Commonwealth Secondary School
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| Commonwealth Secondary School 立才中学 |
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| Motto | Ever with the Best |
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| Established | 1964 |
| Type | Autonomous, Single |
| Principal | Teo Khin Hiang Nee Lee Wai Tai (Mrs) |
| MOE Code | 3012 |
| Colours | Blue, yellow, white. |
| Locale | Jurong East, Singapore |
| Enrollment | Over 1300. |
| Website | www.commonwealthsec.moe.edu.sg |
| Ministry of Education | |
 Republic of Singapore |
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Commonwealth Secondary School (Abbreviation: CSS) is a government, autonomous and coeducational secondary school in Singapore. Founded in 1964, Commonwealth Secondary School has positioned itself as a caring and vibrant learning organisation that ignites passion, inspires excellence and illuminates new frontiers. It offers secondary school education from secondary one to four/five which leads to the GCE 'O' Level and GCE 'N' Level certificates, and admits students (express stream) with PSLE score ranging from 240 and above annually.
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[edit] History
Commonwealth Secondary School began as Tanglin Integrated Vocational Secondary School in 1964 and became an academic institution named Tanglin Secondary in 1969.
In 1972, the name was changed again to Commonwealth Secondary School since it was situated near Commonwealth Drive. The school relocated to Jurong East in 1989 and functioned as a neighbourhood school in the Hong Kah constituency for seven years before moving to Jurong East Street 24 of the Yuhua Constituency at the end of 1995. With the move to its new campus on West Coast Road in Nov 2006, the school is able to take advantage of the state-of-the-art facilities to further enhance its curricular offerings and niche areas in the performing arts. The official opening ceremony of the new campus will be held in 2008.[1].
Commonwealth Secondary has been an autonomous school since 1995, a status given to the school because of its academic success and achievement in co-curricular programmes. Commonwealth Secondary is also a Higher Chinese Centre since 1995, catering to students who have the passion to pursue Higher Chinese Language(HCL) in the West District. On the academic front, in addition to being a Higher Chinese Centre, Commonwealth has also been offering Higher Malay and Higher Tamil to its pupils since 2006. From 2006, a humanities subject, Economics, was offered to Secondary 3 students. Dance and Drama has been Commonwealth's niche areas since 2000 and the Walk in Art Gallery is a proud heritage of Commonwealth since its official opening in 1993. In 2004, Commonwealth received its 1st Ministry of Education's Sustained Achievement Award for both uniformed groups and the performing arts.
In 2007, Commonwealth Secondary School moved on and received the Singapore Quality Class status.
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School Anthem : Chorus: |
[edit] Present
With effect of March 2007, Pandan Reservoir and Sungei Pandan were both adopted by Commonwealth Secondary School.
From 2008, Commonwealth Secondary School is led by Mrs Teo Khin Hiang and Ms Audrey Chen. Also, West Coast Park has been adopted by the school in 2008.[2]
Commonwealth Secondary School is currently constructing an indoor sports hall, comprising with facilities such as badminton courts, volleyball courts and netball courts. The sports hall will be shared with the nearby community.
- Principalship History:
(1969 - 1970) Mr Boey Chen Kee
(1971 - 1974) Mr N. Suppiah
(1975 - 1986) Mr A. N. Balagopal
(1987 - 1990) Mr Tan Tiek Kwee
(1990 - 1993) Mr Thomas Ong Xian Wei
(1993 - 1998) Mdm Sun Huey Min
(1999 - 2001) Mrs Lim Lai Cheng
(2002 - 2004) Ms Dorothy Tay Bee Hian
(2005 - Present) Mrs Teo Khin Hiang
[edit] School Crest
This is the School's statement on The CSS crest:
"Behold our school crest
With our motto, ever with the best
See the flame burning with zest
It proudly stands of CSS.
Blue for infinite resourcefulness
Gold for faith and fruitfulness
Ever-glowing is our flame
Ever-growing is our name."
[edit] School Motto
Ever With The Best
[edit] Co-curricular activities (CCA)
Commonwealth Secondary has a diverse CCA programme, which comprises a wide spectrum of activities such as sports, uniformed groups, aesthetic groups, clubs and societies to allow students to develop holistically.
2003 was a key milestone for Commonwealth Secondary as all five of its aesthetic groups (Band, Choir, Drama, Chinese dance, Indian dance) attained gold medals in the biannual Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging. In 2005, these gold-medal winning groups sustained their achievements as they moved on to attain 2 Gold with Honours and 3 Golds in the SYF Central Judging[3]. The newly-formed Malay Dance Group also started the ball rolling with a silver award in the SYF. The Choir team has also won the honour of being selected as the only choir to perform on the Opening Ceremony of the Singapore Youth Festival at the Esplanade Theatre on 1 Jul 2005. At the same time, the Drama team has performed for the SYF at the Hwa Chong Institute Drama Theatre on 22 Jul 2005. In March 2006, the performing arts group held their 1st public performance 'Leaving a Legacy' at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay.
Commonwealth Secondary takes pride in its sports CCAs. The Athletics team stood out in the running arena as many of the athletes achieved outstanding results in at least 18 races since 2004. The hockey team was also ranked among the top 8 schools in Singapore for the third year running. The netball team also obtained 2nd position in West Zone Netball B Girls in the year 2006.
