Commonwealth Secondary School

Commonwealth Secondary School (abbreviation: CSS) is a government, autonomous and coeducational secondary school in Singapore. Founded in 1964, Commonwealth Secondary School offers secondary school education from secondary one to four/five which leads to the GCE 'O' Level and GCE 'N' Level certificates, and admits students (express stream) with PSLE score ranging from 238 and above annually.

History


Commonwealth Secondary School began as Tanglin Integrated Vocational Secondary School in 1964 and became an academic institution named Tanglin Secondary in 1969.

In 1972, the name was changed again to Commonwealth Secondary School since it was situated near Commonwealth Drive. The school relocated to Jurong East in 1989 and functioned as a neighbourhood school in the Hong Kah constituency for seven years before moving to Jurong East Street 24 of the Yuhua Constituency at the end of 1995. The school moved to its new campus on West Coast Road in November 2006. The official opening ceremony of the new campus was held on July 11, 2008.

Commonwealth Secondary has been an autonomous school since 1995, a status given to the school because of its academic success and achievement in co-curricular programmes. Commonwealth Secondary is also a Higher Chinese Centre since 1995, catering to students who have the passion to pursue Higher Chinese Language(HCL) in the West District. On the academic front, in addition to being a Higher Chinese Centre, Commonwealth has also been offering Higher Malay and Higher Tamil to its pupils since 2006. From 2006, a humanities subject, Economics, was offered to Secondary 3 students. Dance and Drama has been Commonwealth's niche areas since 2000. The Walk in Art Gallery has been open since the school itself opened in 1993. In 2004, Commonwealth received its 1st Ministry of Education's Sustained Achievement Award for both uniformed groups and the performing arts.

In 2007, CSS received the Singapore Quality Class status. The school has been designated as a Centre of Excellence for Environmental Education from 2008 onwards.

Present
In March 2007, Pandan Reservoir and Sungei Pandan were adopted by the school.

CSS is now led by Mr Aaron Loh. His deputies include Mr Tan Tai Huat, Mdm Nur Hidayani and Mr Kong Chee Chiew. Also, West Coast Park has been adopted by the school in 2008.

Principals

 * 1969 - 1970 Mr Boey Chen Kee
 * 1971 - 1974 Mr N. Suppiah
 * 1975 - 1986 Mr A. N. Balagopal
 * 1987 - 1990 Mr Tan Tiek Kwee
 * 1990 - 1993 Mr Thomas Ong Xian Wei
 * 1993 - 1998 Mdm Sun Huey Min
 * 1999 - 2001 Mrs Lim Lai Cheng
 * 2002 - 2004 Ms Dorothy Tay Bee Hian
 * 2005 - 2008 Mrs Teo Khin Hiang
 * 2009 - 2012 Mrs Cheah Mei Ling
 * 2012 -     Mr Aaron Loh

School crest
This is the school's statement on the CSS crest: Behold our school crest With our motto, ever with the best See the flame burning with zest It proudly stands of CSS. Blue for infinite resourcefulness Gold for faith and fruitfulness Ever-glowing is our flame Ever-growing is our name

Motto
Ever With The Best

Co-curricular activities
Commonwealth Secondary's CCA programme comprises sports, uniformed groups, aesthetic groups, clubs and societies.

2003 was a key milestone for CSS as all five of its aesthetic groups (Band, Choir, Drama, Chinese dance, Indian dance) attained gold medals in the biannual Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging. In 2005, these gold-medal winning groups sustained their achievements as they attained two Gold with Honours and three Golds in the SYF Central Judging. The newly formed Malay Dance Group won a silver award in the SYF.

The Choir team was selected as the only choir to perform on the Opening Ceremony of the Singapore Youth Festival at the Esplanade Theatre on 1 July 2005. The Drama team performed for the SYF at the Hwa Chong Institute Drama Theatre on 22 July 2005. In March 2006, the performing arts group held their 1st public performance 'Leaving a Legacy' at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay. 2009 was a record-breaking year for the school, with three aesthetic groups attaining the highest accolade, Gold with Honours.

The Hockey team was ranked among the top eight schools in Singapore for the third year running. The netball team obtained 2nd position in West Zone Netball B Girls in the year 2006 and champions in the M1 School Challenge League 2009.

The NCC and Red Cross units won gold medals in the Best Unit Awards 2005. The Red Cross Unit was awarded the Community Service Gold Award for the 4th consecutive Year, c. 2006.

The AVA team won the Silver and Special Mention Award in the 6th SVA and the FnV team have obtained Merit in the 8th SVA. The New Media Club achieved Gold in the 2008 Schools' Digital Media Award. The school won the Lotus award in Green Audit Awards in years 2006, 2007 and Sustained Achievement Award in 2008 with the help of Green Club. The Art and Craft club won Bronze awards in SYF 2006 and 2008.

Achievements
Major school achievements

Major CCA achievements


 * Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging:


 * Best Unit Awards:

Major academic achievements


 * ‘O’ Level Band (Special/Express - Based on previous years 'O' Level Results(L1B5)):

Two top Secondary five students, one of the schools with students scoring 7A1s and above.
 * 2009 GCE 'O' Level:

One top Secondary four Chinese student, one of the schools with students scoring 7A1s and above.
 * 2008 GCE 'O' Level:

99.5% Eligible for Junior College, one of the schools with students scoring 7A1s and above.
 * 2007 GCE 'O' Level:

96.5% Eligible for Junior College, Top Indian Student in Singapore
 * 2006 GCE 'O' Level [two students featured in Singapore News]:

1 student with 10 A1s, 5 students with 9 A1s. Top Indian Student in Singapore
 * 2005 GCE 'O' Level [Results featured in Singapore News]:

Top student in Singapore with an aggregate of 6.
 * 2010 GCE 'N' Level:

Special Programmes
Commonwealth Secondary is a higher Chinese centre, offering life science programme, math olympaid training, student leadership training and IT-skills training.

Environmental education
In 2001 the school started a Green Club. One of the projects was the adoption of the mangrove boardwalk trail in the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve as part of the Adopt-A-Park Scheme launched by the National Parks Board.

In 2006, the staff endorsed the goal of working towards becoming a Centre of Excellence for Environmental Education. A group of teachers was identified to develop a customised environmental education curriculum for the school, starting with the Secondary One students in 2007. 2006 also saw the school clinching the Lotus Award in the Singapore Environment Council’s Green Audit. In 2007, the school was designated a Centre of Learning for Environmental Education for the West 7 cluster. The school converted the school pond into a Constructed Treatment Wetland to recycle used water to water the plants in the school compound. Commonwealth Secondary School became the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Education in 2008.

Parent-teacher network
All parents are automatically members of the PTN. They have the right to vote and the right to hold office in the society. The PTN office bearers meet regularly and are involved in the school activities.

Members of PTN are involved in planning school events such as a funfair, and the seniors' graduation night.

Notable Alumni

 * Irin Gan: Former actress and model