Principal's Message
2024 Principal's Message
Lead with Respect, Serve with Humility
Dear Members of the Changkat Community,
It is a new year and a new beginning. Having led this wonderful school for three years now, we are still thinking about how we can do things differently and more meaningfully. Here in Changkat, we seek continuous improvement. We are thankful that many of our stakeholders and partners had stepped forward to request for collaboration with Changkat or provide opportunities for our Changkateers. Through these partnerships, we are inspired to lead and serve better.
Recent world developments underscore the fact that we are living in uncertain times. There are no longer straightforward solutions or one sole perspective to an issue. Education has to prepare our students for an uncertain world – for our students to embrace diversity of views, participate in respectful discourse and serve the community while understanding differences.
Hence, in 2024, our school theme will be ‘Lead with Respect, Serve with Humility’. The theme captures our wish to take pride in what we do and that we believe we have the strengths to enable the school to succeed. As educators, we believe in the potential of students - that their minds, character and lives can be shaped. We also value learning from one another, being of service to others and encouraging others to succeed. As members of this Changkat family, we respect the community, including norms and expectations, to build a safe, supportive and happy school community. When we can learn to respect others and their perspectives, only then we can stay humble. Staying humble ensures that we do not remain contented. We listen keenly and we ask curious questions. We are excited to learn new knowledge, experiment with effective and innovative teaching practices and pedagogies.
The theme logo, designed by our Art teacher Mdm Angeline Neo Swee Ting, is inspired by the rice plant and the phrase that best describes this humble plant – ‘The more you know, the lower you bow’. This phrase epitomises the value of humility and respect as we liken ourselves to that of the rice plant. As we age and go through life, our experiences fill and shape us. In drawing inspiration from the plant, we are encouraged to be humble and respect one another. This logo inspires us to have respect for self, students, people and the community.
Our school values, iCAR2E (Integrity, Care, grAtitude, Respect, Resilience, Excellence), are the foundation that guides us to achieve our beliefs and shape our culture of Care, Learning and Excellence. Our school believes that every child can achieve success through effort and resilience, and has a role to play within the community to improve the lives of others.
In alignment to this theme, we will continue to prioritise and deepen our efforts in three key areas this year, namely in Positive Education, Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) and Blended Learning. Positive Education is the main approach to guide our school’s teaching and learning direction. In doing so, we would focus on enhancing Engagement and Accomplishment this year. Under CCE, we would focus on developing growth mindset, cyberwellness education, peer support and civic literacy. In Blended Learning, we would further deepen our e-pedagogy practices, develop student-initiated learning, teach effective study skills and reinforce thinking routines. We will also be starting our overseas trips to our partner schools in Toulouse, France and Jinan, China this year.
Last year, we celebrated our 57th Anniversary and the school theme was ‘Growing Resilience, Enriching Character’. We hoped to build on our strength as a resilient community. There were indeed many moments and achievements that we can be thankful for as Changkateers. Our hard work in focusing on holistic development of students has resulted in positive outcomes in various fields, such as national examinations performances, National School Games, Co-Curricular activities and Talent Development Programmes. Our staff were also recognised both internally and externally for their outstanding contributions. On reflection, the years 2021 to 2023 consolidated our learning and teaching foundation so that we can now position ourselves to thrive for excellence in the next three years.
I would like to take this opportunity to warmly welcome our Secondary One Changkateers, parents/guardians, new staff members and new partners joining our big Changkat family. With the support of parents/guardians, staff, School Advisory Committee, alumni and friends, our hope is that you will find your experience in Changkat to be a positive one. You will find Changkat to be a place where you belong and everyone has a space and platform to contribute to the community. We desire to be a community where Together, We Flourish.
As a team, I believe that we can build Changkat to be an innovative school of choice that fuels the dreams and ambitions of our students and staff to succeed. Let us work together to define different pathways of success and make this possible for everyone. On behalf of the school, I wish that 2024 will be a year filled with peace, joy and love for everyone!
Together, We Flourish.
Mr Ho Ming Da
Principal
2023 Principal's Message
Growing Resilience, Enriching Character
1 January 2023
Dear Members of the Changkat Community,
Welcome to the new academic year and to all our new Changkateers (students and staff), welcome to Changkat! Having led this amazing school for two years now, I am still learning new things about Changkat every single day. Few things give me more joy than talking to students and staff, hearing their questions, understanding their challenges and celebrating their successes (and we have much to celebrate). In the past year, I had the opportunity to connect with many stakeholders too. Through these conversations, I am deeply inspired and they allow me to see the world with fresh eyes.
We are living in challenging times. The world is rapidly changing. Education has to prepare our students differently – for our students to develop the resilience to adapt to changes, embrace diversity of views, participate in respectful discourse and collaborate effectively across differences.
