Grant Proposal

Project Title
CAM-A-READY!

Synopsis
We decided to embark on this project involving photography as we hope to
make the arts accessible to all stakeholders in the school. We believe that while
photography is already an integral part in the lives of Singaporeans, it can be used
intentionally as an avenue for self-expression and creativity.
For this project, we hope to collaborate with the National Arts Council to
create a sustainable environment within the school where the art form of
photography can thrive. The project would involve all teachers, parents and children
of the school. Based on the termly themes in the curriculum, participants will take
part in capturing photographs inspired by the themes and each will select one for
submission. These photographs will be collated and posted onto the schools
website where it can be viewed by all members of the school. At the end of each
semester, these photographs will be printed out onto postcards and each child will
get to bring home two different photographs chosen at random.
Through this project, we aim to promote communication among stakeholders
using a light hearted manner. We also hope to have an increased collaboration with
the community, namely with the National Arts Council. This project serves as a
common topic of interest and discussion for children, teachers, and parents, bringing
all three parties together.
The benefits of our proposed project, CAM-A-READY!, includes increasing
childrens awareness of the world and encouraging their creativity and self
expression through the taking of photographs and exploring of the environment. We

also hope that through this project, participants would have an understanding of how
things can be seen through different perspectives and lenses. We believe that CAMA-READY! creates a platform for greater parent-child bonding opportunities as
families are more likely to take trips together in order to capture desired
photographs.

Project Objectives
1. To have at least 50% of the parents, children, and staff participating in this
project.
2. To allow parents, children and teachers to bond over CAM-A-READY in at
least 3 events held in school, increasing the opportunities of communication
among them. These events could be when
a. Parents and children attend the project briefing in school
b. Photography workshop
c. Brainstorming on themes
d. Sharing Session
3. To build a partnership with the National Arts Council by participating in the
Arts in Your Neighbourhood programme, resulting in an exhibition as a
culmination event of this project.

Project Choice
Our team got the idea of using photography as the focus of our project as we
see it as an art form that is easily accessible and relevant to our everyday lives.
While photography is more commonly carried out by adults and professionals, we
wanted to explore the possibility of children being behind the camera and taking the
role of directing the process of photo-taking.

With this in mind, we came up with the project synopsis after a brainstorming
session on what would be the most interesting yet simple manner to collaborate with
parents and the community. We also wanted our project to be something ongoing
and yet culminate into a tangible product. As a photograph ultimately captures how
an individual sees the world, we believe that the photographs resulting from this
project would give us insight to the diverse perceptions and creativity that the
stakeholders in this project possess.
In this project, the quality of our centre could be raised from the possible
increased communication and rapport built among children, parents, teachers, and
the community through the brainstorming and sharing sessions. This would help in
forging a stronger ecological system for optimal development of the students in our
school.

Project Description (Stages of project in chronological order)

Entire CAM-A-READY process lasts a year
Stage One:
Introduction to
CAM-A-READY!

Teachers, parents, and children are introduced to the project

and informed that it will take place once every term. During
this time, relevant information will be dispersed and
participants may clarify any questions/doubts.
Timeline: 1 week (1st week of the term)
Intended outcomes: Mutual understanding of the intent and
outcomes of the project
Relevance of activity to project objective(s): To
encourage collaboration and shared understanding among
participants with regards to this project.

Stage Two:
Photography
Workshop

Before embarking on the process of taking photos,

participants will attend a workshop together to learn more
about photography. Community partners and/or parents may
be engaged to conduct the photography workshop.

Timeline: Workshop session - 30 minutes

Intended outcomes: Increased knowledge of photography
Relevance of activity to project objective(s): To create a
common platform for participants to learn, interact and bond
over a shared interest, increasing the opportunities for
communication among them.
Stage Three:
Brainstorming
Session(s)

Participants are invited to brainstorm on the possible themes

to be explored. A list of themes will be given out based on
the curriculum, and participants will decide on one central
theme for the project.
Timeline: 1 week
Intended outcomes: To decide on the theme together
before embarking on the project
Relevance of activity to project objective(s): Before the
project can commence, the theme needs to be established
for participants to have a common understanding of what is
expected of them.

Stage Four:
Capturing of
Photos

Participants are given time to capture their photos and to

select one for submission to the school. After which, these
photos will be uploaded onto the schools website.
Timeline: 3 weeks
Intended outcomes: Participants to get to view one
another's photographs
Relevance of activity to project objective(s): There is a
platform for participants to bond over the shared experience
and to network with one another.

Stage Five:
Sharing Sessions

Participants are invited to share about their photos with one

another during arranged sessions in school.
Timeline: 1 week
Intended outcomes: To encourage interaction and
collaboration among participants

Relevance of activity to project objective(s): Participants

will get to ask questions about each others photographs, talk
about their photography experiences, and learn from one
another.
Stage Six:
Photographs to
Postcards

At the end of the semester, the school will compile these

photographs to be printed onto postcards. These postcards
will be distributed among the participants for keepsake each child will take home two postcards selected at random.
Timeline: 1 week (During the term break)
Intended outcomes: To have a memento for participants to
remember the experience of CAM-A-READY
Relevance of activity to project objective(s): Participants
see their work being appreciated and recognised. The
postcards also serve as documentation of this project.

