From the Principal’s Desk

12 September 2011

Dear Parents and Guardians

THE LAST STRETCH FOR YEAR 2011

Hello everybody and welcome back to school after a refreshing break!  This is the last stretch for the year and it promises to be a very busy term indeed.

Term 4 is a particularly critical period for all our students.  They must now girth themselves for their end-of-year examinations which will determine their promotion to the next level in 2012.  In fact, insofar as the Secondary Four and Pre-University Two students are concerned, their Preliminary Examinations will commence right from the first day of the term.  For all other students, the final examinations are scheduled for Week 7 and will continue till the end of Week 8.  The year-end reports will be released in Week 10 by the respective Form Teachers.

In Week 3, the school has scheduled a series of meetings for the various levels.  In the case of the Secondary 2 classes, it is to brief them on their subject combinations when they go to Secondary 3 next year.  For the Secondary 3 classes, they will be given the option to apply for the new IB Foundation Programme in 2012. After the end of their Preliminary Examinations, it will also be time for the Secondary 4 students to prepare for admission into the IB Diploma Programme.  The students will be given an insight into the course requirements and the subject combinations for the 2012 Pre-University One classes.  Details of the sessions will be released soon.

A star feature of Term 4 will be Internationalism Week/Sabbatical Week which will begin in Week 9. With the exception of the Secondary 4 students and the IBDP graduating classes, who will be sitting for their IGCSE and IB examinations respectively, all other students have committed themselves to either overseas learning journeys or local skills development activities.  The overseas programmes include the following:

• a cultural and aesthetic field trip to Italy,

• a learning journey to Cambridge to enrich their appreciation and knowledge of English Literature or the Sciences,

• a visit to English soccer clubs in the UK for our soccer aficionados to practice and train with professionals

• a hiking and cycling expedition to New Zealand

• a community-service  project in support of  rural residents in Northern Thailand.

We hope these activities will offer a striking contrast to ordinary classroom lessons and enthuse our students in their learning.

Finally, please take note that there are two major events that are scheduled to take place very early in the school calendar this term.  The first will be an Open House on Saturday, 8^th October, for prospective new students from the primary schools.  It will be a half-day event during which time our students and faculties will showcase their achievements and familiarize our visitors with everyday life in the school. The second will be the Graduation Ceremony on 14^th October for our IB Diploma Programme students who will be embarking on their final lap in their IB journey.

The term will come to a close for students on 18^th November for the year-end vacation. For the teachers, however, there will be a 2-day Staff Training Retreat (21-22 November) during which time they will reflect on and review the year’s progress and plan for the year ahead.

So for my dear students, teachers, parents and friends, this is what is in store for all of us in HCIS this final term of a very eventful and exciting year.  It will be about working hard, enjoying oneself sensibly and giving of one’s best all the time!

Koh Chin Nguang
Principal