of dedicated service and leadership. Shifts in the Social Service Landscape The new chapter in SCS history is unfolding in the midst of three major shifts in the social service landscape. Firstly, there is now greater government involvement at the ground and service-delivery levels. At the ground, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has established a network of Social Service Offices to administer national help schemes and facilitate the growth of community-based interventions in a targeted and coordinated manner. In the area of servicedelivery, MSF has consolidated its monitoring and management of government-funded programmes by transferring administration of these programmes from the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) back to its own office. Secondly, the NCSS, in response to MSF s shift in role and focus, refreshed its strategic thrusts and at the same time, also underwent a leadership change. Thirdly, and perhaps the most important shift that had prompted the changes in MSF and NCSS, is that of the growing complexity of social needs in our society. In the context of SCS, this can be seen in the increased number of students who come through our doors with multiple challenges. For example, anti-social behavior that is interwoven with depression; or learning difficulty coupled with speech challenges that have contributed to the lower self-esteem of a child from a financially-disadvantaged background. All these changes require a carefully considered, comprehensive and yet expedient response from SCS. SCS Response Hence, as SCS embarks on its new chapter of history, it needs to review its focus. The outcome of this review could be a redefinition of focus or a recommitment to a refreshed focus. It is necessary for this review to address service streams, operations and allocation of resources to ensure a sharpened alignment internally and externally. As SCS undertakes the review, we are grateful to be able to do this from a position of strong fundamentals and staunch support from the Board, Management and Staff. At the same time, we also call upon and count on the support of volunteers, donors, funders, service partners and well-wishers who have been an important part of the SCS journey through the years. Inspired by our founder s belief in the potential of every student and spurred on by your generous support, we believe the next chapter of SCS will be a resolute continuation of building dreams and restoring hopes for every child or youth who comes through our doors. Thank you for your partnership and journey with us. I look forward to your continued support and contribution as we forge the future of SCS together. Goh Chee Kong Chairman 10 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

13 Executive Director s Report Executive Director Mrs Tan-Wu Mei Ling A mustard tree is a small tree that grows to about 6 metres high. It is nearly as wide as it is tall. The branches start to grow very low to the ground. The fruit, seeds and shoots of the tree are all edible. In particular, the seeds contain many nutrients and the shoots are eaten by both people and animals. Due to its height and wide-spreading branches, the tree provides good shade to those who seek its shelter. Like the mustard tree, Students Care Service has been nurtured through the years to provide nutrients and shade for those who come under its care. There was Mike, the quick-tempered teenager whose self-esteem was dented by being the only person in his family to be placed in the Normal Technical stream. Mike joined the ACE (Aspiring towards Character Excellence) Football Programme and through participating in its character-focused matches, learnt how to regulate his temper. Then there was Joe, the once sullen and misunderstood loner who was considered a hopeless case in school. Joe and his parents found hope and triumphed over Joe s learning and social challenges through SCS EN3 (Engage, Enrich and Enable) and LSS (Learning and Social Support) Programmes. Mike and Joe were amongst the 6,814 children and youth served by SCS in the FY 13/14. Of these, 5,805 were served through our Social Work services and programmes. The remaining 1,009 were cared for under our Educational Psychology services and programmes. In addition to children and youth, SCS also provided support for parents and professionals. In the year past, SCS engaged and supported 1,398 parents through Casework & Counselling, Talks & Workshops and Parent Consultation. In terms of support to professionals, SCS conducted training on Group Dynamics to 18 social workers from MINDS, mounted a series of training on Helping Children to 12 staff from AMKFSC Community Services Ltd, BASIC (Before and Afterschool Individualised Care Programme) and supported 18 professional staff from participating Voluntary Welfare Organisations under ACE Football Programme. To ensure that the SCS tree stays strong and healthy, in-house trainings were embarked on as well. In FY 13/14, these included a series of training on mental health issues, ongoing clinical supervisions and Internal Staff Seminar That SCS was able to continue to deliver quality programmes and reach out to students in FY 13/14 is a result of the persistent hard work of staff and volunteers; and the unstinting support of the Board, Committee members, service partners, donors, funding agencies and sponsors. We are deeply appreciative to all who have come alongside us in our journey with students. As SCS embarks on a new chapter in its history and positions itself for greater alignment to the needs of children and youth in the community, we look forward to your continued engagement, participation and support. Tan-Wu Mei Ling Executive Director ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

14 Significant Milestones in the last decade Pro-tem Committee was established Registered School Social Work Service Association of Singapore (SSWSAS) with office at Penang Lane Granted Institution of a Public Character (tax-exempt) status by Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Changed organisation name to Students Care Service (SCS) For sigificant milestones between , please visit our website at Led group on School Social Work Study Trip and Conference, April to United States Completed Exploratory Study on Outof-School Youths (OSYs), a joint research project with Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA) Organised first Youth Mentoring Convention: The Promise of Mentoring on 4 September officiated by Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan Presented paper on Building Social Capital Through Youth Mentoring Programme at Global Social Work 2004 at Adelaide, Australia Organised the first musical, Project Passion: Howling Tales Initiated Project O for students taking O-levels Launched publication Raising Your Family s EQ, officiated by Mayor Amy Khor, South West District Published The SMP Handbook on Mentoring: Friendship, Support and Guidance Staff, Mrs Wong-Ng Cher Meng, awarded the Outstanding Social Worker Award (OSWA) for 2004 Organised the International Conference on Inclusive Education: The School as a Caring Community from 9 to 11 November officiated by Minister of State, Ministry of Education, Mr Gan Kim Yong Organised an Overseas Service Learning Project by youths to Khao Lak, Phuket Contributed to the formation of Mentoring Partnership International (renamed Centre for Non-Profit Leadership) and provided interim housing at SCS Hougang Centre Co-organised first National Symposium for School Social Work and Counselling 2006 with National Council of Social Service (NCSS) Organised and presented professional seminar Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges: Helping Youth Pursue Excellence Launched publication Apart or A Part: The Social Worker s Multiple Journeys Organised Workshop on Helping Self-Mutilating Clients Organised Overseas Community Service Project Project X 3 by youths to Kolap 4, Cambodia Collaborated with Clementi Woods Secondary School to participate in the Youth Congress organised by National Youth Council (NYC) / National Committee on Youth Guidance and Rehabilitation (NYGR). Guided team to develop a board game titled Theftation which won the Most Innovative Project Award Youth COP (Community Outreach Patrol) programme received the South West CDC Community Safety and Security Programme Gold Award 12 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

15 Appointed by National Council of Social Service (NCSS) as Centre of Specialisation School Social Work Launched publication School Social Work: A Guide to Programme Planning and Evaluation Organised and presented professional seminar Discovering the Rhythm in You: The Practice of Group Work, officiated by Minister for Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), Dr Vivian Balakrishnan Launched publication The Practice of Group Work: Tips on Starting a Group Staff, Mr. Lee Seng Meng, awarded the 2009 South West District ComCare Award (Social Worker) Relocated Clementi Centre from Blk 437 Clementi Ave 3 to Blk 329 Clementi Ave 2 Organised EMIT!, a year-long project to celebrate the inaugural Youth Olympic Games Singapore 2010, launched by Senior Minister of State (Law & Home Affairs), Assoc Prof Ho Peng Kee Set a new Singapore Book of Records for the Largest Contingent of People Carrying Different Country Flags with 153 participants holding up 101 flags to form the letters YOG Youth COP programme received the 2009 South West District s Community Safety and Security Programme (CSSP) Excellent Award Organised the EMIT! Finale Carnival to conclude the year-long EMIT! project (which promotes the values of Youth Olympic Games Singapore 2010), officiated by Senior Minister of State, Law & Home Affairs, Assoc Prof Ho Peng Kee Completed and published research study, In Their Own Words: An Exploratory Study on the Social Coping of Youths with Autism Published the book, Students Care Service: Standards for School Social Work Practice Provided consultation to the Career Education and Counselling Division, Department of Youth & Sports, Ministry of Education in Bhutan Youth COP (Community Outreach Patrol) received the 2010 South West District s Community Safety and Security Programme (CSSP) Gold Award Launched the Daisy Phay Foundation Students Care Service Scholarship to benefit full-time Junior College students Completed the extension of Yishun Centre Organised a Charity Golf Tournament and Dinner on 4 November at Raffles Country Club, officiated by Acting Minister for Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports, MG (NS) Chan Chun Sing Organised a Charity Golf Tournament and Dinner on 23 October at Raffles Country Club, officiated by Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamed Staff, Mrs Tan-Wu Mei Ling, awarded the Outstanding Social Worker Award (OSWA) for 2012 Staff, Mr. Benjamin Teo Chye Hee, awarded the 2012 South West District ComCare Award (Social Serivce) Provided consultation for Project CROPS to pilot a service delivery framework for Family Service Centre linked Student Care Centres (FSClinked SCCs) in Singapore. Appointed by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) Successfully completed 2-year pilot of Seconded School Social Work Model in Singapore Organised Carnival of Drums on 6 April at Downtown East officiated by Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for Defence, Mr Chan Chun Sing Organised a Charity Golf Tournament and Dinner on 28 June at Raffles Country Club officiated by Minister, Prime Minister s Office, Mr Lim Swee Say Co-organised and presented professional seminar Engaging Youths to Succeed in Schools in conjunction with National Youth Council s ASEAN+3 seminar on Urban Youth Work IV Organised Overseas Community Service Project Going Miles, Bringing Smiles by youths and volunteers to Cambodia Organised first Carnival of Drums, a fundraising and community relations event, on 11 March at the Marina Bay Organised a Mandarin seminar on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) cum photo exhibition by youths with ASD at The Central Library ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

16 Quantitative Achievements 2013 (Based On Service Volume) 1 Social Work (SW) 2013 Services/Programmes for students 5,805 Consultation 67 Casework & Counselling 316 Groupwork 1,336 Developmental & Preventive Programmes 1,923 Training 1,825 Special Programmes/ Projects Others 2,067 Enquiries 103 Parents 1,057 Teachers 457 Other Professionals 141 Volunteers 309 TOTAL 7,872 Educational Psychology Service (EPS) 2013 Services/Programmes for students 1,009 Consultation, Assessment and Casework 456 Intervention Programmes (Learning) 244 Developmental & Preventive Programmes 230 Special Projects 79 Others 790 Parents 341 Teachers 86 Other Professionals 60 Volunteers 303 TOTAL 1,799 Note: 1 Quantitative calculation is based on the total number of service-users recorded and includes multiple-service users. 2 Special Programmes/Projects comprise ACE Awards Night 14 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

17 Donors and Sponsors Funders/Donors/Sponsors Amxon Constructors Pte Ltd Anchorage Construction Co Pte Ltd Ang Choon Cheng Ang Ern Wei Jonathan Ang Kheng Choo Ang Lay Choo Lydia Ang Assoc Prof Rebecca Ang Dr Ang Seng Bin Ang Shiuh Angullia Development Pte Ltd Ang Yeow Meng Angela Arguelles Asianindo Holdings Pte Ltd Richard John Beck Bek Yeok Siew Bintai Kindenko Pte Ltd Will Bright Brouck Christelle Catlin Singapore Pte Ltd Changi Airport Group Amanda Chen Chen Sihua Sylvia Chen Siyun Michelle Cheng Teck Heng Paul Laurent Chevalley Stephen Chew Ching Chaik Yong Cho Jong Hwan Chong Choon Nean Chong Ha Lee Chong Siew Mei Elena Choo Kian Meng Colin Chow Kong Hoe Jeffrey Chua Li Hoon Chua Peng Gek Matthew James Clowry Stephen Co The Community Foundation of Singapore Covidien Private Limited Anthony Croce Assoc Prof Vilma D Rozario Economic Development Board, SMILE Club E+HPS Pte Ltd Evangel Family Church Florence Fong Steven Fong Foo Bee Chyn Sasha Foo Tun Sien Henry Football Association of Singapore Axel Foucault Frog ys Pte Ltd Rei Fujikawa Giovanni G The Gallup Organisation (Singapore) Ltd Benjamin Goh Goh Chee Kong Goh Kah Lek Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte Grid Communications Pte Ltd Robert John Harrison Hee Wah On Heng Gek Hwah Heow Fong Lin Hazel Hewlett-Packard Singapore (Private) Limited Hii Ching Ming Felobina Ho Siew Hong Sharon Holy Innocents Primary School - Children s Day Appeal 2013 The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation HT Engineering Pte Ltd Huang Li Ping IPL Skin Club Pte Ltd Maria Cynthia Dacuycuy Jacinto JL Building Products and Services (S) Pte Ltd June Merchandising Corp Pte Ltd Rebekah Khew Kim Seng Heng Engineering Construction (Pte) Ltd Benny Koh Koh Brothers Building & Civil Engineering Contractor (Pte) Ltd Jeannie Koh Koh Siew Yong Koh Zhen Hao Koo Zhi Xuan Kor Sock Keow Teresa Kuah Choon Hian Jonathan Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple Kwok Yoke Peng Stephanie Lam Chuan Import-Export Pte Ltd Lau Chooi Ling Debra Lau Lau Guat Hoon Jayce Lee Bee Bee Lee Foundation Lee Hui Fen Angela Lee Hui Yuan Angela Lee Wei Yang Leong Lai Fung Leong Yan Kheng Lim Ai Lin Lim Boh Chuan Lim Chai Lai Louis Lim Eng Chong Lim Huey Yuee Lim Peien Tricia Lim Shwu Fen Joy Lim Siew Tiak Lim Soon Boey Janice Lim Tuang Liang Lim Wan Chen Karen Lim Wan Xian Dominic Lim Wei Ling Karen Lim Yuh Huah Adeline Loh Shu Ming Chrissie Lok Long Tien Koon Loo Chia Ching Emily Loo Kuen Feng Athline Annmarie Little John Sylvie Louisfert Anna Maria Low Mary-An Macapili Macquarie Group Foundation Benedikt Maissen Kenneth Mar Christophe Marciano MCL Land Limited Mclean Paul Reese Eusrinna Bte Miswadi Mitsubishi Corporation Mitsubishi Electric Asia Pte Ltd MM Investments Pte Ltd Jean-Francois Molaro Moody s Analytics Nam Leong Co Pte Ltd National Council of Social Service / Community Chest Nee Soon East Community Club Pierre Neihouser New Creation Church Ng Boon Kheng Pauline Ng-Huang Li Ping Ng Jui Kheng Ng Leng Kim Ng Puay Hoon Ng Soy Ng Ngee Ann Polytechnic Ngu Wah Shwe Ngui Pei Ching NTU Welfare Services Club NTUC Club Odyssey Dance Theatre Ltd OES Construction Pte Ltd Oh Hui Li Serine OKP Holdings Limited Brandon Ong Ong Lay Yun Yvonne Ong Peck Har Shirley Ong Yiting Mindy People s Association Staff Club Neilson Persaud Poh Chwee Heng David Poh Hock Heng William Poh Lye Yee Alan Poh Milin Belin Angel Pok Por Yu Li Powen Electrical Engineering Pte Ltd Quek Mui Yee ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

