Principal's Message
A warm welcome to the Tampines Secondary School (TPSS) website! In this section, I wish to share with you our school’s experiences in the past year and some of the things we hope to achieve in 2024.
2023 was a very eventful year for TPSS. We marked our school’s 37th Anniversary with a full celebration, which all Tampinesians welcomed after the past few years of Safe Management Measures. The celebration included TPSS Awards Day, Speech Day and Mass Run, just to name a few.
With the National School Games and Singapore Youth Festival in full swing, we were pleased to see many of our student representatives put in their best effort in the various sports and performances. Their endeavours enhanced our school’s celebratory spirit as we did very well overall, including clinching a national runners-up position for our B division football (girls). We ended 2023 with Graduation Night, something which our S4/5s were looking forward to after their National Examinations. I am sure it was an event that has become part of their fond memories at TPSS.
During our school’s Speech Day, I also took the opportunity to renew our school’s commitment to develop our students as learners, thinkers and leaders who are future-ready and who have the heart to serve. So, in 2024, we will continue our mission to provide a well-rounded education in a nurturing environment to prepare Tampinesians for the future.
On the academic front, we will strengthen our teachers’ competency in e-pedagogy, leveraging educational technology (EdTech) to engage our students, enhance our teaching and enthuse our learners so that they experience the joy of learning. We will also focus on quality assessments that serve to inform us of our students’ progress, provide feedback on our teaching strategies, and help us establish timely interventions that will encourage our students to learn better.
At TPSS, we believe that our students will benefit from experiences that equip them with the skills to navigate life itself. We will renew our focus on designing curriculum and delivering lessons that emphasise the emerging 21st century competencies, such as adaptive and inventive thinking as well as communication and collaboration skills. We believe that developing our students in these important competencies, while they are in school, will prepare them well for life way beyond school in a rapidly changing, increasingly digitalised, and interconnected world.
The famous philosopher Aristotle once said:
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
This year, we will refresh our Character and Citizenship Education (CCE), with a particular focus on nurturing Tampinesians who are socially conscious and environmentally aware. Our CCE lessons will impart in our students the importance of civic-mindedness through a three-tier Values-in-Action (VIA) structure, ranging from class, CCA to student advocacy-based VIA. As one of the four original pilot schools for the Eco-stewardship programme, we are also proud to share that we have developed a robust curriculum comprising lessons, programmes and activities to increase our students’ awareness of sustainability and inculcate green habits that will serve them well as they grow up and become stewards of our natural environment. At TPSS, we take pride in creating a caring community, and we would like to include Mother Nature as part of what we care very much about.
In addition to developing students’ competencies, character and values that make them future-ready, we will also refresh our efforts in Education and Career Guidance (ECG). We believe that good ECG will serve as a strong motivator for our students, to encourage each one of them to strive to excel to the best of their ability. We focus on helping our students explore their diverse interests and discover the types of careers suitable for them in the future. We ensure our students are clear about the multiple post-secondary pathways that will help them realise their career aspirations. To do so, we help them understand what they need to do now as a step to realise these aspirations. With a stronger ECG team this year, we will explore more innovative ways to engage, inform and motivate our students, to help them discover their strengths and passions.
Recently, I came across a quote by our Founding Father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew:
“Having an education is one thing, being educated is another.”
Indeed, being educated is more than just schooling. It is about the holistic development of our young minds, the future of our nation. At TPSS, we strive to give our students the most conducive learning environment and the best possible opportunities for them to flourish in every aspect of their lives – the academic, aesthetic, physical, social and moral domains – regardless of their starting points in life. With the support and collaboration from all our stakeholders – teachers, students, parents and partners, I am confident that we will provide a well-rounded and enriching educational experience for all Tampinesians, to realise our school’s vision of a caring community of Learners, Thinkers and Leaders.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Lan Mingjun
Principal