Yishun Town Secondary School

Infobox Singapore School
name = Yishun Town Secondary School
毅道中学 (yì dào zhōng xúe)
Sekolah Menengah Yishun Town


motto = We Will Excel
established = 1986
type = Government
session = Single
principal = Tan Yee Kan
city/town = Yishun
school code = 3045
enrollment = approx. 1,200
colours = Blue and yellow
homepage = [http://ytss.moe.edu.sg]
border_color = blue
uniform_color = #CCFF99
coordinates = coord|1|25|57.46|N|103|50|15.85|E|type:edu_region:SG_source:enwiki|display=inline,title

Yishun Town Secondary School (Abbreviation: YTSS) is a government secondary school in Yishun, Singapore. Their students are referred to as YTzens.

General information

Motto and philosophy

The school motto is 'We Will Excel'. The school believes that every child has the potential to learn, achieve, and excel, which forms the raison d'être of the school.

chool's logo

The school logo incorporates the letter Y. It stands for the town Yishun and for its youthfulness, with a zeal to forge forward to face the challenges of the new millennium. The 4 arrows represent the development of the Heart, Body, Mind and Soul. The circle symbolises the ultimate goal of a well-rounded pupil. The blue background represents a peaceful and harmonious school atmosphere. Yellow arrows and circle represent the vibrancy of our endeavours.

chool principals

Getting there

The existing campus is located at Yishun Street 21. The nearest MRT station is Yishun. It will be a short 5 minute walk to the school.

PRIME

In December 2005, YTSS had been relocated to a holding premises in Sembawang due to PRIME (Programme for Rebuilding and IMproving Existing schools). The upgrading has been completed, and YTSS had moved back to its existing premises in November 2007, in time for the 2008 academic year. [ [http://ytss.moe.edu.sg/prime/sembawangcampus.asp Welcome to YTSS Online ] ]

Notable achievements

2005

It has been noted in the media that Yishun Town Secondary School had achieved the following awards from the Ministry of Education in the following.

Sustained Achievement Award
*Academic Value-Added (Normal Stream)
*Uniformed Groups

Achievement Award
*Gold Award for Academic Value-addedness in Normal Stream
*Gold Award for Trim and Fitness Programme

Besides receiving these awards, YTSS is also the national champions in the following competitions.

*46th National Interschool Chess Competition (Secondary Girls Category) [http://www.singaporechess.org.sg/isch2005/ischsecondary.xls Results of the 46th National Interschool Chess Competition] ]
*1st National Interschool Blogging Championship (Most Popular Blog) Bloggers' Favourites, The Straits Times, September 13, 2005]

2006

The twentieth anniversary for Yishun Town kicked off in style in January when the Information Technology Club was placed second in the National Mobile Robot Competition. This was the first ever national award that the club had received since its inception in 1998. However, this proved to be a swansong for the 9-year old IT Club, for it was merged with 2 other CCAs to form the Infocomm Society the following year.

The Boy's Volleyball team made it to the regional finals in both age groups (Divisions B and C). Unfortunately, they lost out to eventual regional winners Xinmin Secondary School in both matches, both by one set to two. Volleyball Results, The Straits Times, March 3, 2006] . However, in the North Zone Basketball Girls 'C' Division championships, Yishun Town were the eventual champions.

The School had sent 610 members to enter The New Paper's Big Walk 2006, a famous annual walkathon event in Singapore, the biggest ever contingent sent by a school in Singapore. [http://tnpbigwalk.asia1.com/news/news_060517.html Just Like a Class Outing] , The New Paper, May 17, 2006]

There also have been successes in the Air Rifle as well as the Chess teams. The 'B' and 'C' Division Air Rifle Girls got into National 2nd and 3rd places respectively, while the Air Rifle Boys and Air Pistol teams also received national rankings, most of which in the top 10. The Girls team in Chess also received National 2nd, with their top-scoring individuals earning National 7th and 8th places. The school had also impressed in the National inter-school Athletes championships, even if the school did not have any official CCA that is related to Athletes. The school has garnered one bronze medal in the Shot Put 'C' Boys category, as well as respectable finishes in the sprinting and swimming competitions.

To cap off a soild 2006, the school had received a Sustained Achievement Award in the Academics. The school had maintained in the Top 30 schools in the Express Stream for 4 consecutive years, as well as being in the top-banded school for the Normal Stream for 3 consecutive years. For the recognition their leaders had contributed to the school over the past year, all the uniform groups had maintained their current awards, with SJAB, Girl Guides, NCC and the Boys' Brigade all maintaining their Gold Awards, and the NPCC, Silver. However as the year progressed into 2007.For the year 2006, NPCC has achieved its highly coveted gold (after a period where they maintained as a silver unit). With that,NPCC is affirmed as one of the best component of the holistic education system of the school. To sum up, the school had been conferred another Sustained Achievement Award, this time for the Uniform Groups category, which is considered to be a feat for neighbourhood schools

2007

The ex-principal of Yishun Town, Mr. Tan Teck Hock is now the principal of Serangoon Junior College. His term there is slated to end in 2011. Once the principal here, he introduced painful and unpopular measures, such as the toughening of the school discipline, as well as the introduction of the afternoon lessons. However, such risks made by him bore into fruit. As a result, he had effectively transformed this school from one with a bad reputation, troubled with intense hooliganism and bad academic performance back in the late 1990s, to a premier heartland school that is today.

His contributions are recognised and appreciated by all his batches.