18 Realstar Premier Group Pte Ltd Bruno Regli Relianz Engineering Pte Ltd Rife Engineering Pte Ltd Right Impact Training Hiroko Ross Rotary Jurong Town Club Sanichem Industries Pte Ltd Sembawang Shipyard Pte Ltd Debanjan Sen Sentosa Development Corporation Shaw Organisation Sim Eng Huat Sindo Damai Shipping Pte Ltd Singapore Island Country Club Singapore Land Authority Singapore Management University Singapore Pools (Private) Limited Singapore Press Holdings Foundation Limited Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd Singapore Totalisator Board Société Générale Société Générale Bank & Trust Starhub Limited Tai Lai Yoke Kristabell Tan Bee Imm Tan Boon Tiong Tan Cher Gim Tan Chin Tuan Foundation Tan Geck Hwa Tan Heok Toh Elsie Jacqueline Tan Tan Lee Cheng Tan Li Fong Tan Siok Kin Sabina Tang Kam Yin Tay Teck Soon Bernard Teah Kok Siong Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited Teo Ghim Whatt Thia Kai Hwee Mark Gregory Francis Thong Tok Ee Peng Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore Pte Ltd Derek Too Toon Lee Yin UBS AG Unigrade Trading Pte Ltd V-Campaign Donors Wan Chee Foong Wee Lay Peng Doreen Wen & Weng Medical Group Pte Ltd Ashley Wilkins Katie Wong Wong Mooi Yin Nicholas Edwin Wong Wu Mei Ling Marlene Yap Yap Tat Yeen Yeo Hui Kiang Bellerina Yeo Kee Ping Yeo Leng Leng Yeo San San Yeong Kum Choon YHS (Singapore) Pte Ltd Yokogawa Engineering Asia Pte Ltd Jayne Yu Van Doremaele Yu Contributors/Partners Agent One Ahmad Ibrahim Primary School Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School Anderson Junior College Assumption Pathway School Bain & Company Bedok Town Secondary School Bintai Kindenko Pte Ltd Bowen Secondary School CampVision Central Narcotics Bureau Centre for Non-Profit Leadership Changi Airport Group Chestnut Drive Secondary School CHIJ St Joseph s Convent Chung Cheng High (Yishun) Cicada Tree Eco-Place Clementi Neighbourhood Police Centre Clementi Primary School Clementi Town Secondary School Clementi Woods Secondary School Coca-Cola Singapore Beverages Pte Ltd The Community Foundation of Singapore Crossroad Youth Centre (Care Corner FSC) CWS-BT YouthReach Economic Development Board, SMILE Club The Esplanade Co Limited Evangel Family Church FaithActs Fuchun Primary School The Gallup Organisation (Singapore) Ltd Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte Greendale Secondary School Health Promotion Board Holy Innocents Primary School Holy Innocents High School Home United FC The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited IMH, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, REACH NORTH Institute of Technical Education College East Kent Ridge Secondary School KK Women s and Children s Hospital Leo Club of Singapore Metropolitan Love Retreats Mediacorp Pte Ltd Carnival of Drums 2013 AD in TODAY paper MINDS (Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore) Montfort Secondary School National Crime Prevention Council Naval Base Primary School New Town Secondary School Ngee Ann Polytechnic, CommServe Team NIE GESL (Group Endeavours in Service Learning) Northland Secondary School North View Secondary School NTU Welfare Services Club NUH, REACH Team NuLife Care & Community Services NUS Community Service Club Orchid Park Secondary School Peiying Primary School Punggol Primary School Qifa Primary School Sembawang Secondary School Sembawang Shipyard Pte Ltd Sengkang Secondary School Serangoon Secondary School Sheng Hong FSC Singapore Dragon Boat Association Singapore Police Force St Luke s Eldercare Yishun Centre Touch Community Services Ulu Pandan Community Club Warriors FC Xinmin Secondary School Yishun Secondary School Yishun Town Secondary School YMCA Project Bridge Youth Guidance Outreach Services 16 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

19 Highlights of Services and Programmes 18 Educational Psychology Service to Engage, Enrich and Enable 18 Receiving Hope, Realizing Dreams 20 A Reading Odyssey in Summary 21 Scoring the ACE Academy 21 ACE Football Programme 21 A New Initiative 22 ACE Internship Programme 23 Step by Step: Enhanced STEP-UP 24 Caring for the Young: School Social Work for Youth and Children (SYNC) 24 Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School 24 Yishun Town Secondary School 25 Hide and Hougang Centre 26 Trampoline Club 27 A Community that Plays Together, Stays Together 28 Timely Guidance, Right CHOICES 29 Enhancing Capability - Training and Consultancy Division 29 Training for Social Workers of MINDS (Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore) 29 Internal Staff Seminar Mind Matters: Community Mental Health 31 Developing Volunteers 31 Volunteers Connection Yishun Centre V-Day V-EADERS 33 Community Partnerships 33 Charity Golf Investing in the Future 34 SCS Marina Bay Challenge

20 Educational Psychology Service to Engage, Enrich and Enable The Educational Psychology Service (EPS) provided by SCS serves students with learning challenges. In the past year, our team of educational psychologists and learning specialists served a total of 1009 students from mainstream schools, as well as 790 parents, teachers, volunteers and service providers through a spectrum of services. The EPS aims to achieve these goals: Engage students with learning difficulties, and their parents through building rapport and trust, and clarifying and understanding concerns. Enrich through psycho-educational evaluations to obtain a profile of the students strengths and difficulties in order to facilitate intervention planning and empower key personnel with knowledge of child s needs. Enable students through intervention and developmental programmes to develop their underlying thinking processes, literacy and language skills, social skills and increase their confidence in learning. Besides working with parents, caregivers, teachers and professionals such as social workers are also served through talks and workshops, consultations and education groups so as to increase their capability in working with the students with special learning needs. Every year, students with learning challenges are referred to the EPS. Their condition may not be overt and often overlooked by their parents and teachers. A number of these students may also be struggling with multiple related social, emotional and behavioural issues. In EPS, we walk with these families to empower their children to further develop their capabilities and strengths to realise their potential. Hopeless Case Receiving Hope, Realizing Dreams Paying it Forward Once a sullen and misunderstood loner, Joe now actively participates in volunteer activities organised by SCS. It is indeed heartening for the staff to hear him say that it gives him the opportunity to help others and paying it forward. Once deemed a hopeless case, Joe is now able to contribute to society in his own unique way and faces the future with optimism. His story reflects the struggle of many other children with similar challenges and who have been served by the dedicated and professional staff at SCS. 8-year-old Joe was regarded as a hopeless case. Teachers told him that he would never make it through primary school. Mrs Koh knew that there was something different about her son, but had always thought he was being lazy. Hearing from the teachers that her son was doomed to fail was a tremendous blow. I was at my wits end, the housewife recalled. 18 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

21 Multiple issues, repeated failures and lack of understanding The problems that Joe encountered were not only academic. He could not coordinate his body movements and even at 8 years old, he found it hard to control his salivation. He had difficulties speaking, reading and writing. Compounded by his hearing problem, daily communication was a huge hurdle for the child. His average score in tests was 20/100. His abysmal performance and drooling in school made him an object of ridicule among his schoolmates. No one wanted to befriend the boy who everyone had been labeled stupid. Joe s social awkwardness had left him bewildered and frustrated. He would throw tantrums whenever he could not make himself understood, and he would often be reprimanded for his outbursts. His confidence and self-esteem plunged with every setback. A turnaround came when a tutor suggested for his parents to take him to KK Women s and Children s Hospital (KKH).Joe was diagnosed with learning difficulties and speech impediment. He began occupational therapy at KKH and was subsequently referred to SCS (Hougang Centre) in January Learning and Social Support Programmes at SCS At SCS, Joe attended the Specialised Learning Support Programme (SLSP) which is now known as the ALPS programme which aims to Actualise Learning Potential and Promote Social Skills. Through positive interactions with a learning specialist, as well as participating in activities that were multi-sensory and appealed to his thought processes, Joe improved significantly in his language and reading abilities. A year and a half later, Joe started attending other support programmes such as the Pre-Teens Club and the Youth programme, which provided a structured and non-threatening environment to help him improve his social skills. Weekly tuition sessions was run to help the child with his studies. Through a combination of various programmes, Mrs Koh saw a marked change in her son s attitude. He used to hate going anywhere, she said. He would try to find all kinds of excuses to skip school, but for the activities at SCS, he d just pack his bag and go. He actually looks forward to going to SCS. The interactions Joe had with the staff and volunteers at SCS were based very much on a sound understanding of his condition and learning needs. These interactions gave him a sense of acceptance and motivated him to learn. Better Equipped to Face Challenges While other parents were discussing over which top secondary school to send their child to, I just hoped that he d make it to secondary school, said Mrs Koh when her son was in primary 6 and preparing for his PSLE. Staff at SCS stepped in to help Joe in his revision in the months leading up to the exams, encouraging him and building up his confidence. The educational psychologist assisted in an application to the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Branch to grant Joe additional time to complete his papers. This was accomplished by providing clinical evidence of his poor body coordination which hindered his ability to write properly. With consistent support over time, Joe better coped with his learning and felt more confident. The efforts paid off when the results were released: Joe passed the PSLE and qualified for the Normal (Technical) stream. Today,even though his articulation is still sometimes unclear, Joe is a lot more willing to mix and socialise. He is aware of his limitations in his language and communication skills and has been working hard to improve. Once friendless, Joe is able to make friends on his own and now has a little clique of buddies who would help each other with their schoolwork and frequent the library. In fact, the child who could barely read when he was 8 years old is now a librarian in his school and has also found an interest in cooking. Guiding Parents It was crucial to work with Joe s parents and clear misconceptions that their son s learning difficulties were due to any lack of effort and laziness. Through guiding his parents to help them better understand Joe s needs and struggles, the Kohs realised that their child was neither being lazy nor rebellious. They finally put away their earlier misconceptions and rallied around him. Through support sessions for parents of children with special needs, they found encouragement and support from other parents. Attending consultation sessions also allowed the Kohs to discover more effective ways to communicate with their son and help the whole family better understand one another better. The process eventually helped to reduce Joe s tantrums. ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

