The year 2009 has been a very special year for PHS, especially in handling the H1N1 situation. Our H1N1 experience has rallied the whole school together, tested our systems and procedures and signaled to us that our past practice has been very useful.

As we reflect on the year’s happenings, we want to thank the Lord for three things, P : Our People, H : Our Heritage, S : Our Seeds and Fruits.

Walt Disney once said, “You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”

Thus, we want to thank the various groups of People in the PHS community who have contributed to the school. They are:

· our pupils,
· our teachers,
· our Executive & Admin Staff and other staff in the school,
· School Management Board (SMB), headed by Chairman, Dr Alex Lee, and Vice Chairman, Mr Alvin Ooi,
· our Alumni & VALs, headed by Sum Qing Yun and assisted by Huang Mengzhou,
· our parents and PSG (Parent Support Group) headed by Mrs Agnes Chan and assisted by Mrs Rose Tan.
· The Presbyterian Church in Singapore, 41 churches of which 2 are our anchor churches. From 2009, the Presbyterian Education Council (PEC) has set up a PEC Scholarship of 9 awards, amounting to a total of eight thousand dollars.

Let us thank God for giving us a rich Heritage. Without the Lord Jesus, there will not be the Presbyterian Church and without the Presbyterian Church, there will not be PHS. We want to remember the pioneers of our school, the Synod, which was then the governing body of the Presbyterian Church that started Li Sun High School in 1965. We want to uphold and continue our heritage in nurturing our pupils in a school that is rooted in strong Christian values, traditions and practices.

Knowing our school’s heritage is not enough. It is also important to know the Singapore heritage and help build this heritage. The heritage index of our pupils can be measured by the National Education (NE) Index. The NE award that the school has obtained is a testimony of what we have done to help our pupils know Singapore, love Singapore and eventually to lead Singapore.

Farmers plant seeds, so that the seeds will grow into plants and produce fruits. We want to thank God for the Seeds that we have sown and which have blossomed into fruits. Every good plant must produce good fruits. What are the fruits produced from the seeds that we have planted in PHS? In line with the theme for 2009 “Aspire”, we have scaled greater heights in many aspects and I would like to highlight some of the major achievements for 2009:
· Sustained Achievement Award (Uniformed Groups)
· Sustained Achievement Award (Sports)
· Very good achievements at the 2009 SYF Central Judging which will enable us to be awarded our first SAA (Aesthetics) next year:
    o Gold             Guzheng, Dance
    o Silver           Choir, Chinese Orchestra, Drama
    o Bronze          Band
· Development award for Character Development (2009 to 2011)
· Development award for National Education (2009 – 2011)
· National Championship for B Div (Boys) Basketball
· LKY Award for All Round Excellence, Dorothy Oh Wei Ling (Sec 5in 2009). This award is the pinnacle award recognising well- rounded pupils who have excelled in both academic and non- academic spheres, and who exemplify positive character development, strong leadership qualities and commitment to community service. This is the first time that a PHS pupil has been given the award.
· President Award for Boys’ Brigade, Sean Lai Maoqin, our alumni. This award is the highest award in the BB and was presented by President Nathan to the recipient on 20 July 2009. This is also the first time that a BB cadet from PHS has been given the award.
· Improvement in L1B5 (14.6 for 2008 GCE O level against 15.6 for 2007)

Seeds need good ground in order to grow, bloom and bear fruits. It is not always easy to do what is required. We get discouraged. We get tired and weary from depending on our own strength and our own wisdom. In school, in every thing that we do, we have the pupils as the focus. Our wish is to enable every pupil to have a positive school experience and that each strives for his/her personal best. Let us draw strength from Psalm 136:1 which says:

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.

As we close 2009 and look forward to 2010, let us remember that God is always truthful, fair and just. Our hope is in God. We must remember that God does not abandon us but will carry us through every adversity in our lives, as promised by Him. We must always aspire to be good. We must always aspire to give more than what we receive. We must always aspire to achieve greater heights in things that we do.

Lim Yan Hock
Principal