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Press Releases

September 21, 2008

Recognising School Achievements in 2008

First Primary School to Win Excellence Award

The pinnacle award for educational excellence under the Ministry of Education (MOE) Masterplan of Awards (MoA), the School Excellence Award (SEA), will be given to a primary school for the first time this year. Raffles Girls’ Primary will receive this top accolade with two other schools, National Junior College and Temasek Junior College. This year, a total of 246 schools will receive 555 Level Two Awards1 and Special Awards2 under the MoA. These awards will be presented to the schools at the 2008 MOE Work Plan Seminar on 25 September 2008 by Minister for Education, Dr Ng Eng Hen.

The MoA recognises our schools’ efforts in providing a holistic education to enable our students to achieve the Desired Outcomes of Education. The awards serve as milestone checks to guide schools on their journey to excellence by providing a systematic and progressive framework to chart progress through self-assessment, benchmarking and continuous improvement.

Parents and students can also refer to the MoA for information on the key dimensions of a school’s performance to help them in the selection of schools.

This press release provides information on the following:

  1. Award Winners under the MoA3. These comprise schools that have attained commendable achievements in various categories, including exemplary school processes as well as excellent outcomes in academic and non-academic areas. Information on the 2008 award winners are provided in the Honour Rolls. Information on past Level Two and Special Award winners whose awards are still valid is also provided.
  2. School Achievement Tables. Introduced in 2004 to replace the school ranking tables, they highlight secondary school achievements in academic value-added and non-academic domains.

A. Masterplan of Awards

The MoA was expanded and refined in 2004 to provide a broader and more holistic picture of schools’ performance. It comprises four levels of awards as shown in the following diagram.

MOE Masterplan of Awards for Schools
MOE Masterplan of Awards for Schools
Printable Version (68kb .pdf)

Level One Awards are given to schools to affirm their achievement in certain domains in a single year, while Level Two Awards recognise schools for their sustained excellence in specific areas. The Special Awards recognise schools’ holistic efforts in establishing outstanding educational processes and obtaining excellent outcomes.

School Excellence Award

The SEA recognises schools for their excellence in both education processes and outcomes. It is the highest and most prestigious award in the MoA framework and serves as a mark of distinction for schools that have achieved sustained achievements in a wide spectrum of student development processes.

This year, 3 schools will be presented with the SEA. They are:

  1. Raffles Girls’ Primary School
  2. National Junior College
  3. Temasek Junior College

School Distinction Award

The School Distinction Award (SDA) recognises the high-achieving schools with exemplary school processes and practices, and that are on their way to achieving the SEA.

This year, 11 schools - 4 Primary Schools, 3 Secondary Schools, 3 Full Schools and 1 Junior College (JC) - will be presented with the SDA. They are:

  • Primary Schools
    1. Ai Tong School
    2. Henry Park Primary School
    3. Kong Hwa School
    4. Radin Mas Primary School
  • Secondary Schools
    1. CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh)
    2. St. Anthony’s Canossian Secondary School
    3. St. Margaret’s Secondary School
  • Full Schools
    1. Catholic High School
    2. CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School
    3. Maris Stella High School
  • Junior College
    1. Anglo-Chinese Junior College

The honour rolls for the SEA and the SDA are listed in Annex A1. The lists of SEA and SDA winners from 2004 to 2008 can be found in Annex A2.

Sustained Achievement Award

31 schools will receive the Sustained Achievement Award (SAA) for the 10th time this year, with sustained excellence in one or more academic as well as non-academic areas.

The SAA recognises schools’ ability in sustaining good outcomes over a number of years, in five areas: Academic Value-Added, Aesthetics, Sports, Uniformed Groups and Physical Fitness. Schools need to achieve an Achievement Award (AA) in the same category over three consecutive years before they may be awarded the SAA.

This year, a total of 243 schools will be presented with 505 SAAs. The breakdown of the 505 SAAs is shown in Table 1. The schools will receive a plaque for each SAA won. Details of the SAAs for the Academic Value-Domain and the SAAs for the Physical & Aesthetics Domain can be found in Annex B1 and Annex B2 respectively.

Table 1: Summary of Schools Winning SAAs in 2008
  Academic Value-Added Domain Physical and Aesthetics Domain Total No. of Schools
‘A’ Level Normal Express Aesthetics Uniformed Group Sports Physical Fitness
Primary - - - 10 - 60 65 135 97
Secondary - 2 23 74 89 52 37 277 120
JC / CI 2 - - 7 - 2 7 18 10
Full - 0 5 5 2 10 9 31 5
IP - 0 1 11 6 11 15 44 11
All 2 2 29 107 97 135 133 505 243
Refinement to Criteria for Academic Value-Added Awards

Refinements have been made to the criteria for the Academic Value-Added (VA) awards this year. With immediate effect, JCs offering the Integrated Programme (IP) will no longer be eligible for the VA awards. The VA awards recognise Secondary Schools and JCs which have added value to the academic performance of their students, after taking into account the O-level performance of the students prior to admission. For IP JCs8 , these students constitute an increasingly small proportion of their student populations.

Best Practice Award

The Best Practice Award (BPA) recognises schools for their effective practices and systems that lead to good educational outcomes in both academic and non-academic areas. There are 4 categories of award for the BPA: Organisational Effectiveness, Student All-Round Development, Staff Well-Being, and Teaching and Learning.

The sharing of best practices by award winners in the Best Practice Sharing Forums organised annually has allowed other schools to put in place similar processes to enhance the educational outcomes for their students.

