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66-612: Victoria School ( VS ) is a government autonomous boys' secondary school in Siglap , Singapore . The school has a hostel. Established in 1876, it is Singapore's second oldest state secondary school. It offers a six-year Integrated Programme .This allows students to skip the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examinations and proceed to Victoria Junior College for Years 5 and 6. The Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations are taken at

132-529: A statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore . The authority was established on 1 April 1974, and is of critical importance to the city-state. Singapore is an extremely dense country where land usage is required to be efficient and maximized. The city state is trying to reduce land wastage in the face of land shortage in the area. URA's main responsibility

198-749: A 99.5% pass rate. In 1957, it had the best results in Singapore for the University Entrance Examinations. In 1969, after Singapore introduced the junior college system, Victoria School started offering three-year pre-university courses in 1979. The school building was designed by Frank Dorrington Ward, the chief architect of the Public Works Department who also designed the Supreme Court Building and other prominent landmarks in Singapore. It

264-558: A combined cultural exchange trip overseas to place such as Perth and Hong Kong . All have won the best unit competitions in the 21st century. Scouting was first started in Victoria Bridge School (present day Victoria School) when the 5th Singapore (HQ Malay) Troop was formed on 28 March 1919. The 5th Troop was mentioned in the local newspaper in August 1950, but appears to have been disbanded shortly after. The 6th Troop

330-458: A maroon blazer as well. The school badge is worn above the left chest pocket. Student bodies such as the Prefects' Council and Monitors' Council have their own badges, but the school crest remains their main feature. For physical activities and camps, students wear a bright yellow 'bumblebee' T-shirt with a pair of black shorts and white socks with sports shoes. The word 'VICTORIAN' is printed on

396-607: A result, many villagers in the area could not depend on fishing as a form of livelihood and many eventually settled away or were relocated to the neighbouring estates. The reclaimed land was then redeveloped with numerous high rise flats built and the East Coast Parkway was also constructed. The area has throughout history been home to several of Singapore's Presidents, including the first President of Singapore, Yusof Bin Ishak . The terrain of Siglap can be divided into two,

462-508: A rich history of having numerous schools. Excluding the schools that have operated from the holding site campus due to PRIME initiatives by the Ministry of Education at the junction of New Upper Changi Road and Bedok South Road, these are the schools which no longer operate in the estate and all but one of which are defunct: These are the schools that have operated from the PRIME holding site campus chronologically: Marine Parade Bus Terminal

528-547: A school library was opened in December 1929 with the aid of businessman Syed Ahmed bin Mohamed Alsagoff . During this period, school games were formalised, with the first annual sports meet being held in 1915. The first annual Speech Day was held in 1916 and the first annual academic prizes were awarded. The house system was instituted in 1929 while the house prefect system began in 1930. The first Boy Scouts troop

594-550: A small community of Japanese fishermen living in the area, although by the end of World War II (WWII) they had mostly vanished. The inland areas of Siglap consisted mostly of coconut and nutmeg plantations and in 1912 the Frankels bought over these plantations. The Frankels were wealthy Jewish business people originating from Lithuania and had decided to settle in Singapore after accumulating considerable wealth from their sale of rubber, bread and even furniture in Singapore and around

660-493: A tennis and basketball court, a fitness corner, and a gymnasium. The school is mostly covered by a Wi-Fi network (SWN) provided by the Ministry of Education for the use of teachers and students. There is also another separate Wi-Fi network for the students' Personal Learning Devices (PLD). The school uniform consists of a white short-sleeved shirt, with either khaki short trousers (for Year 1 and 2 students) or white long trousers (for Year 3 and 4 students). A 'Victoria' label

726-404: A third language (French, German or Japanese). However, these lessons are held at external venues. Students of foreign languages take part in the Ministry of Education Language Centre 's month-long Study-cum-Immersion Programmes (SCIP) in countries such as France, Germany, and Japan. The Victoria-Cedar Alliance Integrated Programme is a six-year Integrated Programme that allows students to bypass

