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Victoria School

File:Vscrest small.gif

Name

Victoria School

Abbreviation

VS

School code

3014

Chinese name 维多利亚学校
Address

2 Siglap Link Singapore 448880

Country

Singapore

Town

Marine Parade

Founded

1876

Community

Urban

Type

Autonomous Government Secondary

Religion

Secular

Students

Boys

Levels

Secondary 1–4

Colours

Red, Yellow

Motto

Nil Sine Labore
Nothing without labour

Newspaper

Victoriana

Website

vs.moe.edu.sg

Victoria School is an autonomous government secondary school, ranked as one of Singapore's premier education institutions. It was founded in 1876 and had its origin in an early English Class organised by Mr M. Hellier while Singapore was still a colony under the British Crown.

Victoria School has moved five times since it was established in Kampong Glam; well-known VS campuses include the Tyrwhitt and Syed Alwi campus, of which the latter is one of three institutions featured on the reverse side of the Republic's S$2 note. The school's new campus is located at Siglap Link in Marine Parade, about 1 kilometre from Victoria Junior College.

The school has produced numerous Queen's and President's Scholars, politicans, top civil servants, academics, corporate figures, and sportsmen. It is also the former institution of the incumbent President of Singapore, His Excellency Mr S R Nathan.

Symbols

School Crest

The school crest is somewhat similar to Oxford University’s crest, due to the school's English origins.

The open book symbolises lifelong learning, while the torch symbolises truth and the passing on of a tradition. It also illuminates the way of Victorians who venture forth to excel beyond the shores of Singapore.

School Colours

Yellow: Signifies dignity and excellence, closely assosciated in an Asian society.

Red: Symbolises universal brotherhood and equality.

School Motto

"Nil Sine Labore"

The school's motto is in Latin, meaning "Nothing without Labour", emphasising the need for Victorians to work hard in fulfilling their dreams and passion.

Strategic values

The institution has eight core/key strategic values (in no particular order): performance excellence, professionalism, innovation, integrity, compassion, tradition, strategic alliances, and global-mindedness.

The adoption of corporate ethos as typified by the identification of 'core values' is not unique to Victoria School and is a trend observable in many Singaporean schools.

Victorian Anthem

The Victorian Anthem has a somewhat upbeat neo-colonial tinge to it, befitting the school's image as an English institution. The Victorian Anthem is sung by students of Victoria School during important events, and on Mondays during the flag-raising assembly.

The anthem is also shared by Victoria Junior College after minor adaptation from the original Victoria School song [pre-1987]. The original VS school song began with 'Victoria School in Singapore' [sang as Vic-to-ria School ] and had "school" after the first three "Victoria" [currently sang as Vic-to-ri-a ] i.e. in the first 2 paragraphs shown below but was slightly modified to allow Victoria Junior College to also use the song as a common anthem.

Lyrics by J A Frazer (pre-1987 version)
Music by W E Meyer (pre-1987 version)

Victoria in Singapore
There are other schools we know
Victoria is something more
The school that watch'd us grow

For here we've learnt and striven too
And played the sportsman's game
Victoria we give to you
The honour that you claim

Victoria thy sons are we
And we will not forget
Victoria thy triumphs see
And victories we share yet

For others came before and went
And carried to the world
Victoria's fame and our intent to
Keep her flag unfurled.

Culture

Uniform

Victoria School's formal uniform consists of a short-sleeved shirt, with either khaki shorts (for secondary 1 and 2 students) or long white trousers (for secondary 3 and 4 students). On Mondays, Victorians wear a maroon striped tie across their bleached apparel. Victorians wear the school badge above the left chest pocket, while student bodies such as the Prefectorial Board, Monitors' Council and Peer Leaders' Council instead wear the badges of their respective student bodies.

For physical activities and camps, students wear a yellow T-shirt with black trim, and black shorts. On the T-shirt, the school crest is located on the left chest area while the word 'Victorian' (*) is printed in bold on the back. This activity uniform has been in use since approximately 1987 or 1988 and is termed the 'Bumblebee' by many. [citation needed] On the shorts, the school crest is located in the bottom right corner.

