Crescent Girls’ School – A FutureSchool@Singapore

By Lee Boon Keng, Chief Technology Architect for Learning, Crescent Girls' School

Crescent Girls’ School is one of the premier public secondary schools in Singapore. The school distinguishes itself in its exemplary educational practices that empower students to be self-directed learners equipped with important skills required for the 21st century workforce. Crescent was one of the schools selected for the first phase of Singapore’s ICT Masterplan for Education in 1997. Since the launch of 1-to-1 computing with Tablet PCs in 2004, learning has become more dynamic with students having access to a wide variety of interactive digital media such as web 2.0 tools and in-house applications co-developed by teachers and industry partners, ensuring that the use of ICT lends itself to the holistic development of the child. This innovative use of ICT for teaching and learning led to the school being selected in 2007 as a pioneer school in the FutureSchools@Singapore programme, as well as Mentor School in Microsoft Corporation’s Innovative Schools Programme.  

Learning at Crescent goes beyond the confines of the classroom and of textbooks. At Crescent, there is a focus on learner-centric pedagogy. This is defined by three sets of key characteristics. Firstly, learning must be engaging, experiential and exciting. Secondly, it must be learner driven, which means that the student must be actively constructing knowledge through inquiry, working both independently and in collaboration with one another. Thirdly, it must be personalised as learners have different learning aptitudes, styles, interests and needs. Teachers leverage on ICT, recognising that technology is a very key enabler in the education process, and that it is a tool to facilitate the provision of a holistic education.  

An example of Crescent’s holistic approach is the Secondary 1, 2 and 3 Integrated Curriculum. Each level has a theme with a key enduring understanding. Relevant topics in different subjects are taught in an integrated manner and in this way, students’ understanding is deepened. The school harnesses Interactive Digital Media (IDM) to foster collaborative learning, using various IDM tools to create lessons that engage students in knowledge acquisition, participation and creation.

Besides continuing to push the frontiers in the use of technology to transform learning, the school is also seeking to guide other schools in their ICT journey through the Crescent Academy for Digital age Learning (CrADLe).  

It is Crescent’s hope that through the purposeful and innovative use of ICT, students are provided with a holistic education that will equip them with the skills needed in the 21^st Century workforce.