By Jane Ng

THIS is one school where the pupils are asked every year if they are happy with their teachers and co-curricular activities.

Never mind that the girls are all 12 and below; their opinions count. So when some complained about the glaring sunlight, affected classes were given $100 each to put curtains up.

They also learn to cook, get tips from secondary school counterparts on organising events and read texts like The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl and Totto Chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi.

This all-round education is what made Raffles Girls' Primary School the first primary school to clinch the Education Ministry's top School Excellence Award since it was launched in 2004.

It takes top place, along with Temasek Junior College and National Junior College, this year.

Among the 10 schools leading in Primary School Examination Results for the past few years, it keeps pupils challenged.

They move from reading literature texts in lower primary to analysing characters, discussing themes and plots, and writing poems at the higher levels.

They take speech and drama classes, and put up musicals and dramas in the schools.

Said Ms Tan Siok Cheng, its principal since 1999: 'Our aim is to develop every child.'

To help teachers do this, some were sent on visits to Pasir Ris and Princess Elizabeth Primary schools to pick up tips on character development programmes.

One practice noted in Pasir Ris Primary - form teachers spend 10 minutes with one pupil every morning to find out how he or she is doing. RGPS may implement this next year.

The two JCs have things in common that led to their awards: proactive teachers and letting students organise themselves.

At Temasek, school starts 40 minutes later on Wednesdays so staff can share teaching methods with each other, said its principal, Mrs Loke-Yeo Teck Yong.

Teachers have designed a diverse range of inter-disciplinary electives. For instance, Mr Calvin Tan, who has training in law, has an elective on how constitutions and laws operate in countries, among other issues of law.

Besides the school's 50 CCAs, students have formed 10 interest groups on topics such as muay thai, manga, anime and cosplay.

National JC has student-led programmes in national education. Its students, for example, worked with the National Heritage Board to come up with a 'community trail' in Bukit Timah which highlights interesting spots and stories about the area.

Said principal Virginia Cheng: 'In NJC, national education is not about doing more, but about what is dear to our hearts and doing something meaningfully to add value to authentic learning.'

janeng@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 22 Sep, 2008.

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