Each house has their own running vest (singlet) available in the respective house colours. The house colours include yellow (Rochore), blue (Kallang), green (Kapor), purple (Whampoa), and red (Glam).

The mandatory school socks are white with the initials 'VS' imprinted in red.It is compulsory to wear the socks for all victorians. In 2005, the 'Victoria' shoe was introduced, but is not compulsory.

Teachers have no formal wear.

There are several variations of permitted school badges, other than the Prefects' badge. They are the AV Club, Librarian, Choir, Chinese Orchestra and Concert Band badges, and the use of these is to represent the respective CCAs the students are in. They were in use in lieu of the default school badge as late as in the year 1995.

Identity

The name 'Victorian' was given to all Victoria School students to forge a common identity. [citation needed] When addressing the boys, 'Victorians' is always used instead of 'Students' or 'Boys'. 'VICTORIAN' was later printed on the 'Bumblebee' over 'VICTORIA' (as with the house vest) and 'VICTORIA SCHOOL'. This served two purposes. One of them was to create a cameraderie between Victorians. The other was to identify Victoria School boys as Victorians, even in public places.

Affiliation

Victoria School is affiliated to Victoria Junior College. Though Victoria Junior College has its own Integrated Programme (IP), Victoria School boys entering Victoria Junior College get two bonus points off their L1R5 academic aggregate. Both schools are located within close proximity of each other. Activities such as concerts are sometimes jointly held.


Secondary Three Bonding Camp

Victoria School is the first school to have sent its entire cohort of Secondary Three students on an overseas camp, having done this since 2001. It is held in a farmland camp in Malaysia. The aim of the camp is to bond the new secondary 3 students and help them settle into their new classes after having been streamed according to their subject combinations. Activities such as kayaking, trekking and such are held. The camp is held for four days and three nights.

Leadership Training Camp/Camp Instructors Camp (LTC/CIC)

The LTC and CIC are overseas camps organised for secondary two students who wish to be leaders of their respective CCAs and societies. Unlike the CIC, the LTC is very regimented and disciplined, and incorporates physical training as the highlight of the camp. Strict practices such as uniformity among the squad, which include the ban of watches and having the same attire, as well as in conversation (e.g. addressing their seniors as 'Sir') are strongly enforced. Standing and sitting positions are also much restricted as it is in the military. Punishments conducted are often physical in nature, which include push-ups and extra runs.

Prefectorial Board

The board is responsible for organising school events and regulating school discipline. The board is governed by a Head Prefect and two Deputy Head Prefects, namely the First Deputy Head Prefect (Internal Affairs) and the Second Deputy Head Prefect (External Affairs). The top 3 committee positions, which are the head prefects, 1st deputy prefect and 2nd deputy prefect are chosen annually by students and teaching staffs of the school through an online voting process. Prefects often conduct handphone checks, because students are not allowed to switch on their handphone at any time when they are within the school compound.

Monitors' Council

The council takes charge of events in the classroom, such as class activities and the regulation of classroom security. The council is headed by the president of the Monitors' Council, who has been the monitor of his class for four consecutive years.

Houses

The 5 houses of Victoria School are Kallang, Kapor, Whampoa, Glam and Rochore. The names of the houses is a reflection of some of the busiest settlements of Singapore past. The houses are most active during inter-house games such as soccer and chess, as well as at the Sports Day, and the School Cross-Country.

Kallang

Kapor

Whampoa

Glam

Rochore

Recent History

The school has moved five times since it was established in Kampong Glam; Victoria School campuses include the Tyrwhitt and Syed Alwi (Victoria Bridge) campus, of which the latter is featured on the reverse side of the Republic's S$2 bill alongside the former Raffles College (King Edward VII College of Medicine).

When top schools were given a choice to go independent, or remain autonomous or government-linked, in 1990, Victoria remained an autonomous school. The school advisory committee concluded that for the institution to retain its character as a school for students of all backgrounds, it did not want to raise fees, an act done for independent schools due to the lack of government subsidies.

Victoria School became the second autonomous school after Dunman High School to have a Gifted Education Programme (GEP) department in Singapore when it started with one GEP class in 2001.

