The Saint Chronicles

Friday, November 04, 2005

Nov 4, 2005
$90m campus for St Andrew's - plus a river

Its 5,000 students won't have to leave school for water sports like canoeing
By Jane Ng

THE new St Andrew's schools mega-campus - the only one here with a river cutting through its grounds - is planning to take maximum advantage of the uniqueness bestowed by the Kallang River.

PHOTO: EDWIN KOO

From next year, its 5,000 students will be able to enjoy sports like canoeing and sculling without leaving school, take science modules on riverine studies and get involved in community service projects to keep the river free of pollution.

The new 20ha St Andrew's Village campus will house a kindergarten, primary and secondary schools and junior college, as well as three Anglican chapels, the Diocese of Singapore and new facilities like an Olympic-size pool and cultural centre.

It marks the beginning of what school authorities hope will be a new era for the school.

Built at a cost of $90 million, the campus in Potong Pasir will see the return of St Andrew's Junior College to the site it left back in 1978.

Its principal, Mrs Lim Chye Tin, said reuniting with the rest of the St Andrew's family would bring benefits to both staff and students.

'For our students, it is an opportunity for them to mentor and lead their younger brothers. For the teachers, there will also be a good sharing of resources.

'The art teachers in the JC and secondary school, for example, have their own areas of speciality, so this now means that there are more areas of artistic excellence that can be pursued,' she said.

Her counterpart in the secondary school, Mrs Belinda Charles, agreed that the benefits will work both ways.

She is hoping to implement teacher exchange programmes between the secondary school and junior college. The schools, which run separately, are also starting a seamless programme, beginning with sports like rugby and hockey, that will see the team of sports coaches following students' progress from upper primary right through to junior college.

There will be major academic changes too. Next year's Secondary 1 students will go through a curriculum that links better to JC 1 level, even though they will still sit for the O levels.

They will also be taught using new methods and technology, including tablet PCs, and be assessed through projects and presentations instead of exams.

In a few years, St Andrew's is hoping to reopen boarding facilities, which closed when the school underwent construction in 2002.

The principal of the junior school, Mrs Wai Yin Pryke, said being together would

do wonders for the school spirit.

'We will be one big family again and the St Andrew's spirit will be strengthened. The phrase, 'one family unbroken', in the school hymn will finally be true,' she said.

The schools will be having a fund-raising dinner tonight at the Shangri-La Hotel for its construction fund. Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam will be the guest of honour.

janeng@sph.com.sg
GRAPHICS: BONG FORTIN
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sub/singapore/story/0,5562,350694-1131141540,00.html?

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