22 A Reading Odyssey The famous poet and author of children s books, Dr. Suess, once wrote The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you ll go! It is not only important to be able to read, but also to understand what you read. The Reading Odyssey is a reading programme developed to provide at-risk readers with regular and consistent exposure to books, as well as to provide them reading opportunities with the support of adult volunteers. This was especially needed as the children identified were lagging behind their peers in reading ability.13 children of ages 6 to 10 were identified for the reading programme that is being run by the Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre. The objectives were to enhance the children s ability to read for meaning, knowledge and understanding, as well as to increase their interest and motivation to read. The programme gave children the flexibility to choose the books that they would like to read. It also featured a guided reading approach in which volunteers were trained to guide children with their reading. A pre-reading component was incorporated to allow the children to practice and reinforce literary processing skills such as visual discrimination, visual scanning, visual memory, auditory attention and auditory memory. Misconceptions about children with learning challenges and how they read were clarified among the volunteers. Armed with important information and insights into the children s needs, volunteers were able to address public queries and advocate for these children. Engaging volunteers in the process of guided reading was crucial to enhance the experience for the children. Volunteers could instruct and/ or prompt children to coordinate or integrate a range of reading strategies, e.g. using prior knowledge and/or visual cues in text, predicting, and using phonics. In the reading process, children were encouraged to read aloud, try unfamiliar words, learn new words and ask questions. The children were encouraged to talk, draw or write about the stories they have read. The volunteers ended the reading session by giving positive feedback to children based on their reading behaviours in the Student s Weekly Reading Record and awarded them reading stars. Through the Reading Odyssey, the children s ability to recognize words were indicators of progress marked by increases in their Reading Age from 2 to 12 months within the 16 sessions (4 months of programme time). Their ability to read for meaning, knowledge and understanding had increased, with evidence of using problemsolving strategies to figure out unfamiliar words and understanding new concepts and ideas. Through verbal feedback from children during focus group discussions, it was observed that the participants enjoyed reading and were beginning to read more. Staff and volunteers observed that the children exhibited more confidence in reading ever since they started on the programme. Upon completion, the participants were awarded certificates. While the ceremony affirmed their accomplishment, each child gained the confidence and passion to read which would see them through a lifetime of learning. To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark. Victor Hugo(French poet & novelist) This sums up the feelings of the volunteers who had worked with the children and who, at times, felt disheartened but subsequently rose to the occasion to persevere in the best interests of the children. Here are some of their voices: Memorable Moments: Seeing and hearing the children try their best to improve their reading, recognizing and reading words they did not know before and remembering what I taught them. When the child takes initiative to read one more word, one more book or complete one extra activity Whenever my student smiles and shows confidence to read Learning Moments: I ve learnt to respect the students with their own abilities and help them wherever I can. I ve learnt to be patient, connecting with them, speaking and interacting at their level. The pre-activity to tune the children in has been a learning experience for me. I get to see how the process improves their thinking, motivates them to read and how reading activities can be made interesting in Summary With the relentless support of our staff and volunteers, our mission remains to serve mainstream students from disadvantaged backgrounds with special needs (learning & related social, behavioural & emotional difficulties). It is our hope that they can continue to have a safe place to grow their strengths and eventually,inspire others in their own special ways. 20 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

23 Scoring the ACE Academy The ACE ACADEMY 2013 includes both the ACE Football Programme as well as the ACE Internship Programme. ACE stands for Aspiring towards Character Excellence. With the mission to groom and develop youth at-risk, ACE Academy focuses on character and resilience building, enhancing personal strengths and providing youths with a platform to develop their potential and self-awareness. Teachable Moments ACE Football Programme The ACE Football Programme is a youth development and character building social work intervention programme for youths aged yrs old. Consisting of 12 teams from Students Care Service and various VWOs, ACE Football Programme is the first among VWOs spans an entire season. The unique model of having social workers to coach teams through a prolonged period (the season spanning 10 months) also ensure that social workers have various opportunities and sufficient time to work closely with youths through a variety of interventions, including character building and youth development, mentoring, coaching, behaviour modification, strengths perspective developmental work, counselling and family work. Mike was a player with quick temper and low self esteem. When he was invited to join Starburst United, he was excited as he had been waiting for an opportunity to join a soccer team that play matches against other teams. At home, Mike often felt looked down upon as he was the only one in Normal Technical stream. Despite working hard in his studies and being the top scorer in English, Mike felt that his father did not appreciate his efforts. As a result of not being recognized, Mike had low self esteem and could be quick-tempered in an attempt to show that he was not weak. Mike understood that on matches, attitude and character were crucial. Hence, he was able to control his anger when faced with the opponent s rough play. After the match, he opened up to share with a social worker on moments when he almost lost his temper. This allowed the social worker to process with him his experiences and helped him better control his temper. A New Initiative On top of the regular ACE Football interventions in 2013, ACE Football Programme also started a new programme, ACE Bookball, in a joint collaboration with Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The ACE Bookball, as the name suggests, is a part-tuition, part-football programme specially designed for unmotivated and academically challenged Secondary 4 students who are sitting for their GCE N-Levels. In this programme, students would undergo a total of 6 sessions of 2-hour tuition followed by 2-hour football play. Ngee Ann Polytechnic provided the facilities for this programme in the form of a conducive classroom to allow the students to study and revise for their exams and also the sports facilities to allow the students to play football after their study time. Lecturers of Ngee Ann Polytechnic also contributed to the academic coaching for the students, in addition to volunteer-tutors from SCS. After the study time, staff of Ngee Ann Polytechnic engaged the students in football. ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

24 Students who underwent the programme benefitted from this study-thenplay format. They became more motivated because of the conducive studying environment, as well as help from the volunteer tutors. In addition, the students were able to come together to support and encourage each other through the study time. They even started mini study groups to help each other. The programme was so successful and the students requested for extra sessions after the 6 sessions ended. Subsequently, three more additional sessions were organized. We are proud to report that all participants of ACE Bookball passed their GCE N Levels Examinations and have successfully enrolled into the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), the next progression up the education ladder. Participants have feedback that this programme has not only helped them better prepare for their exams significantly, it has helped increase their motivation towards studying and they had reported increase in their efforts put in towards revision for their N-Levels. They attributed the football-after-studying component as the most significant factor that helped in their motivation and success. ACE Internship Programme ACE Internship Programme started in 2012 as a trial run to provide Socio Emotional, Mental Preparation and Job Skills Training & Opportunities for out-of-school and unemployed youths. The programme targets underachieving older youths who have low self-confidence and imbues in them the belief that they can aspire to upgrade themselves and go beyond casual menial jobs. Social workers work holistically with each youth intern to provide preparation for job, personality profiling, awareness training, resiliency and mental preparation, on-the-job mentoring, life coaching, personal and career counselling, feedback and appraisal. Youths who participated in the ACE Internship Programme indicated that their involvement had helped them in many ways. Not only have they learnt new skills and had their career outlook expanded, they also gained a better understanding of themselves, their strengths, weaknesses, personality and awareness of others. This is the result of a holistic intervention structure which all interns undergo. The intervention covers not just work skills training but also awareness, socio-emotional and mental preparation trainings. Personal coaching sessions, reflection sessions and post-work processing and debriefs by a social worker were also structured into the intervention. This holistic way of developing youths ensures a higher level of motivation, understanding of selves and growth that spurs youths to continue with their hard work and efforts after the completion of the programme. Building Dreams Shawn participated in the ACE Football Programme during his teenage years. As he grew into a young adult, he became increasingly interested and appreciative of the efforts and work put in by a social worker assigned to guide him. During his involvement in ACE Football, his social worker had spoken at length with him on his personal issues and provided positive feedback on areas that he could learn and develop. This allowed him to become a better person and worked through some of his personal issues with his family. The patience and nurturing interactions he had from his social worker made him realize he had gone through a transformative and empowering journey. He started to guide the children in his neighbourhood and adopted the same approaches the social worker had used to influence him. He saw meaning and purpose in his actions. When the ACE Internship Programme included an Associate Outreach Worker career option, the social worker encouraged him to join. Shawn was initially reluctant as he was unsure if he could do a good job. With encouragement and support from the social worker, he eventually signed up. Through the internship, he learned about the theories of youth development and outreach. Shawn was keen to learn and showed good work ethic. Upon completing the internship programme, Shawn emerged as one of the top performers in his cohort. This successful journey in the ACE Internship gave Shawn a new found sense of purpose and motivation to help young people as a youth worker. He started exploring educational and training opportunities in the field of his interest. With support from SCS, Shawn enrolled in the SSI Diploma in Social Service programme. Currently, he is studying to become a social worker. 22 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