The school's new campus is located at Siglap Link in Marine Parade, sandwiched between Marine Parade Road and the ECP (like its affiliated junior college Victoria Junior College. Neighbouring landmarks like the East Coast Park are occasionally used to conduct lessons and activities. The ceremonial move in 2003 to its new campus was graced by The President Of The Republic Of Singapore. The campus was officially declared open by The President Of The Republic Of Singapore on the 22nd Of July 2006, which was also the school's 130th anniversary.

Victoria School's colonial past is evident in many forms. Victoria School students address school staff as 'Sir' for males, and 'Ma'am' for females.

Achievements

VS has also been awarded the Ministry of Education's Sustained Achievement Award (SAA) for the Arts (since 2004), Physical Fitness (since 2004) and Uniformed Groups (since 1999). VS also attained the Academic Value Added Award (Silver) and Character Development Award in 2006.

Academic Performance

The 2004 cohort of secondary 4 students scored an L1B5 (First Language and 5 Best subjects) mean score of fewer than 11 points, putting Victoria School in the top tier of schools with awards (denoted by stars) given for "academic value as well as aesthetical and fitness excellence".

The school has put in place programmes such as the Enhanced Study Programme (ESP) alongside enrichments such as Learning Styles and Resiliency courses to aid weaker students to maintain the school's performance. Upon request from students, the school has also extended its library operating hours past office hour, and has also made the study area on the second floor open to all students.

School Campus/Facilities

Victoria School moved into its seven-storey compound in Siglap Link in the year 2003. A virtual tour of the school is available at the VS Open House Website

Architecture of the current Victoria School Compound

The design for the current Victoria School Campus marks a new threshold in designing for the new learning. Outdoor spaces are no longer considered secondary, but are integrated as part of the design process to become the very heart of the school itself. The Eco-Street forms the central artery of the school, and is the organising element for the linear plan that relates to the metaphor of a learning journey, one through which the child learns, interacts, socialises and develops into a "Victorian Gentleman". This learning journey is translated into a variety of learning and social spaces, with the various teaching blocks and elements that capture the history of the school strategically strung along this linear route. The linear space is marked by the 'Victorian Torch' and the 'Victorian Platform' at either end, symbolising the beginning and the culmination of this Victorian experience, respectively. At the heart of all these lies the Eco-Street, a unique landscaped waterway running along the length of the school. The boundaries between building and landscape are blurred, with linkways, bridges and footpaths weaving through the lush greenery, revealing a tapestry of nature enriched by student activity and interaction within an "outdoor classroom". The Eco-Street thus assumes the important roles of social and learning space rolled into one.

Functionally, the Eco-Street takes the form of a central green lung that provides a relief space between the classroom suites and the special teaching rooms. The setback between blocks allows more natural light to filter into the interiors and better ventilation through the various spaces.

One exceptional feature of the school that distinguishes it from other schools is also how landscape is transformed into a learning tool. The flora and fauna of the Eco-Street provide not only visual and experiential benefits. It forms a stage set for outdoor learning to take place. In tandem with the school's emphasis on integrating nature and ecology into the curriculum, it is carefully designed to become an active learning space for multi-disciplinary projects. Consisting of water bodies and gardens such as The Victoria Pool, The Learning Garden, The Bio Pod and Exploration Patch, these spaces illustrate a move away from structured classroom-based instruction, to a more authentic learning experience that fosters teamwork, communication and autonomy. Lessons are brought to life outdoors through the diversity of plant and animal species and ponds, and they provide hands-on experiment and investigation opportunities, enabling students to learn about ecology and the life sciences.

The design for Victoria School attempts to use architectural elements as props for learning. This creates opportunities for discovery, enquiry and discussion - key ideas underlying the new learning. The building is conceived not as a passive container of knowledge but as an integral part of learning.

The synergy between building and environment comes alive in the perforated sunscreens with murals of renowned figures that become a historical narrative of the school, reflecting the school's aspirations for its students. These permeable screens also reflect a passive design strategy that is in response to Singapore's tropical climate. Walls are no longer silent backdrops for pinup displays, but are themselves alive with their own stories to tell. They become dynamic canvases that capture the changing moods created by light and shadow, enhancing students' awareness of changing conditions at different times of the day.

