Events Archive

Mental Health Awareness Week 2021 from 12 – 20 August

If you would like to attend the talks without signing up in advance as a “walk-in”, just simply go to MS Teams (👈 click me!) daily to find out the virtual link to the talk / workshops. We will be posting the Zoom meeting links there by 3.30pm daily.

Our Peer Helpers have been busy preparing booths and activities to share with you mental health related issues such as the ones listed above! Get to know them better here!

Here are the incredible speakers we are hosting this year:

Do note the following prep you need to do for some of the sessions:

13 Aug – Seeking the Pause in Everyday Life
Prepare a raisin or a small piece of soft fruit

17 Aug – #MYHEARTSPACE #MYHEARTSPEAKS
Come by RGC by 16 Aug to pick up some art materials. Accessible daily from 12-16 Aug 2-5pm (except for weekends). On your own, prepare: • a pair of scissors • a small bottle of craft glue (can be bought at Popular) • some magic pens/ markers • stapler • Scotch tape

The first 90 to sign up* would also receive awesome gifts, such as:

A tote bag (for the first 30)

A reusable straws pack (for the next 30)

And PHP journals (for the last 30)

*upon verification of attendance at the talk signed up for

Come visit our booths for a chance to win prizes from the lucky draw!

Every booth would have a special quiz for students to complete! Based on the number of quizzes completed, students can get different gifts!

3 quizzes: 1 lucky draw chance & wallet cards
5 quizzes: 2 lucky draw chances & sweets and bookmarks
7 quizzes: 3 lucky draw chances & mental health awareness postcards
9 quizzes: 4 lucky draw chances & 1 chathub post-it pad
11 quizzes: 5 lucky draw chances & 1 toblerone bar

Students will be notified by email on the gifts they are eligible for!
Gifts can be collected between 16 – 20 August from 12 – 1 pm at the Canteen Walkway!

Lucky draw prizes:

Stand to win attractive additions to your Class MRS kit for everyone to de-stress with!

1st prize: Foosball table
2nd prize: Table tennis set
3rd prize: Fidget spinners
15 Consolation prizes: Stress balls

Students will be notified by email if they have won a Lucky Draw Prize and collection details.

Additionally, we have prepared goodie packs for the first 300 students to come visit our booths! You can collect them between 11 am – 12 pm from the canteen atrium on 16-20 August! See you there!

The 1% Challenge

Stand a chance to win an exclusive limited edition Griffles pin by taking part in the mindfulness challenge!

RI Peer Helpers Programme won the Silver Award!

We would like to share a piece of good news with all of you that will hopefully brighten your day in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Innergy (Schools) Award is conferred by MOE to schools for innovative ideas which enhance teaching and learning. We are very pleased and excited to announce that we were conferred the Silver Award for the RI Peer Helpers Programme in 2020 and were selected to present on PHP at the Teachers’ Conference and ExCEL Fest 2021. We would like to thank all of our peer helpers, past and present, for being a part of PHP and for making this award possible. Below are some photos from the Award ceremony and our virtual booth at the ExCEL Fest.

The virtual Innergy Awards presentation on 14 May 2021;

L-R Top row: Jeffrey Lee, Woo Mei Hui, Alexis Lion;
L-R Bottom Row: Chua Kah Hwee, Mohammed Zullkarnain Bin Abdul Aziz, Paul Liu

Our Virtual Booth at the ExCEL Fest 2021

Raffles Science Symposium: Mental Health Science Strand 2021

RSS Mental Health Science Strand is taking place on 24th Feb 2021 from 0815 – 1300. This year, it will be carried out online!

The Raffles Science Symposium (RSS) is an annual event organised in Raffles Institution that features research and workshops from the fields of natural science, sports science and mental health science. For the Mental Health Science Strand, Raffles Guidance Centre (RGC) and the Peer Helpers Programme (PHP) invite speakers from different organisations to share on mental health topics to advocate for and increase awareness in mental health in RI. RSS2021 will focus on Replenishing and Reinventing (R&R).

Highlights include:

Dr. Christopher Willard, a psychologist & educational consultant teaching at Harvard Medical School and published author of Child’s Mind (2010), Growing Up Mindful (2016), Raising Resilience (2017), will be speaking on the benefits of mindfulness and building resilience.
Dr. John Phillip Louis, PhD in Clinical Psychology, registered counsellor & supervisor with the Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC), Advanced Certified Schema Therapist, Supervisor/Trainer with the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) will be doing a schema therapy workshop on knowing yourself, reigniting passion, avoiding burnout.
Dr. Liow Pei Hsiang, Psychiatrist and Senior Consultant from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) will share on identifying students with depression and anxiety symptoms, and how to manage and attend to them.
Kevin Wee, Raffles Institution alumnus and founder of Rebound with Resilience will be sharing about his personal mental health journey, and offer tips on building resilience and self care
Dr. Harry Lim, Head of Sport Psychology at the National Youth Sports Institute will share on improving personal performance using concepts from Sports Psychology.
Exhibition of Peer Helpers Programme group projects on mental health
Student sharings and project presentations from RI students and RI Peer Helpers

Please click here to register for the event. Deadline for registration is 10th February 2021.
Due to limited capacity, sign-ups are on a first come first served basis.

Click here for the RSS 2021 Synopsis.

For more information, please email kahhwee.chua@ri.edu.sg or meihui.woo@ri.edu.sg .

We hope to see you there!

Talk by Elizabeth Paulyn Gostelow @RSS 2021

Elizabeth Paulyn Gostelow (21A01B) will be sharing more about her book,

Embrace, at the Raffles Science Symposium 2021. Early sign ups who

attend the event will receive a gift (specially designed by our peer helpers)

and a copy of Elizabeth’s book (while stocks last). All attendees will also

receive a digital badge!

Y5 Class Carepack

Hey Raffles! Have you received your Class Kit yet? There’s bubble wrap, fidget spinner and colouring pages — WOW! Do check them out as a class and we hope you have fun using them!

Upcoming MHAW

To keep the COVID-19 situation in Singapore under control, the government has enforced numerous regulations to limit social contact. While this may lower the risk of our physical health being affected, many of us may be forced to not interact with our friends, our sources of emotional support, as frequently and as closely as we can before. This has made maintaining our mental health much more important during these trying times, which is where Mental Health Awareness Week 2020, or MHAW 2020, comes in.

Our theme for MHAW 2020 is ‘Masks, Unmasked’, bringing to mind our current norm of wearing face masks whenever in public to control the spread of the coronavirus. Similarly, it has also become common for people to put on facades or ‘masks’ when interacting with others to show only the aspects of their personalities they want to show. However, as the COVID-19 situation improves in Singapore and we eventually get to take off our physical masks, perhaps it is also time for us to be more open about our emotions and be truer to ourselves instead of hiding our true selves from our peers. After all, confiding in people we trust instead of bottling up our true feelings and thoughts is important in maintaining our mental health, which is why we, your Peer Helpers, are here.

Due to aforementioned COVID-19 regulations, MHAW talks will be held online while posters about mental health will be displayed around the school for your viewing pleasure. Over the five days, MHAW includes talks by qualified individuals in their fields such as Dr Liow Pei Hsiang, a psychiatrist at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and Ms Ma Jialin, HOD for Student Well-Being in our school. MHAW will also include presentations by various mental health organisations in Singapore such as INSIGHT Care Corner Singapore, the Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH) and ChatHub, personal sharings by individuals who have had first-hand and second-hand experiences dealing with mental health, ranging from depression to bipolar disorder, as well as screenings of films portraying the hardships people struggling with mental health must face.

MHAW 2020, ‘Masks, Unmasked’, will be held from Monday, 17 August, to Friday, 21 August. If you are interested in any of the presentations or film screenings, do sign up for them at https://forms.gle/ty58fT8YJr7e9t5T8. And remember, even though Mental Health Awareness Week is only, well, a week long, awareness of mental health, whether it be our own or our peers’, is something that we must practise every day.

Online My Rest Space

COVID-19 restrictions has meant that we are not able to open up our physical My Rest Space, however, we have decided to bring My Rest Space online to you! Come and chill and hang out with our peer helpers and play some games or learn some new hobbies. The timings are Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday between 3:30pm -5:30pm. Join us here on MS Teams!

MAYHOLSGETLIT

How’s your May holidays turning out? 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏻‍♂️ Getting bored? Come online and get lit with your Peer Helpers! Enjoy games, pick up a new skill or simply have a HTHT… Sign up with this link ➡️ https://forms.ri.edu.sg/MayHolsGetLit and connect up with us! 🥳

Welcome to our 2020 batch of Peer Helpers!

This year, we have 41 peer helpers from our 2020 cohort. A big congratulations to all those who have been selected and accepted our offer to join Peer Helpers Programme. In these COVID-19 times, we need peer helpers in our school community more than ever. Watch this space for some exciting new initiatives that we are coming up with to connect with students online!

Applications for Peer Helpers Programme are now open!

Applications for all Monday Morning Enrichment programmes will open from 12 February (Wednesday) 5 p.m. till 23 February (Sunday) 23:59 p.m via IVY. Please check your school email for more instructions on how to apply.

Interviews will take place from 26 Feb onwards. We will get in touch with you to schedule an interview if you have been shortlisted.

Enrichment programmes will commence in Term 2 and continue for the rest of the year.

Good luck in the application process and we look forward to chatting with you during the interviews.

Introduction to the Peer Helpers Programme JIP talk

Come and hear from the teacher-mentors, Ms. Woo Mei Hui and Ms. Chua Kah Hwee on what the Peer Helpers Programme is all about, and what you can expect during this Monday Morning Enrichment Programme. There will also be a Year 6 senior Peer Helper who will be sharing their experiences over the last year. This is also an opportunity for you to ask any questions that you may have.

Date: Jan 22 2020

Time: 920 – 10am

Venue: LT 5

Raffles Science Symposium: Mental Health Science Strand 2020

RSS Mental Health Science Strand is taking place on 29th Jan 2020 from 900am to 230pm at Innovation Centre and the Indoor Sports Hall.

The Raffles Science Symposium (RSS) is an annual event organised in Raffles Institution that features research and workshops from the fields of natural science, sports science and mental health science. For the Mental Health Science Strand, Raffles Guidance Centre (RGC) and the Peer Helpers Programme (PHP) invite speakers from different organisations to share on mental health topics to advocate for and increase awareness in mental health in RI. RSS2020 will focus on treatments beyond medication for mental health and well-being. Highlights include:

Dr Lim Wei Shyan, Associate Consultant from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital will be speaking on the factors that have consistently been demonstrated to actually boost psychological well-being
Dr Imelda Santos Caleon, Assistant Dean (Partnerships) and Programme Director of the Lifelong Learning, Cognition and Well-being Research Programme at the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, National Institute of Education (NIE) will speak on current trends in Positive Psychology and Positive Education.
Adjunct A/Prof Angie Chew, Chief Executive Officer & Mindfulness Principal, Brahm Centre will share on engineering an undefeated mind through her own personal journey of recovery from anxiety and depression
Ms. Ma Jialin, HOD Student Well-being 2 from Raffles Institution will share on the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) and take us through a short .b mindfulness practice
Student sharings and project presentations from RI students and RI Peer Helpers
Exhibition of Peer Helpers Programme group projects done as part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019

Students who would like to apply for the Peer Helpers Programme (Monday enrichment programme) should attend this. Please register your interest at http://bit.ly/RSS2020student by 20th Jan 2020.

Click here for the RSS 2020 BROCHURE FINAL.

For more information, please email kahhwee.chua@ri.edu.sg or meihui.woo@ri.edu.sg .

We hope to see you there!

Mental Health Awareness Week 2019

MHAW is taking place from 30 July to 2 August 2019 and this year’s theme is I’MPERFECT.

Please join us at the canteen walkway to receive free goodie bags and pick up interesting mental health related collateral!

Come attend our Human Library event and hear our guest speakers who have personal encounters with different mental health disorders and learning disorders.

Read more about the upcoming event at the following link below:

https://rafflespress.com/2019/07/25/mental-health-awareness-week-2019-preview/

Congratulations Peer Helpers batch of 2019!

We have selected our peer helpers for 2019. Our first PHP lesson starts on 25 March 2019. Welcome to all of the incoming batch!

Applications for the Peer Helpers Programme are now open

Please go to the IVY school online platform https://ivy.ri.edu.sg/ under Monday Morning Enrichment Programmes to submit your application to PHP. Applications close on 24th Feb 23:59, and only shortlisted applicants will be interviewed. Interviews will be conducted during the week starting 4th March 2019. Shortlisted students will be informed of their interview slots via email by 2359hrs on 1st March 2019.

Introduction to Peer Helpers Programme – JIP talk on 29th January 2019, 755am – 855am, LT3

If you are interested in applying for the Peer Helpers Programme Monday Morning Enrichment Programme in 2019, do come over to LT3 as Ms. Chua Kah Hwee and Ms. Woo Mei Hui, the teacher-mentors in charge of PHP will be sharing details about PHP including the programme session outline. There will also be PHP seniors sharing about their own PHP journey last year. Feel free to stick around and ask questions afterwards.

Open House 2019 – 16th January 2019, Blue Room and My Rest Space

Come by the PHP booth to speak to PHP seniors or teacher-mentors and find out more about PHP. We have photos of our past events, and mental health collaterals designed by students on display. MRS is also open for you to tour and take a look inside.

Raffles Science Symposium 2019 – Mental Health Strand: 30 January 2019 (9am – 230pm)

Organised by Raffles Institution Peer Helpers Programme

The Raffles Science Symposium (RSS) is an annual event organised by Raffles Science Institute (RSI) and Raffles Guidance Centre (RGC) and the Peer Helpers Programme (PHP) that features research and workshops related to the fields of science and mental health science. We invite speakers from different organisations to share on mental health topics to advocate for and increase awareness of mental health in RI. RSS2019 will focus on the mind-body disconnect.

Highlights include:

Dr. Michael Chee, Professor and Director of the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke-NUS Medical School will speak on why sleep matters to our well-being, and the short and long term effects of sleep loss on memory and brain
RADM (Dr.) Tang Kong Choong, Chief of Medical Corps, Singapore Armed Forces will give a practical talk drawing on his work experience in the army about the importance of mental health in performance, especially under highly stressful conditions
Nicholas Patrick, founder of Ekho Academy and ambassador for #BeyondtheLabel will share on what it is like participating in the social experiment to reduce the stigma of mental illness, his own personal journey of recovery through depression, and his experience of being an advocate for mental illness
Student sharings and project presentations from RI students and RI Peer Helper alumni
Exhibition of Peer Helpers Programme group projects done as part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2016, 2017 and 2018

The event is FREE. All are welcome. Please join us!

Please register for the event at the following links:

For invited guests: https://tinyurl.com/RSS2019guest

For students: https://tinyurl.com/RSS2019student

Deadline for registration is 23rd January 2019.

For more information please email kahhwee.chua@ri.edu.sg or meihui.woo@ri.edu.sg.

Open House 2018: 12 January 2018

Come by to visit us at My Rest Space on Open House day! Or come by our PHP Booth to speak to a Peer Helper and find out more about our Monday Morning Enrichment Programme.

We have specially designed tissue packets by our peer helpers that are part of the Open House goodie bag! If you missed getting an Open House goodie bag, do not fret, the tissue packets will also be part of the Orientation Pack.

Introduction to the Peer Helpers Programme 19th January 2018

Come attend our briefing on PHP and to find out more about this Monday Morning Enrichment programme and hear your PHP seniors share about their PHP journey. Feel free to ask us and your seniors any questions you might have.

Date: 19th January

Time: 1425 – 1515

Venue: LT 3

Raffles Science Symposium 2018 – Mental Health Science Strand on 31st January

Come and join us and learn more about mental health. We have an exciting line up of speakers and presentations.

RSS 2018 – Mental Health Science Strand will focus on specific mental disorders – the treatment and recovery. Highlights include:

Dr Habeebul, a psychiatrist from Tan Tock Seng Hospital who will talk about the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders
Vijay, a Peer Support Specialist from IMH who will share his recovery story from mental illness as well as his role as a peer support specialist
Nicole, from The Tapestry Project who will share on how the Tapestry Project, an independent content platform and ground-up initiative that highlights personal and professional mental health stories in our community, came about and what it hopes to do in the community
Student sharings and project presentations from peer helpers from the Singapore Management University and RI Peer Helpers Programme
Exhibition of Peer Helpers Programme group projects done as part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2016 and 2017

Do click on the link below to view our brochure and register with us.

Raffles Science Symposium 2018 Brochure

Date: 31st January 2018

Time: 8am-230pm

Venue: Innovation Centre and ISH

Sign up for Peer Helpers Programme Monday Morning Enrichment Programme

We invite all interested students with a passion to serve the RI community and learn peer helping skills to apply.

Applications open on Thursday 8th Feb 6pm on IVY (https://ivy.ri.edu.sg/login/canvas) and close on Monday 19th Feb 2359. You will need to submit a short reflection of 500 words.

Interviews will be held during the week of 26th Feb to 2nd March at the RGC office, Block H, Level 1.

Peer Helpers Programme 2018 has started!

Congratulations to our 41 students who have been selected to be part of PHP 2018. We have started training our third batch of peer helpers – here they are at our learning journey on 2nd April: