Education at CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School (Primary Section)

In 1995, the Ministry of Education granted the autonomous status in honour of its high-value academic achievements. The CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School (Primary Section) underwent PRIME from the end of 2009 to end of 2012 to become future-ready. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reopened the school in 2013 to commemorate the school’s 80th anniversary. The school also launched a Joint Integrated Program with Catholic High School, Singapore Chinese. The same year, our students enrolled in a programme that combines the goals of Citizenship Girls’ School and Eunoia Junior College. The school celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2018.

Curriculum Framework for National Education

Our students follow a curriculum that integrates the objectives of Citizenship Education while also portraying the need for students to centre themselves through the moral compass guided by Truth and Justice. Through the activities and events indicated in the outermost ring of the framework, the Citizenship curriculum attempts to engage our students’ “Heads, Hearts, and Hands.” Lesson packages on current topics and events are applied in the classroom CCE sessions to engage the “Head.” During CCE Buzz sessions, several points of view discussed. CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School (Primary Section) hopes to increase our pupils’ civic literacy and confidence in their abilities by including them in civic conversation.

Training

The SNLP, which provides organised developmental leadership training to all St Nicholas students, is required of all students. Leadership milestone training, for example, identifies specific leadership abilities to be taught at each level. Through workshops and training sessions, skills such as coordination, facilitation, and communication taught to our students. The Five Practices of ‘The Leadership Challenge’ also set out for each cohort as emphasis areas. It ensures that our students receive a segmented and progressive leadership development curriculum over their four years at our school.

Curriculum for Environmental Education

The MacRitchie Learning Trail collaboration between the Science and Humanities Departments to broaden our students’ perspectives, they learn more about water pollution and biodiversity in a real-life context. Our academic programmes focus on weaving environmental concepts into our respective subject programmes. The school’s outdoor classrooms (a shade house with multiple hydroponics systems, a rainwater collection system, and alternative energy) allow students to learn more about self-sustainable farming systems used by many academic departments in their programmes.

Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) involves our children in activities such as recycling drives, Values-in-Action programmes, and interclass competitions that allow them to take action to make a good change in the environment while they learn.

Values and Personality 

The school’s mission of Girls with Grace, Women with Strength, and Leaders with Heart’ is reflected in the school curriculum. Our school principles are explicitly taught in the formal and informal curricula, guiding and motivating our students’ appropriate behaviour. Platforms specifically designed to help our girls acquire 21CC skills include civic literacy, global awareness and cross-cultural skills, critical and imaginative thinking, communication, collaboration, and information skills. Lessons and narratives on the IJ and the history and ethos infuse in the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) and Form Teacher Guidance Period (FTGP) curriculum during assemblies and school events.