2008

The school was the only school in Singapore to win all 6 Sustained Achievement awards, as announced by principal Tan Yee Kan on 22 Spetember.

tudent leadership

Currently, there are 2 Student Leadership Boards, which means 2 different routes, to reach to the top of the leadership board, the Central Executive Committee (CEC). [http://www.ytss.moe.edu.sg/distinctives/studentleaderships.asp]

tudent council

Renamed from the Prefectural Board in 1999, the Student Council (abbreviated SC) are the student leaders serving not just the teachers, but for the students. Chosen by the recommendation of teachers at the Secondary 1 level, they are nurtured into Student Leaders come Secondary 3. They help run the school in various functions during the course of the year.

Since July 2006, there is a school-wide presidential election to decide the run-off between 2 suitable council candidates. The elected president will assume its position during the council investiture.

The incumbent is currently Ng Shi Wei of 3E7. His term will end mid 2009.

Honorary council

The Honorary Council Board (known as Honorary Student Council, HSC) was established in January 2002. CCA Leaders and Lead Monitors are invited to join midway through their third year (it was the start of the forth year during the first two batches of HSC). These students would be members of the HSC for a term lasting 12 months. They will assume membership positions from their seniors on 1st July, every year. However, unlike the Student Council, the selection for the President is not known until late August.

With the creation of the HSC, the CCA Leaders would now be possible to converge and help offer suggestions to help further improve their capability and the capacities of the CCAs. Moreover, they would also support the Student Council to run their events, in the addition of hosting its own school events as well.

List of council heads

"*Footnotes:"
* "NCC (Sea) has been disbanded since 2003."
* "IT Club is the predecessor of the Infocomm Society. It was merged, together with Digital Media Club and Photography Club in 2007, but the Photography Club subsequently separated from the Infocomm society to become an independent CCA once again"

Culture & Distinctives

Outdoor Education

All the students are given opportunities to take part in several outdoor activities. It is required for them, during their stay in the school, to undergo at least an adventure camp, and an outdoor enrichment activity. They can also take part in other activities such as overseas fieldtrips. The Sec 3 camp is held every year, and since 2007 onwards, have been held at Kahang Organic Rice Farm, Malaysia.

For the past few years, many Yishun Town students have benefited from outdoor learning experiences. They have gone to places which included Lijiang (of Yunnan, China), Auckland, Perth, Sabah and Mount Kinabalu (both in east Malaysia). They once also held overseas leadership camps in Peninsular Malaysia.

Values inculcation program (VIP)

This program was formed in 2005 as a result of an integration between Pastoral Care (PC) and Civics and Moral Education (CME) [http://ytss.moe.edu.sg/distinctives/valuesprogram.asp] . The aim of the VIP is quite similar to both the PC and CME lessons once held before the integration. That is to enable the students to make well and informed choices, as well as to become responsible and moral citizens that could contribute to the society. The VIP Program is compulsory for all students.

Innovation and Enterprise (I&E)

The objective of I&E directives is to make I&E an integral part of the school culture. A new initiative (Innovative, Daring, Enterprising and Achievable Suggestions, or IDEAS) allows students to generate, develop and implement new and innovative ideas on school-related issues. Awards are given to recognise students who have come up with innovative ideas that can reap benefits to the school. The I&E program is offered to all students in YTSS. [http://www.ytss.moe.edu.sg/distinctives/innovationent.asp]

Creative Skills Inquiry (CSI)

CSI provides students with the opportunities to develop the spirit of inquiry, to be critical and creative. It requires students to work in teams, see interconnections between the different disciplines, undertake research and to present their findings innovatively and confidently. It develops lifeskills that students will find helpful in their future endeavours. Currently this program is offered to students when they are in the Lower Secondary levels. [http://www.ytss.moe.edu.sg/distinctives/creativeskills.asp]

Learning Styles

Learning styles was introduced 2007, by principal Tan Yee Kan as the the upper secondary equivalent of the CSI programme. Its teaches the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles system, in which students are taught how to use their learning style to study in the most efficient manner. The trainings are typically held during curriculum time, over a two day period, and are conducted by Teo Yew Chye. The trainer is known to incorporate martial arts into the lessons to enhance it.

Houses

The houses of Yishun Town were created in 1999. They are currently operational only for track-and-field competitions. Previously the track-and-field competitions are inter-class in nature. There are 4 houses in Yishun Town, namely Vinson (Green), Bromo (Blue), Everest (Yellow) and Etna (Red). They are names of either mountains (Vinson and Everest) or volcanoes (Bromo and Etna). Vinson has won the school-based track and field competitions 3 years in a row (2002-2004), until Bromo had ended its run in 2005. House Etna won in 2006. However, principal Tan Yee Kan had ended the culture of houses in the year 2007. Instead, he introduced annual cross country run. The run is being held at Sembawang Park.

elf-defence

The school is undergoing plans and development for self defence courses for students, mainly in the form of Kapap, under trainer Teo Yew Chye.

Notable alumni

Several alumni have risen to fame in the singing industry:

*Khairul Anwar, winner of MediaCorp TV12 Suria's Anugerah
*Kelly Poon, female winner of MediaCorp TV Channel U's Project SuperStar

ister schools

* [http://syzx.gdzh.gov.cn/ Zhu Hai Experimental High School] , Zhu Hai City, Guangdong, China (珠海市实验中学)
*Jinan No.19 Middle School, Jinan, Shandong, China (山东济南市第十九中学)

References