Real-World Learning For Northlight School Students

Shell today invited Northlight School students to the Paya Lebar-Macpherson Shell Retail Academy for a different kind of learning that exposes them to the real-life working environment at a Shell retail service station.

For the first time, a half-day training programme has been organised for students aged 14 to 16 to acquaint them with what goes on behind the scenes at a Shell petrol station.  The students will be briefed by Shell staff who will share their personal experience, and thereafter paired with Shell mentors to try their hands at jobs at five different workstations – Shell Car Wash, 7-Eleven convenience store, Shell Autoserv, tanker discharge and the service station forecourt (where customers drive in to top up petrol).

Henry Chu, General Manager of Retail Sales and Operations, Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd, said, “This training workshop will expose the students to real-life work situations and give them a taste of what it is like to work at a Shell service station.  It is a great platform for them to learn how to handle day-to-day challenges that our employees have to deal with.  They can also take this opportunity to discover their strengths and weaknesses before they make career decisions.”

Mrs Chua Yen Ching, principal of Northlight School, said, “When Shell invited the students to this workshop at the Shell Retail Academy, the students were very excited because they have already been working with Shell volunteers through the Nature Nurtures Programme.  The session will provide the students with wonderful work experiences that acquaint them with the real world before they start their working lives.”

Students from Northlight School have already benefited from the mentorship of Shell staff through the Nature Nurtures Programme (NNP), a year-long internal volunteer programme that involves Shell staff befriending and mentoring Northlight School students through NParks-organised activities at Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve.  The NNP aims to cultivate an appreciation for nature through activities such as coastal clean-up at Sungei Buloh.  It was through this activity that the idea of a half-day training workshop for Northlight School students was born.

Shell gives back to the communities in which it operates and hopes that the half-day real-world learning programme will help prepare the students for the working world upon their graduation from Northlight School.

About Northlight School
Northlight School is an institution established by the Ministry of Educations for students who experience difficulties handling the academic-oriented mainstream curriculum in the country and are more suitable for vocational education.  The school started operating in January 2007 with the primary objective of assisting students who failed their Primary School Leaving Examination. The school’s curriculum and programmes equip students with basic academic foundation and the necessary skills to handle challenges in a real working environment.

About Shell Companies in Singapore
Shell has a firm reputation for supporting educational activities, some of which – e.g. Shell Traffic Games and the Shell Singapore Youth Science Festival – have become part of the national school curriculum.  Through such programmes involving road safety among children, the teaching of entrepreneurial skills among Singapore’s youth, and other programmes focusing on science and technology, Shell is helping develop the nation’s most precious resource – its people.

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FOR ENQUIRIES:

Oh Yam Chew (Mr)
External Affairs & Communications
Shell Companies in Singapore
Tel.: +65 6384 8943/ +65 9764 0193
E-mail:  yam-chew.oh@shell.com