Two weeks ago, we held The Learning Lab’s very first Grand Carnival to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Over the 3-day event, we had more than 5,000 students and their families join us for this momentous occasion.
This event was more than just a commemoration of a numerical milestone. It was a timely reminder and reaffirmation of our core belief, that we are constantly working towards the goal of nurturing the love of learning in every student.
The Big Day(s)!
The late nights (packing over 7,000(!) sets of door gifts) and meticulous planning paid off – each day ran smoothly and any last-minute hiccups were effectively dealt with. Nothing warmed our hearts like seeing our students enjoy themselves outside the four walls of the classroom - it was an added bonus to witness them having fun with their teachers too!
Event Highlights
Exclusive Door Gifts
We were greeted with our students’ thrilled (and sweaty) faces, excitement evident in their eyes as they dragged their parents along to their desired activity booths after they had collected their goodie bags.
TLL Merchandise
The carnival saw the official launch of our first-ever collection of TLL Merchandise! We had been asked numerous times over the years to create a line of TLL-themed products, and are greatly heartened to hear that our students love them as much as we do. If you’re wondering, the items are still available for purchase on our website here!
Stage Performances
Our multi-talented students put up some stellar performances during the carnival. Each performance was met with rousing applause, and, of course, nothing beats seeing the proud smiles on our parents’ faces as they watched their children strut their stuff on stage!
Activities
From the TLL Quest Race to classic carnival must-haves like ring toss and magic tricks, we had a variety of different activities suitable for children of all ages. As expected, the most popular activity was definitely the hoverboard circuit!
The Lab
Over the past month, our United Square students knew that something special was brewing on Level 3. On the first day of the carnival, we officially opened The Lab, our very own Science lab where students can explore the wonders of Science. The futuristic interior drew inquisitive looks from students and parents as they admired the state-of-the-art laboratory. Carnival attendees were given the opportunity to enter The Lab as part of the TLL Quest Race, where they completed fun Science activities planned by our curriculum specialists. (Stay tuned to find out how and when members of the public can access The Lab, too!)
Dunking Machine
With a chance to dunk members of the TLL family, it was no wonder the dunking machine was a huge hit with the kids. We had students, teachers, directors and even our COO dunked during the 3-day carnival!
15 Years and Counting
A week has since passed, but we are still reeling from the carnival’s success (while nursing body aches from working through the weekend!). We were able to hit pause on our busy work schedules to take a look back on and celebrate how far we’ve come over the past 15 years.
Back to the Beginning
Our very first classrooms were located in Balmoral Plaza. Did you know many of our current staff members actually attended lessons at TLL while they were schooling?
Our first shopfront in United Square
In late 2001, we moved to United Square in order to accommodate our rapidly growing population of students and staff. We now have over 80 classrooms across 5 different sections of the shopping mall and office tower!
TLL Bunnies – Smudge and Milkyway!
Some of our older students still ask about our resident TLL pet bunnies, Smudge and Milkyway. For many years, they resided in the area that is now occupied by our Paris classrooms!
Moving Closer to Our Students
Despite Singapore being a relatively small city, we wanted to move closer to our TLL families, in order to make our classes accessible to all. We are proud to share that we now have eight TLL facilities, conveniently located across our sunny island! We try to make each of our facilities unique, so students have a different experience each time they come for class.
The baby grand piano in UE Square is often used by our students.
Our students love this futuristic tunnel in Rochester Mall!
This spacious library is the first thing that greets our students at Tampines Point.
We’re always sharing fun videos on the huge screens in Mountbatten Square.
Our Growing Family
Our teachers and staff are united by the same goal: to nurture a love for learning in every student.
Some of our teachers have been with us since 2001. These are the individuals we never fail to look to for advice. We especially love hearing their recounts of TLL’s early days. We even have a couple of mother-daughter colleagues here!
Our Client Services and Enrollment teams at the TLL D&D 2015
Our teachers often share their tips and fun tangents for the upcoming lessons with each other!
Expanding Horizons
We constantly partner and collaborate with global educational platforms to enable our students to not only excel in exams, but also in life beyond the classroom.
2010 saw our first overseas delegation to the World Scholar’s Cup in Shanghai, China. Since then, our students have represented The Learning Lab at the Harvard Model Congress, Global Young Leaders Conference, etc.
HMC 2016 - Our most recent group of delegates returned from the Harvard Model Congress in Boston, USA in late March!
So Where Do We Go From Here?
We have definitely gone through a period of expansion over the past couple of years. To meet increasing demands, day-to-day operations have changed and processes updated, but one thing has always remained constant: we stand firm by our practice of encouraging and guiding each child to achieve his or her personal best.
‘Nurturing the Love for Learning’ became our new tagline – to us, this resonated much more with what we do here on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter if a student is with us for as short as a month or for as long as half of his or her academic life, we are always pushing ourselves to provide him or her with the best runway we could to fare well in school (and, more importantly, in life).
We treasure the opportunity to help our students reach their fullest potential, and celebrate any and every success they meet along the way.
From the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to sincerely thank each and every one of our students for letting us be part of their lives, no matter how small an impact we might have made – we are truly humbled to be entrusted with the responsibility of guiding them on their academic journeys.
Until the next time we meet!
Love,
The Learning Lab