Character and Citizenship Education

The primary objective of Crest’s Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) Programme is to support the holistic development of Crestans, anchored on the school values of Integrity, Care, Resilience, Excellence, Self-worth and Teamwork (i-CREST). As they progress from Sec 1 to Sec 4, they develop social-emotional and 21st century competencies, as well as positive work habits that enable them to serve and make a difference in the lives of others, in both local and overseas communities.

The specific objectives of CCE are for Crestans to:

• Develop as loyal citizens, imbued with a strong sense of national identity and pride;
• Be able to reflect on and respond to community, national and global issues, and to make informed and responsible decisions;
• Show care and concern for others, be it family, friends or the larger community, and be willing to contribute actively to improve the lives of others; and
• Be socially and culturally sensitive and do their part in fostering social cohesion and harmony.

The CCE curriculum is taught through SELF (Social, Emotional and Leadership Foundations) and NICE (National Identity and Community Engagement) lessons. These lessons comprise modules such as National Education, Sexuality Education and Environmental Education, while other modules are integrated into other subjects e.g. CyberWellness through ICT lessons, Financial Literacy through Maths, relevant NE messages through MTL lessons. Four NE events are commemorated every year, Total Defence Day, International Friendship Day, Racial Harmony Day and National Day.

Values-In-Action (VIA) is an important CCE component where our students learn to make a difference in the community. The lower secondary classes would make a difference in the school community by promoting sustainable actions of recycling waste and reducing water consumption and food waste. The secondary three classes make a difference overseas through their overseas service-learning projects. The secondary four classes would adopt a beneficiary of their choice and plan their project as a class.

• Crest Domino Challenge (Secondary 1 and 2)

Students are challenged to complete a domino pattern based on a theme, and through the process hone their social-emotional competencies under stressful conditions (e.g. time constraint) in a safe and controlled learning environment. The level of difficulty increases from Secondary 1 to 2 as the latter includes building vertical towers (on top of the horizontal chains) as well as random injected scenarios to challenge students’ ability to react to changes while sticking to the goal of building the domino pattern. The teacher facilitators note the social-emotional interactions during the challenge and raise the observations in the classroom for reflections.

• Crestan Lion Challenge (Secondary 2)

Secondary 2 students use recycled materials creatively to design and build their unique Crestan Lions, which will be used in their performance at the Lion Dance Runway Show during our annual Chinese New Year Celebration. With good facilitation from their Form Teachers, the students have never failed to impress the school with their intricate creations through teamwork among the classmates.

• Ohana (all levels)

Ohana means ‘Family’, and ‘Family’ means no one gets left behind or forgotten. This is the name given to our Form Teacher interaction time for classes to build stronger ties among themselves and also with their form teachers. Teachers and students are empowered to carry out activities such asclassroom decorations, celebrations and bonding games to build the relationships in their second home and family.

• Sparkle (all levels)

In line with Ohana, classes are assigned time to clean the school and classroom because a family takes ownership of the cleanliness of their living and learning space. These sessions encourage teachers and students to be responsible for their environment and helps them to appreciate their second home more