The theme for this year’s ceremony was ‘Thankful’ and in my principal’s speech, I shared my 3 ABCs of Thanksgiving with the parents. 

Firstly, I gave thanks for ‘A’ – Adaptive spirit. I thanked every child, parent and staff who so readily followed ECDA’s safe distancing guidelines at short notice. This included the kindergarten staff preparing a month of Home-Based Learning (HBL) kits for every child in a single day just before Circuit Breaker temporarily closed all schools. And when school reopened, the kindergarten staff put in place safe distancing tapes, ensured extra sanitizing, set up partitioning and split teaming and moved all school celebrations virtually. Likewise, the children responded positively to the HBL kits and upon returning to school, wore masks and abided by the additional guidelines without complaint.

Secondly, we give thanks for ‘B’ – bold behaviour. It is not easy to give thanks amidst a pandemic but our children surprised us when they were returned to school overflowing with thanksgiving e.g. for their parents, for sunny weather and most of all, for Jesus coming to save us so that they don’t have to be afraid. This shows they are always looking out for God’s blessings, rather than having their happiness depend on circumstances. Truly even little children can be used by God to defeat evil and negativity with their bold gratitude.  

Thirdly, we are thankful for ‘C’ – our children’s compassion in community. After learning about the migrant workers’ dormitories and our frontline healthcare workers’ courage, the children did paintings to decorate a new migrant workers’ dormitory and penned encouraging notes to healthcare staff at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital. We are thankful for their enthusiasm to show compassion to our essential workers. 

2020 is a year that will go down in history but we at PLMCCK believe we are history-makers who can give thanks even amidst negativity. Let this year be remembered for our thankful spirits. Thank you, everyone, and to God be all glory!