Principal’s Message 2022

In 2021, the school celebrated our important milestone of 35th anniversary in the midst of the ongoing battle against the pandemic. We also took a courageous move to envision, plan and chart for our next phase of growth. A year’s long effort by staff and students came to fruition with the articulation of our school’s vision, mission and strategic plan.

The YTzen is at the heart of the school. The mission of the YTSS is to “transform hearts and minds, nurturing future-ready leaders of character and distinction.” I would like elaborate on three key ideas in this statement:

First, “transform”. This is a strong word, and it stems from our philosophy that every student that passes through our gates will be a different person by the time he/she graduates – a better citizen, a more confident individual, a proactive learner, and a more empathetic member of society. Both the affective and cognitive domains are deeply vested, and the school’s role is to develop both of these holistically.

Second, “future-ready”. This is an evergreen idea. By the time our YTzens enter the workforce, they would have left secondary school for a good five years or more. At the rate our external environment is evolving, a significant proportion of the current corpus of knowledge and skills would have become obsolete or less relevant.  As a school, we need to prepare our students not just for the immediate next steps for post-secondary school education, but also beyond that. Such preparation entails building the propensity to learn, unlearn and relearn; and a strong moral rectitude to navigate uncertainties in the world.

Third, “distinction”. By this, we are not referring to narrow academic outcomes, because our students are already doing well. Instead, we like to activate their intrinsic motivation, help them uncover and articulate their strengths, and support them to carve out paths of their own. Through our broad-based, comprehensive suite of curriculum, we will build peaks of excellence in students’ outcomes.

These are challenging, but not lofty, goals. Our work has already started even during the challenging year of the pandemic. How YTzens learn, socialise, interact and play in YTSS is undergoing a transformation. I invite all our stakeholders to co-create this vision with us.

(For stakeholders or visitors of our website who are keen to find out more, you may refer to our refresh page on mission, vision. There I have also elaborate on our strategy.) 

Yours in learning,
Mr Ng Teo Heng
Principal