校长寄语 Principal's Foreword

孩子们是幸福的。他们自呱呱落地就有一村的人为他们操心操肺。建校百年的南洋小学更见证了无数位师长努力不懈地为教育工作奉献心力，抚育无数桃李的成长。承先启后，前人的默默耕耘、无私奉献启发我们继续让孩子们“跟时代进行，做一个五育平均发展的完人” 。

社会大环境持续改变，孩子们面对的挑战不只是世界经济重心的转移、科技的日新月异、传统社会架构的变异，还包括一个更为复杂和不确定因素的未来。孩子要如何面对、怎么应付他的未来？

珍珠独具魅力，十分漂亮，但这漂亮的外表背后却有一个发人深省的故事。珍珠的形成过程是非常痛苦的。生活在深海或淡水的蚌时常得面对外来的侵扰。当砂粒、虫卵等异物侵入蚌壳内，就会不断刺激甚至伤害到蚌。这如同异物侵入肉眼一样，即痛又痒。为了保护自己，蚌会分泌珍珠质一层一层地将刺激物包裹起来，长年累月，最终形成一颗璀璨的珍珠。我们都希望孩子们在面对挑战之时化困难为力量、视危机为转机，希望孩子们用智、用心、用手——以睿智、仁心，求实力行，创造自己的未来、造就美好的人生。

树人如树木，抚育幼苗长成参天大树须要百年，培育孩子成长的道路更是漫长。要在这远无止境的树人道路上坚持不懈，凭的是信念——每一个孩子都能爱己，爱人，爱众，都能拥有幸福的人生。虽然，陪伴孩子的南洋小学的师长们都有各自的生活理念，都有独特的生活经历，但是坚守着的是共同的使命——秉承校训勤、慎、端、朴，致力为孩子们提供双语双文化的学习环境，激发学生潜能以献身社会。

培养品学兼优的南洋学子仰赖每一位用心陪伴孩子们成长的师长们。校董给予学校的鼎力支持、校友给予母校的无穷敬爱、家长伙伴的支持信任、教职团队的齐心协力让孩子们的成长之旅更丰富、更平稳。由衷感谢！

Our children are blessed with love and care from the adults/elders around them. Looking at Nanyang’s progress and achievements, there is indeed much to celebrate about its illustrious hundred years of school history. Our predecessors have left us a wonderful legacy which we must now continue to uphold and build upon. Let us ride on the rich heritage of Nanyang and the fortitude of our dedicated staff in guiding our pupils to be confident and well-rounded individuals who will move with time and dare to sail away from the safe harbour, yet will stay rooted to exhortations and values established by our forefathers.

The world is fast changing. Our pupils are faced with a future that is increasingly Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA). It will be impossible for them to deal with the future challenges in a reactive mode. Are our pupils ready to embrace the reality of VUCA and be resilient and adaptive enough to navigate the VUCA environment effectively?

Pearls are beautiful and precious. However, its formation is a long and painful process for the oyster. Oysters are simple creatures that live in water and feed on planktons, or micro-organisms. Occasionally, while feeding, grains of sand enter the oyster and are lodged in the soft inner part of the oyster’s body. This causes the oyster great discomfort. In order to protect itself, the oyster secretes a smooth substance called nacre around the sand grain. The oyster continues to deposit nacre around it, layer by layer. After a number of years, the grain of sand will be totally encased in a smooth, lustrous shell of nacre, which has now become a pearl. Unbeknownst to the oyster, it has responded to the irritation by forming a beautiful pearl. I hope our pupils will take cognizance of the formation of these beautiful pearls in nature and embrace changes and difficulties as opportunities for them to develop discernment, foster confidence, engender greater compassion, as well as grow their mind and emotional breadth. As long as they keep a positive attitude, strive to do their best and hold true to the school values – to be Learners of Character and Leaders in Action, they will grow and blossom to be the confident and responsible citizens of Singapore.

Educating a child is much like growing a tree. It takes many years for the young seedling to grow deep roots and develop its splendour. Likewise, nurturing our pupils as confident learners take time. With grounded values and unwavering purpose, we stand steadfast in doing the right things and doing things right for the pupils. The teachers in Nanyang Primary School, though with diverse and varied experiences, strive and act on the shared mission to develop our pupils to reach their fullest potential within a bicultural environment that is steeped in diligence, prudence, respectability and simplicity, thereby enabling them to contribute to society.

Passionate and dedicated teachers are key to the development of our pupils. With concerted efforts and support from the School Management Committee, Alumni and parents, we will nurture our pupils, enrich their learning, appreciate their innate capabilities and bring out the best in them so that they will grow, blossom and shape tomorrow.