Tanglin Reflections 2017

Respect

Responsibility

Reflections

2017

Purpose

CONTENTS

04

Chief Executive Officer

10

Community Engagement

12

Responsible Global Citizens

16

Infant School

20

Junior School

26

Senior School

32

Examination Results

35

Graduate Destinations

36

Financial Overview

40

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Welcome to this annual edition of Reflections where we share the headlines of development over the past twelve months and give an indication of where we are heading. In addition, there is an overview of our school finances produced in a way that I hope is clear and sufficiently detailed to keep you informed.

TANGLIN BRAND REVIEW As an organisation I think we reached a point last year where we were very clear about who we were internally but our branding didn’t accurately reflect that to the outside world. The words we used were all relevant but basically, there were too many words. A branding review exercise we undertook has distilled the original descriptions and has, I believe, produced a coordinated and clear message that is succinct and powerful.

The existing Mission Statement was felt to be still relevant and appropriate and able to guide the school through the penultimate decade of the school’s centenary years. It remains unchanged:

Tanglin Trust School Singapore has a long tradition of providing British-based learning with an international perspective. At Tanglin we strive to make every individual feel valued, happy and successful. Responsibility, enthusiasm and participation are actively encouraged and integrity is prized.

Working together in a safe, caring, yet stimulating environment, we set high expectations whilst offering strong support, resulting in a community of lifelong learners who can contribute with confidence to our world.

A slight change to our logo has lifted the palm up and through the original arch giving the palm more prominence as a Tanglin icon that represents our heritage in

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Singapore. I am sure you have seen this around school already. To avoid significant costs, logos will only be changed as and when they need to be replaced:

A new short, but self-explanatory brand statement captures the long legacy and quality of the Tanglin brand:

We wanted to describe the ethos of Tanglin succinctly and in a version short enough to be understood and recalled from memory. Our new Vision Statement has four distinct messages:

We aspire to be the best school in the world with a dynamic learning community which nurtures and inspires every individual to be the best they can be.

Finally, whilst everyone stood behind our old Value Statements, there were so many of them that they could only be profitably used as an occasional point of reference. Those Value Statements have been distilled in to three Core Values which we believe underpin all that we do and stand by:

RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY and PURPOSE You will see and read more about each of these brand elements as we use them to describe and celebrate the school going forward.

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TANGLIN STRATEGIC HEADLINES The school’s Management Team annually reviews our Strategic Direction and Commitments based on the vision and values of the school and is informed by inspections, feedback, comments and evidence.

You will notice below that we have placed ‘Wellbeing’ at the heart of our strategies. Every parent would wish that their child has the psychological, social and physical resources to flourish and to meet life’s challenges; but this sentiment refers not only to our students. The wellbeing of our whole community is important to us and we will do all we can to support and promote it. The Strategic Headlines and Commitments when finalised are used by each school to prepare their Annual Development Plans.

Here are this year’s Strategic Headlines and Commitments:

Student Care, Guidance & Support

Learning & Teaching

Staff Care, Guidance & Support

Wellbeing:

having the psychological, social and physical resources to flourish and to meet life’s challenges.

Resources & Environment

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The Wider Tanglin Experience

Community

ECONOMIC FACTORS AND COMPETITION FROM OTHER SCHOOLS In the present world and regional economic situation, it is very difficult for anyone to predict when financial conditions and markets will begin to recover or stabilise. Fortunately, Tanglin is in a strong position to be able to respond to changing economic scenarios, given that our finances have been prudently managed over the years. We are fortunate that the quality of the educational experience at Tanglin has enabled us to retain student numbers and has prevented us from losing large numbers of existing students to date. Our waitlists have, however, been reduced and this brings relief to families seeking to gain admission throughout the year.

The competition from new schools and from existing schools seeking to increase their size is welcomed by us. It gives prospective parents choice as well as challenging us to remain relevant and at the top of our game whilst continuing to provide value for money. We now find ourselves to be one of the few not-for-profit independent schools in the region where all of our revenue is dedicated to supporting our school, our community and the provision of education. The absence of a reliance on debt financing or a commitment to repay investors or contribute to a ‘mother ship’, strengthens our ability to weather the economic storm.

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CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT We were delighted two years ago to successfully negotiate with our landlords (JTC), to extend the end date of our lease from 2023 to 2038. one-north is a dynamic and developing Science, Innovation and Media hub and already we are benefitting from and contributing to, new found relationships with leading companies such as MediaCorp, Disney, Lucas Films and A*Star to name just a few.

As you would expect, there were conditions attached to our lease extension and one of those was to significantly increase our plot ratio of buildings or floor space to plot size. We have a draft Master Plan which forms the basis for future building discussions and plans to help us honour this commitment. Phase 1 of the plan has been completed. I am pleased that prudent financial planning enabled us to finance this project from the school’s reserves, with a small amount of debt finance, principally intended to retain strong relationships with our banks. The new building has been named the Nixon Building to note and celebrate the significant contribution of Mr Dominic Nixon, who was Chair of the Board of Governors for more than ten years until his recent retirement from the position. We were also delighted to be able to recognise the enormous thirty year contribution to our school by Mrs Geraldine Chandran (previous Head of Infants), by naming the new gym, the Chandran Hall.

The Nixon Building benefits the whole community. It finally gives the school a suitable and fitting frontage that reflects the quality of the business that goes on behind it. Three quarters of the building is dedicated to student and parent usage with the rest housing our administration. The new student canteen and community café with one-stop facilities on hand for parents have already changed the dynamics of movement and activity on site. This is an iconic building and the frontage with its seven and a half metre projecting cantilever (to house a second theatre), has produced an instantly recognisable and memorable Tanglin feature for many years to come.

Other facilities provided last summer include an off-site training ground within five hundred metres of the main buildings, a full size football/rugby all -weather playing field in the centre of the school, an upgraded power station to provide for present and future projects, ten completely refurbished science laboratories in the Senior School, the return of the Griffith-Jones Hall to the Junior School (by relocating the gymnasium to the Nixon Building) and spaces to establish experimental ‘classrooms of the future’ in each school. I am particularly delighted to support the development of Media Studies through new state-of-the-art facilities in the Nixon Building and the relocation of the Senior canteen which has allowed us to launch a new Design and Technology programme in the Senior School.

We are a school that never stands still. Our quest for improvement towards excellence is incessant and I believe that we have taken many positive steps in this direction over the past year.

Peter Derby-Crook Chief Executive Officer

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Committed to ensuring a sustainable future

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

As the first truly international school in Singapore, Tanglin has been part of the Singapore educational landscape for over 90 years. We are fortunate to be located in the heart of the vibrant one-north community which is within easy access of the whole of Singapore.

Community engagement is central to what we do at Tanglin.

PARTNERING WITH SCHOOLS • Tanglin has a long tradition of engagement with the local educational community, collaborating with local and international schools on joint philanthropic projects and sports activities or hosting curriculum enrichment activities.

• Examples include professional development for teachers from other local and international schools, hosting the Model United Nations (MUN), Junior School Gifted and Talented (G&T) collaboration with Raffles Girls School, Infant School partnering with Chen Su Lan Children’s Home, hosting the International Schools Computing Games and the upcoming Across Asia Youth Film Festival 2017 (AAYFF).

ACTION IN THE COMMUNITY • Part of every student’s journey through Tanglin includes meaningful engagement with the local community. This might be through the High Commissioners Award (HCA) in Years 5 and 6, the Learner Profile in Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8 and 9) or the National Youth Achievement Award (NYAA) and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) projects in Key Stage 4 and 5 (Years 10 - 13).

• In addition, all students take an active role in philanthropy particularly in developing strong relationships with local Singaporean charities.

These also include local environmental projects such as the Year 7/8 beach clean-up and learning about our local environment in the one-north butterfly garden. In all cases, we aim to build lasting relationships.

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ENGAGEMENT WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES • Connections with the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and business community are great ways for our students to learn about the world of work. We link with local employers, regularly hosting careers fairs, talks and enterprise projects. Students also take part in a work experience programme where they spend valuable time in various different industries.

• By 2020, one-north is destined to become a global talent hub and an international centre of excellence for scientific research, technology and media. It is already home to international organisations such as Disney, A*Star, Apple, Siemens and Proctor & Gamble, as well as a hive of activity for innovative start-up enterprises.

With this in mind, we are actively engaging with our new local neighbours while developing lasting links with the wider Singapore community.

Recent examples include Business Studies trips to National University Hospital (NUH) and Disney and a STEM club programme with A*star and Seagate.

EMBRACING SINGAPORE • Awareness of the diversity of cultures in Singapore is woven into our values. We actively celebrate the many cultural days, including Hari Raya, Diwali and Chinese New Year, inviting performers and artists into school to share their love and expertise of these vibrant cultural festivals. Our Arts Faculty has a strong link with the local arts community and our music students are often lucky enough to perform in public spaces across Singapore including Ngee Ann City, Sentosa, Timbre+ and NUH. Last term they also performed at the Community Fiesta at West Coast GRC and also at carol concerts in one-north, St George’s Church and Cluny Court.

• Our long history affords us a deep connection to Singapore and we seek to ensure that our students genuinely feel part of this exciting island city.

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RESPONSIBLE GLOBAL CITIZENS

Tanglin’s core values: Respect, Responsibility and Purpose resonate with all sorts of different activities across the school on a daily basis.

However, perhaps the strongest resonance is with the community response to environmental issues which gathered considerable momentum in 2016.

Following the inspirational visit of Robert Swan in November 2015, the TTS Foundation supported two of our teachers to join his ‘2041’ expedition to Antarctica in March 2016. 2041 is the year when the current international treaty, which prevents any exploitation of Antarctica’s natural resources, will be up for review. A renewal of this treaty is seen by many as a vital step towards preserving our planet for future generations, by showing a shared global responsibility for our finite resources.

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Tanglin students were able to follow this incredible journey through displays in school which tracked the progress of the ship and updates from Mr Foakes and Mr Thomas whenever internet access was available. On return to Tanglin, the pair put on a ‘road show’ of assemblies and talks to ensure that every student, staff member and parent was able to share in their experience. The school was suddenly abuzz with the majesty of the last great wilderness on Earth - and its fragile future.

they can make a difference. In November 2016, Tanglin achieved the prestigious Lotus Award in the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) ‘School Green Award’ programme, for the second year running.

This is gratifying recognition for our efforts so far, but we are not complacent. There are often tensions between convenience, economic efficiency and environmental responsibility which mean that we need to be continually vigilant and self-critical, both as individuals and as a community.

THE TANGLIN ‘OUR WORLD 2041’ TEAM - A RENEWED SENSE OF PURPOSE

THE PLASTIC OCEAN

Inspired by the Antarctica expedition, we have combined our whole school ‘Eco’ and ‘Our World’ groups to form the ‘OW2041’ team. Their mission is threefold: to ensure that the school is leading by example when promoting sustainability and responsible consumption; to raise awareness of environmental issues within the school community; to contribute to Singapore’s sustainability agenda.

The OW2041 team includes representatives from each school, as well as from the Management Team and so is able to coordinate ‘whole-school’ action and events. However, it is important to note that there are many groups across the school who are actively involved in environmental projects; we want everyone in the community to feel that

In August 2016, Tanglin was privileged to be the first organisation anywhere in the world to screen a new film ‘The Plastic Ocean’, in the presence of the director, Craig Leeson, who took questions from the audience afterwards. This film is both disturbing and inspiring. Graphic footage showing how plastic is getting into the food chain through fish and sea birds is coupled with a strong message that it is not too late for us to tackle the problem. The audience of students, staff and parents left the Berrick Hall with a fresh determination to change our habits and tackle the global over-reliance on single-use plastic, starting by putting our own house in order!

The ‘Plastic Ocean’ message was nicely reinforced by the school-wide ‘Our World’ day in September, which focused on the UN Sustainability goal of ‘Responsible Consumption’. A wide range of activities around the school included: creating

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art with recycled materials; creating a marketing campaign to promote sustainability; team quizzes on pollution and recycling; creating rap music with an environmental message. All very good, but what about our daily habits? Here is a top three of the whole school initiatives that will make us more responsible consumers every day: More than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans every year.

A team of scientists and film-makers explore its effect on marine ecosystems and human health.

Documentary screening: A Plastic Ocean Tuesday, 30 August 2016 3.00pm - 5.00pm Berrick Building Performance Hall Don’t miss this thought-provoking documentary and chance for Q&A with Director, Craig Leeson.

For the comfort of audience members there is no admittance to children in cohort years below Year 5. Any unaccompanied Year 5 and Year 6 children to be collected from the Berrick Building Performance Hall at 5.00pm.

To book, please go to the TTS Portal > Keeping Informed tab under Events > Upcoming Events > A Plastic Ocean section

1. No more small plastic water bottles at parent evenings, conferences or events. Each school has made a commitment not to provide individual water bottles on these occasions - making use of either large water dispensers or plumbed in water fountains instead 2. New food waste recycling bins in the canteens.

Tanglin is one of the first schools to participate in the NEA Food Waste Recycling Pilot Programme, which turns food waste into Biogas 3. No more disposable plates and cutlery in the canteens. The new student canteen in the Nixon building provides enough space for all of the Senior students to ‘eat in’ for the first time at Tanglin. From this point on, we will not be serving food on disposable plates

INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL PROJECTS Not every sustainability initiative has to be coordinated at whole-school level. There are many groups across the school that are also working independently to raise awareness of issues, to improve our environment or to reduce waste. For example, in the Infant School, we have seen the creation of an ‘edible garden’ outside the Year 2 unit. Supported by the TTS Foundation, this project is highly relevant to Singapore, as it is an example of a ‘high-rise’, city garden, making use of an outside walkway on level 4 of the Infant building.

Infant children have also been working together to produce a wonderful ‘waterfall’ sculpture, re-using plastic bottles, which forms part of a larger display promoting the ‘6 R’s’.

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In November 2016, the Junior School ‘Global Guardian’ team wrote to the TTS Foundation to point out that none of the Junior School water fountains had a spout for filling water bottles and asking for funds to get these fitted. Now, all the water fountains in the canteens and in the Junior School have these spouts that will encourage children (and adults!) to use their re-fillable bottles.

The Global Guardians have also been working on some short videos that demonstrate responsible consumption.

As part of the new ‘Learner Profile Award’, all students in Years 7 and 8 participated in a beach clean-up at East Coast Park in September. Students saw first-hand how much plastic gets washed up or discarded on even Singapore’s ‘clean’ beaches. We hope that this will become an annual event. We also saw the establishment of our ‘Rainforest Nursery’ by a group of CAS students in Years 12 and 13, led

by Jaz Heber-Percy. This project is also supported by the TTS Foundation and has been driven by Jaz, who has been trained by Singapore Botanic Gardens staff in how to nurture seeds of endangered rainforest plants, so we can grow them into saplings that are large enough to transplant back into the parks of Singapore.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP Caring for our environment and developing more sustainable habits is a whole community responsibility. However, raising issues, exploring solutions and making these work requires leadership. We are very proud of our student leaders across the school who rise to the challenge each year and ensure that the school continues to move forward. From the Green Team in the Infant School and the Global Guardians in the Junior School, to the Head Team and CAS Eco groups in the Senior School, passionate young people are learning important life-lessons in how to drive change. These are our leaders today; the global leaders of tomorrow.

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INFANT SCHOOL

‘Your school is inspiring’ were the words of our Quality Mark Assessor when we were inspected by the Basic Skills Agency for the UK in April 2016. This led to us being awarded two Quality Marks, one for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and a separate Primary award for the Infant School. The QM is awarded to a setting or school to recognise their provision, practice and performance in literacy and numeracy with the school demonstrating a whole school approach to improving standards in literacy and numeracy, with evidence of the impact of its approaches. It also serves to provide a framework for self-evaluation and continuous improvement of the basic skills of all children in a school.