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792-570: A three-storey library, of which the third floor is reserved for teachers and contains a collection of teaching resources. Victoria Hall is a hostel consisting of two 11-storey blocks (one male and one female) within the school compound. It is next to the sea and East Coast Park , giving boarders both a sea view and access to the park's sporting facilities. It houses about 500 boarders of several nationalities, including Vietnamese, Thai, and Chinese, many of whom attend either Victoria School or Victoria Junior College . Secondary/Year 3 students also stay at

858-412: A wide range of opportunities to learn beyond the curriculum, including enrichment modules at junior colleges, polytechnics and universities, research mentorships, and other institutions. The school offers students 40 co-curricular activities (CCAs) in the four areas of sports, uniformed groups, performing arts, and clubs and societies. The school holds performing arts and sporting activities, including

924-406: Is land-use planning . URA planners devise both long-term strategic plans, along with medium-term plans, which are reviewed every five to ten years. These plans designate the land use and urban density for the entirety of Singapore. These designations are divided by URA into 55 planning areas . It is the responsibility of URA to evaluate and grant planning approval for development projects from

990-542: Is a marked-out historical landmark of the Jalan Besar Heritage Trail. It became the headquarters of the People's Association in 2010. In 1984, Victoria School moved to 3 Geylang Bahru Lane . The new site's move was marked with a 2.3  km march by 1,500 present and former students, teachers, and principals from Tyrwhitt Road, led by Abbas Abu Amin , Member of Parliament for Pasir Panjang GRC who

1056-595: Is a residential area where a majority live in landed homes such as freehold terrace houses, semi-detached houses, and bungalows. Some of the land parcels near Siglap Centre have been redeveloped into serviced apartments and condominiums. There are also other apartments and condominiums in the Siglap area. The few Housing and Development Board flats in Siglap have earmarked since 2015 under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme for redevelopment. The East Coast Park

1122-670: Is a sense of pride and belonging to the school, a fighting spirit, and striving to be their best. Victoria School offers the Integrated Programme , GCE Ordinary Level Physical Education Programme, Art Elective Programme , Regional Studies Programme, and Higher Mother Tongue Languages in Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. VS students may also enrol in the Music Elective Programme in Secondary Three or

1188-770: Is also located nearby, across the East Coast Parkway . The area is served by the Thomson-East Coast MRT line and the Siglap MRT station which opened in June 2024. The present area of Siglap was founded by Tok Lasam, the penghulu (chieftain) of Siglap. It is believed that he sailed to Singapore to escape the Dutch attack on his Sultanate of Gowa in the 1660s. According to legend, it was said that dark thunder clouds had appeared when he first landed in

1254-548: Is carried out towards the end of secondary two. Students whose applications have been approved by the PE Department are notified before the subject combination allocation process at the end of the school year. The Art Elective Programme (AEP) leads to the GCE Ordinary Level Higher Art examination. The AEP is offered to academically good students with talent in art. For lower secondary classes,

1320-431: Is sewn on the back pockets of the trousers. Secondary 3 and 4 students wear a black school belt. The school socks are white with the initials 'VS' in red on both sides, although plain white socks are allowed. Shoes have to be at least 80% white. In 2005, an official 'Victoria School' shoe with the letters 'VS' on each side was introduced. Students wear a maroon striped tie every Monday and on formal occasions, sometimes with

1386-621: Is the final resting place of many Muslims in the area in the past. Several prominent people buried there include Dr Hafeezudin Sirajuddin Moonshi founder of the first Muslim Clinic in Singapore. There are even graves allocated for the mythological Orang Bunian inside. This site coupled with Masjid Kassim located in Telok Kurau originally belonged to Ahna Mohamed Kassim bin Ally Mohamed who was endowed with it in 1921. Today

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1452-786: The Bedok Reservoir Park or the East Coast Park runs west of the estate along the Siglap Canal. The Siglap Linear Park which is similar to a park connector cuts through the area too, running from Opera Estate to East Coast Park. Siglap is part of the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency and has one community centre, the Siglap South Community Centre, it is not to be confused with