This year, 17 schools will be presented with 24 BPAs (see Annex C1). The schools will receive a plaque for each category of the BPA. The breakdown is as follows:

  • 3 schools will receive the BPA for Student All-Round Development
  • 7 schools will receive the BPA for Staff Well-Being
  • 14 schools will receive the BPA for Teaching and Learning

The BPA is valid for 5 years. The list of BPA winners from 2004 to 2008 can be found in Annex C2.

Awards for National Education

National Education (NE) is an important part of the education process. It aims to develop in our young, the instinct for survival, national cohesion and confidence in our future. NE provides the knowledge, experiences and tools for our young to know and understand Singapore, to acquire a well-founded confidence about the Singaporean way of life, and to critically think about how they can shape Singapore’s future.

The NE Awards aim to encourage and recognise schools for their NE efforts. There are two levels of attainment for the NE Awards: the Development Award, i.e., DA (NE), and at the next higher level, the Outstanding Development Award, i.e., ODA (NE). The attainment of each level of award depends on how well a school meets the same set of evaluation criteria for both levels.

Development Award for National Education

The DA (NE) is valid for 3 years beginning from the year the Award was conferred, or till a higher level award is attained, whichever is earlier. A certificate will be presented to the winning schools. The list of 2008 winners for DA (NE) is given in Annex D1.

Outstanding Development Award for National Education

The ODA (NE) is valid for 5 years beginning from the year the Award was conferred, or till a higher level award is attained, whichever is earlier. A plaque will be presented to the winning schools. This year, 3 schools will be presented with the ODA (NE). They are:

  • Admiralty Primary School
  • Chong Boon Secondary School
  • Sembawang Secondary School

The list of schools that have attained ODA (NE) from 2005 to 2008 can be found in Annex D2.

Lee Kuan Yew National Education Award

Introduced in 2002, the Lee Kuan Yew National Education (LKY NE) Award recognises schools that have excelled in their National Education efforts in imbuing our students with a strong sense of national identity and social responsibility. The LKY NE Award is the pinnacle of the NE Awards. The winner will emerge from the LKY NE Award candidates, which are chosen from the ODA (NE) award winners for that year. A maximum of 2 awards will be given out each year, one for the Primary Schools category, and another for the Secondary Schools & Junior Colleges/Centralised Institute category.

This year, 2 schools will be receiving the LKY NE Award. The schools will each receive a crystal plaque and a cash award of $3,000. One teacher from each school will also be sponsored to attend a conference related to National Education. The LKY NE Award winners for 2008 are:

  • North Spring Primary School
  • National Junior College (also winner of the inaugural LKY NE Award in 2002)

Awards for Character Development

The goal of education is to nurture the whole child, including his character. Character Development is the teaching of values and social and emotional competencies, and the provision of opportunities for students to demonstrate behaviour consistent with these values.

Development Award for Character Development

The Development Award for Character Development [DA (CD)] recognises schools which have put in place systems and processes for the effective development of students’ character. It is valid for 3 years. The list of 2008 winners for DA (CD) is at Annex D1.

Outstanding Development Award for Character Development

The Outstanding Development Award for Character Development [ODA (CD)] recognises schools with innovative, sustainable and exemplary approaches to character development.

This year, 7 schools will be presented with ODA (CD). The ODA (CD) is valid for 5 years. The schools will each receive a plaque. The ODA (CD) winners for 2008 are as follows:

  • St. Andrew’s Junior School
  • Telok Kurau Primary School
  • Haig Girls’ School
  • Nanyang Girls’ High School
  • Tanjong Katong Secondary School
  • Anglo-Chinese Junior College
  • National Junior College

The list of schools that have attained ODA (CD) from 2006 to 2008 can be found in Annex D2.

B. School Achievement Tables: A Holistic Approach

The School Achievement Tables provide a broad picture of schools’ performance, capturing schools’ achievements in both the academic and non-academic domains. These comprise:

  • School Excellence Award and School Distinction Award
  • Best Practice Awards
  • Character Development Awards
  • Academic Value-Added Awards
  • Physical & Aesthetics Awards9

The 2008 School Achievement Tables for the Special/Express course and the Normal course can be found in Annex E1 and Annex E2 respectively. These tables display schools in the first 9 bands for Special/Express course, and the first 5 bands for Normal course. Schools that offer the Integrated Programme (IP) and those with small candidature (fewer than 40 students) are excluded from the tables. The list of schools that are excluded from the banding exercise can be found in Annex F.

In addition, information on the achievements of schools will also be available to the public through the following:

The information provided at these sources will help parents and students make informed decisions when selecting schools.

Footnote

  1. Level Two Awards include Sustained Achievement Awards (SAAs), Outstanding Development Awards (ODAs), and Best Practice Awards (BPAs). ↵
  2. Special Awards include the School Excellence Award (SEA) and the School Distinction Award (SDA). ↵
  3. The MOE Masterplan of Awards was instituted in 1998 as part of the implementation of the School Excellence Model (SEM). The SEM is a framework for school self-assessment that emphasises a holistic approach to education with equal focus on processes and outcomes. ↵
  4. SAA Physical Fitness will be given out for the last time in 2009. ↵
  5. The SAA CHERISH award will replace the SAA Physical Fitness from 2010. ↵
  6. AA Physical Fitness (TAF Award) will be given out for the last time in 2008. ↵
  7. The Joint HPB-MOE CHERISH award will be presented for the first time in 2008. ↵
  8. The IP JCs refer to Raffles JC, Hwa Chong Institution, National JC, Victoria JC and Temasek JC, and the JC sections of River Valley High School, Dunman High School and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). ↵
  9. Due to the high number of Level One Achievement Awards in the Physical & Aesthetics domain, only Level Two SAAs are indicated for this domain. ↵