Principal's Message

This is another special year for Dunman High School. Being our 50th Anniversary, a series of activities were organised to celebrate this milestone year and reinforce in our students a sense of heritage and identity. The celebration culminated in an Anniversary Dinner on 14 Oct 06, which was graced by the Prime Minister and attended by more than 1,000 guests. We are greatly honoured and inspired by the Prime Minister’s presence. In his address at the dinner, he commended Dunman High for “its tradition of excellence, as well as its emphasis on character development and sound values”, and noted that “it is the school of choice among students who want a well-rounded education with a solid grounding in Chinese language and culture.” His affirmation and encouragement will motivate us to scale even greater heights in our journey ahead.

The progress of Dunman High School over the past 5 decades, from a small Chinese Middle School in 1956 to being one of the top schools in Singapore today, must be attributed to the hard work and sacrifices of our former Principals and staff. Their selfless devotion to the school is the reason why we have such a strong foundation today. The school also owed much of it success to the unwavering support of its partners, especially the School Advisory Committee, Alumni and Parents Support Group. The School Advisory Committee, for example, took it upon itself to raise $1 million this year for the school to support its rebuilding programme. Their generosity and commitment to the school has deeply moved our staff and students.

Dunman High is a school that believes firmly in the importance of holistic education. A few developments this year underscored our strengths in providing an all-round education. First, the graduating cohort of 2005 achieved the best O-level performance this year in our school’s history. About 1 in every 4 Dunmanians achieved at least 7 A1s in the 2005 O-level examination. Around 80% of the students attained an L1R5 of 10 or better. Such strong performance is certainly most heartening but what we are even more proud of is the fact that many of them had performed way beyond expectations. Their Mean L1R5 of 9.0 is significantly better than the expected Mean L1R5 of 9.6. This showed that the school was able to develop their intellectual potential well, and help them to achieve beyond expectations. In recognition of this achievement, the school was presented with the Academic Value-Added (Silver) Award this year by MOE.

Aside from cognitive development, Dunman High was also recognised this year for its strong efforts and accomplishments in arts education. The school was presented the National Arts Education Gold Award this year by the National Arts Council. Dunman High is the sole Gold Award recipient this year. This award recognises the school for the comprehensive processes that it has put in place to promote arts appreciation among students and establish a vibrant arts culture in the school. This ability to appreciate and enjoy the arts is a critical dimension in the holistic development of a child.

Next year promises to be just as exciting and fulfilling for Dunman High. With the introduction of the 6-year Integrated Programme, the school will see its first batch of JC 1 students next year. To meet the needs of the A-level programme and accommodate the growing student enrolment, the school will be relocating temporarily to the former RJC campus at Mount Sinai Road from Jan 07 to Dec 08, while its Tanjong Rhu campus is being rebuilt. Such transitions will pose new challenges to the school, but they also bring new opportunities and possibilities. As we embark on our next journey to establish Dunman High as a leading pre-university institution, we are confident of turning our aspirations into reality. After all, “what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”, and within every Dunmanian is the talent and the strength of character to make our dreams come true.

Sng Chern Wei

Principal