
Principal's Message
Our Vision: Learners with Grit, Citizens with Heart
In
2020, we conducted various ‘Co-creating our Future’ conversations with our
various stakeholders to envision what we would want to see in every GESPians in
six years’ time. We are happy to share our revised vision: “Learners with Grit,
Citizens with Heart”. We want to instil in our students sound values and
future-ready skills and competencies so that they can be passionate learners
who will persevere on, despite the challenges they face. That’s GRIT. We want
them to learn to care for others and make a difference in the school, family as
well as the community they live in. That’s the Singapore Spirit we want to
develop in our students.
Educating a student is like growing a
tree. It takes many years and “many hands” to grow a tree with deep roots. That
is why we believe in building strong relationships with our parents and
community partners to help our students be strongly anchored on sound character
and values. Together, we grow the tree by providing a safe, supportive and
conducive learning environment, and establishing a strong foundation of
knowledge, skills and values.
The Story of the Butterfly Chrysalis
I would also like to share with you a
wonderful story on the struggle of the butterfly.
There was a little boy who loved caterpillars. One day he found
one, took it home and made a home for it. He watched this caterpillar
every day, making sure it had plenty of food and water. One day the caterpillar
started creating a cocoon...here it would go through a metamorphosis and become
a butterfly. This was so exciting that the little boy couldn’t wait to see the
butterfly!
One day it happened. A small hole appeared in the cocoon and the
butterfly started to struggle to
come out. The little boy was very excited! Then he noticed the butterfly
was struggling hard to get out and it seemed like the butterfly wasn’t going to
be able to break free! The little boy was so worried for the butterfly that he
decided he had to help. He quickly got a pair of scissors and snipped the
cocoon to make the hole bigger and the butterfly immediately emerged!
However, the butterfly had a swollen body and small shrivelled
wings. The little boy sat and watched the butterfly, expecting that, at any
moment, the wings would dry out, get bigger and expand to support the swollen
body. But it never happened!
The butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a
swollen body and shrivelled wings. It never was able to fly…
The boy then learned that the butterfly was supposed to struggle. In
fact, the butterfly’s struggle to push its way through the tiny opening of the
cocoon forces the fluid out of its body and into its wings. Without the
struggle, the butterfly would never, ever fly. The boy’s good intentions
actually hurt the butterfly.
Giving
our students the SPACE to grow
Adversity
and struggles are part and parcel of life and, as significant adults in our children’s
life, the care and support that we show would help them be resilient and
adaptable. Similar to the Butterfly Chrysalis, we need to give them the S.P.A.C.E
to grow.
Support – Provide positive
feedback and be willing to listen
Problem solve – Reflect on
setbacks together and guide your children to develop alternate plans
Affirm – Affirm strengths and
efforts and use effective praise
Cheer – Cheer your child on
for every effort and celebrate all success, even small ones
Empower – Let your child make
decisions and encourage them to voice their ideas
Let’s walk this journey together so that
we can see the fruits of our labour in the years to come.
Yours
sincerely
Roy
Lee
roy_lee@schools.gov.sg