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A RECORD number of schools have clinched the Ministry of Education's top two accolades this year - the School Excellence Award and the School Distinction Award.
Eighteen schools - three times the number last year - have been recognised for their exemplary management systems and excelling in providing holistic education. Five of them have won the top honour, the School Excellence Award.
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Guide to the tables
THE Education Ministry's current achievement tables, introduced in 2004, do not rank schools based on detailed O-level scores.
Instead, schools with similar exam results are grouped in a band.
Five more categories highlight how well they have done in terms of value-added academic performance as well as in non-academic areas.
Not included in the tables are schools that offer integrated programmes, where students skip the O levels and go straight to the A levels, or take part in the International Baccalaureate programme, or graduate with a diploma.
Here is a guide on how to read the tables:
O-level Bands
(Average L1B5 and L1B4)
Schools are grouped according to their average scores.
- For the Special/Express stream, the score is known as the L1B5. It refers to the average aggregate of either English or Higher Mother Tongue (L1) and the best five subjects (B5) of the school's Special/Express stream students.
Schools with an L1B5 of 18 points or fewer are grouped into nine bands.
- For the Normal stream, L1B4 refers to the average aggregate of English (L1) and the best four subjects (B4) of the school's Normal stream students.
Schools with an L1B4 of 21 points or fewer are grouped into four bands
- The L1B5 and L1B4 scores are based on last year's O-level results.
- Schools are grouped alphabetically within a band.
School Excellence Award
This award recognises excellence in all aspects of education, academic or otherwise.
School Distinction Award
This is awarded to high-achieving schools which are on the way to getting the School Excellence Award.
Sustained Achievement Awards
- The clear star represents an achievement award for the specific year.
- The solid star is for schools that have done consistently well over the years.
- This award is given in two categories: academic value-added and physical and aesthetics.
The academic value-added award is given to schools whose students do better than expected in the O levels, judging by their entry grades.
The physical and aesthetics award is given to schools that excel in non-academic areas.
Outstanding Development Awards and Development Awards
These are given out in two categories: character development and National Education.
- The character development award recognises schools with comprehensive and effective character development efforts.
- The National Education award recognises schools' consistent efforts in establishing strong and sustainable programmes to instill NE values in students.
Best Practice Awards
These are given to schools whose management creates a good learning environment in both academic and non-academic areas. The awards are given in four categories: organisational effectiveness, student all-round development, staff well-being, and teaching and learning.
» School achievement table - Special/Express course (2007)
» School achievement table - Normal course (2007)
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Since the awards were introduced in 2004, a total of 13 schools, including this year's winners, have taken home the highest prize, while 40 schools have won the distinction award.
To get the top award, a school must shine in three different areas - such as uniformed groups, the arts and sports - and win two Best Practice Awards, including one for all-round student development.
The school must also produce good O-level results or help average students surpass what was expected of them based on their Primary 6 results.
The winners will receive their awards at the MOE Workplan Seminar on Tuesday.
When the School Excellence Award was first given out in 2004, it went to brand-name schools such as Raffles Institution and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent).
In 2005, Xinmin Secondary became the first neighbourhood school to get the award.
This year, five more schools have joined the ranks: Tanjong Katong Secondary, Crescent Girls', Hwa Chong Institution, Victoria Junior College and Nanyang Girls' High.
At Tanjong Katong Secondary in Haig Road, principal Lee Yan Kheng said holistic education has been the school's mainstay from the time it started as a 'technical' school in 1956.
Although it was then regarded as a trade school for boys, Mr Lee said it provided a strong curriculum in other subjects as well. The school counts playwright Haresh Sharma and literature professor Kirpal Singh among its alumni.
To continue to give students an all-round education, the school has made project work part of the curriculum for all Secondary 2 students, and they have the option of continuing with the subject the following year.
The students spend two periods a week working in groups on a specific research topic - for instance, rain-forest conservation or the impact of comics on society.
Another distinctive feature of the school is heavy involvement of its stakeholders, including alumni and parents.
For example, there is a parent representative for each class who helps to disseminate school information to other parents.
On one occasion, when students asked for a place in school to do revision at night, a group of parents offered to provide food for them. Word about the gesture and fledgling programme soon spread to the alumni, and many donated cash to support it. Teachers also volunteered to supervise the students.
Principal Mr Lee said he was touched by how the stakeholders were so willing to help even without being approached by the school.
'It speaks a lot about their support. For the school to achieve excellence, everyone has to play a part,' he says.
At Crescent Girls', another winner of the top award, principal Lee Bee Yann believes some of the best lessons are taught outside the classroom.
So biology lessons can be held at the school's eco garden where students can study the various layers of plant life in a pond; and physics lessons on moments are taught on custom-made see-saws in the school compound.
Crescent Girls' has also combined Literature and English Language, using drama to teach both subjects.
On winning the award, Mrs Lee said it serves as a benchmark and milestone check for the school. 'It's for us to see how we can better provide quality education, see where we're at so we can improve.'
Noting the record number of schools that have won the top two awards this year, MOE's director of schools Wong Siew Hoong said: 'These schools have exemplary processes and best practices which they can share with other schools, and in this process, all schools can improve,' he said.
School-hunting made easier
CHECK the Education Ministry website at www.moe.gov.sg and the websites of individual schools. Look out for:
- Annual school posting booklets that will be given to every Primary 6 pupil.
- MOE's interactive system at www.moe.gov.sg/schdiv/sis, which generates comparative lists of schools based on specified parameters such as location, co-curricular activities (CCAs) offered, awards received, CCA achievements and PSLE aggregate cut-off points.
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