Principal's Message

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Dear all,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to our school website. Thank you for taking the time to visit and we hope our website will provide a good glimpse into the engaging experience we provide for our students in NorthLight School.

NorthLight School was established in January 2007 as part of the Ministry of Education’s broader efforts to provide a customised curriculum for students who are kinaesthetic learners and also having a preference on vocational education. We admit students who attempted the Primary School Leaving Examination at least once and they are placed on a four-year programme with a curriculum clustered under three domains of Character Education, Foundation Education and Vocational Education.

 Here in NorthLight, we adopt an experiential approach in teaching and learning. Emphasis is given to nurturing the students' socio-emotional development by recognising their achievements, encouraging peer support, and creating conditions to promote self-esteem.

Every student comes with their own individual challenges in life. We remind them that, akin to the emerging star against the nightfall-blue backdrop in our school logo, "the darker the night, the brighter they shine", they should persevere and never give up in the face adversities. We believed that with positive affirmation, and opportunities, every student has the potential to excel. We want to give our students hope again by helping them redefine success, see possibilities and rediscover the joy in learning. The school built on these principles to expand the opportunities for students to experience small successes, and build their self-confidence. Structures and processes were thoughtfully designed to help each student discover his unique gifts and talents, and reaffirm his self-worth.

 We want to help them to come to love and accept themselves as they are, and to believe what is true; that they have much to offer this world should they choose to fulfil their own unique potential. We seek to build their self-confidence so that they are unafraid to take the risk of attempting new challenges, to help them blossom and grow as individuals and to give them the academic, social and emotional skills to enable them to better realise their true potential when they return to their own schools.

Importantly, we want to cultivate in our students the habit of being appreciative for all the good things that happen in their lives. Even when they face challenges, they can be grateful for the people who continue to give them love and support. Research has found that people who regularly practise gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things that they are thankful for experience more positive emotions, express more compassion and kindness, and are more resilient in stressful times. We have been placing more emphasis on the teaching of social skills, which are an integral part of functioning in society. Displaying good manners, communicating effectively with others, being considerate of the feelings of others and expressing personal needs are all important components of social skills.

To better support our students in learning, we have been upgrading our facilities to create a conducive and vibrant learning environment. Some improvements made since 2019 included the air-conditioning of the Multi-Purpose Hall, renovation of our Shine hotel (for Hospitality Services), construction of a Rock-wall cum abseiling stations, just to name a few. Moving ahead, we will look into the provision of more learning spaces for students to explore their creative talents and to build their mental and physical resilience.

In NorthLight, we have witnessed many wonderful students achieving this transformation for themselves and emerge more confident and assured of their worth as individuals, helped by the loving and guiding presence of parents, teachers, and other members of the school community. This could not have been possible if not for the capable team of teaching and non-teaching staff with sparkle in their eyes to ignite the joy of learning, passion in their hearts to inspire hope, and fire in their bellies to relentlessly care for and nurture our students into future-ready youths. We are also blessed with very supportive board of directors and partners who believe in doing the best for our students and provide the resources and learning opportunities to nurture them into young adults who have a passion for learning and for life.

We will continue to innovate and change, build on our past successes to take NorthLight to greater heights in the coming years and guiding our STARS to take on the world!

Yours sincerely,

Mdm Sung Mee Har
Principal
NorthLight School