International Friendship Day

Innova Primary School commemorated International Friendship Day (IFD) on 7 April 2025 with great enthusiasm. This year’s theme, "Singapore: Forging Friendships in a Complex World," reminds us that as a multicultural and global city, Singapore relies on building strong ties with other nations to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world.

IFD encourages respect, understanding, and cooperation among people of different cultures. It also prepares students to become global citizens who can contribute to peace and collaboration.

Assembly Programme: A Celebration of Diversity and Friendship

Our IFD assembly programme was hosted by student emcees — Chuah Cheng Yee (5E) and Genie Neo Rui En (6E) — who guided their peers through the key messages and big ideas of IFD 2025.

As Malaysia holds the ASEAN Chairmanship for 2025, students watched an engaging video showcasing the traditional attire from the 13 states of Malaysia. This was followed by a lively fashion walk, where our Innovians confidently modelled traditional costumes from the 10 ASEAN countries.

The emcees also shared the importance of maintaining good relationships with neighbouring and global countries. The assembly ended with the thought-provoking question: "How Can We Be Good Friends with Other Countries?" — encouraging students to reflect on the values of respect, harmony, and cooperation in their everyday interactions.

Recess Activities: Fun and Learning Combined

For three days during recess, students participated in a fun and interactive game called “Spin the IPS Wheel – Which Country Am I From?” Students took turns spinning a colourful wheel featuring the 10 ASEAN countries. They were then challenged to answer questions about:

• The flags of ASEAN countries

• Traditional costumes of ASEAN nations

• Sources of Singapore’s food supplies

Students who answered correctly received tokens as a rewards. Through this activity, students not only learned fascinating facts about ASEAN countries but also deepened their understanding of the importance of regional cooperation and interdependence.

Classroom Learning Activities: Fostering Creativity and Appreciation

In conjunction with International Friendship Day, a series of engaging classroom activities were conducted during Social Studies lessons to help students appreciate the significance of friendship between Singapore and its neighbouring countries.

• Lower primary students were introduced to Singapore’s neighbouring ASEAN countries. Through hands-on activities such as colouring and creating friendship chains, students developed an appreciation for diversity and understood the importance of fostering friendships across borders.

• Middle primary students explored how kindness is expressed in different ASEAN countries, particularly through greetings and customs. They also demonstrated acts of kindness within the classroom through interactive activities such as an ice-breaker game and a “Kindness Challenge” Bingo game. These activities encouraged students to reflect on how simple gestures of kindness can help build stronger friendships.

• Upper primary students deepened their awareness of Singapore’s cultural diversity and learnt the importance of fostering collaboration and understanding among people of different backgrounds. They created thank-you cards as a gesture of appreciation to members of our migrant community and participated in a “Getting to Know You” Bingo game, which encouraged them to interact with their peers and build meaningful connections.

Through the commemoration of International Friendship Day, our pupils gained a deeper appreciation for the region’s rich cultural heritage. More importantly, they were inspired to be ambassadors of friendship and cooperation — nurturing meaningful connections with people from diverse backgrounds and contributing to a more harmonious world. This experience also developed their global awareness and civic literacy, as they learned to embrace cultural diversity, understand regional issues, and recognise their roles as active, responsible members of an interconnected global community.

In our interconnected world, international cooperation is crucial. As Asia rapidly grows, Singapore leads efforts to strengthen economic, political, social, and cultural ties within ASEAN and across Asia. International Friendship Day is commemorated in Singaporean schools to foster understanding of Singapore’s relationships with its neighbours, promoting friendship and collaboration.

On April 1st, 2024, Innova Primary School commemorated International Friendship Day with enthusiasm. The theme, 'Singapore in Asia,' guided our pupils on a cultural exploration of ASEAN nations, embracing diverse races, cultures, and religions.

By highlighting the importance of connections among neighbouring countries, our pupils are encouraged to foster meaningful relationships. This commemoration honors regional diversity and promotes the spirit of friendship and collaboration. Through these activities, pupils gain a deeper appreciation for our region's rich cultural heritage and are inspired to become ambassadors of friendship and cooperation.

During our assembly programme, pupils learnt about the different languages in ASEAN countries and watched a fashion show of the traditional costumes in ASEAN nations. The pupils get to know more about Lao (PDR), the chairman of ASEAN for 2024, through the kindsville booklets.

A series of activities were planned and conducted during Social Studies and Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) lessons to help pupils understand the importance of friendship between Singapore and its neighbours. Our lower primary pupils learnt about the different traditional food from various ASEAN nations through the making of clay models during their Social Studies lessons. In addition to that, middle primary pupils had fun designing their own textiles that were inspired by the different textiles from ASEAN countries. The upper primary pupils got their creative juices flowing when they created clay models of animals found in Mekong River (Laos) and Singapore River (Singapore). The wonderful work by pupils were then displayed outside every classroom by the teachers.

