Singapore, 19 July 2019 – Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for National Development, Mr Desmond Lee, launched NTUC First Campus’ (NFC) My First Skool’s (MFS) publication called “Recipes with Love” today. This publication features the chef and cooks in MFS’ childcare centres and 21 nutritious and healthy recipes for children. These recipes are part of the menu that the chef and cooks in the MFS centres prepare for the children on a daily basis. The publication also features the Health Promotion Board’s guidelines as part of the Healthy Meals in Pre-schools Programme (HMPP) on healthy food preparations for children.

2 . Through this publication, which is the first-of-its-kind in the Early Childhood sector, MFS aims to take the lead in:

• creating and providing a platform to recognise the efforts of the centre chef/cooks in MFS’ childcare centres – All meals at MFS’ pre-schools (i.e. breakfast, lunch and tea) are prepared and cooked daily by the chef and cooks in the centres’ in-house kitchens for some 20,000 children island-wide. This publication is part of MFS’ efforts to take the lead in recognising the chef and cooks’ hard work by sharing their experiences in cooking for pre-school children.
• sharing culinary expertise and best practices – Debunking the myth that healthier dishes are less flavourful, MFS has put together recipes which are easy to prepare, nutritious and tasty in the publication based on years of first-hand experience preparing food for pre-school children. Through this, MFS hopes to share the best practices of preparing nutritious and healthy meals from across the network with parents and members of the public. They can also gain insights into the cooking techniques and MFS’ strong practices of kitchen hygiene and food safety. The recipes will be available on MFS’ website before the end of July 2019.

3 . Ms Thian Ai Ling, General Manager of MFS and afterschool, said, “Food is something Singaporeans are very passionate about. Naturally, parents will want to know what their children are eating at the pre-school centres every day. Through this publication, they will be able to learn more about the tasty and nutritious food that our centre prepares and enjoy trying out the recipes at home.”

4 . “Over the years, our MFS centre cooks have continually honed their cooking skills. Through initiatives like this publication, we recognise the important role our centre cooks play in our children’s lives, supporting their healthy growth and development. Together with other centre support staff, they play their part in raising the quality of service in the pre-school sector.”

5 . At the launch, Minister Desmond Lee recognised the efforts of the unsung heroes and said, “Besides our educators, many others in our preschools also play important roles. You are the unsung heroes, who work tirelessly to ensure a good experience for our children, with healthy meals, a clean environment and readily-available learning resources. A big thank you to all our educators, non-teaching staff, and partners. Your deeds nurture a future generation – the young children entrusted to our care.”

6 . The launch of the publication is part of the annual “Learning and Sharing Festival 2019” (LSF), which aims to foster the spirit of peer learning through a series of showcases, workshops and Pecha-Kucha sessions. It is organised by MFS in partnership with The Little Skool-House, The Caterpillar’s Cove, afterschool by NTUC First Campus and SEED Institute.

7 . The three-day learning and sharing event was held from 19 to 21 July 2019 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Basement 2, Exhibition Halls E & F. The event was open to NTUC First Campus early childhood and student care professionals on 19 July. This is also the first year where this platform of peer learning was open to parents of MFS children on 20 July and members of the public on 21 July, as part of NFC’s efforts to share knowledge and resources on enhancing the quality of childhood care and education for children from birth to 12 years of age. More information on the programmes can be found at https://www.myfirstskool.com/event/l&s2019 and on the “2019 L&S Festival” app, which is available on both the Apple App store and Google Play store.

8 . Visitors had the opportunity to discover, experience and learn from Early Childhood experts and partners such as the National Museum of Singapore, Sport Singapore and more.

9 . Collaborations with key industry partners also play an important role in enriching the learning experience that NFC provides. The programmes that have been specially planned with these partners serve to broaden the horizons of NFC’s children in areas such as nature, history, art and sports, amongst others. NFC showed its appreciation for 24 partners and affirmed the strong partnership and invaluable support to NFC’s strategic and professional initiatives at the event on Friday.

10 . At the LSF, participants were able to enjoy visiting and attending 166 Showcase Booths, 77 Mini-Workshops, 48 Pecha-Kucha Sessions that cover a wide range of topics, including STEM-based learning, Mother Tongue Language learning, social-emotional and holistic arts learning. As part of the festival, MFS cooks featured in the “Recipes with Love” publication also conducted Cooking Demo Sessions for visitors.