[3] Founded in 1947, the institution operates under the Special Assistance Plan (SAP), with the mission to nurture bilingual and bi-cultural scholars who are highly knowledgeable in the Chinese language and culture.

[6] To date, Nan Chiau High has nurtured three President's Scholars, and is currently one of Singapore's leading schools for Infocomm Technology.

[10] The initial schooling site was incorporated from mansions donated by Mr Lee Kong Chian, on a plot of land in River Valley.

[16] In 1965, the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan spent 2 million dollars to rebuild Nan Chiau Girl's High School to meet the needs of an increased student enrolment.

[19] In 1978, Nan Chiau Girls' High was initially included in the list of 12 newly accorded Special Assistance Plan schools.

[20] In 1980, the institution ceased senior high and pre-university classes following the changes to the education system, and adopted English as its language medium.

[30] The school upgrading works were co-funded by the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, comprising a revamp of the canteen and the air-conditioned library, as well as the construction of the park square and a new 300-seat auditorium.

On 27 January 2017, a total of 3,398 staff and students of both institutions came together to craft knots on a triple-ring with red strings, which resembles the school logo.

Named The Nest, the tools-equipped space allow students to design, construct or modify meaningful or handy items in their own accord.

This eight episode documentary series featured eight Special Assistance Plan (SAP) Schools in Singapore, and told stories of their transformation through the times.

[42][43] Nan Chiau High School's motto, Sincerity & Perseverance (誠·毅), is set after the philosophy of its founder, Mr Tan Kah Kee.

[47] The red colour of the rings depicts a persevering spirit in the pursuit of a bright and promising future, as represented by the golden background.

The heart shape in the centre of the overlapping rings symbolizes care and concern for the total welfare of the pupils in a student-oriented system.

[56] Currently, male students wear white studded shirts with traditional Chinese characters of the school name on it in red.

[56] Female students wear white blouses bearing the traditional Chinese characters of the school name on it in red, with navy blue pleated skirts.

The Nest, a dedicated maker-space which was opened in March 2017, allows students to design, construct or modify meaningful or handy items with specialised tools in the lab, and supports the school's Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Applied Learning Programme (STEM ALP).

[65] Other facilities in NCHS include a gymnasium, an indoor sports hall, a central plaza, an open-concept canteen, an eco-garden and a 1.3 acres field.

[8] Throughout the 4 years, NCHS students are exposed to a broad range of cultural knowledge and life skills alongside the academic curriculum.

All NCHS students expect a 2-week based timetable, with supplementary lessons for four days allocated to individual subjects according to their academic needs (with the exception for Wednesdays).

[67][68] A common educational procedure for the four-year Express course, subject combination streaming for NCHS students is carried out at Secondary Two level.

A Band 1 school since 2006, the institution has developed students with exceptional results for both GCE 'O' Level academic subjects as well as Co-Curricular Activities (or CCA).

The four-year flagship programme is mainly made up of two segments, namely 'Broad-Base Curriculum' and 'Peaks of Excellence', which include cultural intelligence and life education to groom students to be world-ready.

This is inculcated through various platforms such as cultural intelligence forums, bi-cultural camps, and Chinese lyrics competitions, as well as local and regional learning journeys.

[78] Students from Nan Chiau High School, as well as the other five institutions affiliated to Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, will benefit from corporate partnership through school-based programmes co-developed with SUTD.

[95] The annual events handled by NCHS Falcons include school camps as well as school-based leadership workshops for year one, two and three students.

[97][98] The event is open to the public, which the students, alumni and the parents support group of the institution set up food and games booths around the campus, as well as put up performances for the community to engage for a good cause.

The research projects are presented in the form of an annual symposium hosted by Yishun Town Secondary and Nan Chiau High alternately, which serves as a platform for students involved to showcase their work to fellow schoolmates and counterparts from other schools.

The community under various bodies continues to organise events and programmes that bonds the alumni together, as well as contributing alongside the school committee to benefit the students' of both institutions.

Formed on 12 January 1990 at the Kim Yam Road campus, the association works closely with the two institutions to preserve the traditional values of the schools while placing emphasis on the moral, physical, cognitive, social and aesthetic aspects of students' development.

The members of team works alongside the school to provide assistance and sharing for upper secondary levels preparing for national examinations, as well as individual mentorship of their former Co-curricular Activities (CCAs).