Introduction of HCI

Our Vision

Empowering our Students to Live with Passion and Lead with Compassion

Hwa Chong will develop individuals to become independent thinkers with a sense of purpose and the courage to serve, inspire and lead the next generation of Singaporeans.

Our brand of holistic education, as a model for grooming bicultural and entrepreneurial servant leaders, will benefit the global community.

Our Mission

We nurture leaders in Research, Industry and Government to serve the nation.

Introduction

Hwa Chong Institution is Singapore's premier independent school, with a rich history of over 100 years. The Institution is the culmination of the watershed merger in 2005 between the former Chinese High School (founded 1919) and Hwa Chong Junior College (founded 1974).

In 1919, the then-Chinese High School was established to cater to the needs of overseas Chinese Primary School leavers in Southeast Asia. Today, it is one of the finest education institutions for high-achievers and the gifted in the region. Its reputation as a premier school is based not only on the academic excellence of the students. It is also founded on their strong determination to excel in all other areas of enterprise, like leadership, sports and games, co-curricular activities, service to the community, science and research. Their pursuit of knowledge and skills extends beyond the classrooms and textbooks.

Hwa Chong attracts not top students from Singapore, and also the talented from Southeast Asia and China. These students gather in the school support one another to scale greater scholastic heights. Short-term exchange programmes with well-established schools in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States further enhance the strong network among these high-achievers.

Hwa Chong is a school of firsts. In 2010, Hwa Chong became the first Integrated Programme school offering the Cambridge GCE A-Level examinations to be awarded the Singapore Quality Award (SQA). This pinnacle award was given in recognition of our world-class standards of excellence in education. On top of that, Hwa Chong is the first and only independent school to award the Hwa Chong Diploma, set up a Beijing Satellite Campus and pioneer the FutureSchools@Singapore. Indeed, we are entering an era where opportunities have never been greater, and we want to equip our students with the skills and insights they need to thrive in this new, global age.

Culture of Tradition and Innovation

On the one hand, Hwa Chong is strong and steadfast in fostering Chinese culture and values. On the other, it is surging ahead in the field of research and Information Technology. Its curriculum aims to groom students into independent, responsible and creative bicultural entrepreneurial leaders - leaders with the foresight, optimism, courage and Cultural Quotient (CQ) to be highly adaptive in the complex globalised world today.

The project-based learning strategy has produced many outstanding scholars who have won many awards in both local and international competitions. Indeed, our students have brought pride not just to the school, but to the nation, where they were WORLD CHAMPIONS on numerous occasions, such as the Global Talentrepreneur Innovation and Collaboration Business Competition, Future Problem Solving Program International Finals, Intelligent Ironman Creativity Contest, Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, Purple Comet Mathematical Competition and various Performing Arts Competitions.

A commitment to excellence is a hallmark of the Institution whose mission is to develop leaders for the nation. The Institution prides itself on having produced 53 President's Scholars. Many of our students have also won the coveted Prime Minister’s Book Prize, Lee Kuan Yew Award for Mathematics and Science, and prestigious scholarships such as the SAF Scholarships and PSC Overseas Merit Scholarships.

Holistic Development

The Institution’s total development approach to education comprises 5 domains: Moral, Academic, Physical, Social and Aesthetic. A key element of the school ethos is our emphasis on honour and integrity. Our philosophies include ‘Live with Passion, Lead with Compassion’,‘Win-Win’, the school motto ‘自强不息(Zi Qiang Bu Xi)’, and our guiding principle of ‘饮水思源(Yin Shui Si Yuan)’.

Besides academic excellence, the school actively promotes leadership training. Opportunities to exemplify and exhibit such traits are prevalent in student initiated and organised events, such as the Hwa Chong Asia-Pacific Young Leaders Summit, International Science Youth Forum, Student Leaders Convention, Asian Chinese Youth Forum, Alumni Forum and the Hwa Chong Lecture, which have been graced by the Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers, Nobel Laureates and eminent entrepreneurs. In addition, students with leadership potential and outstanding achievements are given opportunities to present papers at international conferences. These annual events extend to the 4 uniformed groups in the school, namely the National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC), National Cadet Corps (NCC), St John Ambulance Brigade and Scouts. They have an excellent track record of being awarded Gold Medals at various competitions. In fact, five out of eight President’s Scouts in 2011 were from Hwa Chong. To date, we have produced 107 President’s Scouts, a record among all Singapore schools. In 2012, we also had our first Boys’ Brigade Primer to receive the President’s Award.

The challenge of providing inter-racial experience in our Special Assistance Plan (SAP) environment has prompted the school to reach out to other schools and organisations. Throughout the year, collaborations with their peers from other schools provide our students with the opportunity to experience the multi-racial and multi-religious aspects of Singapore. Such sustained and meaningful experiences culminate every year in the Racial Harmony Day celebrations, where students interact and better understand the rich cultural experiences of other ethnic groups.

Hwa Chong has a track record of bagging national titles at the annual National Inter-School Championships. Some of our niche sports include: Basketball, Canoeing, Gymnastics, Judo, Squash, Shooting, Track and Field, Volleyball and Water Polo. The school is also actively promoting the practice of ‘Sports and Arts for All’ to encourage the development of a healthy and cultured lifestyle from young.

Hwa Chong has, over the years, developed and maintained a vibrant arts culture among its students and staff. Musical groups, such as the Choir, Concert Band, String Orchestra and Chinese Orchestra, have attained the Certificate of Distinction at the Singapore Youth Festival for their virtuosic performances. In fact, our Choir and Music and Dance Group have bagged World Championship titles between 2008 and 2012, bringing pride to the nation and our Institution.

In dramatic arts, the award-winning English and Chinese drama clubs stage public performances every year, taking on the role of promoting the best of Chinese and Western cultures and values. Many of these performances are student-organised, winning accolades and critical acclaim, both locally and abroad. To commemorate and celebrate our visionary forefathers, the Chinese Drama Club has staged more than 10 public performances featuring Chinese philanthropists, like Tan Kah Kee and Lee Kong Chian, in the last 3 years.

As an Art Elective Programme Centre, Hwa Chong offers a unique platform for creative expressions amongst its students. From traditional fine art to more contemporary abstract expressions and animation, the school offers to this group of aspiring creative thinkers and leaders countless opportunities to explore the various realms of art. Recently, Hwa Chongians have won the UOB Painting of the Year Competition in both the Open and Youth Categories.

Teaching Faculty

With the emphasis on teachers as professionals and care-givers, many Hwa Chong teachers have been honoured with awards such as the President’s Teacher Award, Most Inspiring Chinese Teachers’ Award, Best Chemistry Teacher Award and the Most Outstanding Science Teacher Award. A key feature of their professionalism is their commitment to life-long learning. This is best reflected in the school’s unique tie-up with the University of Western Australia for serving teachers to pursue a Masters or Doctorate degree in Education even as they are working. The pursuit of professional development and self-improvement is a way of life in Hwa Chong, with around 40% of our teachers pursuing their post-graduate degrees—both Masters and Doctorates.

As the first Independent School to implement the Future School initiative, there is now a concerted effort among teachers to experiment with various online platforms and Web 2.0 applications to bring about deep, independent, and collaborative learning. Harnessing online resources, our teachers stretch our students’ minds to nurture their passion, imagination and engagement towards life-long learning. One key strategy is the development of Global Literacies within the curriculum, as well as beyond the curriculum both inside and outside of Hwa Chong. The critical thinking skills required is a marriage between the Disciplined Mind and Synthesising Mind (from Howard Gardner’s Five Minds of the Future) that are vital 21st Century proficiencies.

In line with our aim to become a leading research hub for the School of the Future, teachers are concurrently doing advanced research on their innovative teaching and new learning approaches. Many teachers have presented papers at notable international conferences. To ensure that our teachers grow along with the organisation, wehosted the inaugural Schools With Innovative Future Technologies: A Teachers’ Roundtable (SWIFT Roundtable) in 2011. Educators and professors from Australia, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Tatarstan, and Singapore presented original research papers and shared best practices at the event. The aim of the conference was to empower HCI teachers to generate ideas for future educational research, and to anticipate trends in the education landscape.

In 2012, HCI co-organised and hosted the inaugural Global Learning Alliance, Singapore Summit. This is a partnership between HCI, Scarsdale Public Schools (a top performing district in New York), and Columbia University. This summit brings together school leaders from some of the world’s most innovative schools as well as scholars from the best graduate schools in education and universities to Hwa Chong. The top participating schools come from Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Singapore, and the U.S. The think-tank meetings aim to characterise world-class education. HCI is also working with Columbia to forge new international benchmarks for twenty-first century teaching and learning.

Organisational Innovations

Unique Consortia System

A significant innovation initiated by the Institution is the consortia approach to teaching and learning in our High School Section. Instead of the Head of Department (HOD) system, teachers and students in our High School Section are grouped into four consortia. Each consortium consists of about 30 teachers teaching various subjects. This concept of a ‘school within a school’ provides customised learning and more support than the traditional HOD system. The consortia system has effectively empowered teachers to groom and nurture their wards to their full potential. Indeed, the Staff Performance Appraisal (SPA) was designed to reflect the demands made on teachers based on our vision, mission, and pedagogical paradigms of the Hwa Chong Integrated Programme.

Hwa Chong-Beijing Satellite Campus

At Hwa Chong, we have always drawn from the best of the East and the West. In 2007, the Institution set up the Hwa Chong-Beijing Satellite Campus in China—the first of its kind for a Singapore school. This project builds upon the Bicultural Studies Programme (BSP) which Hwa Chong pioneered in 2005. It is also aligned with our Future School plan to open satellite campuses in strategic cities around the world, starting with Beijing.

The Hwa Chong-Beijing Satellite Campus was set up to facilitate a sustained and durable immersion for our BSP students. Through collaboration with one of the top schools in China, Beijing's 2nd High School attached to Beijing Normal University, HCI creates learning opportunities outside the classroom that enhance students' understanding of Chinese literature, culture and the arts, as well as contemporary developments in China.

In 2011, Hwa Chong launched two more “winter campuses” in Suzhou and Xi’An. From 2012, we have also sent different groups of students to summer camps conducted by Stanford University (entrepreneurial leadership), U.C. Berkeley (Mathematics) and Duke University (cancer research).

Hwa Chong Integrated Programme (IP)

Hwa Chong is at the forefront of educational change and innovation. Having successfully launched the Consortium System, the Institution has moved ahead to replace the 4-year secondary school and 2-year junior college programmes with a truly seamless and broad-based 6-year Integrated Programme (IP).

The Hwa Chong IP is organised in a spiral framework. The curriculum aims to stimulate students’ interest and intellectual curiosity in the first 2 years; develop their passion and pursuit of talents in years 3 and 4; and finally consolidate students’ knowledge in years 5 and 6 in preparation for the terminal GCE A-Level Examinations.

Hwa Chong Diploma

The school introduced its own diploma to JC2 students in 2008. There are 3 tiers: Hwa Chong Diploma with Distinction, Hwa Chong Diploma with Merit and Hwa Chong Diploma. The Diploma is criterion-based. All JC2 students who score a University Admission Point (UAP) of 80 out of a possible 90, at the internal Preliminary Examinations, are eligible for the Hwa Chong Diploma with Distinction.

The Diploma is given on top of the A-Level certificate that students receive at the end of an integrated education at JC2. The Hwa Chong Diploma distinguishes our students from other top GCE A Level certificate holders. While the A Level certificate captures a student’s academic excellence, the Diploma consolidates into a single document not just a student's academic performance, but also his / her scholastic achievements, or involvement in the wider community.

Our IP provides many opportunities for students to engage in broader and holistic learning experiences. The Hwa Chong Diploma facilitates these independent modes of learning and exploration. Academically, Hwa Chong students are among the top 5% of their cohort and certain of going on to leading universities, with a strong entry each year to Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford and the Ivy League. The school strongly believes that the Hwa Chong Diploma will further nurture and train our university-bound students for a more globalised future.