Recess activities were also organised, where pupils got to play traditional games from ASEAN countries. They also took part in online quizzes about ASEAN countries, which helped them learn more about these countries. For three days, the whole school was abuzz with these vibrant activities. The pupils really enjoyed themselves while learning more about ASEAN during International Friendship Day!

Innova Primary School commemorated International Friendship Day (IFD) on 3 April 2023. This year’s theme is ‘Singapore in Asia’. IFD is dedicated to the understanding of Singapore’s relations with neighbouring countries and beyond. This is especially important as the world today is getting increasingly interconnected and people are more mobile. Thus, there is an increasing need for us to expand our understanding of the world and to know our roles in it.

IFD commemoration in IPS kickstarted one week earlier. Flags and information posters on the 10 ASEAN countries were put up in the canteen and EL Arcade to expose students to the different ASEAN countries and to learn more about them.

On IFD, our three emcees (Yu Yin, Marrisa and Alvin) led the assembly programme for students to understand the key messages and big ideas of IFD 2023. Following that, students watched an interactive video created by the InnovaTech Influencers where they had to guess the various ASEAN flags. Students also learned to say ‘thank you’ in different ASEAN languages. The assembly programme ended with a few of our Innovians presenting the various costumes of the ASEAN countries through a fashion show where they donned the costumes and paraded on the stage to create awareness of the cultural costumes. 

The colourful costumes that were presented to the audience during the fashion show created awareness about the type of costumes worn in ASEAN countries. Through the fashion show, students got to know the costumes and their origins better especially when their non-Singaporean peers shared informally about their country's costumes with each other. Students who participated in the fashion parade learned and had fun while showcasing the costumes to their peers and this indeed gave them a very fulfilling experience in cultural exchange through the display of the various costumes.

There were also recess activities for students to try out two traditional games (five stones and kite making) from the ASEAN countries. Students also watched a video called Wayang Kulit which is a traditional form of puppet-shadow play originally found in the cultures of Java and Bali in Indonesia.

Through the various activities, students were encouraged to get along well with friends of other races, cultures, and nationalities in order to bring about better learning and living with other socio-cultural groups.

International cooperation remains key in our complex world. Asia is the world’s fastest-growing region, and Singapore continues to facilitate closer economic, political, social, and cultural cooperation within ASEAN and in Asia.

On 7th April 2022, Innova Primary School commemorated International Friendship Day. The theme for International Friendship Day this year is “Singapore in Asia”. Our students are given the opportunity to explore and gain greater awareness of the kaleidoscope of races, cultures and religions in ASEAN nations. Our students were also able to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between Singapore and its neighbouring countries.

By recognising the importance of connectedness between our neighbouring countries, our students can play an active role in fostering people-to-people ties, and thus celebrate the region’s diversity and vibrancy and promote the spirit of friendship and collaboration.

A series of activities were planned and conducted during Social Studies and Character and Citizenry Education (CCE) lessons to help pupils understand the importance of friendship between Singapore and its neighbours. Our lower primary pupils learned about the different traditional costumes and greetings used by the various ASEAN nations through the making of a bookmark. Our middle primary pupils had fun creating their own “grocery bag” which contained a variety of groceries that are distinct to each ASEAN nation. The upper primary pupils were exposed to a wide range of interesting facts about each ASEAN nation. They even penned down the most interesting fact about each nation in order to consolidate their understanding and appreciation of the different nations. The wonderful work of students were then displayed and hung outside every classroom by the teachers, which concluded the festive International Friendship Day celebration this year!

As a little red dot surrounded by a sea of green, Singapore realizes the importance of forging strong solidarity and friendship with its neighboring countries in order to survive. This ideal is imparted to students through International Friendship Day commemorated every year on the third Friday of Term 2. This day is dedicated to the understanding of Singapore’s relations with neighboring countries and beyond. It aims to alert students towards the geo-political realities inherent in Singapore, as well as nurture in them the spirit of friendship and partnership among different countries and different people.

This year, our events took a different shape as they were conducted online. Nevertheless, the significance of these events was not lost among our students as they learned the importance of building cross-cultural skills and relationships with people from other countries.

An E- Assembly programme was held on 8th April 2021. The CCE department shared with the school the key messages for International Friendship Day and the importance of connectedness within and beyond ASEAN. 12 posters (information sheet about the ASEAN countries) were displayed in the canteen to heighten students’ awareness on ASEAN countries.

CCE teachers conducted lessons about International Friendship Day and completed the activity sheet while Social Studies teachers went through the slides on how ASEAN has provided necessities like rice, vegetables, and meat to Singapore. The pupils also completed postcards by drawing and/or writing a thank you note to any ASEAN countries. There were also interesting facts on the hosting country for ASEAN in 2021 – Brunei in the Kindsville Times for teachers to share in class. 

The commemoration of IFD in Innova Primary School this year has helped students gain a deeper appreciation of regional cooperation and recognizing how an active foreign policy has enabled us to maintain our international space and good relations with neighboring countries.