CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School
CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls' School (referred to as "SNGS", "SNG" or "St Nick's") is an all-girls' Catholic primary and secondary school in Ang Mo Kio, Singapore. The school is one of 11 Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) schools in Singapore. SNGS has led the group of IJ schools with excellent results in sporting and academic achievements. The school was founded in 1933 by Father Nicholas Barre, originally as a Chinese school. Today, SNGS is one of the premier educational institutes in Singapore, ranking third in the list of top secondary girls' schools, and among the top 10 secondary schools in Singapore.
There is generally affiliation for the students of the primary division during their Primary School Leaving Examination. In this system of affiliation, which is also practiced in other schools, the students need to score less points in the PSLE to be accepted into their affiliate school, or in this case, the secondary sector of SNGS.
History
Hotel Van Dyke was its first location in 1933-1949, run by missionaries as a school for daughters of wealthy Chinese merchants.
In 1946, the enrolment in the school had expanded and the Hotel Van Dyke was unable to accommodate all of the students. The school relocated to the Town Convent, at Victoria Street, from 1949 to 1971.
Victoria Street and others 1972-83
In 1971, the school population has again increased to 1500. Mrs Hwang-Lee (the then-principal) appealed to the Ministry of Education for permission to relocate to larger premises. In 1979, seven years after she had first appealed, there was still no response forthcoming. She decided to call on Mr Goh Keng Swee, the then Minister for Education, to promote her cause, and permission was granted.
At that time, the Ministry of Education had just introduced the Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools, and St Nicholas was one of the nine schools selected. The plan caters to academically-strong students with an aptitude for languages, and only students scoring 250 and above (out of a total of 300) for their PSLE aggregate are allowed admission. Students in the plan are taught English and their mother tongue at a much higher level than their peers.
In 1979, a pre-primary section was opened. By 1980, the Victoria Street premises could no longer hold the whole school and some classes had to move out. They were temporarily held at the former Tao Nan School building at Armenian Street and the former Raffles Girls' Primary School at Queen Street.
Ang Mo Kio: 1985 to present
In 1982, the former Tao Nan School premises were no longer available to St Nicholas and they had to move out. The school's remaining two locations at the former Raffles Girls' Primary School and the original CHIJ building on Victoria Street did not have enough space for the entire school and a replacement had to be found urgently. Again, Mrs Hwang-Lee went straight to the top; this time to Mr Ho Kah Leong, then Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Education.
With his help, CHIJ was allocated to Toa Payoh, the first CHIJ school. Later on, a new school was built at Ang Mo Kio (St Nicholas) This school was designated Chong Boon Secondary School, but for now it would be part of St Nicholas Girls' School. Primary 6 to Secondary 4 classes were run at this location. Facilities, such as libraries, language rooms and science laboratories, had to be set up from scratch at all three locations, and staff had to shuttle between the three sites.
Finally, in 1983, the school was told to leave their premises at Victoria Street, and they were moved to a temporary building at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8. But it seems that their prayers for a permanent school site have been answered. A choice site for the school has been found at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 2, Street 13, and on 2 January 1985, St. Nicholas had a place to call its own again.
Temporary Relocation: 2010 to 2011
On the 14 February 2007, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced that under the programme PRIME Phase 9, eight more schools will be upgraded from 2008 to 2010. St Nicholas is one of the selected for this upgrading.
In a latest circular issued by SNGS dated 23 June 2008, MOE has decided to defer PRIME upgrading projects which tenders have yet to be called till after 2009. This is part of the government efforts to moderate public sector construction projects due to the high domestic construction demand in 2008 and 2009.
The Primary Section of St Nicholas will be temporarily relocated to former Kebun Baru Primary site at 6 Ang Mo Kio Ave 2 from Jan 2010 to Dec 2011. The Secondary Section of St Nicholas will be temporarily relocated to former First Toa Payoh Primary/Secondary site at 430 Toa Payoh Lorong 1 from Jan 2010 to Dec 2011.
After the upgrading, St Nicholas will have more classrooms and be fitted with new or upgraded facilities including media resource libraries, IT learning resource rooms and pastoral care rooms. In additional, there will be a new indoor sports hall to provide greater flexibility in conducting co-curricular activities and PE lessons at any time of the school day without having to worry about the weather.
School Attire
The school uniform consists of a blue pinafore worn with the school blouse with the option of shorts underneath. On days that students have their PE lessons, the school blouse is replaced with sports attire.
Hair has to be cut above the shoulders at all times, and hair lengths longer than that have to be pulled back in a neat ponytail.
Shoes have to be all white.
Nametags have to be worn above the school crest at all times. Students without their nametags have to purchase a temporary name tag from the school bookshop where they can write their name and class.
School monitors and prefects are required to wear their student leader badges above their nametags, and a student leader's tie around their collars.
Students are required to purchase "school socks", namely those with "SNG" printed clearly on it. Students must ensure that "SNG" is clearly visible (over their shoes) at all times and must not lie beneath the ankle.
Notable alumni
- Koh Juat Jong, President's Scholar, Solicitor-General of Singapore
- Sharon Au, MediaCorp actress
- Tanya Chua, singer-songwriter
- Cheryl Fox, Channel News Asia broadcaster
- Diana Ser, TV presenter
Class Naming
Classes are named in unique ways: 1984 - 1987: Hope, Charity, Faith, Purity, Virtue, Justice, Steadfast, Diligence, Grace, Truth
Present
Secondary: Charity, Diligence, Faith, Grace, Hope, Justice, Loyalty, Purity, Truth, Unity, Wisdom
Primary: Charity, Faith, Grace, Hope, Justice, Purity, Wisdom
Trivia
CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls' School is considered officially to be the 'sister' school of Catholic High School.