St. Joseph's Institution, Singapore

St. Joseph's Institution
圣若瑟书院
Address
38 Malcolm Road
Singapore 308274
Singapore
Information
Type Independent
Motto Ora et Labora
(Pray and Work)
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Established 1852
Session Single session
School code 7020
Chairman Mr Lee Kok Fatt
Principal Fr (Dr) Adrian Danker SJ
Vice-Principals Mrs Goh Poh Kenn (Administration)
Ms Anne Tan (Curriculum/Professional Learning)
Mr Dominic Ang (Student Development)
Mr Leonard Tan (Curriculum)
Brother President Bro Paul Ho, FSC
Enrolment Approx. 2,000
Houses      Fintan
     Lawrence
     Marcian
     Michael
Colour(s)  Green   White 
Website http://www.sji.edu.sg/

St. Joseph's Institution (SJI) (圣若瑟书院 shèng ruò sè shū yuàn) is a Catholic secondary school for boys founded in 1852 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools or De La Salle Brothers. It is the first Catholic school, and the 3rd oldest secondary school in Singapore.

From 2013, SJI offers a dual track education comprising the 'O'-level Programme (OP) and the Integrated Programme (IP) track. The IP track which leads to the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (IBDP) integrates the 4-year secondary education with a 2-year IBDP, where IP students can proceed onto the 2-year IBDP without the need to complete the O-level examinations at the end of their 4th year. The OP students will take their GCE 'O' level examinations at the end of their 4th year. Based on their O-level examination results, they can apply to continue the IBDP at SJI, or pursue courses at other junior colleges or polytechnics.

The school had its first IP intake at Secondary 1 and Secondary 3 in 2013 and 2014 respectively while the first IBDP intake was in 2013.

History

SJI (Originally known as St. John's Institution) was founded in 1852 as the first missionary establishment of the La Salle Brothers in the Far East. This endeavour was initiated by Rev Fr Jean-Marie Beurel MEP, who offered the opportunity to six Brothers from Europe to start the school using a former chapel as premises. Within a year, an attap hut had to be erected to accommodate all the students.

On 19 March 1855 (Feast of Saint Joseph), the cornerstone of a new school building was laid, and from that date, the school came to be known as St. Joseph's Institution. The new central classroom block was completed in 1865, though further expansion of the facilities continued well into the 20th century. The school had 426 students in 1900. This grew to almost 1200 in 1914, and 1600 in 1922. With the student population expanding, a temporary branch school was opened, which eventually led to the building of a second school – Saint Patrick's School, Singapore – in 1933.

During World War II, prior to the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, the school was used as a Red Cross hospital and housed a unit of the Civil Defence Force, the A.R.F. (Air Raid Precautionary Group). On 16 February 1942, a bomb hit the school courtyard during the war, leaving a crater, but the main building remained unscathed.

During the Japanese Occupation, the school was renamed to Bras Basah Road Boy's School. The Brothers were soon asked to 'resign'. The school and hostel were run along military lines. However, 3 weeks after the Japanese surrender, the Brothers returned and St Joseph's was re-opened and normal lessons resumed.

In 1954, St. Joseph's Junior School was housed in St. Michael's School, now known as St. Joseph's Institution Junior.

In 1975, SJI's first year pre-university classes and some its teachers were transferred to the newly opened Catholic Junior College.

In 1988, SJI shifted into a new campus at Malcolm Road situated just off the neighbourhood of Toa Payoh, beside the Tanglin Community Centre. The beautiful old campus with its distinctive semi-circular wings was gazetted by the Singapore National Heritage Board as a national monument. It now houses the Singapore Art Museum.

Sculpture of St John Baptist de la Salle, founder of the Institute of Brothers of the Christian Schools (La Salle Brothers), on the second floor of the portico of the former SJI campus at Bras Basah (see Former Saint Joseph’s Institution).

Under the administration of Brother Paul Anthony Rogers, SJI saw its peak in growth. In 1995, a Performing Arts Centre (PAC) and a new wing to house Secondary One students were added.

In 2002, SJI celebrated its 150th anniversary.

In 2006, SJI, upon the urging of the Economic Development Board, began an international school. SJI International began classes in January 2007. The School started with just over 100 students but now boasts more than 1200 students across both its Elementary School and High School. This remarkable success is due to the dedication of the Old Boys and the faith of the parents. SJI International High School offers the IGCSE and the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP), similar to the Senior School of SJI today.

It was also the first year in which only pure sciences was offered to every candidate.

In 2008, the school was re-validated with the Singapore Quality Class Award, obtained, for the second time, the Best Practice Award (Teaching and Learning) and attained the Best Practice Award (Student All-Round Development) in the MOE External Validation exercise. The school received consecutive Sustained Achievement Awards in Academic Value-Added, Sports, Uniformed Groups and Fitness.

In 2009, SJI was recognised by MOE with a pinnacle award – The School of Excellence Award. The School Excellence Award (SEA) recognises schools for their excellence in both education processes and outcomes. It is the highest and most prestigious award in the Masterplan of Awards framework in MOE, Singapore.