We are the first school in Asia to achieve this.

This was particularly reassuring in this period of change, in terms of the English National Curriculum and changes to the assessment and reporting models, as it serves to recognise the skills that children are developing in the Infant School.

In October, our accolades were extended to receive the Gold Award during our participation in the National Primary Science Quality Mark.

We have continued to focus on key aspects we wish to develop in the long term and feel we are addressing these effectively through the school’s values of Respect, Responsibility and Purpose.

Respect has been developed through our links with the wider community. Over the past year we have worked hard to create links with our one-north neighbours and our Infant children have performed as part of the Fantastic Friday events along with regular trips to the local parks. Chen Su Lan Children’s Home, Yuhua Primary School and Jamiyah Kindergarten continue to be great friends of ours and we have really cemented the links to these organisations with ongoing play dates, concerts and opportunities to give our time and our kindness.

Respecting other cultures is always at the forefront of events and celebrations and it is wonderful to host Infant and Junior events such as the Chinese New Year Assembly which embraces the talents of our community and shares the messages in Mandarin and English.

In the Infant School we are very lucky to have two ‘big schools’ on campus with

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lots of older students who are incredibly inspiring, intelligent and willing to share their skills and ideas with our children.

These enrichment opportunities offer tangible benefits – the younger children are visibly in awe of their older role models and take great pleasure in listening to them and learning from them. Likewise, the older students from the Junior and Senior Schools feel a real sense of achievement and reward when they help their younger peers.

These opportunities have extended to include Year 12 supporting Year 2 in Maths, Infants with Junior Buddies, Year 9 supporting Year 1 in phonics sessions, and Senior Creativity Activity Service (CAS) students supporting in Year 2 Arts and also Chinese.

We continue to welcome colleagues from local schools and kindergartens to participate in placements in order to support their professional development programmes. This year we have extended this to artists within and beyond Singapore, who have connected with classes through Twitter to inspire our creative youngsters.

Respect is not just for our children but also for our teachers and Teaching and Learning Assistants (TLAs). Recently, Singing for Smiles has really taken off at NUH, where staff regularly visit our local hospital to sing to patients. It was particularly poignant when one of our Bus Uncles, who was recuperating after a bout of illness, was thrilled to recognise his colleagues who had come to perform to him.

Our support for the work of the charity Caring for Cambodia (CFC) continues to go from strength to strength with Infant staff (teachers and TLAs) actively engaged in the resourcing and delivery of our annual teacher training programmes. In 2017, we celebrate our 10 year partnership with CFC to build a brighter future for the children of Cambodia, as together our community have helped to make a difference.

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Responsibility starts early with even our youngest children demonstrating a commitment to taking care of our environment and a growing awareness of our sustainability agenda. Having been inspired by the Junior School’s House Captain’s decision to set up a petition to ban single use plastics from our school, our Year 2 Green Team were keen to spread the word and take action too. Once signatures, and in some cases, thumb prints were collected, the pledge of support was presented to Mr DerbyCrook by representatives from across the two schools. This has gone hand in hand with our Edible Garden initiative, supported by the TTS Foundation, whereby Year 2 are actively developing the growing of vegetables.

We continue to develop the children’s leadership roles in a number of ways and this year have raised the profile of the e-Cadets who lead an e-Safety programme within their classes. The e-Cadets meet regularly to learn new skills, create resources for their classes and to develop confidence in leading conversations within the classroom. Some of their most recent projects have involved leading a safety lesson in the EYFS classes and creating a video which showcases how to show kindness and respect towards their peers. The e-Cadets are an invaluable resource within the school and take their responsibility very seriously!

We also demonstrate responsibility to the community through the range of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) opportunities we host and lead. In the last year we have hosted three regional Job Alike Workshops (JAWS) for the Year 1 Transition, PE and Art, and in March we will host the EYFS JAWs; interest from the region is unprecedented.

Internally, we continue to ensure our own teachers and TLAs have extensive opportunities to develop, through new initiatives such as Lesson Study, which involves peer planning and observation, through to professional leadership qualifications such as NPQSL (Senior Leader) and NPQML (Middle Leader).

As part of these qualifications the teachers initiate action research projects which benefit not only the practitioner in gaining leadership skills, but also the staff and children right across the Infant School. This year the projects have included: investigating the use of yoga to calm and focus children after play times, leading development in mathematical mastery, using working walls to enhance children’s independent

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learning skills in Year 2 and a study on the allimportant transition from Reception into Year 1.

Purpose encompasses so many elements, but essentially we strive to ensure every child meets exceptionally high standards whilst ensuring that we nurture and celebrate the creative arts through enriching events.

We have achieved this in a number of ways.

Firstly by enhancing the opportunities for children to develop physically. We have invested in PMP equipment and more recently, the PTA have sponsored our climbing frame and indoor play frames.

The TTS Foundation have helped us launch our Pedal Power initiative for Year 2 children. It is wonderful to see our young children learn about road safety and how to ride a bike and develop this life long skill.

We continue to host specialists in their field such as storytellers and authors, Cassandra Wye, Atinuke and Karin Littlewood who also helped create a mural with talented Year 2 artists, sponsored by the TTS Foundation.

Wandering Musicians is now part of our repertoire, as is hosting musicians like Ross the Bagpipe Man and choral master Dominic Peckham.

This Christmas we wanted to provide a whole school performance opportunity in our new Nixon Building Moot. We were lucky enough to be able to arrange for the talented Toy Box team to provide this, much to the delight of 740 children.

Our curriculum ensures that children are prepared, both academically and personally, for the next stage of their life. We also establish strong home-school relationships through parent workshops and open sessions. Over the last year we have introduced non-core workshops for parents in subjects such as Music and Chinese.

In August we opened an 8th class in Nursery. We also reduced class size in Nursery from 24 to 20 children. This has enabled an even more successful launch pad to our children’s education in our effort to promote a bespoke child-centred curriculum.

Standards are still central to our purpose and we are very proud of our children’s achievements, with many exceeding age-related expectations as they journey on into the Junior School.

Paula Craigie Head of Infant School

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JUNIOR SCHOOL

What a simply amazing start in the Junior School to 2016-17 and the Year of the Rooster. During the seventeen years of my tenure, I continue to be proud of and energised by the sheer dedication, commitment and inspiration that emanates from every element of the community.

It is hard to capture so much, in so few words, but our core values of Respect, Responsibility and Purpose encapsulate some of the key headlines.

Whilst attending the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) conference based on the future of education, the words of Tony Little (former Headmaster of Eton school) particularly resonated with me. He shared his belief that there were three things all educators should be teaching children: 1) Technological awareness and the environmental challenges of the world that they are in and will be facing. In our school this means ‘Responsibility’.

2) Leading a good life and being a good citizen. For our school we describe this as ‘RESPECT’, our acronym which underpins our basis for positive behaviour; allowing each child to make mistakes in a safe environment whilst allowing each individual to shine.

3) Thinking about the big picture; how students can come up with their own ideas to benefit others and to celebrate their personal and academic achievements. In our school we define this as ‘Purpose’.

RESPECT We are very proud of the excellent care, guidance and support we offer. On leaving Tanglin, students and their families consistently comment on the tremendous help and encouragement they received from their peers and our dedicated teachers. A brand new initiative launched this year by Philippa Hatton (Assistant Head of School), who leads on personal development and pastoral care, was the notion of “Tall Poppies”. The basic premise is that we want all children to bloom and seek to stand out from the crowd with regards to all elements of RESPECT (Responsibility, Environment, Safety, Principles, Empathy, Courtesy, Trust).

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IMPACT HOUR Impact Hour is a bespoke Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE) programme that we have in the Junior School looking at Five Strands of learning that reflect our whole school aims: 1. CONNECT - The children learn to connect with people around them and stay safe. They invest time in developing relationships at home, school and in the local community. They use safe environments when making new connections.