Commonwealth Secondary is also proud of its uniformed groups. Its NCC & Red Cross units have grown over the years to attain gold medals in the Best Unit Awards 2005. The Red Cross Unit has also been awarded the Community Service Gold Award for the 4th consecutive Year, circa 2006.
Commonwealth Secondary clubs and society group have constantly done the school proud. The AVA team won the Silver & Special Mention Award in the 6th SVA and the FnV team have obtained Merit in the 8th SVA[4]. The school was also delighted to obtain the Lotus award in Green Audit with the help of Green Club in 2006. [5] The Art and Craft club did not disappoint the school with a Bronze award in SYF 2005.
[edit] Key Achievements
Over 43 years of history, Commonwealth have obtained numerous awards and achievements.
Major School Achievements
- Singapore Quality Class[6]
- People Developer Standard[7]
- Autonomous Status since 1995[8]
- MOE Sustained Achievement Awards in Aesthetics and Uniform Groups [9]
- 2007 Thinking Culture Award - Best School (Zonal)
- Character Development Award (2007-2009)[9]
- CHERISH Award - Silver (2005)[10]
- School's Green Audit Award - Lotus (2006, 2007)[11]
- TAF Award 2006 - Gold[12]
- Caring Teacher Award 2006
- Academic Value-added in Spcial/Express Streams - Silver (2007)[9]
Major CCA Achievements
- Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging[13][14]:
| Year/CCAs | Choir | Band | Drama(English) | Dance(Chinese) | Dance(Malay) | Dance(Indian) | Art and Craft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Gold | Bronze (2008) |
| 2005 | Gold with Honours | Gold | Gold with Honours | Gold | Silver | Gold | Bronze (2006) |
| 2003 | Gold | Gold | Gold | Gold | - | Gold | - |
| 2001 | Gold | Silver | Gold | Gold | - | - | - |
- Best Unit Awards[15]:
| Year/CCAs | Girl Guides | NCC | Red Cross | NPCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 2005 | Silver | Gold | Gold | Bronze |
| 2004 | Gold | Silver | - | Bronze |
| 2003 | Gold | Silver | - | Silver |
Major Academic Achievements
- ‘O’ Level Band (Special/Express) (Based on previous years 'O' Level Results(L1B5))[16]:
| Year | Band |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2006 | 3 |
| 2005 | 4 |
| 2004 | 6 |
- 2007 GCE 'O' Level:
99.5% Eligible for Junior College, one of the schools with students scoring 7A1s and above.[17]
- 2006 GCE 'O' Level [2 students featured in Singapore News][18]:
96.5% Eligible for Junior College, Top Indian Student in Singapore
- 2005 GCE 'O' Level [Results featured in Singapore News][19]:
1 Top student with 10 A1s, 5 Top students with 9A1s. Top Indian Student in Singapore
[edit] Special Programmes
Commonwealth Secondary is a higher chinese centre. Commonwealth offers life science programme, math olympaid training, student leadership training, IT-skills training.
[edit] Environmental Education
Commonwealth Secondary School started its green journey from 2001 with the establishment of Green Club. One of the key projects Commonwealth embarked on was the adoption of the mangrove boardwalk trail in the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve as part of the Adopt-A-Park Scheme launched by the National Parks Board.
In 2006, the staff endorsed the goal of working towards becoming a Centre of Excellence for Environmental Education. A group of teachers was identified to develop a customised environmental education curriculum for the school, starting with the Secondary One students in 2007. 2006 also saw the school clinching the Lotus Award in the Singapore Environment Council’s Green Audit. [20] In 2007, the school was designated a Centre of Learning for Environmental Education for the West 7 cluster.[21]
[edit] Parent Teacher Network
Commonwealth Secondary maintains good relations between parents and teachers. All parents are automatically members of the PTN. They have the right to vote and the right to hold office in the society. The PTN office bearers meet on a regular basic and are actively involved in the school activities. All parents are mindful to play an active role in the development of their children and are welcome to contact the office bearers via the school.
Members of PTN are involved in planning school events such as a funfair, and the seniors' graduation night.
[edit] References
- ^ PRIME. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ "West Coast Park's marsh garden to undergo rejuvenation project", Channel NewsAsia, 2008-04-19. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
- ^ SYF Central Judging Results. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ 8th SVA Winners. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Green Audit Awards. Singapore Environment Council. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Certified Singapore Quality Class Organisations. SPRING Singapore. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
- ^ Certified People Developer Organisations. SPRING Singapore. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Autonomous Schools in Singapore. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ a b c Achievements. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
- ^ CHERISH Award 2005. Health Promotion Board. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Green Audit Awards. Singapore Environment Council. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ TAF Awards 2006. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ SYF Central Judging Results. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ SYF Central Judging Results. Ministry of Education CCAB. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ Uniformed Groups. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ School Achievements Table (2007). Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
- ^ Results of the 2007 Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level) Examination. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
- ^ 'O' Level 2006 Results Release. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ 'O' Level 2005 Results Release. Ministry of Education. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Green Audit Awards. Singapore Environment Council. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ "NEA to offer Environmental Education modules to more schools", Channel NewsAsia, 2007-11-06. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
[edit] External links
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