1518-744: The Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examinations and proceed directly to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations at the end of the sixth year. Under this programme, students complete their four-year secondary education in Victoria School before moving to Victoria Junior College for Years 5 and 6 for pre-university education. Victoria School started offering the Integrated Programme together with Cedar Girls' Secondary School and Victoria Junior College in 2012, building upon

1584-464: The public and private sectors . In approving development applications, the URA states its goal is to foster orderly development conforming to the planning guidelines as stated in the statutory Master Plan and the existing control factors. URA tries to provide quality service when working in partnership with building industry professionals and the general public to foster development. URA is responsible for

1650-665: The urban design of the city. For areas of special interest, such as the Singapore River area, the Orchard Road shopping belt, and the Marina Bay , URA devises specific medium and short-term urban design and land use plans. It also works with other government agencies in enhancing the city's urban design. Building conservation in Singapore is the responsibility of URA, which issued a Conservation Master Plan in 1989. This plan laid down guidelines and processes for

1716-439: The 2.02 hectares cemetery contains a distinctive yellow gate and is at least 90 over years old. Despite it being a cemetery it is entirely surrounded by landed houses and condominiums. 1°18′50″N 103°56′10″E  /  1.314°N 103.936°E  / 1.314; 103.936 Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority ( URA ) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and

1782-421: The 2012 National Day Parade, the 300-strong Combined School Choir was formed by students from Victoria School and Cedar Girls' Secondary School. In The Straits Times National Youth Media Competition, Victoria School holds the best record among all the schools in Singapore, clinching the championship twice and runner-up position three times since the competition was inaugurated in 2005. Siglap Siglap

1848-631: The AEP class is not entirely made up of AEP students. Usually, about a third of the class will take AEP lessons, while the other two-thirds will have Home Economics or Design & Technology lessons. For upper secondary classes, AEP lessons are conducted after normal school hours. Students in the Regional Studies Programme (RSP) learn about Southeast Asian culture and contemporary society. The curriculum includes overseas immersion programmes and structured enrichment modules spread throughout

1914-404: The Chinese population. At the end of the war many mass graves had been found in the area, one of such place was near the junction of Bedok South Avenue 1 and Upper East Coast Road. In 1953 during the heydays of Singapore film making, Cathay-Keris Studio, one of two major film companies in Singapore, set up its studio along Jalan Keris and the surrounding area was commonly used for shooting scenes in

1980-531: The Gentlemen, Professional, and Sportsmen rooms), are air-conditioned and have sliding doors that open out to the landscape. Some classrooms on the upper floors have balconies, which were originally intended to take advantage of the sea view, but these are closed for safety reasons, and the Indoor Sports Hall now blocks most of the view. The school facilities also include a 500-seater auditorium and

2046-964: The Siglap Community Centre that serves the Bedok South Estate which is part of the East Coast Group Representation Constituency . The Wisma Mendaki Headquarters is another social facility located in the estate and serves the Malay community of the greater Geylang area too. There are various places of worship like the Bethany Evangelical Free Church , Bethesda Frankel Estate Church, Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Ean Keng Si Buddhist Temple (延庆寺), Kim San Temple (金山寺斗山宫), Masjid Kampong Siglap and The Emmanuel Assembly of God Church. The area falls under

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2112-536: The area which led to the name " Si-Gelap ", derived from the Malay word ‘gelap’, meaning " darkness that conceals ". Other versions of his arrival include him as a Minangkabau prince arriving from Sumatra to visit the Bugis settlements in the Tanjong Rhu area and ultimately establishing Siglap in 1809. According to historians, his arrival might have coincided with a rare full solar eclipse on 4 March 1821 and hence

2178-498: The back of the PE T-shirt. The students are grouped into five houses, namely Glam (red), Kallang (blue), Kapor (green), Rochore (yellow), and Whampoa (purple), which compete against each other in the school's annual Sports Day, Cross-Country Championships, Track and Field Championships and during Inter-house games and since 2019, Project APEX. Each house has its own running vest (singlet) in the house colours. The Victorian Spirit