2. HEALTH - We encourage our children to be active and eat well. They understand exercising makes you feel good. We encourage children to discover a physical activity that they enjoy and that suits their level of mobility and fitness. They pay attention to what they eat to help keep their body healthy.

3. REFLECT - We teach our children to be mindful.

To take notice of the world around them and their own feelings. We encourage them to be curious and reflective.

4. LEARN - We encourage our children to keep learning and to try new things. They take opportunities to learn new skills, take on new responsibilities and set themselves challenges that they will enjoy achieving.

5. GIVE - We teach our children to be helpful and kind to others and to thank people who help them. We encourage and provide opportunities for all children to volunteer time in a service activity.

Through the Impact Hour, Junior School children enhance their wellbeing and flourish in the community.

Tanglin staff during the Robert Swan, 2041 Antarctic expedition.

The Gifted and Talented students collaborated with Raffles Girls Primary School and together they took part in a ‘Junior Model United Nations’ (JMUN) conference. ‘Sustainability’ was the topic and they debated from the varying perspectives of the different countries they represented, with a focus on the use of plastics. We are also in the process of developing links for Year 3 to partner with a school in London and Year 4 will be linking with Chennai, India, to compare water consumption for their Global Guardians topic. In addition to building relationships with the local school community, Year 5 students have created a video of a day in the life of a Tanglin student to share with similar aged peers in Moose Kerr school in Aklavik, located within the Arctic Circle.

PURPOSE Tanglin continues to explore philanthropy within a school environment. From our local year group charities to our close relationship with the whole school charity ‘Lend With Care’, we continuously look for ways to instil philanthropic skills within the children. Staff model philanthropic skills for our students by opting to receive a charitable donation to a chosen charity as their Christmas present and recently they donated their time to provide fun activities for the children in return for small charitable donations which were then combined for the children to take ownership over giving.

RESPONSIBILITY With a spotlight on sustainability, our Term One House Day was a great success. Activities included a re-enactment of ‘The Lorax’ and all students in the Infant and Junior School signed and submitted to the CEO, a petition to ban single use plastic bottles within the school. As a result, these bottles will no longer be available for purchase in school. We are very much looking forward to a collaboration with RedSea Gallery in Singapore to showcase children’s artwork created based on photographs taken by

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These acts, among many others, demonstrate altruistic behaviour to the children, providing excellent examples for them to understand how they can act with compassion. Working closely with leaders and teachers across the school we have been able to use lessons to teach about key philanthropic issues, while creating real-life opportunities for the children to explore firsthand.

The pupils take ownership through different roles and each class has charity representatives who help to pioneer new ideas. Their development of both empathy and knowledge has already been vast and with lots more opportunities planned, this is set to continue.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES Our new Deputy Head Rebecca Morse is thrilled to be leading the curriculum at Tanglin and believes that our 21st century bespoke skills-based curriculum equips our children with core subject skills and enthuses, engages and challenges the thinking of young and inquiring minds.

THE CORE CURRICULUM MATHS The teaching of mathematics has seen an exciting overhaul with the implementation of a ‘mastery’ approach. In line with the UK 2014 National Curriculum, we have developed the use of concrete and pictorial representations alongside working in the abstract in striving to embed a deeper understanding of mathematics. We welcomed Brandon Oh, from leading Singaporean national provider of educational solutions Marshall Cavendish Education, to work with our Mathematics team to develop their understanding of best practice in approaches to problem solving.

ENGLISH Exciting opportunities for our writers this year included the very first implementation of Virtual Reality (VR) goggles to stimulate the senses and enhance writing, a new role play area that has been created to run alongside the English curriculum and exploration of the work of Shakespeare through drama workshops and theatre performances.

Children across the school developed their speaking and listening skills through participation in the English Speaking Board (ESB) examinations; this year the Year 6 children are honing their debating skills with the new Debating Award Level 1.

SCIENCE We are delighted to have achieved our Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM) Gold Award, an award scheme run across the UK to evaluate, strengthen and celebrate science provision in schools. It is fantastic to have gained the highest level of this prestigious recognition for the quality and delivery of science across the school, my congratulations and thanks to the Head of Science and other teachers whose enthusiasm and commitment result in such fantastic learning opportunities for our children.

HUMANITIES Early in Term One, the Junior School also gained prestigious recognition for the quality and delivery of History from the The Historical Association.

The written feedback was especially positive and encouraging and testament to the innovative and committed approach of the teachers as well as the enthusiasm and progress made by our children.

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environment in the art room. Students benefited from a visiting expert, Cathy Hunt, who led inspiring digital art and traditional art activities with students.

Our continued focus on Drama has been enhanced through visiting troupe, The Handlebards, performing ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and providing specialist workshops for children. Artist in Residence programmes have designed and built a flexible role play space which encourages children to learn through exploration and who played and worked with children on storytelling and puppetry to bring a text to life.

SPECIALIST PROVISION THE ARTS The Junior School has a vibrant and energetic Arts programme which plays an important part in school life. This year the art room has been developed with the installation of an interactive ‘hands on’ screen and further development of a wellbeing

The Music department continues to develop links within our local community, performing as part of NUH/SingTheatre’s musical rendezvous programme, at the Ayer Rajah Community Centre and at Cluny Court whilst also enjoying collaborations with other schools in the region including Marlborough and Dulwich College Singapore. Students were inspired by the beautiful singing of Cambridge University’s Clare College Choir, enjoyed the opportunity to hear the Singapore Symphony Orchestra perform at the Victoria Concert Hall and welcomed a team of experts from Indonesia to lead a workshop with our Junior School gamelan ensemble.

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

23

PE AND SPORT It has been a fantastic year for PE and sport with success at the ACSIS cross country championship where Tanglin walked away as the number one team, the ACSIS swimming championships where sixty Junior children swam superbly against 15 other international schools to take the overall title of ACSIS swimming champions and strong performances at the annual Phuket football competition.

LIBRARY With support from the PTA and the TTS Foundation the Junior Library was able to bring some outstanding authors and storytellers to Tanglin in 2016. We were also fortunate in being able to host a performance poet who writes poetry about mathematics to encourage both our budding mathematicians and poets. The children loved our visitors and were all inspired across a variety of subject areas by their performances.

CHINESE Children’s fluency and confidence in Chinese as an Additional Language continues to improve, with content now linked to the Youth Chinese Test test so the children can choose to take a qualification in Chinese.

24

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Our exceptional standards are maintained through our continued commitment to quality professional development for all teachers. Staff develop their leadership skills through progressive leadership pathways with the Institute of Education and work with British Schools Overseas Inspector, Pauline Barker, to practice and develop their assessment and monitoring of teaching and learning. We continue to learn from best practice in education around the world, with teachers and leaders attending conferences across Asia and incorporating aspects of the highly successful approach to mathematics teaching here in Singapore, with local experts delivering bespoke training to all our mathematics teachers. The impact of this continued professional development can be clearly seen in the enthusiasm and innovation that our staff bring to the school every day.

IMAGINING THE FUTURE COLLABORATIVE LEARNING Our thanks to the PTA who financially supported an exciting innovation this term with the brilliant design of the Future Learning Room. This is based upon principles considered to be the best educational designs that support deep and collaborative learning, encourage student/teacher interaction and have the technology to support students sharing their learning with peers. Our official launch included some distinguished guests among our community.

We are looking forward to hosting many exciting events this year at Tanglin. We have our brand new Across Asia Youth Film Festival (AAYFF) that will allow students the opportunity to create their own movies and have them reviewed; to continuing the ISTA Arts festival which began at Tanglin several years ago for primary children. Moving on to technology, FOBIT 2017 will focus on sharing good practice and top tips for the appropriate and effective use of technology in the classroom. Finally, for those competing in gymnastics and swimming, the SEASAC events will generate much excitement too.

FINAL REFLECTIONS...

