Our School Leaders

Mrs Tan Wie Pin started her teaching career as an English Language and Music teacher in 1994 and was appointed Head of Department of Pupil Development in Greenview Secondary School from 1999 – 2004. She then joined Temasek Secondary School as Vice-Principal from 2005 – 2006. From 2007 to 2011, she served as Assistant Director (AD) in the MOE Education Programmes Division, Co-Curricular Activities Branch. As AD of CCA Music, she had the opportunity to lead in the conceptualization and organization of the annual Singapore Youth Festival Opening Ceremonies and Arts Presentations, Arts Conferences & Festivals, as well as in supporting the organization of other national events like the Asian Youth Games (AYG) and ASEAN Schools Games (ASG) Opening Ceremony.

Prior to her recent posting to New Town Primary as Principal in 2019, she had the privilege of serving as Principal of Anderson Primary from 2012 to 2018. She believes in providing her students with a rich and holistic education that is anchored in values education, and one that provides quality and authentic learning experiences in the moral, cognitive, physical, social and aesthetics domains. In particular, she believes in the value of multi-disciplinary learning and arts education, and the many intangible benefits they bring to children – from developing creative and critical thinking skills, building performance and moral character, to igniting in the children a lifelong interest for learning and appreciation for the arts.

Mrs Tan is privileged to head New Town Primary, an established school with a long and rich history of 55 years. As the school moves into the next new chapter, she aspires to lead her school team to nurture the students holistically through the provision of a robust and high-quality education; one that aims to seek new and sustainable breakthroughs in teaching and learning, and one that is centred in developing all New Town students to become learners who are passionate, thinkers with a critical mind, and leaders who are anchored.

Mr Ong previously headed the English Department in Bukit Panjang Primary School and Haig Girls’ School before his appointment as a Vice-Principal at New Town Primary. That “every child can learn and wants to learn” is a belief that Mr Ong will attest to. Among the gamut of student types he has taught, all have one thing in common – the sparkle in the eyes when a child realizes he is able to do something he previously couldn’t. Mr Ong remembers the thrill his students felt when they could finally solve a Math problem, or the glow on the face when their compositions were read-aloud in class. Every little success became a motivation to strive to be even better.

Mr Ong’s belief stems from his personal experiences as a student. A Malaysian-born Chinese, he came to Singapore in his primary school years, armed only with a smattering of English. He remembers that in his first year in a Singapore school, attending lessons was like watching a foreign language film without subtitles. The teachers would be teaching and gesturing animatedly, but he hardly understood what was going on. Not one to idle, he chanced upon a rather unorthodox way to learn English – watching Chinese drama serials. He discovered that the English subtitles that accompanied the spoken Mandarin dialogue could help him pick up the language. And it did! Mr Ong believes that his early struggles have allowed him to empathise with students who are also struggling with learning, especially those whose home language is not English. But if he could succeed, with a bit of resourcefulness and lots of grit, so can they!

As a Vice-Principal, Mr Ong’s role is build the school’s capabilities to provide a holistic education for the students where they will become Passionate Learners, Critical Thinkers & Anchored Leaders who thrive in the 21st century. Like how his past school leaders and mentors have shaped his values, outlook and world view, he hopes to do the same with the teachers, and they with their students.