NURTURING THINKERS,Raffles Institution . 1 LEADERS AND PIONEERS SQA Executive Summary 2011 Singapore Quality Award Winner 2 . Singapore Quality Award 2011 Contents Key Milestones Accolades Rafflesians in the News Organisational Profile 08 Category 1 / Leadership 15 Category 2 / Planning 25 Category 3 / Information 30 Category 4 / People 36 Category 5 / Processes 46 Category 6 / Customers 54 Category 7 / Results 62 Glossary This report is printed on 100% recycled paper. NURTURING THINKERS, LEADERS AND PIONEERS 2011 Singapore Quality Award Winner FOREWORD BY PRINCIPAL, MRS LIM LAI CHENG The name “Raffles” is synonymous with the gold standard. With a history that spans 188 years, RI has had the advantage of a proud legacy and benefited from many who have dedicated their lives towards shaping the institution and keeping it true to its founding mission. We are privileged to have RI be counted among the leading organisations in Singapore and the world through being awarded the Singapore Quality Award. I thank our board of governors, parents, alumni and our many partners, for keeping faith with us and for pushing us on to do more than we thought we could. In particular, I thank both the teaching and support staff of RI, who have worked so hard to make RI the best environment for work and study. As a school that has the lion’s share of the best minds in Singapore, we will continue to nurture worthy citizens and caring, outstanding leaders who will serve their nation and be the hope of a better age. RI is happy to share the experience of our SQA journey through this executive summary of our application report. We sincerely hope that it can help all who are aspiring to organisational excellence and similarly, we look forward to learning more from other excellent organisations in the years ahead. 4 . Singapore Quality Award 2011 KEY MILESTONES 1800s 1823 1844 1861 Founded in June 1823 First institution to First school to establish a as the Singapore enrol girls. debating club, which Institution by Sir Thomas is also the school’s Stamford Raffles, who oldest co-curricular established the basis for activity club. Singapore’s emergence as a major centre of mercantile trade. 1900s 1905 1972 1982 1984 1990 First school to establish RI made its first big Raffles Junior College RI became one of the RI moved again to its the National Cadet move to Grange Road. (RJC) was established, first schools selected by current site at Bishan, Corps (NCC). which took over RI’s the Ministry of Education in central Singapore. burgeoning pre-university (MOE) to offer the Gifted In the same year, enrolment. Temporarily Education Programme. the school acquired housed at Paterson independent status. Road, RJC moved to its Mount Sinai campus in 1984, which would form its home for the next 21 years. Raffles Institution . 5 1879 1886 Girls’ wing established First school to offer the as Raffles Girls’ Queen’s Scholarship School (RGS). To this Class, which later day, both schools are became known as the closely affiliated, and Pre-University class. frequently conduct joint programmes and activities. The girls from RGS join RI at the Year 5 mark. 2000s 2004 2005 2007 2009 RI, RGS and RJC began RJC started the school RI’s GEP stream merged RI and RJC re-integrated to jointly offer the Raffles year at its new campus with its Special/Express to form a single Programme, their version in Bishan, located next stream into a single institution under the of MOE’s Integrated to RI. This was also the stream. The Raffles name Raffles Institution. Programme (IP). This year that RJC became an Academy was also allows Rafflesians to independent institution, established to cater bypass the GCE ‘O’ and became the first to exceptionally gifted Levels and take the ‘A’ junior college to be students via subject- Levels at the age of 18. awarded the School specific pullout It was during this year Excellence Award. classes from the Year 3 that RI was first awarded mark onward. the School Excellence Award, the highest award in MOE’s Masterplan of Awards. 6 . Singapore Quality Award 2011 ACCOLADES “RI has produced generations of leaders at all “I wish to commend RI for being a School that levels: in politics and government, the professions, always has a heart for, and is ready to help all its academia, business, sports and the arts. RI also students, regardless of their family background and attracts bright students from other countries. This financial status, to excel in their education and do makes RI the leading school in Singapore. The ideals something worthwhile with their lives. You have of Singaporeans and Rafflesians are meritocracy and given me that precious equal access to opportunity. multiculturalism, regardless of their race, religion or I thank you for that.” mother tongue.” Mr Heng Chee How, Minister Of State For Trade And Industry Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew And National Development RI’s Gryphon Award Gala Dinner, 2011 RI’s 182nd Founder’s Day, 2005 “Although the students I met were proud of RI “Raffles, a G20 school, is Singapore’s top academic and what they represented as Rafflesians, they school, and by any measure would be one of the themselves said pride should not lead to arrogance highest performing schools anywhere in the world. or disdain for others. They demonstrated a high It is a state school and is phenomenally impressive. sense of self-awareness and held on to certain Educating many of Singapore’s leaders, current and commendable principles. They spoke about past, is one of its achievements.” “healthy” competition, reflecting a good sense Dr Anthony Seldon, Master, of balance between personal achievement and Wellington College (UK), 2010 compassion for others.” “Our top students can easily compete with the Senior Minister Prof S Jayakumar best anywhere. Sizeable numbers enter Oxbridge, RI’s 187th Founder’s Day, 2010 Imperial College, LSE, Warwick and the Ivy leagues. “…for generations, RI offered the best education Raffles […] for example sends more students to the to the best students from all over Singapore. It top 10 US universities than any other international imbued in them the spirit of public service and the school, and even topped many prestigious secondary belief that they could make change happen for the schools within the US.” good of others. It is no coincidence that so many Minister for Education, Ng Eng Hen 4th Anniversary Public Lecture at the LKY School Rafflesians have played key roles in shaping the of Public Policy, 2008 destiny of Singapore. This is a credit to the school – its values, traditions and ideals. It is also testimony to the quality of its principals and teachers… and their passion, drive, and vision.” Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong Foreword to ‘For A Better Age: Musings of a Teacher’, 2009 Raffles Institution . 7 RAFFLESIANS IN THE NEWS “For the first time, a woman has been awarded the “After a year which included five SEA Games gold Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship, medals, four Asian Youth Games triumphs and 14 putting her on track for a command and leadership national records, swimmer Quah Ting Wen has position in the armed forces down the road. Officer added a new accolade to her list of achievements: cadet Sharon Tan, a former Raffles Institution the 2009 Straits Times Athlete of the Year award […] student, is one of this year’s five recipients of The swimmer, who was studying at Raffles Institution the scholarship, second only to the President’s last year, performed record-breaking feats while Scholarship in prestige and which also goes to the preparing for her IGCSE exams.” cream of each year’s A-level cohort.” From ‘It’s Ting Wen’s Year’ From ‘First Woman to Bag Top SAF Scholarship’ The Straits Times, March 2010 The Straits Times, August 2010 “A Raffles Institution alumna has become the first Singaporean to clinch a major American award “Singapore won its first Youth Olympic Games (YOG) given to female undergraduates who excel in silver last night at the Singapore Sports School, mathematics. She is Charmaine Sia, 23, just months courtesy of Rainer Ng’s second-place finish in away from graduating from the Massachusetts the 50m backstroke final. The 18-year-old Raffles Institute of Technology (MIT) with a double degree Institution student started slow, but finished strongly in mathematics and physics. She shares this year’s to clock a time of 26.45 sec.” Alice T. Schafer Mathematics Prize with Ms Hannah From ‘Sweet Silver for Rainer in 50m Back; Alpert of the University of Chicago.” mypaper, August 2010 From ‘Singaporean Wins US Maths Award’ The Straits Times, February 2010 “For two years running, photographs have clinched the title of UOB Painting Of The Year, causing some “It has been a good year for 24-year-old Li Shengwu artists to wonder if, well, a photograph is also a [an RI alumnus]. The Singaporean graduated painting. This time, the issue is moot. A self-portrait five months ago as the top economics student by an 18-year-old beat its competition, which at Oxford University. And as the decade turned included, yes, 51 photographic entries, for the the corner, he was crowned Best Speaker at the top honour. A total of 686 entries were submitted. just-concluded Worlds Universities Debating The winning entry features a grimacing Miss Bai Championships in Turkey.” Tian Yuan (an art student from Raffles Institution) From ‘Singaporean is Top Debater in Global Contest’ holding a blank canvas. Done in oil and acrylic The Straits Times, January 2010 and entitled What, it is intended to depict an artist struggling for inspiration.” From ‘UOB Painting of the Year: A painting based on a photo’ The Straits Times, July 2010 ORGANISATIONAL8 .