Catholic High School (CHS) is a government-aided autonomous Catholic boys' school in Bishan, Singapore, founded in 1935 by a French missionary, Reverend Father Edward Becheras. One of the Special Assistance Plan schools in Singapore, it has a primary school section offering a six-year primary education, as well as a secondary school section offering a four-year secondary education. Since 2013, it has partnered with Eunoia Junior College for a six-year Integrated Programme, which allows its secondary school students to proceed to Eunoia for Years 5 and 6 and take the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations at the end of Year 6.
History
Clock tower of Catholic High School
Sino-English Catholic School (1935–1942)
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]
Expansion
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]
Attainment of SAP status
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]
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]
House system
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.
House and Color
Remarks
Edward
Named after Rev. Fr. Edward Becheras, founder and first supervisor of CHS.
Noel
Named after Rt. Rev. Noel Goh, third, fifth and seventh supervisor of CHS.
Joseph
Named after Rev. Joseph Chang, principal of CHS, (1960–1974).
Philippe
Named after Rev. Philippe Wu, principal of CHS, (1950–1956).
Houses are allocated to teachers and students.
Campus
Catholic High School Bishan Campus
The seven-hectare Catholic High campus consists of two blocks, primary and secondary. There are five floors as well as a basement. Classrooms for Primary 1 and 2 students are on the first and second floors, while classes for Primary 3,4,5 and 6 are on the higher floors. A common area is shared between these two blocks, where the secondary plaza and two school halls are located. The two air-conditioned, multi-purpose halls serve as venues for assembly, large-scale talks, performing arts events, and indoor sporting activities. In addition, another smaller auditorium is used for performing arts events. Secondary 4 students have their classrooms on level 5 which are also air-conditioned. There are also computer rooms, science laboratories and an eco-garden on the primary campus. Two canteens, as well as a cafeteria, serve food for both the primary and secondary students. Students can also buy school materials at the bookshop.
The school campus also houses a 400 m running track and a multipurpose open field. There is a discus cage, javelin-throwing ground, shooting range, two tennis courts and a basketball court. The Catholic High Sports and Recreational Centre, also known as the Indoor Sports Hall, was completed in December 2008. It houses two basketball courts, volleyball courts and badminton courts, in addition to spectator stands. There are two gyms on the secondary campus. On the primary campus, there is a multipurpose hall that is half the size of the Indoor Sports Hall. Catholic High is one of few schools with an in-campus sports class, where students go through rigorous sports and academic courses. Sports Class students may choose to take Physical Education as an 'O' Level subject, in addition to the standard 'O' Level curriculum. A new high elements rope course was completed in 2010.
Catholic High School has offered the Music Elective Programme since 2011.[16] This four-year programme allows students who have an interest in music to study music at a higher level, leading to a GCE O-level Higher Music certificate.[16]
