Community Youth Leadership

Desired Student Outcomes

Through the curriculum, we aim to develop our students to be empathetic youth leaders who act on improving the lives of people around them. They will be able to lead and work effectively in teams. They will be able to initiate, design and implement community projects that will meet the needs of their chosen beneficiaries.

Our LLP leverages a 2-tiered framework that aims at developing our students to become active contributors and concerned citizens.

In Tier 1, a range of age-appropriate developmental opportunities will be provided for all students from Secondary One to Three. In Tier 2, our focus will be offering developmental opportunities via student-initiated community projects to selected Secondary Three students. 

Tier 1

 Tier 1 involves the progressive development of our students from Secondary One to Three.

 Sec 1

At Secondary One, students will go through 3 leadership modules on ‘Self-Leadership’. These self-leadership modules are designed by the Student Leadership Committee (SLC) and each module will be based on each of the three student leadership outcomes in West Spring Secondary School:

(1)  Taking Charge

(2)  Leading by Example

(3)  Communicating Effectively

 Concurrently, in 2024, the students in the Secondary One cohort will undergo an Applied Learning Programme (ALP) on environmental advocacy focusing on sustainability within the school community. Students will design creative solutions for sustainability issues in the school as part of their VIA project. They will apply both the knowledge acquired from the self-leadership modules, as well as the design thinking process learnt in the ALP programme in completing the project.

Sec 2

In Secondary Two, students will undergo a 3-day leadership workshop on ‘Team Leadership’. This workshop will be run by vendors and will take place during the first week of school. Students can apply the knowledge, skills and competencies learnt from the workshop in the various leadership opportunities offered at the Secondary Two level.

 The workshop will equip them with the necessary skills and abilities based on the five core practices of The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Barry Posner:

 (1)  Model the Way

(2)  Inspire a Shared Vision

(3)  Challenge the Process

(4)  Enable Others to Act

(5)  Encourage the Heart

 A cohort-based workshop on community youth advocacy skills will also be planned to equip the Secondary Two students with the necessary skills to champion for their beneficiaries. With the skills learnt from these workshops and using the Design Thinking process, students will adopt a Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO) that targets children and youths. They will learn more about the VWO that they adopt and advocate for their causes. Secondary Two students will have the chance to visit the children and youths whose needs they are advocating for.

Using SpringFest, a bi-annual school carnival as a platform, Secondary Two students will create awareness and deepen their knowledge of the selected beneficiary. They will lead their teams to design and set up booths to promote awareness and raise funds for these beneficiaries.

In alternate years, the Secondary Two students will be working with community partners to advocate for their beneficiary through social engagement in public areas. The community partners are as follow:

(1)  Zhenghua Community Club

(2)  Zhenghua Youth Network (ZHYN)

(3)  Fairprice Group

Sec 3

 In Secondary Three, students will continue to contribute to the communities beyond the school. The programme provides opportunities for students to work with elder-care organisations and the seniors in their community. Through these experiences, students will build empathy and have a deeper understanding of social issues. This programme also provides an opportunity for the students to serve and contribute to the community and the nation.

They will work with VWOs that target and support the elders and seniors. The service-learning projects will include assessing the needs of the VWOs, visitations, as well as advocating for the cause. They will set up food stalls at SpringFest to raise funds. Selected students will be trained in Food Safety Course Level 1, a Singapore Food Agency, SFA-accredited course.

In alternate years, Secondary Three students will assess the needs of their elderly beneficiaries and plan projects, focusing on engagement sessions.

Tier 2

Tier 2 provides more leadership development opportunities with student-initiated community projects by the Student Council executive committee members and the chairpersons of the various CCAs.

They will also be given opportunities to work with community partners (as mentioned above)to come up with projects that benefit the different groups in the community.

For more information, please email us at westspringss@moe.edu.sg