  • Dynamic Canvases
    Dynamic Canvases

Even areas that are commonly played down, such as ceilings, are used to advantage by creating constellation patterns with ceiling panels and lights of different shapes and colours.

By organising the overall plan according to key speciality areas, the design allows flexibility in accommodating the school's subject-room system. This is a faculty-based arrangement by different disciplines and specialist subject areas. The classrooms are assigned to different subject areas and students move from class to class. This illustrates that planning decisions can determine how effective the school can be in supporting learning and the curriculum. With the subject-room system, in-between spaces and other terraces and balconies can be converted into additional resource areas, exhibition or gallery areas and experiment terraces etc. to better support their respective disciplines.

The classroom suites are arranged in pairs, divided by sliding partitions, to allow the flexibility of utilising two standard classrooms as one big learning suite. This arrangement can cater to many different layout combinations that can change in response to different activities and programmes.

The classrooms on ground level are specially designed with additional doors that open out to the landscape, inviting students to the natural outdoors, while classrooms on upper floors open out to balconies. This reflects the school's teaching focus and allows an extension of the classroom space, taking learning beyond the four walls.

Victoria Hall is a hostel built within the Victoria School compound. The Hall is beside the sea and East Coast Park, giving boarders both a bay view and easy access to the sporting facilities at the Park. It is home to about 500 boarders of different nationalities such as Malaysians, Indonesians, PRC Chinese, Indians, Vietnamese and Thais, although the majority of boarders in the hostel are the PRC and ASEAN students. [citation needed]

As Victoria School and its hostel, Victoria Hall had to be integrated within one development, the key challenge was in optimisation of landuse, which is especially pertinent in land-scarce Singapore. The designers worked in close collaboration with the School Building Committee comprising the principal and teachers, parents, alumni and the Ministry of Education, in rationalising the project. The objective was to avoid duplication of facilities between the school and hostel and to encourage sharing as far as possible. This process achieved a 13 percent reduction in the net floor area of the hostel, freeing up valuable space for more landscaped areas, which are extremely important within such an intensively built-up development.

Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs)

The school holds many performaing arts and sporting activities, with intra-school events such as the biennial Drama Festival (Dramafest) and Evening of Music & Drama (EMD), as well as the Annual Victoria School Sports and Cross-Country Championships. However, there has been some general displeasure mainly by a portion of the student body over the school allocating more focus and resources to the sports CCAs. [citation needed]

Performing Arts

In 2003, the school attained the Gold award in the prestigious biennial Singapore Youth Festival Competition for its Chinese Orchestra, Concert Band, and Indian Dance. The Victoria School Choir, the current best all-boys and secondary school choir in Singapore, also attained the Gold award. The Choir is part of the Singapore Choral Excellence scheme. The Concert Band has also represented Singapore in exchange programmes in Australia. Victoria School also attained the Sustained Achievement Award (SAA) for Arts by the Ministry of Education in 2004.

In 2005, the Concert Band and Choir were each awarded Gold with Honours while the Chinese Orchestra, Indian Dance, and English Drama Society were awarded Gold Singapore Youth Festival Competition. It was the first time in recent years that Victoria School, through the English Drama Society had competed in the Drama category. In addition, the Chinese Orchestra was also one of only two all-boys Chinese Orchestras (the other coming from the current Hwa Chong Institution) to have achieved two consecutive Golds.

Sports

In the early 1970s, Victoria School was the first English-language school to win in the Inter-Schools Basketball competition, a game formerly dominated by the Chinese-language schools since its inception.

Victoria School is strong in Cross-Country, Badminton, Cricket, Tennis, Hockey, and Track & Field. One sport in which Victoria School does particularly well is cross-country, have won at least one title each year since 1995. In 2005, Victoria School achieved a double gold for the first time since 1999, winning both the National Cross-Country 'B' and 'C' titles. This was repeated in 2006. Victoria is the only school in Singapore to have ever achieved a double gold in that competition.

Many former students have also gone on to represent Singapore in hockey, football, cricket, track and field and others, also becoming captains of the national teams. In 1978, the captains of the Singapore national teams for hockey, rugby and cricket were former Victoria School students, and a few other were also in the national football team.

