Catholic High School, Singapore

Catholic High School was founded in 1935 as Sino-English Catholic School (英华公教中学) by the Reverend Father Edward Becheras, a French missionary.[1] Although it was a Catholic school, it accepted both Catholic and non-Catholic students, and was run along the lines of a Sino-English school.[1] The school first started as an extension of the Church of St. Peter and Paul.[2] Fr Becheras envisaged the school as a bilingual institution from the start, emphasising instruction in both English and Chinese, a policy that continues today.[3] In addition, Fr Becheras emphasised the teaching of science, uncommon at that time.[4]

In 1936, Sino-English Catholic School moved into a purpose built school building at 222 Queen Street, beside the Church of St. Peter and Paul.[5][2] Two years after the new school campus was completed, it reached its maximum capacity.[4] Among notable features of the old school is the science room in the school, the first such feature in any Catholic school in Malaya (Singapore was part of Malaya at that time).[4]

After the Second World War, operation of the school resumed, adopting the name Catholic High School (公教中学) . An increased enrolment saw the need for a new wing to be added to the high school compound, on the adjacent site of 51 Waterloo Street. The new wing featured an auditorium, staff rooms, tutorial rooms equipped with audio-visual equipment. Due to constraints in available spaces, the adjacent church grounds were used for physical education lessons.[6]

In 1950, the Marist Brothers took over responsibility for the administration of Catholic High; a primary section was opened in 1951, with a new school building at 8 Queen Street. A boarding house for Catholic High students was also built. Under the supervision of the Marist Brothers, the school thrived along with Maris Stella High School, which was founded in 1958 to ease overwhelming applications for admission to Catholic High School.[7]

In 1954, Catholic High School expelled all seventy students who were involved in the National Service riots for their absence from class, a move that shocked the nation. Catholic High School was the only institution that carried out expulsion as follow-up actions. The incident affirmed the school's zero tolerance of students' involvement in any political activities, and the school's stance of committed learning [8][9]

Pre-university classes were offered in Catholic High School between 1952 and 1975, with a number of outstanding graduates attaining the President's Scholarship.[10] In 1974 the administration of the school was handed back to the Catholic diocese. Before the full nationwide adoption of the junior college system in 1975, Catholic High School was the only Chinese-medium high school in Singapore that offered both the Chinese-medium Senior High Certificate (华校高中文凭) and the English-medium Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations to all of its students.[9]

The Catholic High School was classified under the Special Assistance Plan in 1979.[1] This enables it to offer students in the top 10% of the cohort both English and Chinese as their first languages. In the same year, pre-primary classes were started to prepare students for primary school Chinese study. With continued increase in enrolment, the Queen Street buildings could not house all the students from all levels, even with double-sessions arrangements. Satellite sites augmented the Queen Street school grounds. Pre-primary and lower-primary classes were housed at Gentle Road and upper-primary classes were housed at Norfolk Road. In March 1987, discovery of structural cracks at the Queen Street premises of the primary section caused the campus to be declared unsafe.[10] Despite clarification later as a misjudgment, the incident prompted a decision by the Ministry of Education to relocate Catholic High School, for safety concerns in wake of the Hotel New World collapse.[9] The high school section was relocated to the premises of Guangyang Secondary School in Bishan. Both the primary and secondary sections of the school moved to its current, permanent campus at Bishan Street 22 in 1992. In 2008, Catholic High School was awarded the School Distinction Award under the MOE Master Plan of Awards, in recognition of its value-added holistic development of its students through exemplary processes and practices.[11]

On 1 September 2010 the Ministry of Education announced that Catholic High School would become an Integrated Programme school in 2013.[12] It partners CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls' School and Singapore Chinese Girls' School in the programme, and students from the school will proceed to Eunoia Junior College from 2017.[12][13]

Catholic High School is one of only a handful of Singapore secondary schools to have uniforms complemented with short trousers for all levels. The rule was well supported by the students, stating its convenience and comfort in the local climate.[14]

The house system is used during school sporting events. The four houses — Edward, Noel, Philippe and Joseph — are named after former principals and supervisors of the school.

Houses are allocated to teachers and students.

Catholic High School jointly offers the Integrated Programme (IP) in collaboration with CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School, Singapore Chinese Girls' School and Eunoia Junior College from 2013. Under the programme, students may skip the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examination in the respective schools, and complete year 5 & 6 of pre-university education in Eunoia Junior College leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examination.[17][18]

As a dual-track school, 4-year Secondary Special/Express course is offered alongside the Integrated Programme.[19]