In 2023, our school theme will be "Growing Resilience, Enriching Character" The theme encapsulates our vision for staff and students to bounce forward and persevere when faced with challenges and to be adaptable to changes. We hope that staff and students can grow in their resilience so that they can recover from challenges and changes and respond with commitment and optimism. Through deepening our culture of care and support, we hope to enrich the character of students through strengthening our student development curriculum and opportunities (such as Character and Citizenship Education, Learning for Life Programme, Co-Curricular Activities, Student-Initiated Learning and Talent Development Programme).
The theme logo, designed by our Art teacher Mr Soo Sheng Lih, consists of a soft round-edge square which evokes the sense of stability and depicts strength and solid foundation, where the character of resilience is molded and developed. A star in the middle of Growing Resilience and Enriching Character suggests that success comes from these two (hand in hand). Integrated with a contrasting soft leaves-pattern, the leaves portray a youthful, graceful and vitalizing new energy that spring up out of the seed of the school logo, reaching out to the world with grace and harmony. Growing out from the nurturing warm environment, Changkateers reach out to the world carrying the positive values and character of Changkat.
Our school values, iCAR2E (integrity, Care, grAtitude, Respect, Resilience, Excellence), are the foundation that guides us to achieve our belief and shape our culture. Our school believes that every child can achieve success through effort and resilience, and that as one Changkat family, we can scale greater heights together.
In alignment to this theme, we will hence continue to prioritise our effort in three key areas this year, namely in Positive Education, Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) and Blended Learning. Positive Education is the main approach to guide our school’s teaching and learning direction. In doing so, we would focus on enhancing Relationships and Meaning this year. Under CCE, we would focus on the discussion of contemporary issues, growth mindset, cyberwellness education and student leadership. In Blended Learning, we would further deepen our e-pedagogy practices, develop student-initiated learning, teach effective study skills and reinforce thinking routines. We will also be revamping our Learning for Life Programme curriculum to focus on developing Leaders in Sustainability – to nurture leaders who can understand sustainability issues and challenges so that they are better equipped for the future to tackle a complex global environmental crisis.
Last year, we celebrated our 56th Anniversary and the school theme was ‘Caring Community, Empowering Lives’. We hoped to build on our strength as a caring community as people are Changkat’s strengths. There were indeed many moments and achievements that we can be thankful for as Changkateers. Our hard work in focusing on holistic development of students has resulted in positive outcomes in various fields, such as Quality of Students’ Experiences, national examinations performances, National School Games, Co-Curricular activities and Talent Development Programmes. Our staff were also recognised both internally and externally for their outstanding contributions. Looking back, 2022 captured our desire to empower Changkateers to learn with joy and passion, so that they can thrive and flourish.
I would like to warmly welcome our Secondary One Changkateers, parents / guardians and new staff members joining our big Changkat family. With the support of parents / guardians, staff, School Advisory Committee, alumni and friends, we believe that your transition to Changkat will be a positive experience. You will find Changkat to be a place where you belong. You will have opportunities to grow your unique strengths and interests driven by your passion to learn, serve and succeed. A community where Together, We Flourish. Our school motto ‘Through School to Nation’ reminds us that Changkat Changi plays an important role to cultivate active citizenry for a united society.
I am grateful for the support you have rendered to the school. Our work at Changkat Changi is not yet complete but I believe that together, we can build Changkat to be a nurturing school that matches the ambitions and hopes of our students and staff. On behalf of the school, I would like to wish you a healthy and successful 2023!
Together, We Flourish.
Mr Ho Ming Da
Principal
2022 Principal's Message
Dear Members of the Changkat Community,
A warm welcome to the new academic year! In the past year, I had the opportunity to connect with many of you. I am grateful for the support you have rendered to the school. 2021 had been an extraordinary year for many of us as we encountered various challenges brought about by the COVID-19 situation. Yet, in the face of these difficult moments, we did not lose our strength and purpose. In Changkat, we resolve to focus even more on the positive well-being and learning of staff and students.
Last year, we celebrated our 55th Anniversary and the school theme was ‘Celebrate with Gratitude, Learn with Passion’. There were indeed many moments and achievements that we can be thankful for as Changkateers. Our hard work in focusing on holistic development of students has resulted in positive outcomes in various fields, such as national examinations performances, Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentations, Co-Curricular activities and Talent Development Programmes. Our staff were also recognised both internally and externally for their outstanding and innovative work. Looking back, 2021 captured our desire to teach Changkateers the value of gratitude and to motivate them to learn with joy and passion, so that they can thrive and flourish.