Uniformed Groups

Victoria School has seven uniformed groups, consisting of the National Cadet Corps (Land, Air, Sea), the National Police Cadet Corps, the Arrow Scouts, the Red Cross and the Boys' Brigade. Over half of the school population takes a uniformed group as their CCA. [citation needed] Activities common to the uniformed groups include camps, physical training, drills and community service. Uniformed groups are very strict in every activity and punishment is often physical in nature, and so includes push-ups and runs. Responsibility and pro-active involvement is often emphasised in uniformed groups.

Demographics

Victoria School has a student demographic which largely reflects that of the State. Ethnic Chinese students come from both Chinese-speaking and English-speaking backgrounds and the school has numerous Southeast Asian (ASEAN) and Chinese scholars in its enrollment.

In line with the institution's core value of establishing 'strategic alliances' and being 'global-minded', Victoria School has established links with many schools abroad to promote a Singaporean brand of education and an exchange of ideas, particularly in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The school also has bilateral exchange programmes with schools in the PRC, Malaysia and Thailand. Some examples are Chung Hwa High School (Malaysia) and Hebei-Baoding (PRC). The school also has students studying foreign languages representing the Ministry of Education Language Centre (MOELC) on the month-long Study-cum-Immersion Programmes (SCIP) to countries of their respective language like France, Germany and Japan.

Prominent Victorians

  • Civil Service
    • Chiang Chie Foo: Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Defence; Colombo Plan Scholar, 1975
    • Ho Meng Kit: Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
    • Lee Chiong Giam: Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    • BG Loh Wai Keong: Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry; Former Commander, 3rd Division, Singapore Armed Forces; President's Scholar, 1984
    • Lam Chuan Leong: Ambassador-At-Large; Chairman, InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore; Former Permanent Secretary; President's Scholar, 1967
    • V K Rajan: Former Ambassador
  • Academic
    • Dr A Vijiaratnam: First Pro-Chancellor, NTU; Olympian, 1956
    • Prof Edwin Thumboo: Emeritus Professor; First and former Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS
    • Prof Wee Chow How: Head, Division of Strategy, Management and Organization, Nanyang Business School, NTU; Former Dean, Faculty of Business Administration, NUS
    • Prof Brian Lee Chang Leng: Professor (Adjunct), NTU; Former Dean, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, NTU
    • Dr Chew Chin Hin: Adjunct Senior Fellow, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
    • Prof Chou Siaw Kiang: Vice-Dean, Faculty of Engineering, NUS
    • Assc [[Prof Yip Yew Kwong, Vice-Dean (Academic), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NTU
    • Assc Prof Chan Wai Meng: Director, Centre for Language Studies, NUS
    • Prof Jon Quah: Former Head, Dept of Political Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS
    • Assc Prof Tsoi Wing Foo: Former Head, Dept of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, NUS
    • Assc Prof Ho Wing Meng: Former Head, Dept of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS
    • Assc Prof Sim Keng Yeow: Former Head, Dept of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, NUS
    • Ong Teong Wan: Consulting Partner, Singapore Institute of Management
    • Lee Fong Seng: Former principal, Raffles Junior College
  • Armed Forces/Police Force
    • LG Ng Yat Chung: Chief of Defence Force, Singapore Armed Forces; SAF (Overseas) Scholar, 1980
    • BG Ng Chee Khern: Chief of Air Force; President's Scholar, 1985
    • BG Neo Kian Hong: Director, Joint Operations & Planning Directorate cum Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Singapore Armed Forces; SAF (Overseas) Scholar, 1984
    • BG Tan Meng Dui: Commander, Air Defence and Operations Command (ADOC), Singapore Air Force; SAF (Overseas) Scholar, 1986; Littauer Fellow (MPA), Harvard University.
    • LT Iskandar Abdullah: Sword of honour (Best Overseas Cadet), Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England, 2005. First SAF officer in 14 years to be named Best Overseas Cadet at Sandhurst
    • Tee Tua Ba: Former Commissioner of Police, Singapore Police Force
    • Rajoo V Gopal: Asst Commissioner, Singapore Police Force
    • Teo Hong Guan: Former Director, CID, Singapore Police Force
    • DSP Masagoes Idris: CO, Pasir Ris NPC; Asian Games Representative (Hockey); SPF Scholar
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