2244-634: The biennial Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Arts Presentation, Victoria School Chinese Orchestra has always attained the Certificate of Distinction. Victoria School Choir is one of the school choirs in Singapore. In the Singapore Youth Festival Choral Judging Competition, the school has always attained a Gold with the Honours award. It has also won gold medals in international choir competitions. In

2310-601: The biennial Rhapsody, Drama Festival (Dramafest), Musical World, Arts Festival, and Evening of Music and Drama (EMD), the annual Sports Day and Cross-Country Championship. 13 sports are offered in Victoria School: badminton, cricket, cross-country, floorball, football, hockey, sailing, shooting, table-tennis, tennis, track & field, volleyball and wushu. The school also participates in the Inter-School Dragon Boat competition. Between 2009 and 2024,

2376-474: The city or Changi Airport . The East Coast Parkway (ECP) is an expressway that lies south of Siglap. Exit 7 and 8 of the expressway lead directly into the estate. The streets in Siglap (First to Fourth Street) off Siglap Road, were numerically named in 1958. The historic site of Kubur Kassim (also known to contain Keramat Sheikh Ali), an old Malay Cemetery that is nestled in the heart of Siglap

2442-454: The classroom block and the science block, the "Eco-Street," planted with tropical vegetation and houses fish and turtles, forms a central artery providing natural light and ventilation to the classrooms and a setting for outdoor learning. The Victoria Pool, Learning Garden, Bio Pod, and Exploration Patch represent a move away from rigidly-structured, classroom-based instruction. The ground-level classrooms, known as Learning Studios (consisting of

2508-558: The conservation of culturally and historically significant buildings. More than 7000 buildings in Singapore have been gazetted as conserved buildings. URA also sells land by tender on behalf of the Singapore government to meet demand from private developers. URA deals with tenders for government land and applications to buy reserved land. The URA plays an important role in managing all public car parks outside of Housing Development Board estates. It provides information and services to

2574-560: The course. Other schools in Singapore that have the Regional Studies Programme offer Malay as a third language, but since the Singapore Indonesian School is situated opposite Victoria School's campus at Siglap, students in the RSP programme take Indonesian as a third language. VECTORS is a school-based talent programme aimed at nurturing students who demonstrate high abilities in mathematics and science. Students are given

2640-476: The darkness might have referred to the eclipse, rather than the dark clouds. Today the graves of Tok Lasam, his wife and his panglima (commander) can be found near Jalan Sempadan off Upper East Coast Road. Siglap in its early days had four kampongs, side by side each other along the coastline, they were from east to west starting from Jalan Hajijah, Kampong Hajijah, Kampong Goh Choo, Kampong Siglap and Kampong Lim Choo which ended near Siglap Road. There were also

2706-513: The end of Year 6. Victoria School began in 1876 as an English class for 12 Malay boys at Kampong Glam Malay Branch School. The first headmaster was Y. A. Yzelman. In 1900, Kampong Glam Malay Branch School merged with Kampong Glam Malay School and moved to Syed Alwi Road near the Victoria Bridge, so the school was renamed Victoria Bridge School. At the time, it was a feeder school for secondary schools, including Raffles Institution , then

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2772-511: The estate that would be discharged after the rain has stopped. Siglap is served by amenities like the Siglap Centre, Fairprice Siglap New Market, and Siglap V which are found at the junction of Siglap Road and East Coast Road. East Coast Road and Upper East Coast Road are also lined with restaurants, food courts and shops. Additionally the estate has shophouses for the convenience of residents. The Siglap Park Connector that leads to either

2838-466: The films. In 1962 a huge fire broke out at Kampong Siglap when firecrackers were burnt out of control and set the village ablaze. The few HDB flats built in the area were built in the aftermath of the fire to house the homeless victims. Starting from the mid-1960s, the Government embarked on an ambitious land reclamation project that saw the coastline of the entire East Coast Region shift outwards. As

2904-607: The first school in Singapore to offer Physical Education as a subject examinable at the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level . It also became one of the first four secondary schools to offer the Regional Studies Programme, and the only one offering Bahasa Indonesia . The school began offering the six-year Integrated Programme through the Victoria-Cedar Alliance, together with Cedar Girls' Secondary School and Victoria Junior College , in 2012. M The Victoria School campus covers 3.5 hectares (8.6 acres). Between

2970-610: The first schools in Singapore to resume classes. It was housed at the Kampong Glam Malay School site until May 1946 since the Tyrwhitt Road building was used as a hospital. Under the headmaster R. F. Bomford's leadership, a science block was constructed for the school. At the time, Victoria School had the best school laboratories in Singapore, attracting students from Raffles Girls' School and St. Andrew's School to take science lessons at Victoria School. It

3036-469: The hostel for six weeks. Three classes attend this programme in Term 1, four classes in Term 2, and three classes in Term 3. A S$ 500,000 AstroTurf field replaced the conventional field in early 2007. The Indoor Sports Hall (ISH) was completed in June 2009. It consists of two storeys, but the building's height is approximately four storeys because of the high ceiling. The school also has an air-rifle range,

3102-657: The inland and the outer coastal areas, with the former considerably hilly while the latter because it had mostly been reclaimed generally flat. The uneven terrain inland can be seen with the steep descent of Fidelio Street into the lower lying areas of Opera Estate at the Fidelio Circus. This has caused frequent flooding in Opera Estate in the past whenever it rained. The Government has since, starting from 1996, improved drainage and installed Singapore's first underground water detention tank to store excess rain water from

3168-562: The jurisdiction of the Siglap Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP), which is part of the Bedok Police Division , and the 2nd Singapore Civil Defence Force DIV HQ. There are currently several schools in the area namely (4 of which are public government schools): Despite the lower population density of the estate because it contains mostly landed houses, as opposed to HDB flats, the area still has

3234-420: The only government secondary school in Singapore. In 1909, Victoria Bridge School added classes for Standard Five to alleviate the enrolment pressure at Raffles Institution. In 1931, it became the second government secondary school in Singapore. Many students left school at age 13 so from 1930 to 1952, the school operated an afternoon session for continuing education. The school uniform was introduced by 1929, and

3300-509: The primary classes were phased out and the school became a district secondary school. The school motto, Nil Sine Labore (Latin for "nothing without labour"), was adopted before World War II . During the Japanese occupation of Singapore between 1942 and 1945, Victoria School continued operating as a Japanese school called Jalan Besar Boys' School. Following the end of the war, Victoria School reopened with 16 pupils on 1 October 1945 as one of

3366-421: The programme until 2005. Single-session schooling began in 1992 after the extension of the school building the previous year. The school opted to remain a government school and not become independent; it was selected to become one of the first six autonomous schools in 1994. The campus at Siglap Link off Marine Parade Road opened in 2003, incorporating a hostel. It was designed on ecological principles to reflect

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3432-473: The public in regard to coupon parking, season parking, and heavy vehicle parking. URA also sets the bylaws to parking infringement and fines. In keeping with URA's function as the authority for urban design in Singapore, the URA Centre was conceptualised by URA's in-house architects. Kenzō Tange Associates and Kajima Design Asia Pte Ltd served as design consultants. The building consists of two blocks:

3498-483: The region. They settled in the estate and developed the area by building roads named after famous Operas of their time including Carmen and Aida , which gave rise to the name of Opera Estate as it is known today. They were influential people that welcomed distinguished guests like Albert Einstein to visit and tour the area. At the onset of WWII the Frankels left for the United States. The area as well as along

3564-688: The school won 40 national team titles and 32 zonal team titles at the National Schools Games and achieved a national top-four placing 210 times. VS students have won six Singapore National Olympic Council Best Sportsboy/Team Awards and 23 Singapore Schools Sports Council Best School Boy Awards for sports. Ten Victorians have represented Singapore at the Olympics - four in hockey, three in athletics, two in sailing and one in water-polo. Victoria School has six uniformed groups, four national and two worldwide. They offer Secondary 2-3 students

3630-494: The school's values, with roofs curved like an open book and the school centred on the library. At its opening, it had the largest government secondary school library in Singapore. The campus was selected to participate at the 9th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice . The ceremonial procession to the new campus was attended by President S. R. Nathan , who was an alumnus of Victoria School. In 2008, Victoria School became

3696-682: The south of Siglap, in contrast, however the services cutting through the Frankel and Opera Estate areas are limited and these services are 32, 40, 42, 135 and 401. Siglap is served by the Kembangan and Bedok MRT Stations, on the East West MRT line . However, in 2023 a closer station, Siglap MRT station , on the Thomson–East Coast line , will open on Marine Parade Road near Victoria School and bring greater and faster connectivity to

3762-555: The success of the original four-year Victoria Integrated Programme started by Victoria Junior College in 2005. In 2008, Victoria School became the first school in Singapore to offer Physical Education (PE) as an examinable subject at the GCE Ordinary Level after receiving the approval of the Ministry of Education in 2006. The course involves theoretical and practical aspects, including weight training, football, hockey, and cross-country running, among others. Students take

3828-456: The theory examination at the end of the course (i.e., November of the graduating year). This examination contributes 40% of their overall grade, the other 60% coming from the practical component, assessed over a period of time. To better acquaint students with the style of GCE Ordinary Level PE lessons, PE theory lessons are also conducted in lower secondary classes as an examinable subject. The selection process for GCE Ordinary Level PE candidates

3894-642: The wider East Coast Stretch saw machine gun pillbox being installed by the British in anticipation of a sea-bound attack by the Japanese that never materialise. During the Japanese Occupation, the coasts of Siglap and several of the nearby hills were used as execution sites in the Sook Ching operation carried out by the Japanese to clear out anti-Japanese personnel, the operation mostly targeted

3960-506: Was also selected as Singapore's pioneer school for audio-visual education. Post-School Certificate (now the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level ) classes began in 1951 and included the first girls to attend the school. In 1955, the school achieved the best results in Singapore in the examinations for the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (present-day Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level ), with

4026-629: Was an alumnus of Victoria School. Students preferred the junior colleges to the pre-university programme, so Victoria Junior College was established that year as a separate institution and the school ended its pre-university intake, with the last group of students sitting for the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations in November 1985. The school began offering the Art Elective Programme in 1985 and set up its first computer laboratory in 1986. The first Victoria Challenge

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4092-461: Was formed in 1919, When Victoria Bridge School was at Syed Alwi Road, the school had a recommended maximum enrolment of 560. However, by 1925, it had 705 students. Victoria Bridge School's campus at Syed Alwi Road is depicted on the back of the S$ 2 banknote in the current series . In 1933, Victoria Bridge School moved to Tyrwhitt Road and changed its name to its current name, Victoria School. In 1935,

4158-475: Was founded in 1922, when school-based Scouting was introduced in government schools. In 1932, the 6th Troop was renamed Arrow Scout Group after the Golden Arrow which BP had proclaimed in 1929's 3rd World Scout Jamboree as Scouting's symbol of peace and goodwill. Victoria School has four performing arts groups. Victoria School Chinese Orchestra is one of the top school Chinese orchestras in Singapore. In

4224-535: Was inaugurated in 1987, and the Victorian Profile began in 1991. In 1989, Victoria School was a small number of schools chosen to receive overseas scholars from the ASEAN countries. After the introduction of national ranking by the Ministry of Education in 1992, the school placed in the top ten in four years of that decade. The school became the seventh Gifted Education Programme centre in 2001 and hosted

4290-441: Was operational from 5 July 1981 till 16 September 2001 when it was closed to make way for the construction of Victoria School. Most of the bus services that originated from the terminal were subsequently extended to Bedok Bus Interchange or Upper East Coast Bus Terminal further east, while other routes were cut short. Today, there are still many bus services that ply along Upper East Coast Road and Marine Parade Road that run through

4356-420: Was upgraded in 1966 and gazetted for conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in 2007. It is one of the few early city-centre schools still in existence and features two school buildings from the pre- and post-war period on a single site. The hall-and-canteen block is the only known school hall left of this style and configuration in Singapore. The site was awarded the URA Heritage Award in 2009. It

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