25 Step by Step: Enhanced STEP-UP Enhanced STEP-UP Programme (ESU) is a support programme for students at-risk of dropping out of school and out-of-school youth. This programme provides school social work services to students with attendance issues through strengthening their social and emotional resilience so that they remain in school, social work support to students with high absenteeism issues, and out of school youth so that they can be meaningfully engaged. SCS adopts a systemic approach as we work with the students, their schools and families. While carrying out individual work with students and their families, we also provided regular feedback to the school teachers. This helped them appreciate the struggles and needs of their students. At the same time, outreach work was conducted to build rapport and engage the students. Some students on ESU were linked to our centre-based children and youth programmes for further engagement and follow-up. The story of Tom was one of the success stories under this programme. Breaking Through Tom was referred under the ESU (A) in January 2010 as he had stopped attending school for the second half of 2009, skipped his examinations and was retained as a Secondary 1 Normal Academic student. When a social worker met Tom for the first time, the school had to watch him before the meeting as he had run away from the previous two school meetings. Having been influenced by wayward peers in Secondary 1 to play truant and get into trouble, Tom went down the slippery slope of absenteeism and found it difficult to regain his footing in school. The shame of being perceived a failure hung heavily on his shoulders. He started to avoid school and the social worker who was assigned to help him. Tom was having difficulties coping with high stress, anxiety and negative emotions. He would either become very aggressive and defiant, or he would flee from his problems. The social worker persisted with numerous home visits to assure him that he need not face his problems alone. Gradually, Tom started opening up and allowed the social worker to journey with him through his ups and downs, as well as to share his thoughts and difficulties. However, a year and a half later, Tom decided to exit from his school so as to break out of the place of failure and to give himself a fresh start to create a new identity for himself. The Principal was very encouraging and understanding, reminding Tom that reaching for any goal would start out slowly. Over time, he would eventually build up his confidence and stamina. He encouraged Tom to get himself out of the house and at least get his mind accustomed to learning new things. Tom took the advice of the Principal and embarked on things that interested him. He took up photography, reading and joined the Teban United Football Club of the Centre. In 2012, the social worker helped Tom set his goal to self-study so that he could qualify for Secondary 3. He embarked on self-study periods at the SCS (Clementi Centre), while keeping his weekends occupied with football. Social worker encouraged him to take part in the ACE Internship Programme to have some work experience and be exposed to new learning. Tom bravely took it up, and grew immensely in the programme. He bonded strongly with the team of other interns, and became one of the top performers in the programme, volunteering for various tasks. When he received the certificate of completion for the programme, he said, This means a lot to me. At the ACE Football Programme Awards Night that he helped to plan as part of the ACE Internship Programme, his self-esteem was also boosted when he received the Promising Player Award as a member of the Teban United Football Club. After these positive experiences, Tom was driven to embark on his dream to attend polytechnic. In 2013, he enrolled in a private school for the N-Levels course. While it was not a smooth journey, Tom completed his N-Levels examinations at the end of He also continued on the ACE Internship Programme and took on a more challenging role of being an outreach worker which was not easy for someone who previously had little confidence speaking with strangers. Today, Tom has successfully enrolled into a private school O-Levels course and we look forward to seeing him fulfilling his dream of entering a maritime diploma course. From someone who would flee from problems, Tom is now able to identify his low points, seek support from friends around him, and work to bounce back from every challenge. He now sees challenges as opportunities to grow and become a better person. He shared, I have grown so much as a person in the past few years. I don t know what would happen to me if not for SCS. Indeed, it has taken a village of staff at SCS through a variety of programmes to raise a fine young man of ambition and drive. ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

26 Caring for the Young: School Social Work for Youth and Children (SYNC) School Social Work for Youth and Children (SYNC) is a programme that works in partnership with schools to bring secondary prevention and community engagement initiatives to students within the schools. The focus of SYNC is to enable youth and children to be positively engaged in school, make the most out of the educational opportunity and be well-engaged in the community. strengthen the students development of positive habits. Teachers had good feedback of the programme: (Communication) Skills such as SOLER can benefit them in relationships. Activities that promote class bonding Ms. Phua It taught student about the S.T.A.R values and tying the program with 7 habits. It was great to see students enjoying and communicating with each other well. Mr. Khairul Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School In 2013, SCS (Yishun Centre) was invited by Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School (AISS) to conduct a series of class-based groupwork sessions for its Secondary 1 Normal Technical students, with the objectives of nurturing class spirit. Project T.E.A.M (Together Everyone Achieves More) covered topics including Knowing Each Other, Communication Skills, Conflict Resolution and Team Building. It was an enjoyable five-session with two classes as they began to show a more positive climate of mutual cooperation, increased awareness of members strengths and weaknesses, and enhanced understanding and ability to work as a team. I remember to have teamwork with my friends and respect, appreciate, treat others the way you want others to treat you and say kind words Class 1T1 Working as a class because we are together Class 1T2 Besides growing students social competencies, Project T.E.A.M. worked together with the school to complement the Secondary One teachers efforts in building students positive habits. The weekly class activities incorporated elements of the 7 Habits of an Effective Teenager to Following the completion of Project T.E.A.M, 16 students were invited for a Running Man holiday activity in June 2013 at the Singapore Zoo and River Safari. Student turn-out was positive and everyone had a fun day with their schoolmates. Besides class-based groupwork programmes, our school social work team also organised after-school programme such as Youth Day Celebration and Carrom Competition for the general student population. Both events met with overwhelming responses and students expressed looking forward to more. Yishun Town Secondary School Yishun Town Secondary was another school which SCS (Yishun Centre) had the privilege to partner with, in implementing the SYNC programme. The programme provided the spark for many of the students to shine. It Only Takes a Spark! Mary used to be a student who refused to join in activities and would rather do her own work during groupwork sessions. To engage her, special roles were assigned to her, such as timekeeping and judging. By slowly increasing her involvement and building rapport with her, facilitators succeeded in engaging Mary for groupwork activities. She became more cooperative and even engaged other group members to complete in the activities. She also made effort to be punctual so that she could attend the group work sessions. 24 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

27 Garry is a student who would often disengage himself whenever he did not like any activity. During a small group activity, he was commended for his leadership skills by one of the facilitators. This sparked off his interest and kindled his willingness to participate in a session. After the session, he shared his thoughts with the facilitators. Gary was later selected to participate in Students Care Service Yishun Centre s soccer team to further maximize his potential and help him fulfill a dream to become a good soccer player. Wendy is a class monitor who can be helpful but challenging at times. During groupwork sessions, facilitators observed that she responded well to affirmation whenever she did something commendable. By affirming her positive actions with appropriate attention, she learned to express her thoughts in more socially acceptable ways. She had also learnt to encourage classmates participation instead of demanding their cooperation as she had done in the past. Hide and Hougang Centre Community engagements are an important part of SYNC programme. They allow students to not just be positively engaged in schools but also in the community. In SCS (Hougang Centre), that space is provided by Hide and Chill a youth drop-in space carved out at the Hougang Centre premises. Hide and Chill provides a safe environment for youths to meet, interact and engage in wholesome activities. Hide and Chill has been an ongoing drop-in programme in SCS (Hougang Centre) for the past 7 years. It encourages youths to attain at least one of the goals of youth development (competence, character, connections, confidence, and contribution), focusing on Competence and Connections. Hide and Chill also opens its doors for youths to hang out in a safe, wholesome and positive space. Richard is a student diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. His form teacher shared with the School Social Work team that his classmates did not like to mix with him as he had displayed weird behaviours in Secondary One. Although Richard had improved after seeing a psychiatrist, some classmates still had difficulties interacting with him. To help Richard better integrate with the class, the facilitator in charge of his group would often encourage the group members to involve Richard in group challenges and activities. The facilitator also utilised small group discussions to help group members recognise Richard s strengths. As groupwork progressed, members began to feel a sense of group belonging and included Richard in all activities. During one session, when the class had to be further split into smaller groups, classmates were observed asking Richard to join their group as they valued his wits in problem solving. Towards the end of the sessions, other students also began to show more willingness to include him and cheer for him. Every Tuesday afternoon, Hide and Chill bustles with exciting activities. This is where the magic of building relationships happens. Nobody cares how much we know till they know how much we care. SCS (Hougang Centre) seeks to amplify our care for the youths in our community via the drop-in programme. Each week, up to 30 youths come through the doors of Hide and Chill to enjoy the camaraderie and chillex factor to share their week and hang out with friends after school. The objectives of Hide and Chill are to provide a non-threatening environment for students to discuss issues with social workers; access resources, programmes and youth development opportunities; and for young people to connect with responsible adults. All these add up to reinforce positive values such as honesty, integrity, and caring through sharing with others. ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

28 Keeping Safe Hide and Chill has been serving students like Jane and her friends for the past 3 years. Jane frequents Hide and Chill every week. She would come with her group of friends and would enjoy hanging out with them at Hide and Chill, chatting and sharing with social workers here. On one of the occasions, she initiated a private chat with a social worker and said she got something to share. From the interaction, Jane mentioned that recently, her group of friends befriended an uncle in the neighbourhood. According to Jane, this middle-aged man stayed alone and did not hold a regular job. He would offer cigarettes to her friends and she felt that this act was inappropriate. However, she mentioned that her friends would visit uncle for cigarettes. When they met him, the middle-aged man would try to borrow money from them, claiming that he was jobless. Jane felt that she needed some advice on how to alert her friends about uncle. Jane was very glad that she could turn to a social worker. She then explained that she was hesitant to inform her family members and teachers as she felt that this could make them anxious and they might forbid her to hang out with her friends. The social worker affirmed her coming forth to speak with an adult and highlighted some potential dangers a stranger such as uncle could bring to her and her friends. The social worker worked with Jane on some protection strategies ; particularly on what and who to turn to if they need help, and how to handle peer pressure. Follow-up was also done with her for subsequent weeks. In the end, Jane managed to stand firm and said no to her friends whenever they suggested visiting uncle. As an alternative to meeting the middle-aged man, Jane engaged her friends with other activities such as hanging out at Hide and Chill. On days when Hide and Chill was closed, she would plan other constructive things to do with her friends. Eventually, Jane and her friends dissociated with uncle. Trampoline Club Trampoline Club (TC) is another community engagement programme under SYNC. Targeted at preteens, its aims are to improve preteens self-confidence, develop their strengths, and equip them with socio-emotional competencies so as to help them successfully overcome the challenges of their transition into adolescence. The programme is supported by the Welfare Services Club of Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Preteens and NTU volunteers meet every Saturday morning for activities designed to develop preteens socio-emotional knowledge and skills. TC also provides platforms for our preteens to be exposed to difference experiences. In addition, to ensure sustainability of the preteens growth, TC encourages family involvement through TC Family Day which is conducted twice a year. Triumph Starts in Small Steps Cherie s Journey Cherie has been a member of TC since She was referred to TC as she was very quiet and observed to be lacking social skills. It took a year for an NTU female volunteer to connect with Cherie and build trust. In that first year, Cherie also found a TC preteen whom she could talk with. Though her progress was not huge, these small steps marked a big improvement for Cherie. As the first round (February April) in year 2013 commenced, Cherie was one of the first few preteens to register for the programme. It took her a few sessions in the new round to warm up again to staff, volunteers and other preteens. By the middle of the first round, the adults began to observe Cherie speaking more to her groupmates and to different volunteers. This was a big difference from her usual passive self. Later, when given a role to help settle down her group mates, Cherie displayed willingness and boldness in taking up the role. In the second round of TC in 2013 (July September), Cherie s progress continued. Staff and volunteers were delighted when she started volunteering to help out in activities and ushering group members. 26 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

29 Through TC, Cherie had grown from a very quiet child to a more confident preteen; a preteen more equipped to face the social and emotional challenges of adolescence. Joe s Journey Joe has been in TC for about a year and he has always been seen as a pleasant boy who listens to and follows instructions. Having a quiet and reserved personality, Joe is often seen being alone. Though Joe does not display disruptive or unpleasant behaviours, it became a concern when his progress stagnated. An opportunity to create a change came on one occasion, when Joe displayed a simple act of helpfulness to his group mate. Staff gave affirmation for his kind gesture in front of all his TC friends. Joe was surprised and brimmed with joy. After that, he began to offer help to volunteers and staff such as keeping stationeries and files. As acknowledging his helpfulness was important to encourage Joe, volunteers and staff would seize opportunities to highlight his potential. In subsequent sessions, Joe began to open up and started initiating small talk with staff and volunteers. Joe would approach his friends and support them as a teammate. Joe became popular for his helpfulness. During a trip to East Coast Park for Kangaroo Jump, a teammate accidentally fell while clearing an obstacle. Joe was swift to react by jumping quickly to help his teammate. Joe was subsequently commended for his bravery and taking initiative when it mattered. At the end of the outing, Joe shared his experiences, affirming that it was a joy to help others. A Community that Plays Together, Stays Together SCS community engagement initiatives for students are well supported by the community. In partnership with voluntary groups such as Evangel Family Church, NTU, Anglo-Chinese School - Independent (ACS - I), Anderson Junior College (AJC) and Victoria Junior College (VJC) etc., we had many activities to engage children and have them learn new skills and make friends during the school holidays. Parents feedback that their children enjoyed themselves thoroughly and they were constructively occupied and meaningfully engaged. The hands-on activities which were organised further catalysed our childern s interest in learning and also optimised their involvement and participation. Above all, we are grateful for the support of the SCS community of volunteers, partners and donors in bringing us the following activities. Making food the sushi way Organized by volunteers of Evangel Family Church, the sushi making session was a great way for our children to learn about nutrition and it was also an ideal way for them to be initiated into basic food preparation tasks. The children learnt how to make a sushi roll at our centre. Moreover, they were all dressed up in chefs aprons. Volunteers taught them how to make the sushi rolls using a bamboo mat. At the end of the activity, children were able to take the sushi home and shared them with their parents. Building Bonds and Creativity To build bonds and creativity, volunteers from ACS (I) conducted a Lego Challenge for our students. In this challenge, children were given a bin of Lego bricks to construct different buildings. This challenge allowed our children to demonstrate their creativity and imagination. Building with Lego is a wonderful activity for the children to learn about sharing and caring. The joy of working as a team and the bond forged between friends were strengthened in the process. Cicada Tree Eco-Place Cicada Tree has been organising various eco-activities at the MacRitchie Reservoir and Jacob Ballas Children s Garden for our children for several years. In 2013, Cicada Tree organised a guided nature walk to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (MacRitchie) for a group of primary school students from SCS (Yishun Centre). Our children had a great time with the organisers and enthusiastically asked questions about the beauty of nature. They were also very excited when the organisers took them on a rainforest trek. Just to say we had kids from Yishun on our nature walk and for our classroom lesson wild animals of Singapore today. They were very enthusiastic and active. We hope they enjoyed the lesson. I think they did! - AP Vilma D Rozario, Cicada Tree Eco-Place Victoria Junior College On 26 November, the Fun Carnival organized by VJC saw 23 children thoroughly enjoying themselves. The carnival games were the most exciting part of the fun-filled event held at Yishun Centre. There were pencil and paper games; ball-toss games; bowling and a series of station fun-filled games invented by the VJC volunteers. Pleased with the success of the event, the VJC organizing committee thanked SCS for the strong support and partnership, and look forward to our continuous support for their future service-learning projects. ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

