 wetlandsa publication of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve |
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13 No 3 Is that a crocodile or a monitor lizard? Special projects to Understand Nature (SUN Club) Dragonflies and Damselflies of Sungei Buloh The Kranji Countryside: Singapore's very own countryside Migration monitoring at Prince Edward Point BIrd Observatory, Ontario, Canada Selai Endau Rompin Johor National Park A feathered friend from Thailand |
 Even
as grey skies looked set to stay for a while, and the haze still hovered
within the moderate range, these did not dampen the spirits of guests and
staff of National Parks Board (NParks). The students of Grace Orchard School were geared for something different from their regular school hours. T hey were in for a treat. It would be a morning of learning about nature and having fun in a wetland reserve. NParks Chairman, Professor Leo Tan was guest of honour for the launch of SUN Club programme at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Despite a light rain in the morning, the launch took off well, with some seventy guests attending, including the students from Grace Orchard School.  The
launch started with a video presentation of students with special needs
visiting three nature sites, namely, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Pulau Ubin
and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. It was aptly accompanied with Lyle Lovett’s husky rendition of “You’ve got a friend in me” .Upon the flag off by Professor Tan, the special needs children from Grace Orchard School, with much excitement and constant happy chattering, started their programme with the wetland reserve’s volunteer guides, Deborah and Teck Chye. The rain eased off just in time for everyone to move out to the main hide for a time of bird watching. Some of the guests most unexpectedly spotted our resident crocodile basking under the main bridge. The students then moved back to the education workroom to try their hands at the jig-saw puzzles. This was fun,teamwork and discovery all in a jig-saw package.  As
the programme finally came to an end, we knew the students and teachers
of these special schools would bring back with them memories of wild Singapore,
and an understanding of their roles as a critical link in nature’s web of
life.More on Sun Club… Initiated by NParks and sponsored by SPH Foundation, the SUN Club programme is founded on the idea of ‘nature for everyone’. The SUN Club is an inclusive programme that strives to include students whose needs were previously not adequately met by existing nature appreciation programmes. SUN Club offers nature appreciation projects that these special needs children can enjoy and participate fully in. Special schools will have a choice of three of Singapore’s most fascinating nature areas to visit: Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and Pulau Ubin. They will have trained guides to bring them on their nature walks and show them the richness of Singapore’s natural heritage. They will learn about plants and animals as they explore and observe. They will create their own interpretations of what they have experienced, through drawings, field notes and discussions with their friends and guides. They may even have a go at piecing together jigsaw puzzles of the creatures they have seen in the wild. We welcome special schools who are interested to give their students a SUN Club experience to contact us at: info@sbwr.org.sg or tel: 67941401. |
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© Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve |