Excelling out of class pays off for one school

16-year-old Claire Goh, who scored eight A1s for her O-Level exams, was initially disappointed that she did not make it into one of the renowned schools after the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), but said that coming to Ngee Ann was the right decision after all.

Beyond hitting the books, doing well in activities outside the classroom appears to have paid off for students at Ngee Ann Secondary School, which saw over 100 of its 290 students score at least five distinctions in last year's GCE O-Level Examinations.

"Ngee Ann Secondary School provided a conducive study environment and the teachers went the extra mile to help," said Claire, adding that her participation in non-academic programmes "made her more mature and to realise that everyone has the potential to do well".

"We see a strong correlation between students who did well in their CCAs (co-curricular activities) and having good grades," said Ngee Ann principal Adrian Lim, calling the results "one of the school's best performance in the last 10 years".

The school achieved "gold" standards for all its four uniformed groups last year, and students are encouraged to start CCAs of their interest, which led to new activities like archery and jam band.

Mr Lim also attributed the school's success to working closely with parents to engage them in the school's activities, and tailoring academic programmes to meet the different needs of students.

ORIGINAL SOURCE
Content used in this not-for-profit blog remain the property of their respective owners.