The Sabbatical Programme was born out of the belief that students must be given the space to develop their passions beyond the curriculum.
In the last week of Terms 1 and 2, lessons are replaced with a variety of activities that range from leadership development sessions and Model United Nations activities, to aviation science programmes and overseas adventure camps. Students are free to make their choice, and some even have the opportunity to lead their own courses for juniors too.
Testimonials
“Although I have only been in Hwa Chong for 2 years, I must say that my experience with sabbaticals is truly unique. The Sabbatical programme takes place at the end of Terms 1 and 2 and allows us to explore something we have not tried before. There are many sabbaticals that students can choose from. These include Handball, Shooting, Checkmate and Gambit, and Eco Wildlife, among others. These sabbatical programmes allow us students to explore different domains, such as sports and the arts, and help us to develop various skills, such as teamwork, critical thinking, gratitude and creativity.
In Secondary One, I took part in a sabbatical programme called “Power Up and Excel with VBA” which explored the use of VBA, a coding language, and Power BI, a chart creation platform, to better understand big data. Through this programme, I learnt how to use Excel and VBA to better filter and organize data. In addition, I learnt how to create charts to help others visualize the data that I have. I feel that this programme helps us to become well-rounded individuals in society, and also take a break from school life. Sabbaticals are always very fruitful for me.”
- Reuben Seah, Secondary 2 student
“I appreciate the Sabbatical Programme for making my education at Hwa Chong Institution more holistic, as it allows us to pursue our interests and develop in an all-rounded way. I have participated in numerous Sabbatical activities since Secondary 1, and the one that I enjoyed the most focused on Table Tennis. We had patient and friendly instructors, who were devoted to sharing as much of their knowledge about the sport as possible through the week. It was a good chance to develop myself athletically, while taking a breather from lessons as well.”
- Ernest Tan Rui Yang, Secondary 4 student