Values and Thinking Models

One of the key objectives of the Integrated Programme is to enhance joy in learning and teaching. The curriculum has significantly strengthened affective education through the implementation of a caring thinking model on top of critical and creative thinking. The curriculum has proven a success, as Hwa Chong’s Quality School Experience (QSE) scores have been consistently ranked above the national average, indicating student satisfaction and affiliation with Hwa Chong.

The Hwa Chong curriculum framework focuses on the development of the Emotional, Cultural and Adversity Quotients over and above Intelligence Quotient. In addition, we have infused into our curriculum, elements of Positive Education—based on the Resiliency Programme developed by the University of Pennsylvania— to help our students lead a meaningful and purposeful life. This effectively prepares our students for the challenges created by the rapidly changing global economic, political and social landscapes.

At the same time, we want to develop environmental consciousness in our staff and students. We want our students to be committed to environmental stewardship and to be responsible global citizens who care about the environment. Our Green Plan comprises three components: greening our infrastructure and systems, curriculum and teaching, as well as communication and recognition of green stewards.

Our Values

Passion

We must maximise the opportunity to explore our interests. We seek to develop these interests into life-long passions. The HCI research-based curriculum will hone our Disciplined Mind so that we may further develop our passions.

Integrity

Integrity is an integral part of an Ethical Mind. To serve the community effectively, we need to learn to be ethical in thought, speech, and action at all times.

Innovation

The pre-requisites of a Creating Mind are curiosity, innovation, and a quest for excellence. We should learn to explore possibilities and create platforms to forge breakthroughs in a Knowledge-Based Economy.

Empathy

We must learn to develop a Respectful Mind by valuing diverse perspectives and understanding the feelings of others, particularly those from different backgrounds.

Responsibility

We must anticipate, and be accountable for, the consequences of our actions on self, community and the environment.

To whom much is given, much is expected. It is our social responsibility to serve the nation.

In the 21st century, it is vital for us to develop a Synthesising Mind: to draw, process, and transform salient and reliable information from different sources-both offline and online-into knowledge that benefits the larger community.

The Hwa Chong Sabbaticals

A distinguishing feature of the Hwa Chong IP is the Student Sabbaticals. This allows students to take ‘leave’ from their regular curricular regime to pursue their interests and passions. The modules include Research, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, InfoComm Studies, and the China Programme. The China Programme is aimed at enriching and enhancing our bicultural curriculum by providing a deeper understanding of China’s cultural, philosophical, and socio-politico-economic milieu through a series of experiential learning and attachment programmes.

The Sabbaticals also extend beyond the school and Singapore. Overseas student exchanges, research workshops, service-learning projects, outdoor adventure pursuits, investigative and entrepreneurship fieldtrips are conducted during Sabbaticals. These special programmes are made possible through the strategic alliances we have established over the years. The school has actively cultivated mutually enriching and lasting partnerships with local and overseas universities, leading research institutes, global organisations and professional bodies to support our various programmes.

Benchmarking the IP Curricula

The Hwa Chong IP is steered by an International Advisory Panel comprising Nobel Laureates, Professor YT Lee (Nobel Prize in Chemistry) and Princeton Professor Daniel Tsui (Nobel Prize in Physics), as well as Professor KK Phua (Director, Institute of Advanced Studies, National Technological University).

The cornerstones of the Hwa Chong IP are the changes made in the assessment and evaluation process for students and the appraisal system for the teachers. The revised assessment framework and academic protocol witness a major shift from merely quantitative measurements to a more balanced framework with both quantitative and qualitative assessments. These modified measures are more reflective of our students and teachers’ holistic achievements.

Conclusion

The Hwa Chong IP delivers a system of education that constantly creates and innovates to meet the needs of a new generation of Singaporeans and beyond. Going forward, Hwa Chong will continue to attract students of the highest calibre. We will continue to nurture forward-looking young men and women, grounded in sound values, who will make Singapore proud. Indeed, we will not waver in our commitment to develop leaders for the nation; leaders who will do what is right, and do it well.