CHIJ Katong Convent
| CHIJ Katong Convent 加东修道院女校 Jiādōng Xiūdàoyuàn Xuéxiào |
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|---|---|
| Location | |
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3 Geylang Bahru Lane (Holding Site) Singapore |
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| Information | |
| Type | Government-aided Autonomous |
| Opened | 1930 |
| Session | Single |
| School code | 7008 |
| Gender | Female |
| Website | chijkatongconvent.moe.edu.sg |
CHIJ Katong Convent (CHIJ - KC) is an autonomous all-girls Catholic secondary school in Singapore.
The school is one of 11 Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) schools in Singapore. Katong Convent is known for providing its students with a holistic and well-balanced education. The school has produced successful alumni who serve in many facets of society.
In the 1920s, the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus acquired one of the private bungalows on the eastern coast of Singapore as a weekend holiday bungalow for the nuns and boarders of the convent.
In 1930, these buildings were used as a private school and in 1932 the school was given a grant-in-aid status. The first set of students registered in January 1932 was mixed - 171 girls and 26 boys. Upon the completion of St Patrick's School in late 1932, these boys were transferred there. Katong Convent was no larger than a village school, consisting of four classes and a total enrolment of 197 students. Sister St Theodora was the first principal with a staff of only four teachers.
Under Sister St Vincent de Paul, the school building was extended in 1939 with eight new classrooms. In 1941, just before the outbreak of the war, there were 384 pupils - 60 in the secondary classes, 206 in the elementary and 118 in the primary. There were four nuns including the principal, and eight local teachers.
When the dark clouds of war were gathering in the East in 1941, the staff and students practised air raid drills. The first bombs were dropped in Singapore in December 1941. Most parents kept their children at home when the school re-opened in January 1942 and their fears were confirmed, for in February 1942 Singapore surrendered to the Japanese. At the outbreak of war, the school building at Martia Road was taken over by the British and became a military centre and was subsequently used as an internment camp to house local Japanese civilians as prisoners-of-war.
School reopened in May 1942 and Katong Convent functioned at St Hilda's School in Ceylon Road under the name of Ceylon Road Girls' School. The attendance was 102. There were 2 sessions - the morning session for girls and the afternoon session for boys from St Patrick's.
Peace came in August 1945, and when the school re-opened at St Hilda's in October 1945 there were 12 classes, and 430 students were re-registered for Primary 1 to Standard 5. Its old buildings briefly functioned as a tuberculosis hospital to cope with the post-war health crisis.
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Wikipedia