United World College of South East Asia

Infobox_School
name = United World College of South East Asia

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imagesize = 200px
established = 1971
type = International Baccalaureate school
affiliation = United World Colleges
students =
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location = Dover, Singapore
country = flagicon|Singapore Singapore
information =
website = http://www.uwcsea.edu.sg

The United World College of South East Asia (Abbreviation: UWCSEA) is an independent international school in Singapore. With around 3,200 students, UWCSEA is the largest of the 12 schools which form the international United World College (UWC) movement, founded by the German educationlist Kurt Hahn with the mission of bringing together students from all over the world and developing them as truly global citizens.

UWCSEA is somewhat different from many of its sister colleges in the UWC movement, most of which are wholly boarding institutions which offer only a two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for mainly scholarship students of around 16-18 years of age. Since its founding, UWCSEA has offered full secondary school education. In the late 1990s the school expanded further and now also offers primary education. While the majority of students are children of expatriates in Singapore, there are also many boarders either from neighbouring countries, such as Malaysia, or the children of expatriates living there. A small percentage of the students at the College come on scholarships from a range of nations such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Italy, Mexico, East Timor, Germany and Swaziland. As a result, unlike most of the schools in the UWC movement, the vast majority of the students are fee-paying students. Critics have said this undermines the school's commitment to the larger UWC movement. Singapore government policy prevents most citizens from attending international schools within the country, and therefore UWCSEA has the smallest percentage of local students of any UWC.

Being part of the UWC movement, the College prides itself on its international nature with students from over 60 different countries. Moreover, the school takes advantage of this diversity and strives to provide a holistic educational approach. Traditionally, most of staff have been from English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as from Singapore itself, but there are now also teachers from countries as varied as South Africa, Japan and Bulgaria.

UWCSEA not only encourages the development of well rounded students who are committed to social service, but also maintains a strong academic reputation, with very high annual pass rates for GCSE and IB examinations.

The school's campus is located at Dover Road, in the Singapore neighbourhood of Dover. In 2007, the school announced that it will opening a second campus in Singapore in 2010 to help meet increasing demand for places from the expatriate community. The second campus will be in Tampines and, like the existing campus, will be a full primary and secondary school. [http://www.todayonline.com/articles/221835.asp]

The "Good Schools Guide International" recently reviewed the school, stating "This school has a deservedly good reputation academically but offers far more than exam success to its students." It added, "This is not a school for those who would be happy to sit on the sidelines or for those with substantial educational needs." [http://gsgi.co.uk/countries/singapore/united-world-college-of-south-east-asia?]

History

In 1970, the site on which UWCSEA now stands was occupied by the St John's Army School, run by the British Army, but in the light of British military withdrawal from Singapore in 1971, it was due to be vacated. Lord Mountbatten, then the President of the UWC movement, was keen to set up a United World College in Singapore and the Singapore government was equally keen to have a school for the education of the children of expatriates.

The parties came to an agreement, and in 1971 the Singapore International School was officially opened by the then Singapore Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. The school was designated an associate member of the United World College movement. It subsequently became of full member of the movement and was officially renamed the United World College of South East Asia in 1975.

In 2006, Singapore's former Ambassador to the United Nations and former President of the United Nations Security Council Kishore Mahbubani was appointed Chairman of the Board of Governors.

School activities

UWCSEA operates an extensive network of 'Global Concerns' projects, run by the students and staff to raise environmental awareness and establish small sustainable development projects in rural areas around the Asian region.

United Nations Day is a major event celebrated at the school each year through cultural performances and an elaborate international food fair. This event serves to increase awareness about the varied cultures within the college and brings the school population together. Also, within Singapore, UWCSEA is well known for its annual Arts Festival. Every year the school puts on a wide and culturally-diverse range of drama and dance productions, music concerts, art exhibitions, and other events to celebrate the arts.

Expeditions out of Singapore are a major emphasis of the school. Most students aged 9 and above are involved in overseas expeditions as part of the school's curriculum. Grade 11 students also have the chance to organize their own expeditions and projects under a budget during the Project Week. During the week they can participate in a variety of activities in the country of destination. Projects include building houses, trekking and visiting orphanages.

Students at the school are also involved in a wide variety of social service projects, working with many organizations that help the disadvantaged communities in Singapore.

The school has a wide range of sports facilities such as an Olympic sized swimming pool and training pool, Astro Turf and two grass pitches, tennis courts, two sports halls with basketball/volleyball courts and a gymnasium and fitness centre. It maintains teams in many sports including tennis, netball, rugby union, badminton, basketball, swimming, football, gymnastics and cricket however there is also the opportunity for students to participate in other sporting activities run by staff such as kickboxing, golf, sailing and canoeing.

Competitively, the school has also acquired a strong reputation on Singapore's inter-school debating circuit in recent years. In 2007, the school's team won "The Arena" – a nationally-televised debate tournament in Singapore.

UWCSEA also has a strong music department and hence there are various musical ensembles that students can join. The Band (All instruments), Percussion Ensemble, the Camerata (strings), the Symphonic band and the Jazz band as well as the orchestra and the different choir groups are all available for participation from all students, however for some auditions are required.

The school's drama department is also strong, and each year a number of high-quality plays are performed utilising the school's extensive theatrical resources.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of UWCSEA include:
* Daniel Bennett – professional soccer player for the Singapore national football team and in Singapore's S.League
* Sean Ghazi – Malaysian actor and music artist
* Akihiko Hoshide – Japanese astronaut
* Khairy Jamaluddin – Malaysian politician
* Mark Jenkins – American artist and writer
* Philip Jeyaretnam – Singaporean writer and lawyer
* Sonam Kapoor – Indian actress
* Eric Khoo – Singapore film director
* Jason Lo – Malaysian music artist and media personality
* Anya Major – model and actress, best known for throwing a sledgehammer in Apple Computer's famous "1984" commercial
* Paula Malai Ali – Bruneian television presenter
* Blair McDonough – Australian actor
* Robert Milton – Chairman of Air Canada
* Kevin Stea – Hollywood dancer and choreographer
* Sarah Tan – veejay on Channel V
* Wan Hisham Wan Salleh – Malaysian politician
* Zak Whitbread – professional soccer player for the US national team

Traditions

Grade 12 "Leavers' Week": A 3-day celebration undertaken by the 12th graders to celebrate the end of their formal secondary education and progression into the tertiary education system. Each day is themed by the student council and many wacky costumes are worn to 'release steam' and enjoy the time before exams. This also is a time in which many pranks are played on each other and teachers.

Seating Areas: The grade 12 seating areas are an unwritten rule. Situated under the English block, students wait many years to ascend to these areas and they are the centre of the Leavers' Week celebrations.

UN Night Gumboot Dance: Another traditional dance from the mines of South Africa, this dance has been performed without fail at every UN Night for over 15 years. It is a percussive dance, established by mine workers to keep up morale during the times of hard labour.

Rugby Team Haka: This traditional Maori war dance from New Zealand is frequently performed by the UWCSEA's senior and junior rugby squads at UN Night.

Location

UWCSEA is located at Dover Road, at approximately coord|1|18|10.88|N|103|46|38.68|E|. It is located near Dover MRT Station, next to Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), and is a next door neighbour to the British-based Dover Court Preparatory School.

References

External links

* [http://www.uwcsea.edu.sg/ UWCSEA website]
* [http://www.uwc.org UWC Homepage]
* [http://www.gsgi.co.uk/countries/singapore/united-world-college-of-south-east-asia Profile at the Good Schools Guide International]