Every year, preschools all around the globe conduct concerts in their respective schools. USCI CDC is one of the many preschools that have been following this tradition. However, due to the pandemic in 2020, the entire world came to a halt. Everyone’s lives were affected in many ways. This hurdle only made the teachers and management work harder and with more determination. We were determined to have the concert, as it is often said in showbiz; “The show must go on!”. Although the concert had to be postponed, the show indeed went on. On 9 January 2021, UCSI Child Development Centre celebrated their 12th Annual Concert.
This event was a collective effort by all the staff of UCSI CDC. The children practised relentlessly before they left for the year-end holidays and even returned to school a week earlier to squeeze in a few more practices. Due to the pandemic, plenty of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) had to be implemented. The school decided to split the event into four separate sessions according to age. This was to keep the crowd small and have as little physical contact as possible between the guests.
Finally, the day arrived. Session one kicked off with the two youngest groups in our school, Playschool (age 2) and Nursery (age 3). These 2 groups dedicated their fashion show performance to the front liners. This was to thank them for putting themselves at risk just to keep everyone safe. After a delightful performance from the little ones, everyone dismissed and the teachers prepared the hall for session two. Session two was for the Pre 1 level (age 4). The girls from this level performed a beautiful ballet dance and the boys performed a Kung- Fu dance.
Once everyone from session two had left, the hall was once again prepared for session three. Session three was for the Pre 2 level (age 5). The ceremony began by a Pre 2 representative, Koo Ki Zen presenting a welcome speech. Next on the agenda were the performances. The class was divided into two dances. One group performed a Bollywood dance choreographed by teachers Bernice Esther. Group Two performed a Dikir Barat dance choreographed by one of the teachers, Zalikha.
The final session was by the Pre 3 level (age 6). They had their graduation ceremony where the whole class sang a moving song in Mandarin for their parents. The children then collected their preschool certificates. After the moving performance, the children went on to perform The Cup Song by Anna Kendrick. The children played along with the song using percussion instruments as well as cups. The parents were enthralled by this beautiful performance. The second performance was a hip-hop song. The children dressed up in their hip-hop outfits and wowed the crowd with their performance. Simply an amazing way to end their preschool journey.
There were two separate themes for the concert. The first two sessions were “Together We Stand, Divided We Fall”. The last two sessions were “A Whole New World”. Both these themes were COVID-19 related. The first theme was to express the children’s gratitude towards the front liners in our country who put their life at risk every day to protect us. The second theme was to create an awareness on the enormous change COVID-19 has brought upon the whole world. A few examples would be like wearing a mask and face shield while keeping your distance from others and practising washing our hands regularly. All in all, the concert ran smoothly and everyone was safe because of the strict adherence to the SOPs.
