Principal’s Message

This year, our school motto ‘Onward’ assumes a greater significance than before. Since 2020, with Covid-19, there loomed a certain darkness that seemed to affect many aspects of our lives. It is often said that the stars shine brightly when the sky is at its darkest. How true! Despite the varied challenges brought on by the pandemic, Pong Jia Qing, Joshua of 4A was awarded the 2021 Lee Kuan Yew Award for All –Round Excellence for NT students, our CCA Dance ensemble did us proud at the national stage through their joyful performance on National Day while the Boys’ Brigade joined in the parade segment. Other CCAs too shine brightly with 8 students receiving the SJB Chief Commissioner Award and 10 being recipients of the Founder’s Award for Boys’ Brigade. The performing arts CCAs that took part in the Singapore Youth Festival have commendable achievements. The list goes on as we continue to strengthen our brand of education that aims to bring about Gessians of Excellence, Standing and Significance.  These and other accolades are only possible with the wholehearted efforts of our team of committed and talented staff who relentlessly adopt student-centric pedagogies and a caring culture to bring about the joy of learning in each Gessian. 

GESS’s greatest strength is its ability to keep up with times and with the ever-changing educational landscape. The school is in its second year of Full Subject Based Banding providing students with opportunities to do subjects of higher demands. This year, the school embraced the Personalised Digital Learning Programme (PDLP) with each student receiving an Ipad. The school provides an immersive  environment for students to  develop the dispositions,  knowledge and skills to thrive  in the digital environment. CCE2021 permeates all aspects of a student’s learning experiences and the Edible Garden project re-establishes students’ connection to growth and nature. In addition, we have brought about a more vibrant aesthetics scene to the students. At the heart of our education is the dual pursuit of academic and co-curricular excellence and as Gessians strive to achieve the best possible results, guided by sound values and the strong desire to give back to society, it is equally important to us that they are learning about themselves, about life, and that we are equipping them with tools to succeed in life.

Working behind the scenes to ensure continuity of Gessian brand of education are our key partners; the School Advisory Committee, the Gan Eng Seng School Old Students’ Association and the Parent-Teacher Association and we are thankful for their invaluable contributions. 

As P.F Aroozoo (Headmaster of Gan Eng Seng School 1939-1955 ) stated in the 1952 ONWARD publication, let us remind Gessians ‘once more to remember their school motto and establish for their school a new and praiseworthy heritage’. 

Our journey continues. ONWARD!

Ms Tan Hwee Pin

Principal