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About Us

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About Us

UWCSEA is a united, welcoming community, spread across two campuses that embrace students and their families.
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Guiding Statements

Our Guiding Statements help to ensure that our students are equipped to enact the mission throughout their lives. 
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Learning

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Learning.

A UWCSEA education is values-based and holistic, developing young people who will build a more peaceful and sustainable world. Learn more.

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K–12 Concept-Based Curriculum.

Our curriculum is designed to help students develop knowledge, skills and understanding through five elements of our learning programme. Learn more.

Community

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Students

The passion and energy of our diverse community of students is what makes our campuses come to life. Learn more.

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Scholars

Our scholars come from a wide range of backgrounds and bring unique perspectives and experience to our community. Learn more.

Our Big Ideas

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Our Big Ideas

As a learning community, we engage with the world of ideas to connect concepts and put ideas into action. Learn more.

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Singapore as a Nation State: Past, Present and Future.

By Mr Janadas Devan, Director of the Institute of Policy Studies at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS

Discover the fascinating evolution of 'Singapore as a Nation State, Past Present and Future' with Mr. Janadas Devan and our panel of UWCSEA students, connecting Singapore's historical roots and its present circumstances. View here

Admissions

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Welcome

A welcome from our Director of Admissions and introduction to our process. Learn more.

UWCSEA runs an annual application cycle

Applications for 2024/2025

Applications for the 2024/2025 school year will open on 1 September 2023 Learn more.

Careers

CAREERS

If you are as inspired by our mission to make education a force to unite people...Learn more.

Working at UWCSEA

We welcome applications from prospective colleagues who will contribute to our diverse community…Learn more.

Support Us

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Support us

The UWCSEA culture of giving and service is central to our identity as a mission-aligned community. Learn more.

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Impact of Giving

The generosity of our community has had a significant impact on individuals and groups in Singapore, the region and globally. Learn more.

Outdoor Education longitudinal study with Oregon State University–Cascades

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Outdoor Education longitudinal study with OSU

UWCSEA has been at the forefront of developing age-appropriate outdoor education programmes (school camps and expeditions) for decades. Over this time we have gathered significant evidence through student reflection suggesting these experiences build students’ resilience and self-awareness, as well as helping them to develop collaborative, self-management and critical thinking skills that stay with them for life.

Attempting to understand and answer some of the challenging and complex questions on the impact that our Outdoor Education programme has on the emotional, psychological and overall wellbeing of our students, we partnered with OSU-Cascades in 2013 and launched the study in 2015. Our aim is to gather further insight into what we have observed anecdotally and learned through experience: that outdoor education experiences have a positive, long term impact on students that stays with them and is transformational. 

The benefit of a longitudinal study lies in the ability to analyse patterns that emerge over time. It gives us an in-depth perspective on student learning within Outdoor Education. Analysis of initial data collected in the first years of the study has affirmed the role that resilience, commitment to care, and communication play during expeditions. These are all key skills and qualities that we have identified as part of the UWCSEA profile.

In addition to the long view, we also look forward to unpacking the annual research results, because this allows the Outdoor Education Department to understand the effectiveness of the current programme so they can adapt and further develop the programme to guarantee best outcomes for students. For example, in 2018 a night time activity on the Grade 6 Tioman trip was modified because the data showed that it was pushing students further out of their comfort zone than intended. In addition, the decision to redevelop the Grade 8 expedition into "continuous journey” was aided by programme evaluation work done by one of the researchers as a participant observer and informed by student insights.

The research also provides insights into some of the interdependencies between elements of our learning programme. Data collection was due to continue for another two years, and we will make decisions on how to adjust the study to account for the changes in the programme as a result of the COVID pandemic travel restrictions in the coming months.

Questions

This study is attempting to answer some difficult and complicated questions on the physiological, emotional and psychological impact of the Outdoor Education experiences on students. We want to know what exactly our students are learning by participating on these expeditions:

  • Does outdoor education make a difference in their academic and personal lives?
  • What do students perceive outdoor education contributes to the their overall learning?
  • What are the specific knowledge, skills, and qualities that graduates of UWCSEA leave with that may be attributed to the Outdoor Education programme?
  • Which expeditions instil what qualities and skills?

Annual cross-sectional analyses offer a glimpse of emerging themes in the data – you can read a selection of these reports below.

Data collection

All students in Grades 6–11 on both campuses are asked to complete the research survey twice anonymously—once before and once after the grade-level expedition. Students participate on a voluntary basis, answering questions about life experiences and self-perceptions in and out of school. The process of completing the survey is similar to ways in which UWCSEA already asks students to reflect on their learning in other areas of curriculum and facilitates the consolidation of their learning.

As the study asks students to reflect on their own feelings and ideas about themselves, the study has also been before the Institutional Review Board of OSU and undergone internal review at UWCSEA to ensure the wellbeing of participants.

Outcomes

We use the feedback and insight provided by the research summary to adapt and develop the programme to further enhance the student experience in the short term. In the long term, we will be guided by the evidence collected as we refine our Outdoor Education Programme to ensure it continues to contribute to the development in students of the skills and qualities outlined in the UWCSEA profile.

Initial interim findings indicate that the study is gathering important evidence and over the previous four years, we have seen some trends in terms of changes in attitudes, skills and qualities that can be traced back to the students’ outdoor education experience. This confirms  what we know anecdotally and through long experience: that outdoor education experiences have a positive, long term impact on students that stays with them and is transformational.

Read more about the study, interim findings and our Outdoor Education programme here:

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Inspiration from the outside

Emerging patterns in students’ personal growth experiences on outdoor expeditions.

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Journey as destination: Evaluating the UWCSEA Outdoor Education programme

This longitudinal study will evaluate the effectiveness of the UWCSEA Outdoor Education programme in developing skills and qualities in students over time.

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Flourishing People-in-Place: Understanding the impact of Outdoor Education at UWCSEA

OSU research study at UWCSEA in Singapore hopes to understand the impact of outdoor education on developing skills and qualities to help students thrive.

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Understanding Foundation Skills in Outdoor Education: Paving the pathway to learning

Outdoor Education at UWCSEA builds practical expedition skills so as to equip students with qualities and skills essential for health and flourishing.

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Researchers 

The study is being conducted by Oregon State University–Cascades (OSU) researchers who are experts in their fields of experiential education and social psychology.