Stage Seven:
Culmination event
and Reflections

At the end of the year, participants are invited to an

exhibition showcasing the collection of photos they have
taken over the course of the project. This exhibition is held in
conjunction with the National Arts Councils Arts in Your
Neighbourhood programme. A survey will be distributed to
gather participants feedback on the project to review and
improve the project after their visit to the exhibition (refer to
Appendix A).
Timeline: Exhibition will be held for 2 weeks at the end of
the year
Intended outcomes: To celebrate the learning of and
recognize the participation of the stakeholders in this project
through the collaboration with the National Arts Council. The
survey form is also given to gather feedback on the
processes of the project.
Relevance of activity to project objective(s): The
exhibition is an event endorsed by the National Arts
Councils Arts in Your Neighbourhood programme. It is a key
event in this project that celebrates the achievements and
relationships formed among the participants and serves as a
closure to the project in the academic year.

*The cycle of each project will repeat from Stages Three to Five at the start of each
term.

Innovative Elements
There are various aspects of project CAM-A-READY which makes it
innovative, the central idea being the integration of technology into the project. It
introduces photography as a visual art form, invites all the stakeholders in a childs
education to be active participants in it, and gives recognition to them using social
media and post cards. These elements are elaborated below.
Using technology to approach Visual Arts in preschool
The fundamental element to our project would be the incorporation of
technology in it. In most preschool curriculums, the arts are mainly focused on visual,
performing or literary, and rarely do children get to experiment with photography as
an art form. This project aims to allow a hands on approach to visual arts through the
use of technological gadgets.
Photography as a medium for art expression
For teachers, this use of photography also differs from how it is used
traditionally in the classroom, namely for student documentation, formal class
photoshoots and portfolio use. This project also works as an extension of the themes
covered in the schools curriculum using an approach that has not been
conventionally used before.
Getting all stakeholders involved in the project
Typically, projects aiming to improve communication and collaboration
between schools and the families involves tasks being given out to families to
complete. Instead of this model, this project pioneers an unprecedented approach of
incorporating all the stakeholders in a childs education consisting of children,
families, the school and the community.

Distributing postcards as mementos

Printing the postcards at the end of the semester also serves as the schools
form of appreciation and recognition to the participants contributions to the project,
providing everyone with a memento of their participation and experience.

Evaluation
We intend to involve all participants in the evaluation of the project - teachers,
parents and children. A survey form (refer to Appendix A) will be given out for
teachers and parents to share their opinions and give feedback with regards to the
project. There will be an additional space on the form to indicate childrens
responses, thus also promoting communication between parent and child.
We decided to use a survey form as it is open-ended and allows for a variety
of responses from the participants. Based on the total number of photo submissions
and feedback garnered from the survey, we will be able to assess the response of
the stakeholders towards this project and if the project was successful.
At the end of the project, a review on the collaboration with the National Arts
Council will be done with staff members of the school. During which, successes and
challenges overcome can be highlighted in order to encourage reflective practices
and to improve future collaborative efforts.

Sustainability
Project CAM-A-READY is a flexible project that can be adapted to suit various
scales (target audience) and topics. This project is sustainable in the long run as
new themes can be planned and implemented for upcoming terms. It is important to
note that the project is less suitable for children of lower age groups (i.e. Toddler and
Playgroup) as it involves photo-taking.

Extendibility
Engage in sharing the project and promoting it to other schools
We could gather documentations over the course of Project CAM-A-READY!
to be shared with other early childhood professionals. These presentations could be
used to introduce the aims and benefits of the project, and may be conducted during
ECDA conferences or workshops. Ultimately, we hope that these sharing sessions
would create an awareness of photography as an art form and inspire others to
implement it in their schools.

Increasing the scale of CAM-A-READY

In the long run, should more centres come to know about this project and
show interest in executing it, they may collaborate to carry out this project on a larger
scale. We may even expand the project to involve other community partners. (e.g.
Engage in partnership with NParks on theme of nature for photography).

Proposed Budget
S/No.

Item Description

Relevance to Project

Estimated
Cost

Camera devices

To be loaned to participants who

do not own camera/camera
phones

$150 x 10pcs
= $1500.00

*A refundable deposit will be

collected during the loaning of
equipment
2

Gift for trainer(s) of

photography
workshop

Workshop for participants to learn

more about photography

$100

Cost of printing
photos on postcard

Participation gift

2000 cards at
$189

Materials for the

Exhibition
e.g.
Frames
Photo
Printing
Boards

Total Estimated Project Cost

Culmination event

$1000

$2789

Appendix A

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