Student Development Team
Find out how the Student Development Team develops our students holistically through purposeful programmes and learning experiences, in support of their well-being and to develop their resilience.
Our Team
The school’s Student Development Team (SDT) comprises 3 Year Heads, 3 Assistant Year Heads, Student Management (SM) team, Character & Citizenship Education (CCE) team, Special Educational Needs (SEN) team and Student Wellbeing (SW) team.
Goals:
We strive to inculcate Positive Education via PERMAH in our school culture since 2020. G.R.O.W. with Me! was first conceptualized in 2021 to promote Growth Mindset in our students. Through the programme, the school hopes to develop students with a Grateful heart and a Resilient spirit to Overcome obstacles and Win together. Adopting a progressive approach, we hope to cultivate character, deepen values and SEL competencies in our students. Through positive partnerships with stakeholders, we aim to provide quality-learning experiences for our students.
Overview:
In building a culture of care, a structured referral system is created to support the varied learning and behavioural needs of the students.
In enhancing a rich learning environment, SDT looks into providing a myriad of programmes across the levels. Throughout the six years of education at WSPS, programmes are tailored according to the different level outcomes where students undergo learning experiences in different domains leveraging on their strengths, discovering their potential, and developing resilience through overcoming challenges. All these experiences contribute towards the Desired Outcomes of Education, enabling the students to possess a good sense of self-awareness, a sound moral compass, and the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to take on the opportunities and challenges of the future.
Key Programmes:
First Days of School (FDOS) package
Our FDOS package welcomes students back to school every semester. SDT put in place activities such as setting class rules and teambuilding games to foster positive teacher-student relationships and peer relationships. The activities put in place help to create a positive school identity which in turn harness good and healthy connection among students in class and across levels. The package also includes activities which instill expected behaviour and responsibilities in students for a conducive and caring environment for learning. Most importantly, we aim to help all students to start off right for the year with life skills for self-management.
Learning Journeys and Outdoor Lessons
To enhance the students’ learning experiences and to instil joy of learning, the school partners external organisations and agencies to organise outdoor lessons and learning journeys. SDT ensures learning experiences are customised at different levels to ensure holistic outdoor learning experiences, such as zoo trip for the lower primary, swim safer program for the middle primary, level camp and subject-specific learning journeys for upper primary.
Parents Engagement through SPECS and PTM
Parents are our valuable partners in education. The school holds the School-Parents Engagement & Communication Sessions (SPECS) annually in Term 1 and Parent-Teacher-Meeting (PTM) in Term 2 to engage our parents in the holistic development of their child’s educational journey as well as to provide the opportunity for students to take ownership of their learning.
SPECS serves as a platform to allow principal to take the parents through the school vision, mission and values and key MOE initiatives. Following the briefing, teachers will communicate class expectations to the parents. We hope that through sessions like that support for students is aligned in school and at home.
Growth Mindset programme
The SDT team focuses on the 4 sub-themes - Gratitude, Positive Language, SMART goals and the Power of Yet. White Sandians started their journey developing the growth mindset with our very own Care Squad and Professor Brainy. The school believes that embracing a growth mindset is beneficial for a child as it creates a love for learning and develops a sense of resilience that is essential for accomplishment.
Aligned to G.R.O.W. with Me! and the level outcomes, the Year Head team designed the school’s unique Achievers’ programme tailored to the needs of White Sandians. The Resilient Achievers Programme equips our Upper primary White Sandians with the knowledge, skills and values to stay resilient in the face of challenges and to strive for excellence in all endeavours.
The Middle Primary Responsible Achievers Programme (ReAP) focus on developing the value of responsibility in our White Sandians so that they can be self-directed learners who can make responsible decisions and are able to collaborate in harmony.
The Lower Primary Caring Achievers Programme (CAP) teach the children to be caring White Sandians who has a good sense of self awareness and will be able to build positive relationship through Care and Respect.
These programmes comprise of workshops every term where students acquire useful strategies through engaging hands-on collaborative activities, in line with the school’s motto of “Learn, grow and excel together”.
With the end in mind, SDT together with the White Sandians will continue to experience the power of YET, feel the joy of having a grateful heart, learn to spread positivity all times and set S.M.A.R.T goals for the coming years.
As we aspire to drive Positive Education at White Sands, every White Sandian’s success story is an epitome of the growth mindset.
