Greetings and welcome to Westwood Secondary’s website!
Let me begin by highlighting some changes in the school in 2015.
First, is the change in the school’s start time. The first bell of the day will now go off at 7.30 am from Tues to Fri, and at 8.30 am on Mondays. However, we do expect students to try and be in school by 7.20 am to scan their fingerprint and to settle down for assembly.
There are also changes in the school uniform and PE attire starting from this year. Our Sec 2 boys will wear long pants starting from this year, and by 2016, all Westwood boys will wear long pants beginning from Sec 1. Wef this year, all Sec 1 students will be wearing their House T-shirts for all physical activities, and we will begin to phase out the existing PE T-shirts by next year.
The construction of the Indoor Sports Hall is proceeding as planned, and should be completed by the last quarter of the year. There have been some other enhancements in some of the rooms in school. To accommodate the increased numbers of staff, our Level 2 Staffroom has been extended into the adjoining space which was the Meeting Room. Work is still being done to the Gallery area of the MRL to convert that into a Meeting Room-cum-Teachers’ Hub. The former Resource Rooms near the AVA Room have been converted into the Business Studies Room and temporary Meeting Room. We have also created a visitors’ and meeting area in the General Office. All these changes, as well as the link-way from the neighbouring block to the school that we are still hoping will be completed this year, are done to meet the needs of the students, staff and other stakeholders of Westwood, so we ask for understanding and tolerance while construction is taking place.
This year, Singapore celebrates her 50th birthday, and many SG50 events have been organised nationally. Here in Westwood, we will also be having our celebrations of SG50, as well as the school’s 15th anniversary. Our programmes, activities and events this year will revolve around the theme “Remember, Rejoice and Return”. Let me explain this theme – we Remember our Pioneer Generation, and their contributions to Singapore; we Rejoice with one another the achievements of our country in the last 50 years; and we want to Return to society as much as we have benefitted from it. As such, some of the activities we will have this year include the Awards Day when we will be inviting some Pioneer Staff of Westwood to join us in a whole-school BBQ, a structured VIA programme, an Internationalisation Programme with the focus on some of our country’s pioneers and how they have contributed locally and abroad, as well as taking part in the nationwide celebrations of SG50, starting from Youth Day, leading up to National Day.
A major happening in the school this year is the External Validation (EV) of the school from 28- 30 September. This is where the school’s key processes, programmes, and overall performance will be examined and validated by a team of assessors from School Appraisal Branch. Students, staff, and stakeholders of the school will be involved.
Information on the EV and other happenings in the school will be updated in the course of the year.
I wish all a purposeful year ahead.
Ms Sandra Gwee
Principal