30 Timely Guidance, Right CHOICES Guidance Programme (GP) is a six-month counselling and rehabilitative programme for youths who have committed offences. Those who successfully completed the programme would be let off with a stern police warning in lieu of court prosecution. GP aims to help young offenders recognize the seriousness of their crimes and to equip them with the appropriate life-skills to help them overcome their vulnerability to crime. This is accomplished through individual and family counselling, groupwork, family day, various activities. Groupwork takes the form of CHOICE - Choosing Healthy Options In Challenging Environment. It is a series of groupwork sessions that encompassed themes such as Turning Over a New Leaf, Anger Management, Managing Peer Pressure Responsibilities, Understanding Laws and Consequences, Resources and Resilience. In conjunction with the running of the CHOICE Group work, half yearly Parents and Teens Workshop was also conducted for both youths and their parents. The 4-session workshop covered topics that included Understanding and Communication with Each Other, the 5 Love Languages and Expressing Hopes for the Better. Both parents and youths who attended the workshop found it meaningful and useful. In 2013, SCS served 155 students through this Programme. Timely Support Eddy was place on Guidance Programme (GP) due to a case of Dishonest Misappropriation of Property. According to Eddy, he saw a rusty and unchained bicycle left by a tree and he thought that the bicycle had been thrown away by someone and decided to take it. He shared that he had no intention of stealing the bike and would not have taken if he knew that it was an offence. He did not want to be involved in unlawful acts again as he was afraid that he might end up in Boys Home and lose the freedom of doing the things he liked. He also did not want to disappoint his mother, friends and teachers who cared for, and supported him. During the first meeting with SCS Social Worker, Eddy was observed to have low motivation towards school and susceptible to negative peer influence. Although Eddy did not display any disruptive behaviour in school, he was often late or absent from school without valid reasons. Despite Mum s effort to wake him up for school, Eddy failed to wake up on time for school due to late nights. Eddy s mum was also concerned that he often mixed with bad company which got him into trouble. Thus, curfew and a set of expected behaviours in school was set and reinforced by Social Worker, parents and teachers. Eddy showed progress over the six months on GP. He was more attentive during lessons and showed great improvement in his attendance. Eddy became more motivated to do well in his studies after receiving affirmations from parents, teachers and Social Worker for his improvements. In individual counselling sessions, Eddy was open in sharing and demonstrated ability to reflect on his actions. He was careful not to be involved in any trouble when he was out with his friends. During one of the counselling sessions, Eddy shared that a group of youths had tried to provoke him and his friends at a swimming pool. He quickly avoided any conflict by leaving the swimming complex and even pulled his friends with him when they wanted to retaliate. In another incident, Eddy s friend asked him to skip school together as they were running late. Eddy did not give in and went to school even though his friend played truant. Throughout the GP period, Eddy was mindful to resist negative peer influence and consciously took steps to avoid re-offence. The family sessions also helped to improve relationship between mother and son. Eddy would now spend time together with mother when he is free and also seeks advice from her. Eddy s mother is able to understand him better and continues to provide proper supervision and encouragement to him. 28 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

31 Enhancing Capability - Training and Consultancy Division Providing training to enhance capability of social workers; be it the professional staff of SCS or external associates in the social service sector, is one of the regular functions of the Training and Consultancy Division (TCD). Training for Social Workers of MINDS (Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore) At MINDS (Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore), social workers are trained to enhance their competency in conducting support group for both care-givers and siblings of their clients. Training schedule included a four-hour consultation session on managing issues pertaining to organising sibling and care-givers/mothers groups, followed by 3 four-hour sessions training on Group Dynamics. Such training received favourable feedback from the participants. Practitioners found them extremely useful and inspiring. During the consultation session, the Educational Psychologist was able to share her experience in dealing with parents with special need children, giving the participants hands-on knowledge on managing issues that may surface during support groups. SCS Principal Social Worker was also able to share extensively on her experience and practice wisdom in holding support group. The training on Group Dynamics covered fundamental knowledge in GroupWork practice, giving very practical skills and techniques in groupwork facilitation. The process included demonstration by the trainer, video observation, role play and skills practice by the social workers. The training was very well-received by participants who found the activities very energetic and engaging, hands-on with practical tips, and highly informative and interactive. Internal Staff Seminar 2013 To build and sustain a research culture in SCS, Internal Staff Seminar (ISS) was instituted as an annual event to promote and sustain practitioners interest in research. Besides reinforcing the value of professionalism, it also served as a time for team building and forging a common vision and aspiration for SCS. Following from this year s theme on Continuing a legacy of Professional excellence and Serving Students, Professor Irene Ng from the NUS Social Work Department shared on the concept of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and how it could be applied in practice. Miss Sharyn Ng, who was formerly supervised by Prof Ng, also shared findings from her honours thesis on local street corner gangs. Both presentations were very well-received and the staff in particular were encouraged to know that much of the debrief sessions and reflections on their programmes could be considered as a form of PAR. In addition to PAR, there were also sharing on statistics and trends relating to students, and on community mental health. As a lead-up to the strategic planning in 2014, staff engaged in discussions on SCS identity and future opportunities. Overall, the staff ended the day with new insights for their professional practice and meeting needs in the community, as well as affirmation for the current work that SCS is engaged in. ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

32 Mind Matters: Community Mental Health With the support of the community and the Ministry of Health, SCS provides community-based support to students who are at risk of or diagnosed with mental health concerns. In 2013, we served a total of 114 students working through mental health concerns. Some of these concerns include emotional (such as depression / self-harm / anxiety), behavioural (such as conduct disorder / oppositional defiant disorder) and developmental (such as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) / Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)) challenges. To better support these students, SCS embarked on building knowledge and competencies in these areas in Two key initiatives were implemented. Firstly, all professional staff underwent a series of in-house trainings conducted by SCS s Senior Social Worker and Educational Psychologists on Depression, Anxiety, Psychosis, ADHD and ASD. The trainings equipped the staff team with knowledge for identification and interventions, and resources for referrals. Staff gave the following feedback: The case studies helped us to spot symptoms and discuss possible interventions in context, better understand the signs and symptoms of various disorders, gave us a general idea on how to manage children with ADHD/ASD or those awaiting diagnosis, as well as mini tips that could be useful for our work with families. 3. effective interventions for adolescents with depression. From the review, we learned that factors that can influence the adolescent s risk for depression include family history, family factors, maternal factors, paternal factors, interpersonal factors, cognitive style, personality traits and poor social skills. While there are risk factors, there are protective factors too. These include positive social behaviour, active coping style and good relationship with family, school and adults in the community. With such knowledge, SCS hopes to provide a holistic intervention to support students at risk of depression through facilitating better connection between the students, their peers and teachers; building life skills to manage emotions and negative thoughts; and empowering parents through skills and knowledge to raise happy and resilient children. These will be carried out through our casework and counselling, groupwork and parent education programmes. Reference: Bernardine Woo (2008) A Primer of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, editors Daniel Fung and Cai Yiming, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte Ltd, Singapore, pg Secondly, a literature review in Understanding and Preventing Adolescence Depression was undertaken. Depression was selected as it is a mood disorder that can knock on anyone s door regardless of age and gender. In Singapore, an estimated 5.6% of the population is affected by depression during their lifetime (National Mental Health Survey, 2004) and the prevalence of depression is about 2.5% among adolescents (Woo, 2008). The purposes of this literature review are to identify: 1. risks and protective factors of adolescent depression, 2. interventions that are effective in preventing depression among adolescents and 30 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