The opportunity to lead such a wonderful school is a real privilege and a pleasure: our outstanding yet bespoke curriculum and extensive enrichment activities ensure that our pupils not only achieve high levels of attainment, but also develop into well-rounded, community spirited and responsible, internationally-minded young people. We have dedicated staff who are passionate about making a difference, they embody our mission to be lifelong learners and constantly seek out every opportunity to improve the life chances of our students and a parent body who enjoy collaborating and working in partnership with the school. What more could a Head of such a school possibly wish for?

Happy New Year of the Rooster 2017 Clair Harrington-Wilcox Head of Junior School

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

25

SENIOR SCHOOL

I recall a year ago, reflecting as the incoming Headmaster, on what makes the Senior School such a special place to learn and setting out on a journey to clarify for myself and the community what we are all about and where we might progress from here. Following meetings, discussions, surveys and the writing of an updated Senior School Development Plan, I feel much better placed to reflect on the past year and the Senior School’s amazing achievements and continued success.

WHERE WE HAVE COME FROM Tanglin Trust School was established over 90 years ago with the early days of the Senior School starting more recently in August 1996. Despite being at a ‘youthful’ stage compared to the Infant and Junior Schools, the Senior School is far from being a ‘troubled teenager’. Indeed, as part of my investigations last year, I concluded that the Senior School enjoys an excellent reputation. It has a positive ethos, achieves excellent academic results, is child-centered and offers a huge range of opportunities for learning and developing both inside and outside of the classroom. It is a caring community with a growing alumni and has an increasing focus on giving back, wellbeing for all and sustainability. The school has impressive facilities and resources and I am fortunate to have teams of teachers, middle managers and senior leaders who are ‘at the top of their game’. The Senior School achieved ‘outstanding’ in all eight categories in the most recent BSO Inspection and there were no matters to be addressed in the latest five year IB Diploma Review; and we remain the only school in Singapore, and the surrounding region, to offer the dual pathway of A Levels and IB Diploma to our Sixth Formers, one of our unique advantages.

WHAT WE ARE GOOD AT It has been an absolute delight getting to know the student body better in 2016.

The words written in the Tanglin Vision statement leap out as you realise Senior students are indeed benefitting from a ‘dynamic learning community which nurtures and inspires every individual to be the best they can be’. When I speak to the students, I realise how much they value their academic success and truly embrace the ‘have a go’ culture to learning and that it really is ‘cool to learn’ at Tanglin. They talk about the impressive variety of opportunities in sport, music, drama, Model United Nations, Outdoor Education and Creativity Action Service (CAS). They appreciate the excellent career and higher education advice that they receive and they know that, if they have an issue, there is someone they can talk to within our far-reaching pastoral and wellbeing support network. Senior School staff are professional, caring and balance their subject expertise with dedication

26

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

to their students’ needs as well as contributing their time, energy and enthusiasm way beyond the parameters of their classroom, laboratory or studio. They also recognise that our parents have high expectations too but realise we are fortunate to have parents who care and support the school community as much as they do. I have spoken to many parents this year and they understand, value and appreciate the academic results, the pastoral care, support, guidance and the beyond the classroom experiences that the staff offer on a daily basis.

To summarise concisely what it is that the Senior School does so well: Our students: • are known well and supported in all that they do • are resilient enquirers with strong self-

management skills • are as likely to learn and develop outside of the classroom as they are inside it • are inspired to achieve highly and have positive attitudes to learning • flourish with the support of outstanding student services in world class facilities In our school: • positive relationships and effective communication lead to a strong community ethos • our staff experience a variety of opportunities for professional learning and leadership development in an inspiring, positive and supportive environment • our parents are welcomed, listened to and informed on all matters relating to their child’s education, care, guidance and support in an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation.

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

27

OUR VALUES The Core Values of Tanglin Trust School of Respect, Responsibility and Purpose are delivered through what I refer to as the three FOUNDATION STONES that the Senior School is built on:

Tanglin Learner Profile Attributes Balanced Caring Risk-takers Knowledgeable Resilient Inquirers Communicators Principled Open-minded Thinkers Reflective

28

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

1.

Our Culture (RESPECT) This is how we want our teachers to respond, how we want our students to turn out and how parents can work alongside us and each other for the good of their child’s education and wellbeing.

2.

Academic Curiosity (PURPOSE) This means always doing your best in your lessons, homework, assignments and examinations as well as learning beyond the knowledge, discovering for yourself, developing resilience, growing in confidence through a have-a-go attitude, enjoying success and learning to deal with failure.

3.

Our Community (RESPONSIBILITY) This involves thinking, learning, acting and caring beyond yourself, your immediate family or closest social circle, even beyond the school campus through involvement in clubs and activities, experiencing the great outdoors through educational trips and challenging expeditions, offering, without question or for any personal reward, your time, energy and expertise as service to others, embracing sustainability projects and developing links with communities both close to the school and in far reaching places. John F Kennedy once said, ‘one person can make a difference but everyone else should try’.

This strong foundation, combined with the Tanglin Learner Profile attributes, are what ensure that your children will achieve the best they are going to achieve. I feel excited by the prospects, academic and otherwise, for our Senior School students, including my own daughters who are currently in Years 9, 8 and 5.

ACADEMIC RESULTS Academic curiosity is best exemplified in our outstanding academic results.

Other opportunities that enable our students to exercise their curious minds in 2016 included the SEASAC Model United Nations Conference hosted here at Tanglin, students travelling to Yale for the World Scholars Finals, entering over 200 mathematicians for the UK Maths Challenge as well as a group of Year 12 CAS students organising our first ever TEDx event in the Moot in the new Nixon Building.

(I)GCSE

A Levels

IB Diploma

67%

100%

100%

of all grades achieved were A* or A

pass rate

pass rate

88%

42%

38.1

of all grades achieved were A* to B

of grades were at A* or A, while 100% were in the A* to C range

Tanglin Average 2016 (Highest IB grade point average in Singapore amongst international schools)

82% of students received their first choice university

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

29

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM OUTDOOR EDUCATION Tanglin students took full advantage of the many opportunities to develop skills and learn outside of the classroom in a variety of locations in 2016, including the Year 7 Wild Week to Thailand, the Year 8 water and high ropes expedition to Gopeng and the amazing setting for the Year 9 week in India. Year 10 students selected to travel to Australia, Thailand or Vietnam with the Year 12 students extending the travel boundaries to explore Ladakh, Borneo, Java and Cambodia. Other opportunities to learn and develop skills away from Tanglin included the ski trip to Switzerland and an after Year 11 mocks travel opportunity to New Zealand. Curriculum trip locations included the Year 13 Biology Trip to Malaysia, the Year 12 Art students exploring their creativity in Bali and the IB Drama students in Chiang Mai. The Year 12 geographers headed to a field centre in Thailand with several other NYAA expeditions and cultural experiences travelling to Sydney, Hong Kong and Beijing. Yes; all of these locations in 2016!

COMMUNITY EVENTS Senior School students also reached out beyond our own community by welcoming visitors on a rugby tour from Dubai College, whilst others brought a message through their artwork as part of the Mawaheb project. Other community events included the 24 Hour Race, Roald Dahl Day, House Day, Our World Day, the Classics Symposium and Dystopia Book Week. A significant number of local schools joined us in developing Computer Games and an increasing number of local businesses and companies supported our Work Experience programme for our Year 10 students.

30

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

THE ARTS Our Senior School culture is further enhanced through a plethora of arts and sports opportunities including the Battle of the Bands, Senior Young Musician Finals, the Ensemble Evening, a Festival of Music at St George’s Church, the production of The Willow Pattern, Dido and Aeneas, Dickens’ Christmas Carol, the Sixth Form Panto, as well as the IN Art Exhibition and Diversity Photography Competition which saw Tanglin students having a clean sweep of the prizes for the winning images hosted at Eden Hall.

CELEBRATIONS

SPORT Training sessions, local fixtures against other schools in Singapore, together with SEASAC Swimming, Gymnastics, Softball, X-country and Football competitions, the Merlion Sprint Festival and the SCC Rugby 7s at the Padang keeps elite athletes and sport for all competitors involved and enthused.

The U14 and U19 touch rugby tour to Brisbane was, once again, a huge success.

Student achievement is regularly celebrated through a variety of events which recognise student work and success. These included the Sports Awards, the IB and A Level Art Exhibitions, the Senior School Academic Awards and, probably the most atmospheric day of the year, Graduation Day which gave our Class of 2016 a wonderful send off before their Leavers’ Prom and the arrival of those all important results leading to our graduates continuing their academic journeys in many of the best universities in the UK, Australia, Europe, Canada and the United States of America.

Student voice and opinions were also celebrated in 2016 through Student Leadership Day and a focus on students providing feedback to their teachers about their learning experiences. Important issues were also addressed during our two Wellbeing Weeks in 2016 and Mental Health Awareness Week and Sean Douglas, a local lawyer from Allen and Gledhill visiting Tanglin before the beginning of the festive holiday to present to the students a very clear and open message about the serious implications of smoking, alcohol abuse and drug issues in the context of Singapore and the laws that govern the country.

I must also add that we continue to be supported so incredibly well by our parent community through regular PTA events which have included the Summer Fete and the Christmas Fair leading to a wonderfully generous S$80,000 donation towards our new Design and Technology equipment. Our facilities have also been enhanced with the opening of the Nixon Building. We have gained fabulous student and parent canteen facilities and state-of-the-art Film and Media suites.

These additions have also led to several developed spaces in the main buildings enhancing the careers and university guidance offices. The Point has been temporarily developed to include a dance studio and small rooms for Mother Tongue lessons and examination access arrangements.

IN CONCLUSION I feel I can write much more openly and honestly about where we are as a Senior School; what we do well and the areas that we can strive to improve on further but, as you can see from these reflections, I find it impossible to question the dedication, commitment and loyalty of our staff, parents and amazing student body. I remain a very proud and happy Head of Senior School as we look forward to 2017.

Allan Forbes Head of Senior School

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

31

EXAMINATION RESULTS I/GCSE I/GCSE Results Table Year

No. of Candidates

No. of Subjects

100%

2014

176

28

80%

2015

173

28

2016

173

30

I/GCSE examination results for Class of 2018 (2016) – 99% of Tanglin students achieving 5 A* to C

90% 70% 0% 2013

2014

2015

2016

students took I/GCSE examinations in 30 subjects

2016 I/GCSE Examination Results Subject

No. Of Grades

% A*/A

% A*-B

% A*-C

A*

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

U

Art & Design

31

9

14

5

3

-

-

-

-

-

74%

90%

100%

Art & Design - Graphics

10

4

5

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

90%

100%

100%

Biology

86

45

27

13

1

-

-

-

-

-

84%

99%

100%

Business Studies

38

7

12

15

3

1

-

-

-

-

50%

89%

97%

Chemistry

86

59

19

8

-

-

-

-

-

-

91%

100%

100%

Chinese

55

45

7

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

95%

100%

100%

Classical Civilisation

2

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

100%

100%

100%

Computer Studies

43

15

22

6

-

-

-

-

-

-

86%

100%

100%

Dance

8

-

1

4

2

-

1

-

-

-

13%

63%

88%

Drama & Theatre Studies

38

9

20

7

2

-

-

-

-

-

76%

95%

100%

Economics

31

8

11

7

4

1

-

-

-

-

61%

84%

97%

English Language

172

25

70

59

18

-

-

-

-

-

55%

90%

100%

English Literature

170

73

61

34

2

-

-

-

-

-

79%

99%

100%

Film Studies

45

20

21

4

-

-

-

-

-

-

91%

100%

100%

French

51

22

13

8

6

2

-

-

-

-

69%

84%

96%

Geography

69

29

29

9

1

1

-

-

-

-

84%

97%

99%

German

12

6

4

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

83%

92%

100%

History

56

7

14

14

13

6

2

-

-

-

38%

63%

86%

ICT

7

1

4

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

71%

100%

100% 80%

Latin

10

1

4

1

2

1

-

-

-

-

50%

60%

Mathematics A

173

42

58

43

24

5

1

-

-

-

58%

83%

97%

Music

29

11

10

7

1

-

-

-

-

-

72%

97%

100%

Physical Education

43

9

13

6

11

3

1

-

-

-

51%

65%

91%

Physics

86

56

23

7

-

-

-

-

-

-

92%

100%

100%

Psychology

50

6

16

17

9

2

-

-

-

-

44%

78%

96%

Religious Studies

6

3

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

100%

100%

100%

Science (Double)

134

23

34

39

20

13

5

-

-

-

43%

72%

87%

Science AQA (Core)

21

-

-

2

14

4

1

-

-

-

0%

10%

76%

Science AQA (Additional)

17

-

-

5

10

1

1

-

-

-

0%

29%

88%

Spanish

45

22

17

4

1

1

-

-

-

-

87%

96%

98%

TOTAL

1624

559

532

331

148

41

12

0

0

0

-

-

-

TOTAL %

100%

34%

33%

20%

9%

3%

1%

0%

0%

0%

67%

88%

97%

Subject Additional Mathematics

32

No. of Candidates

No. of Candidates 48

A

B

C

D

E

U

% A*-E

25

5

7

3

6

2

96%

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

2016 (Class of 2018)

173

UK National Average 72.6% of students achieving 5 A* to C

60%

I/GCSE Summary for

67%

of all grades achieved were A* or A

88%

of all grades achieved were A* to B

34%

of all grades achieved were A*

41

(24%)

students achieved A* or A in all their GCSE subjects.

Equivalency Table I/GCSE UK Grading

USA Grading

A*/A

A+/A

B

A-/B+

C

B/B-

D

C+/C

E

C-/D+

F/G

F

EXAMINATION RESULTS A LEVELS A Level Results Table Year

% of A*/A grades achieved by Tanglin Students

No. of Average UCAS Candidates Point Score

2014

84

446

2015

105

430

2016

122

Tanglin Average 50% Tanglin Average 47% Tanglin Average 42% UK Average 26%

2014 2015 2016 2016

% of A*-B grades achieved by Tanglin Students Tanglin Average 74% Tanglin Average 73% Tanglin Average 70% UK Average 52.4%

425

2014 2015 2016 2016

% of A*-C grades achieved by Tanglin Students Tanglin Average 93% Tanglin Average 91% Tanglin Average 92% UK Average 78.7%

2014 2015 2016 2016

No. of Candidates

No. of Grades

% A*/A

% A*-C

% A*-E

A*

A

B

C

D

E

U

Art & Design

7

-

1

1

5

-

-

-

14%

100%

100%

Biology

33

11

7

9

4

1

1

-

55%

94%

100%

Business Studies

24

1

6

8

6

3

-

-

29%

88%

100%

Chemistry

23

5

4

7

6

1

-

-

39%

96%

100%

Chinese

3

-

2

-

-

1

-

-

67%

67%

100%

Classics

9

-

2

2

5

-

-

-

22%

100%

100%

Computing

6

1

1

2

2

-

-

-

33%

100%

100%

Dance

3

-

-

1

2

-

-

-

0%

100%

100%

Drama & Theatre

6

-

1

2

3

-

-

-

17%

100%

100%

Economics

31

4

14

5

7

1

-

-

58%

97%

100%

English Language

9

-

2

2

5

-

-

-

22%

100%

100%

English Literature

26

4

3

8

8

3

-

-

27%

88%

100%

Film Studies

26

5

12

8

1

-

-

-

65%

100%

100%

French

5

-

2

1

2

-

-

-

40%

100%

100%

Further Mathematics

4

3

-

-

-

1

-

-

75%

75%

100%

Geography

31

7

8

9

6

1

-

-

48%

97%

100%

German

2

-

1

-

-

1

-

-

50%

50%

100%

Government & Politics

13

1

3

5

1

3

-

-

31%

77%

100%

History

21

1

6

9

5

-

-

-

33%

100%

100%

ICT

8

1

1

3

1

2

-

-

25%

75%

100%

Mathematics

54

8

16

12

12

6

-

-

44%

89%

100%

Philosophy

5

1

-

2

2

-

-

-

20%

100%

100%

Physical Education

7

-

2

3

1

1

-

-

29%

86%

100%

Physics

24

4

6

7

4

1

2

-

42%

88%

100%

Psychology

24

3

9

6

3

3

-

-

50%

88%

100%

Spanish

2

-

1

1

-

-

-

-

50%

100%

100%

406

60

110

113

91

29

3

0

-

-

-

-

15%

27%

28%

22%

7%

1%

0%

42%

92%

100%

TOTAL TOTAL %

Extended Project Qualification TOTAL TOTAL %

100% 42%

pass rate of A Level students

of grades were at A* or A, while 100% were in the A* to C range

425

average UCAS points tariff per A Level student

2016 A Level Examination Results Subject

A Level Summary for 2016

29%

of students taking the EPQ achieved an A*: we are increasingly finding that the EPQ is being valued by universities

59%

of students taking the EPQ achieved an A*/A

5

A Level students successful gained entrance to Universities of Oxford and Cambridge

1

student successfully gained entrance to Ivy League

Equivalency Table A Level UK Grading

USA Grading

122

35

37

25

17

8

-

-

100%

93%

59%

A*/A

A+/A

-

29%

30%

20%

14%

7%

0%

0%

100%

-

-

B

A-/B+

C

B/B-

D

C+/C

E

C-/D+

U

F

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

33

EXAMINATION RESULTS IB DIPLOMA IB Results Table Year

No. of Candidates

Tanglin % Passed Diploma

World % Passed Diploma

2014

42

100

80 (approx.)

2015

53

98

80 (approx.)

2016

41

100

81 (approx.)

Tanglin Students Average Diploma Score (out of 45) Tanglin Average 38.1 Tanglin Average 37.0 Tanglin Average 38.1 World Average 30.1

for 2016

2015

100%

2016 2016

2016 IB Examination Results Subject English A1 Lang & Lit HL English A1 Lang & Lit SL EnglishA1 Lit HL English A1 Lit SL French B HL FrenchB SL German B HL German B SL Chines - Mandarin B SL Spanish AB. SL Spanish B HL Spanish B SL Economics HL Economics SL Env. and Soc. SL Geography HL Geography SL History- Europe/Me HL History- Europe/Me SL Philosophy HL Philosophy SL Psychology HL Psychology SL Business & Man. HL Biology HL Biology SL Chemistry HL Chemistry SL Physics HL Physics SL Maths Studies SL Maths HL Maths SL Film HL Film SL Music HL Music SL Theatre HL Visual Arts A HL TOTAL

34

No. of Candidates 10 17 10 4 3 8 2 1 5 12 3 7 7 3 5 5 3 6 5 2 2 6 1 5 13 6 16 2 9 4 8 9 24 2 3 5 1 6 5 245

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

IB Diploma Summary

2014

No. Of Grades 2

3

4

5

6

7

-

1 1 2

1 2 1 1 1 1 6 13

1 5 1 1 4 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 6 1 48

5 10 4 3 2 1 3 8 1 3 4 4 2 4 4 1 1 3 2 7 3 9 2 4 2 7 1 3 2 105

4 7 1 2 2 1 2 3 2 4 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 2 3 1 3 4 1 2 4 4 1 3 2 4 5 77

pass rate for all of our students who completed a regulation IB Diploma

568

average UCAS points tariff per IB student

More than one third

of our students achieved 40 points or more

8 1

scored 42 or more

IB student successfully gained entrance to Universities of Oxford and Cambridge

3

IB students successfully gained entrance to Ivy League

2

students achieved the maximum 45 points (joining an exclusive club of just 146 students from more than 149,000 global entries)

Equivalency Table IB Grading

USA Grading

7

A+

6

A/A-

5

B+/B/B-

4

C+/C

3

C-/D+

2

D/D-

1

F

GRADUATE DESTINATIONS We are very proud of our students’ achievements, with many securing places, including scholarships, at top universities around the world.

The following gives an overview of the many universities Tanglin graduates have attended or received offers from in the last two years.

UK Anglia Ruskin University Ayrshire College, Scotland Bangor University University of Bath Bath Spa University BIMM (British and Irish Modern Music Institute) Birbeck, Univeristy of London University of Birmingham Bournemouth University University of Brighton University of Bristol British College of Osteopathic Medicine Brunel University London University of Cambridge Cardiff Metropolitan University Cardiff University University of Chester City University London Coventry University University of Cumbria University of Dundee Durham University University of East Anglia University of Edinburgh University of Essex University of Exeter Falmouth University University of Glasgow Goldsmiths, University of London University of Greenwich Heriot-Watt University University of Hertfordshire University of Hull Imperial College, London Keele University University of Kent King’s College London Kingston University Lancaster University University of Leeds Leeds Beckett University University of Leicester University of Lincoln University of Liverpool Liverpool John Moores University London School of Economics and Political Science Loughborough University University of Manchester Manchester Metropolitan University University of Newcastle Northumbria University University of Nottingham Nottingham Trent University University of Oxford Oxford Brookes University University of Portsmouth Plymouth University Queen Mary University of London University of Reading

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Veterinary College, University of London University of Sheffield SOAS, University of London University of Southampton Southampton Solent University University of St.Andrews University of Stirling St Mary’s University Staffordshire University University of Strathclyde University of Suffolk University of Surrey University of Sussex Swansea University The Arts University College at Bournemouth The British School of Osteopathy University College, London University for the Creative Arts University of the Arts London University of the West of England University of Warwick University of Winchester University of York Writtle University College York St John University

University of Hawaii at Manoa University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Lafayette University University of Michigan New York University University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Northeastern University Northwestern University Occidential College Ohio State University University of Pennsylvania Pomona College Pratt Institute Purdue University Scripps College University of Southern California Stanford University The University of Tampa Vassar College University of Virginia University of Washington Washington University in St. Louis Wesleyan University Westminster College University of Wisconsin Madison

USA

University of British Columbia McGill University Nipissing University Queen’s University University of Toronto University of Waterloo Western University York University

Academy of Art University University of Alabama Arizona State University Berkley College of Music Boston University Brown University Bucknell University University of California, Berkeley University of California, Davis University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) University of California, San Diego California Polytechnic, State University, San Luis Obispo Carnegie Mellon University University of Chicago Claremont McKenna College Colby College Colgate University College of William and Mary University of Colorado at Boulder University of Colorado at Denver Colorado State University Columbia University Cornell University Dartmouth University DePaul University Drury University Duke University Emory University Florida Institute of Technology George Washington University Georgetown University

CANADA

ASIA Curtin Singapore LASALLE, College of the Arts, Singapore National University of Singapore (NUS) Yale - NUS College

EUROPE Copenhagen Business School Eindhoven University of Technology Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam Erasmus University College, The Netherlands European School of Osteopathy Leiden University, The Netherlands Maastricht University, The Netherlands University College Utrecht, The Netherlands University of Groningen, The Netherlands

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND University of Auckland Canterbury Christ Church University The University of Melbourne Queensland University of Technology UNSW Australia

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FINANCIAL OVERVIEW Tanglin Trust School Ltd is a company limited by guarantee and is registered as a charity under the Charities Act. The school is governed by a Board of Governors that serves without remuneration. All key financial decisions including establishment of annual budget and schedule of fees are reviewed and approved by the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors also ensures that an annual audit is conducted.

The audited financial results for the 2015-16 school year compare favorably to the Board approved budget.

This outcome was achieved as a result of sustained student enrolment and continuous cost containment efforts.

Ongoing enrolment management practices resulted in average student enrolment and new student admission standing at over 2,750 and 500 students respectively. Total school fee revenue (including Building Funds and Placement Rights) comprised 96% of total revenue, with other miscellaneous revenue making up the remaining 4% of total revenue. Revenue composition for 2015-16 remained fairly consistent with 2014-15.

It is notable that Tanglin fees are comparable to the majority of similar schools in Singapore:

School

Infant

Year Group

Tanglin Trust School $’000

4 Schools’ Average $’000

Tanglin vs 4 Schools’ Average % Difference

Nursery

25.3

28.5

(11%)

Reception

30.9

30.8

0.4%

Year 1

31.4

33.9

(7%)

Year 2

31.4

33.9

(7%)

Year 3

33.1

33.9

(2%)

Year 4

33.1

33.9

(2%)

Year 5

33.1

33.9

(2%)

Year 6

33.1

33.9

(2%)

Year 7

38.2

38.5

(0.8%)

Year 8

38.2

38.5

(0.8%)

Year 9

38.2

38.5

(0.8%)

Year 10

40.0

39.3

2%

Year 11

40.0

39.9

0.4%

Year 12

42.0

40.2

4%

Year 13

42.0

40.2

4%

Junior

Senior

• School fees include tuition fees and building fund and are inclusive of GST • Fees of 4 comparable schools in Singapore are used for the above analysis In its continuous efforts to provide outstanding education services, Tanglin employs close to 600 staff members, out of which faculty staff make up 260. Staff salaries and benefits remained the single largest category of expenses, rising by 2% from 2014-15 to 79% of total costs due to upward trends in salaries and benefits costs.

Depreciation made up the next largest category at 7% of total costs, a reduction of 3% from 2014-15 due to extension of land lease. Teaching Resources, Campus Operations and Technology and Administration costs made up the remaining 14%, which is consistent with 2014-15.

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REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

Significant capital expenditure in 2015-16 included the completion of the TTS Training Ground, Science Labs, new air-con system for Senior School, air-con enclosure for Junior and Senior West Wing canteens, and Infant Nursery classrooms among others. These expenditures totalling S$6m were spent to provide quality facilities to support education provision as well as to maintain the campus as it continues to age.

Net Surplus in Operating and Building Funds are added to the school’s reserve and are primarily for new buildings, developing and maintaining the campus as well as to finance the school in the event of unexpected future decline in enrolment. Revenue from Placement Rights has also contributed a significant amount to the above reserves.

Building Fund, 11% Capital Levy, 1% Enrolment Fees, 2% Placement Rights, 1% Others, 4% Tuition Fees, 81%

Depreciation, 7% Teaching Resources, 5% Campus Operations, 4% Technology & Admin, 5% Salaries & Benefits, 79%

FY15/16 Revenue S$96,819,467

FY15/16 Expenses S$87,273,948

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FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

The Relationship between School Income, Operating Budget and Reserve 2015/2016 Total

Annual Operating Budget (1)

S$ m

S$ m

Tuition Fees

84

84

Building Fund

12

Building Funds (BF) (2) Placement Rights (3)

S$ m

S$ m

Income (School fees)

Placement Rights

Less Operating Costs

1 84

(87)

(87)

(3)

Transfer from building fund (Approx. 35% of BF, to cover the cost of depreciation for capital items and bank interest)

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REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

1

97

DEFICIT

Statutory Accounts Reserve for the year (4)

12

4

(4)

(Equal to Deficit)

10

1

8

1

1. THE ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET

The Placement Right scheme is of particular benefit to individuals or companies seeking to relocate to Singapore at The Annual Operating Budget (AOB) from Tuition Fees is short notice by enabling access to Tanglin Trust School. From planned to make no surplus. It reflects, at the time of planning, the school’s perspective, Placement Right income represents the estimated cost of running the school for the coming year. a significant income stream which forms part of the school’s reserves and will be used to secure the school’s future both Historically, the budget has been managed very successfully by contributing to the cost of the lease renewal and the and an annual surplus has accrued in 2014/2015 and associated building projects.

2015/2016 where student enrolment numbers were higher than expected or budgeted as well as successful cost We are fortunate that a small amount of Placement Right containment efforts. income is diverted annually to support the TTS Foundation which manages the Our World Fund. This is used to support A transfer, equal to the amount of depreciation of capital items enrichment projects within the school. and bank interest incurred to fund building projects, is made to the AOB each year, bringing it to a balanced budget with no 4. RESERVES / minimal surplus.

2. THE BUILDING FUND

The annual contribution to the Reserve held by the school in a given year constitutes:

• surplus/deficit on the Operating / Management Accounts in that year to fund the cash flow required to pay for new buildings or • accumulation of Placement Rights revenue in that year upgrades, as well as lease renewals • surplus/deficit on the Building Fund in that year.

• to pay for the annual costs of maintaining the land and buildings for the school.

The Statutory Surplus each year is materially made up of Placement Rights and Building Fund, neither of which are The rationale for the Building Fund fees is to ensure that considered operational in nature and are hence carried into parents pay a smooth annual fee, irrespective of the stage the Reserve. of the building or lease cycle the school is in, and that the Building Fund over a cycle is in neither surplus or deficit.

The reserves are currently accumulating and in 2015/16 stood at S$103m. The accumulation of reserves takes into 3. PLACEMENT RIGHTS consideration a contingency of 6 months operating expenses Tanglin Trust School’s programme of Placement Rights is as well as the significant cost of redeveloping our Portsdown designed to offer accelerated access to a small percentage of Road site, which is a requirement of the recently finalised places in exchange for a significant contribution to the school. extension to our land lease. The new lease term takes the school up to 2038 on the current site. The Reserve will form Two forms of Placement Rights are available, Guaranteed only part of future major capital development requirements, Placement Rights which offer a guaranteed place at school alongside a loan agreement. priced as S$165,000 exclusive of GST and Standard Placement Rights which places a nominee in a higher priority on the relevant waitlist, these are priced at S$85,000 exclusive of GST. In both instances a child needs to meet the school’s entry criteria.

The Building Fund has two purposes: •

REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

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PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION (PTA)

The PTA of Tanglin Trust School operates as a charitable entity, audited independently and governed by the rules laid down in our constitution, functioning to serve its three tenets.

First and foremost, it acts as a conduit for discussion between the parent body and school faculty through its Parent Voice process. This offers parents a unique opportunity as part of a group forum to enter into discussion with the school’s management structure, allowing for a free exchange of ideas and initiatives.

It encourages community engagement through events like the Christmas and Summer Fairs, drawing the parent–teacher body together to socialise in a friendly, entertaining atmosphere. Hotly contested Quiz Nights for parents and teachers, as well as after-school Discos for the Junior School offer the opportunity to come together and share experiences, forming bonds with new-found friends with frequently long-lasting friendships.

Singapore is a transient society so over and above its constitutional remit, a fundamental part of the PTA’s role lies in helping new families and teachers adjust to their new environments. Various Welcome events such as its annual Sausage Sizzle, recognised as an evening of fun and relaxation for all the family, are held to offer a hands-on, practical approach to new arrivals. It also appreciates the value of more intimate settings, running additional Welcome coffee mornings for more quiet, fact-sharing discussions.

Through the various events put on during the course of the year it achieves significant funding, which is then donated to the school to greenlight development projects which otherwise might be several years in planning.

These projects are carefully selected through a submission process, a key criteria being that children ought to benefit immediately from funds raised within the 12 month cycle of the next academic year.

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REFLECTIONS TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL

With a total of S$140,000 donated in 2016, some of the projects the PTA supported last year include: • Climbing frames for the Infant School • Learning supplies for the Forest Community Café • A Future Learning Room in the Junior School • A Design & Technology Lab and new curriculum subject in the Senior School • The Visiting Authors Programme • An AV Speaker System for the whole school The PTA is dedicated to offering a strong support structure to each and every family that joins the Tanglin Family. Located on Level 3 of the Nixon Building and staffed exclusively by volunteers, their doors are always open to all in the school.

Kate Saynor PTA President

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Tanglin Trust School Limited 95 Portsdown Road Singapore 139299 t: +65 6778 0771 f: +65 6777 5862 w: www.tts.edu.sg Tanglin Trust School Ltd 196100114C Reg. period : 7/6/2011 – 6/6/2017