In 2022, our school theme will be ‘Caring Community, Empowering Lives’. The theme encapsulates our vision to value each other, put ourselves in the shoes of others and seek to bring out the best in everyone. We hope to build a safe and supportive community filled with care and gratitude. We want to support our staff and students and give them the confidence to learn and excel. We also hope to empower the lives of staff and students through the taking in of their voices and re-imagining the possibilities. The theme logo, designed by our Art teacher Ms Sim Jia En, has two Cs (representing ‘Changkat Changi’) that form a circle. Within the circle, three figurines represent the community of students, staff and partners. Two figurines form a heart shape highlighting the value of care we have for one another.
Our school values, iCAR2E (integrity, Care, grAtitude, Respect, Resilience, Excellence), are the anchor that guides us to achieve our belief and shape our culture. Our school believes that every child can achieve success through effort and resilience, and that as one Changkat family, we can scale greater heights together.
In alignment to this theme, we will hence prioritise our effort in three key areas this year, namely in Positive Education, Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) and Blended Learning. Positive Education is the main approach to guide our school’s teaching and learning direction. In doing so, we would focus on enhancing Relationships and Emotions this year. Under CCE, we would focus on the discussion of contemporary issues, cyberwellness education, strengthening peer support relationships and teacher-student relationships and support for mental health. In Blended Learning, we would further deepen our e-pedagogy practices, develop student-initiated learning, teach effective study skills and reinforce positive classroom routines.
I would like to warmly welcome our Secondary One Changkateers, parents / guardians and new staff members joining our big Changkat family. With the support of parents / guardians, staff, School Advisory Committee, alumni and friends, we believe that your transition to Changkat will be a positive experience. You will find Changkat to be a place where you will have opportunities to grow your unique strengths and interests driven by your passion to learn, serve and succeed. A community where Together, We Flourish. This is Changkat and this is our Vision. Our school motto ‘Through School to Nation’ reminds us that Changkat Changi plays an important role to cultivate responsible and committed citizens for a cohesive society. Our work at Changkat Changi is not yet complete but I believe that together, we can achieve our Vision.
We look forward to a meaningful year of learning with all of you. We wish for 2022 to inspire us to care even more for the community around us and provide us with better times and hope for the future. On behalf of the school, I would like to wish you a peaceful and joyful 2022!
Together, We Flourish.
Mr Ho Ming Da
Principal
2021 Principal's Message
Dear Members of the Changkat Community,
I am humbled to have the opportunity to lead this amazing school. Since my appointment was announced in October this year, I have connected with many of you. In these couple of months, I experienced first-hand the caring and supportive Changkat culture I have heard about on numerous occasions. Thank you for the warm welcome and the support rendered in preparing me for my new responsibilities.
I would like to extend this warm welcome to our Secondary One Changkateers and the parents / guardians joining our big Changkat family. With the support of parents / guardians, staff, School Advisory Committee, alumni and friends, we believe that your transition to secondary school life will be a positive experience. You will find Changkat to be a place where you will have opportunities to grow your unique strengths and interests driven by your passion to learn, serve and succeed.
I also look forward to welcoming and meeting the Secondary Two, Three, Four and Five Changkateers and school staff in the new academic year. The new year is a chance for the Changkat family to commit ourselves to create a vibrant learning community where Changkateers will Learn with Passion, Serve with Humility and Succeed with Integrity. Apart from our niche programmes in Aerospace and Aviation (our Applied Learning Programme) and Service and Leadership (our Learning for Life Programme), Changkateers can look forward to a richer learning experience through the implementation of Positive Education, Blended Learning and use of a new facility - Dream Lab. We will focus our efforts to strengthen the Changkateer Graduate Outcomes while being anchored on school values, iCAR2E (integrity, Care, GrAtitude, Respect, Resilience, Excellence).
Established in 1966, Changkat Changi Secondary School has come a long way. Under the able leadership of Ms Sharma Poonam and many other Principals before her, Changkat Changi Secondary School has had many achievements that we can be proud of. We will continue to build on their fine work and keep the Changkat Changi flag flying high! As we celebrate our 55th Anniversary in 2021, it also marks 20 years since our relocation to the current premises at 23 Simei Street 3 in 2001. The Simei community has welcomed us warmly in these past 20 years and we look forward to working closely with our community as we scale new heights.
Our school motto ‘Through School to Nation’ reminds us that Changkat Changi plays an important role to cultivate responsible and committed citizens for a cohesive society. Our work at Changkat Changi is not yet complete but I believe that together, we can achieve our Vision. We will therefore remember 2021 by celebrating our heritage and achievements and, at the same time, welcoming and realising our dreams of past, present and future Changkateers.
A warm welcome to the new academic year and best wishes for 2021!
Mr Ho Ming Da
Principal