In 2013, SJI took in her first intake of students under the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), with an inaugural batch of 80 students admitted. SJI also bolstered its academic staff and upgraded its facilities for the IBDP student block to provide the necessary infrastructure and support for the students to develop to their fullest potential.

In 2013, SJI moved to a holding campus at Bishan Street 14, while the main campus at Malcolm Road was undergoing renovations.

On 20 July 2015, works to redevelop the school began, with a new target of moving back by March 2017.[1]

On 9 January 2017, SJI moved back to their main campus at 38 Malcolm Road, after 2 years of renovations.

On 22 July 2017, SJI celebrated her 165th anniversary in Singapore.[2]

SJI has been a Gold Value Added school for the GCE 'O' Level examinations.

Affiliated schools

The Lasallian Family

Uniform

The school uniform is a simple, white collared shirt with the school badge on the pocket. The secondary school boys (Years 1 and 2) wear white shorts and white long pants are worn by the Year 3 and 4 boys. The IBDP boys in Years 5 and 6 boys wear a white shirt with a green inner collar and the school badge on the pocket with white long pants while the girls wear a white blouse with the school badge on the left hand side and a dark green skirt.

The school tie is worn on the first weekday of school and at all formal school functions.

School prefects and those authorised to wear the school blazer are permitted to wear simple, black, leather shoes when they are formally attired.

Co-Curricular Activities (CCA - Secondary) and Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS - IBDP)

SJI offers a large variety of CCAs for its Secondary students to choose from. The 3 main groups include Sports, Uniformed Groups and Clubs & Societies. SJI's niches include Canoeing, Football and Table Tennis.

The St Joseph's Institution Military Band (SJIMB) clinched the Gold with Honours Award under the baton of Mr Tan Thiam Hee in the recent 2009 Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging, the highest achievable award in that competition.[3] It was one of the top 10 bands in the competition to do so.

In the 2011 Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging, the band managed to clinch the Silver award.[4] The choice piece was the Seventh Night of July and the set piece was the Memories of Friendship.

In the 2011 Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging, the Vocal Ensemble managed to clinch the Gold With Honours award. This was the Vocal Ensemble's inaugural participation in the SYF competition. The choice pieces were Ubi Caritas and Kruhay, while the set piece was The Wind by Kelly Tang.

The Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) is the heart of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. With its holistic approach, CAS is designed to strengthen and extend students’ personal and interpersonal learning. The three strands are defined as follows:

• Creativity - exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance.

• Activity - physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle.

• Service - collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need.

Notable alumni

Politics

Governmental organisations

Business

Sports

Arts and entertainment

  • Chong Fah Cheong - Cultural Medallion winner for visual arts (2014)
  • Dick Lee - musician; Cultural Medallion winner (2004)
  • Goh Sin Tub - A pioneer of Singapore literature and a teacher, civil servant, banker, builder, social worker and former chairman of the SJI Board of Governors
  • Jeremy Monteiro - jazz pianist; Board Member, National Arts Council; Cultural Medallion winner (2002)
  • Julian Hee - Mediacorp artiste
  • Jahan Loh - Contemporary Artist

Education

Scholarship Holders

President's Scholarship

  • 1987 Phua Choon Kiat Spencer
  • 1985 Tan Kok Kiang Bernard - Member of DBS Bank Executive Committee; Currently working in ST Kinetics as a managing director[5]
  • 1981 Euan Murugasu - Head & Senior Consultant ENT Surgeon, Dept of ENT- Head & Neck Surgery, Jurong Health Services[6]
  • 1976 Gan Juay Kiat - CEO, SBS Transit Ltd[7]
  • 1975 Lim Chong Kiat - Non-Executive Director, New Millennium Resources Ltd.
  • 1975 Thomas See
  • 1974 Chan Kwong Lok - Chief Planning Officer, Nanyang Technological University[8]
  • 1973 Chan Seng Onn - Judge, Supreme Court Singapore
  • 1973 Teo Chee Hean - Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore[9]
  • 1973 George Yeo - ex-Minister for Foreign Affairs; current Chairman of Kerry Logistics
  • 1972 Choo Chun Wei - Professor, University of Toronto[10]
  • 1972 Lim Koon Heng Richard
  • 1967 Mah Bow Tan - ex-Cabinet Minister[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/sji-starts-upgrading-work-malcolm-road-campus
  2. ↑ http://www.sji.edu.sg/about-sji/campus-redevelopment-updates
  3. ↑ "SYF09-ConcertBandResults.pdf" (PDF). Ministry of Education, Singapore. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "SYF 2011 CJ Results of Central Bands - Sec Level.pdf" (PDF). Ministry of Education, Singapore. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  5. ↑ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=61415723&ticker=DBS:SP
  6. ↑ http://www.juronghealth.com.sg/services-doctors/doctor/default.aspx?serviceid=24&hospitalid=AH
  7. ↑ http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/about/bod.aspx
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-01-22. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  9. ↑ http://www.cabinet.gov.sg
  10. ↑ http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca/bio.8.html
  11. ↑ http://www.parliament.gov.sg

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