The school was the first school to be built in Ang Mo Kio. It officially started functioning on 2 January 1979 in the premises of Hwi Yoh Secondary School with 12 Secondary One classes. On 12 July that year, the school occupied its premises at Ang Mo Kio Street 22 and was officially declared open on 20 September 1980 by Mr Yeo Toon Chia, the then Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio Constituency. It was located along that road, in a new building that was built at a cost of S$4.29 million, and started upper secondary classes the next year. In December 1999, the school temporarily relocated to Hougang Street 93. In 2002, the school returned to Ang Mo Kio Street 22. The school was headed by the pioneer Principal, Mr Tan Joo Kheng, followed by Miss Monica Quek Swee Imm, Mrs Tan Guat Kim, Mdm Doreen Yip, Miss Paramita Bandara, Miss Tan Swee Piang, Mr Tan Chee Siong, Mr Abdul Mannan and Mr Tom Chan. Since 15 Dec 2017, Mr Shaw Swee Tat took over the school as Principal In December 1999, it moved to temporary premises at Hougang Street 93 to enable rebuilding on the former site. From January 2002, Ang Mo Kio Secondary School started operating at its newly built premises in Ang Mo Kio Street 22. The new building was declared open on 13 July that year by Mr Seng Han Thong, Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC.
Behavioural standards are maintained through the use of a merit/demerit points system. Each student starts with 75 points. Demerit points are awarded for minor misbehaviour, and a girl who reaches 55 points is put in detention for five days; a boy receives corporal punishment from the Discipline Master. For major offences, including truancy, smoking and vandalism, girls serve several detentions and boys are always caned in front of their classmates for a first offence, and in front of an assembly of the whole school for a second offence. The cane strokes are delivered to the seat of student's trousers or shorts. Major offenders also receive counselling, are issued six demerit points, and are placed under the Student Reformative Programme for a period of time as stipulated by the Discipline Committee. There is also a Peer Mediation Programme for the resolution of disputes.
Events
Biannually, the school puts on its NOMAD festival, whose origins lie in the AMKSS Integrated Arts Programme for all Secondary 1 and 2 students. It was established in 2003 to encourage an exploration of the arts, and allows students to work with practising artists in music, visual arts, dance and drama.
Academic Information
Being an integrated secondary school, Ang Mo Kio Secondary School offers three academic streams, namely the four-year Express course, as well as the Normal Course, comprising Normal and Normal academic tracks.
The Normal Course is a nationwide 4-year programme leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Normal Level examination, which runs either the Normal curriculum or Normal curriculum, abbreviated as N and N respectively.
Normal (Academic) Course
In the Normal course, students offer 5-8 subjects in the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Normal Level examination. Compulsory subjects include:
A 5th year leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examination is available to N students who perform well in their Singapore-Cambridge GCE Normal Level examination. Students can move from one course to another based on their performance and the assessment of the school principal and teachers.
Normal (Technical) Course
The Normal course prepares students for a technical-vocational education at the Institute of Technical Education. Students will offer 5-7 subjects in the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Normal Level examination. The curriculum is tailored towards strengthening students’ proficiency in English and Mathematics. Students take English Language, Mathematics, Basic Mother Tongue and Computer Applications as compulsory subjects.
Co-curricular activities
The school offers a total of 19 extra-curricular activities, labelled as co-curricular activities by the Ministry of Education. These include sports, uniformed groups, performing arts and clubs. Several have been able to do well in outside competition and bring glory to the school. The school's English drama club has been able to attain good results in the Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation, attaining Distinction and Accomplishment in the 2017 and 2015 competitions, and Silver in 2011 and 2013. Its table tennis team has also done very well, attaining the fourth place in the South School Interschool Table Tennis C Division in 2016 and 2017. Furthermore, its symphonic band attained Gold and Gold in the 2005 and 2007 SingaporeYouth Festival Central Judging. The CCAs offered in the school are as follows:
