Several schools in Singapore, including Victoria School and the Singapore Sports School, hosted screenings overnight on campus for its students to watch the FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. But this isn’t the first time it’s happened.
Back in 2014 when the tournament was held in Rio de Janeiro, Catholic High School already hosted a screening where students could watch Germany beat Argentina in the final.
But a form from Catholic High School showing the schedule for the screenings and subsequent school schedule the following day has since resurfaced online.
The school opened its multi-purpose room for the screening and required parental consent from students who wished to attend.
The form detailed the schedule for the night: Students were to report to school at 9.30pm, take part in a pre-match activity, then shower and rest at 11pm before waking up at 3am to catch the final. After the match, they would have time for a shower and breakfast before returning to their usual school routine at 7.20am, starting with flag-raising and regular lessons.
Some netizens were surprised that students had to return to business as usual just an hour after watching such an exciting match.
“7.20am flag-raising and lessons?!!” read one popular comment, which pretty much summed up the disbelief.
However, another netizen pointed out that students would likely have stayed up to watch the game at home anyway, and would still have had to head to school afterwards. Since only interested students had signed up for the screening, the arrangement wouldn’t have significantly affected their usual schedule.
If anything, it’s pretty clever way to let students enjoy the match while making sure they still showed up for lessons, if you’re asking us.
If this all feels a little like deja vu, well, that’s because it is.
This year, many schools once again made arrangements for students who wanted to catch the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. Hwa Chong Institution pushed back reporting time on Monday from 7.30am to 9.30am; St Joseph’s Institution and Anglo-Chinese School moved reporting time from 7.30am to 8.30am.
Others hosted overnight watch parties. Singapore Sports School held a watch party of the final for students, parents and staff from 2.30am to 5.30am, with classes starting only at 10am, giving students some extra time to rest.
Much like Catholic High School’s 2014 arrangement, Victoria School hosted an optional World Cup watch party for up to 350 students, with attendees arriving between 9.30pm and 10.30pm the night before, with its 7.30am reporting time unchanged.
Students caught the match together in the school’s lecture hall, and while there was initially some time set aside for them to rest and freshen up afterwards, the Spain-Argentina match’s extra-time drama meant the final whistle happened close to 6am. That likely made for a pretty short rest window before the school day began.
That said, it looked like students had no regrets being part of the memorable night. The school’s IG later shared photos and clips from the watch party, showing students resting in their sleeping bags before waking up for the match.
After the final whistle, they were even treated to a McDonald’s breakfast from the school’s alumni association before heading off to lessons, making it a morning they would likely remember for years to come.
Well, what’s a little lost sleep when you get to experience a once-in-four-years moment like this with some of your best pals, right?