33 Developing Volunteers At SCS, we value our volunteers and their time. Volunteers contribute in a variety of ways, be it working alongside staff in children s programme or taking time out to guide youths or organising community bonding events. In 2013, SCS had the support of 309 volunteers. To appreciate their contributions to our work and the lives of students, appreciation events were held to thank them. Yishun Centre V-Day 2013 Yishun Centre held its inaugural Volunteers Day (known as V-Day )on 23 March 2013 at the Nee Soon East Community Club. The event was held in appreciation of the centre s volunteers and was planned to be a time of fun and bonding between YC staff and volunteers, as well as amongst volunteers themselves. There was a strong turnout of 58 Volunteers at the event, including two of the centre s Advisory Committee members. There were loads of fun and laughter and warm fellowship amongst the volunteers during the celebration. The AJC Harmonica Band performed at the event, as part of a line-up of exciting programmes. On that same day, our volunteers were treated to many interactive and hilarious games conducted by our staff. Running Man was one of the games that was played. It was highly entertaining and everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. Volunteers Connection 2013 On 5 October 2013, SCS held its annual volunteers appreciation event at Qian Xi Restaurant at Alexandra Retail Centre. The event sought to appreciate individual and corporate volunteers for their efforts in maximising our students potential through their selfless giving of time and generous sponsorships. It was a fun-filled day for the 119 volunteers who attended VC 2013, as they participated in activities and games related to the event s theme Colourful Fiesta. Various game booths were set up in a carnival style, and the volunteers were invited to try their hand at the exciting activities. The volunteers showed much enthusiasm in learning how to sculpt balloons into various shapes at the Balloon Sculpting booth. At the Knock it Down! game booth, volunteers pitted their shooting skills as they used NERF toy guns to shoot down various targets. The volunteers also went back with keepsakes of the event in the form of photographs taken at the photo-taking booth with their fellow volunteers. Overall, VC 2013 proved to be a success with the volunteers, with many of them indicating they enjoyed and felt appreciated during the event. The event s theme Colourful Fiesta was truly a reflection of how the volunteers had added colours to the lives of our students, with their meaningful contributions. All in all, it was a glorious celebration of camaraderie and volunteerism. The V-Day ended with everyone feeling upbeat. We indeed had a great time of bonding and the positive feedback we received was an encouragement to the staff team. I enjoyed the V-Day. The volunteer sharing experience segment was meaningful and inspirational. Zi Feng, Read-With-Me Volunteer The event enabled me to connect with the staff. I would like to attend the V-Day next year. Loh Yong Jian, Reading Stars Volunteer The sharing by the volunteer was interesting and I had enjoyed myself. - Sinta, Trampoline Club Volunteer Billy s sharing was inspiring. The variety of food was good. Thank you! Albert Bingei, Youth Volunteer ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

34 V-EADERS During VC 2013, SCS officially inaugurated V-EADERS (Volunteer Leaders). A new exciting initiative in SCS, V-EADERS recognises and capitalises on the potential of volunteers to magnify the impact of volunteer activism and leadership. These volunteer leaders will play a role in helping SCS develop good practices in the development and support of volunteers. Some of their responsibilities include planning and implementing volunteer bonding events; reviewing, identifying and developing volunteering opportunities; identifying volunteers training needs; and developing volunteers talents and interests. The V-EADERS team comprises 8 volunteers across 3 centres in SCS. These volunteers have had at least 2 years of volunteer experience with SCS, and had shown commitment and interest in the development of fellow volunteers. We hope that with the launch of the V-EADERS initiative, volunteerism in SCS can be brought to greater heights. Paying it Forward On 10 September 2011, the Trustees of the Estate of the late Dr Phay Seng Whatt made a generous donation to Students Care Service to set up The Daisy Phay Foundation-Students Care Service (DPF-SCS) Scholarship for students pursuing a full-time junior college education. The scholarship was named thus to honor the memory of Dr Phay s beloved wife. Recipients of the scholarship are encouraged to give back to the community. From our file, a total of five DPF-SCS Scholars volunteered with us in There were two main reasons why they volunteered with us i.e. (i) they want to gain some voluntary experience and (ii) to give back to the SCS. One of the DPF-SCS scholars shared about her volunteering experience at Yishun Centre during the second DPF-SCS Scholars Award ceremony in June In her speech, she highlighted the positive gains from her experience and encouraged fellow recipients to join her in a volunteer journey with SCS. I would like to extend my gratitude to Students Care Service for awarding me with the Daisy Phay Scholarship Award. This scholarship has benefited me in many aspects, especially towards my academics. Also, it has given me a chance to take part in enrichment activities, which served a great help towards my studies. To name one, it gave me a chance to be able to participate in my school s immersion programme to China in June The trip had helped deepened my understanding in one of my subjects, which is Chinese Language & Literature. Hence, I greatly appreciate how the scholarship award has allowed me to undertake so many opportunities which aided me in my studies. Besides the academic area, I was also given a chance to volunteer at SCS (Yishun Centre). Even though I had only volunteered at the centre on only a few occasions, the experiences I gained from it were absolutely invaluable. That was the first time I tried out volunteering outside of school. Besides gaining new insights, I also had a firsthand experience in interacting with the children at the centre. Not only were those experiences insightful, I had also made many new friends and formed new bonds. The friendliness of the children there really made me feel welcomed. I remember the first time when I went to the centre feeling like a stranger, but the spontaneity of the people there opened me up and soon, I found myself baking with them just like old friends. The first time there was really fun and I found myself looking forward to spending time with them again. Through those few times I volunteered at the centre, I discovered the many sides of different children and their personalities. It was a great exposure and I always look forward to the next volunteering experience. Through those events, I learned the importance of lending a helping hand and the form of happiness and fulfillment it brings. I even look forward to continue volunteering at the centre again after my A Levels. I do earnestly hope that the new scholarship recipients would take this chance to volunteer as well. If given another chance for me to volunteer again, I would definitely choose the same path as what I ve gained is definitely priceless. Ms. Boo Shu Xian, Yishun Junior College 32 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

35 Community Partnerships SCS achievements and support to its students are made possible with the support of community partners. These partners make social investment in our work through contributions of their time, support and money. These support came through community and corporate social responsibility events. Charity Golf 2013 SCS Charity Golf 2013 was held on 28 June 2013 at Raffles Country Club. The event was graced by Guest-of-Honour, Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister, Prime Minister s Office. The event, which saw over 130 golfers, was a success despite the weather. The haze took a backseat during the week of SCS Charity Golf, clearing the skies and air for the golfers to have an enjoyable session with their friends. The joy of participation of the golfers was evident in their game and fellowship, and the event managed to successfully raise over $188,000. The success of the event was made possible by the effort and support of the Charity Golf 2013 Organising Committee, led by SCS Chief Advisor, Mr Eric Low BBM(L). Investing in the Future SCS was selected as the adopted charity by Société Générale in This community partnership started off with a bang during the fun-filled Citizen Commitment Week (CCW) which had exciting events such as an outing to Gardens by the Bay, Laser Tag Challenge, Lunch Fundraiser, to name a few. The events were fruitful and fulfilling and gave opportunities to our children and youths to learn and interact with positive individuals in the community. Société Générale also supported SCS by encouraging their employees to participate in Société Générale s Asia Pacific Bike Ride 2013 and raise funds for SCS. Their support and contribution helped SCS purchase musical instruments for SCS Hougang and Clementi activity centres, procure graded readers to guide more students with literacy challenges and enabled more youths to be engaged via the Youth Development Programmes. In all, Société Générale helped to raise $38,000 for SCS. It is indeed heart-warming to witness and experience the strong partnership between Société Générale and SCS. SCS would like to express its appreciation to Société Générale and its employees, for their dedication and passion in guiding the children and youths of SCS, as well as motivating them in their educational and life pursuits. ANNUAL REPORT 2013/

36 SCS Marina Bay Challenge Exciting! Challenging! Those were some of the words that echoed from participants during the SCS-Marina Bay Challenge (SCS-MBC) Held on 8 March 2014 at The Marina Bay, SCS-MBC brought an evening of fun, laughter and a warm spirit of charity to those who attended. The event saw about 70 enthusiastic participants, including SCS student and volunteer teams, all raring to complete their challenges. With the support from everyone, SCS raised over $70,000 to fund Youth Development Programmes which reaches out and engages youths in schools and communities. The event was off to an exciting start when participants were told to find envelopes containing pictures of different Challenge Stations hidden behind the yellow seats at The Float. Upon finding the pictures, participants had to find the Challenge Stations which were spread across the Marina Bay and complete the given challenges as a group. Teamwork, coordination and encouragement were evident amongst the stations as team mates motivated one another to complete the challenges together. During the post-event interview, participants expressed their excitement to have supported SCS in a meaningful way. Support for future SCS events were readily met with many enthusiastic nods from the visibly tired participants. This event was co-organised pro-bono by Right Impact Training. SCS appreciates the time, effort and support contributed by the Right Impact Training team for a fun and successful evening. 34 ANNUAL REPORT 2013/2014

37 Financial Reports 36 Balance Sheet 37 Statement of Comprehensive Income 38 Statement of Changes in Accumulated Funds 39 Cash Flow Statement 40 Governance and Disclosure ANNUAL REPORT 2013/