Speech by Mr Yeo Kuerk Heng, Principal, at Chong Boon

Speech by Mr Yeo Kuerk Heng, Principal, at Chong Boon Secondary School’s
20th Anniversary Dinner on Thursday, 10 April 2014 at 1900 hours, at Chong
Boon Secondary School.
Our Guest-of-Honour, Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong
Mrs. Ng Ai Lin, Zonal Director, Schools South
Mdm Sim Siew Tin, Cluster Superintendent, South 1 Cluster
Ms Denise Phua, President, Autism Resource Centre
Mr Shabbir Hassanbhai, Chairman of the School Advisory Committee
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Good evening to all.
On behalf of the staff and students, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all of
you at our school's 20th Anniversary Dinner. We are indeed honoured to have you here
to celebrate this special moment with us. We are especially grateful to our Guest of
Honour, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who has taken time off from his busy
schedule to grace this occasion.
Providing Holistic Education
Over the past 20 years, Chong Boon Secondary School has delivered quality education
to its students. We have been committed to ensuring the availability of a wide range of
academic and non-academic programmes to develop students holistically.
Our core curriculum builds a strong foundation in literacy and numeracy as well as the
disciplinary knowledge to progress to post-secondary educational institutions. We have
introduced drama into our English curriculum to allow our students to be fully immersed
in an environment that cultivates their appreciation of the language. We also offer
Additional Mathematics to a broader group of students so that they can have a better
numeracy foundation to prepare them for post-secondary education.
We believe that our students need to learn how to make sense of knowledge and apply
it to real-world problems. Hence, we have offered an applied learning option of Physical
Education as an O-level subject for students with the interest and aptitude in sports and
fitness. In the pipeline, we have also started planning to offer Electronics as an O-level
subject by 2017.
Besides the academic domain, the school focuses on Character and Citizenship
Education (CCE) as well as aesthetics appreciation and physical education to nurture
all-rounded individuals. This emphasis has played an important role in developing
students to become responsible and useful citizens.
The Values in Action programme is an important component of CCE. Through various
community outreach projects, our students grow to become concerned citizens with a
sense of responsibility towards the community. Combining the needs of the community
with green environment efforts, our students shared with Teck Ghee residents, energy
conservation tips and recycling methods. They also served the elderly residents at the
Senior Activity Centre. Our students also worked with Teck Ghee’s grassroots leaders
to organise the ISD Mobile Exhibition as part of the Racial Harmony project for the
community. In carrying out these activities, our students not only made a positive impact
on the community, but also developed a stronger sense of rootedness and commitment
to Singapore and fellow Singaporeans.
In the area of partnerships with the community, our collaboration with Pathlight School,
which features purposeful physical, social, academic and professional integrations, has
provided our students the authentic environment to learn about inclusivity. This is
particularly important as we strive to become a more caring society that embraces
diversity and this is an example of how Chong Boon students learn one of our core
values of respecting differences.
Creating Opportunities for All
In developing the students’ potential, we create opportunities for them to realise their
aspirations. We have implemented a forward-looking curriculum to prepare our students
for the future. Varied choices are offered to students to develop their potential. For
example, the Pure Sciences course, Accelerated Learning, and the Elective Modules
are offered to cater to the different needs of our students. This student-centric approach
increases students’ interest in learning and unlocks their potential. It has led to valueadded performance for the students from the Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal
(Technical) courses. This approach also opens up diverse pathways for students to
pursue their goals and interests. Our efforts in creating possibilities for students have
enabled them to develop their passions and work towards achieving their goals. These
have put our students in good stead in their journey towards excellence.
One such student is Dahhnie Koh Tian Tian, our top O Level student who was given a
good foundation in her academic subjects and had several opportunities to shine as a
sportswoman, representing our school in several Inter-school Netball Competitions. Her
perseverance and pursuit of excellence continued through her Polytechnic education
where she was the top student in her course every year. Currently, she is in Nanyang
Technological University, pursuing a degree of Bachelor of Business specialising in
Human Resource Consulting.
I would like to quote Dahhnie, she said, “I really appreciate the teachers’ effort in
preparing us not just for examinations but also for life itself. I feel confident to take on
life's challenges due to the guidance I received at Chong Boon Secondary School.”
Truly it’s hearteningly to know that our efforts have continued to reap success and it’s
even more heartening to know that our Chong Boonites have not forgotten their alma
mater.
Preparing Students for the Future
Our Minister for Education Mr Heng Swee Keat has described the ultimate purpose of
education, which is to bring out the best in every child, and to prepare them for the
future - not only for jobs but also for life.
At the secondary level, we are building on our total curriculum and re-imagining how we
can further broaden and deepen the learning of our students through distinctive
programmes.
We have embarked on an Applied Learning Programme to nurture critical thinkers
through Environmental Education, or EE for short. The programme enables our
students to bring together what he has learnt in science, mathematics, humanities or the
languages to real-life application in environmental conservation. In this way, our
students sees the value and relevance of academic learning to real world situations,
and at the same time exposes them to new educational and career pathways and
opportunities.
We are also leveraging our strength in EE to develop a Learning for Life Programme in
Community and Youth Leadership. We will focus on developing student leaders who
can play an active role in environmental conservation and serve the needs of our
immediate community.
The Applied Learning Programme and Learning for Life Programme will complement
our core curriculum to help students discover their passion and their calling in life, We
want to give them the skills, values, resilience, leadership and adaptability, to navigate
the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment ahead, and build a better
future for all Singaporeans together.
Forging Sustainable Partnerships
To realise our school’s vision of producing Thinking and Gracious Citizens, we are glad
to have with us staff who are committed to stretching our students’ potential. They have
responded to changes in education positively and have shifted their paradigm towards
the holistic development of students.
In our effort to provide a Values-driven, Student-Centric education to our students, we
are grateful that MOE has supported us with ample resources and has given us greater
autonomy in managing the resources in accordance to the unique needs of the school.
We are also grateful to our dedicated stakeholders - the School Advisory Committee,
the alumni and the Parent Support Group - who are very supportive of the school’s
efforts in realising its vision. We must also not forget our past school leaders and staff
who laid the strong foundation on which we continue to build on to deliver good
educational outcomes for our students.
As we celebrate the school’s 20th Anniversary, we are glad that you are present here
with us tonight. Your kind attendance and congratulatory messages have made this
occasion most meaningful. To one and all, I would like to say a big thank you. Please
enjoy the dinner and the rest of the celebration.

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