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BACK HOME IN WOODSVILLE
St Andrew's School has returned to the Woodsville of well-loved memory, with the secondary school now standing side by side with the junior school at 15 and 2 Francis Thomas Drive respectively and both sharing a common grand entrance that announces St Andrew's Village. In 2007, we celebrated the School’s 145th anniversary at the Village’s Cultural Centre at St Andrew’s Junior College with a concert that showcased the talents of all our Saints.
SCHOOL'S DIRECTION FOR THE DECADE
The vision of the school remains what it has always been and is encapsulated in the first line of our well loved school song - Lives are in the making here. At the same time, our mission is captured in a phrasing familiar to many and so easily remembered : to produce men of wisdom and stature who will stand in favour with God and man.
To accomplish this, the school has continued to refine 5 strategies we adopted from 2003 with this end in mind : to be a quality school where an inquiring mind and a love for learning is balanced with an emphasis on sports and the arts, all the while, supported by a sense of belonging and student government to keep students both rooted and purposeful!
While we are some way from achieving that, we have in every year obtained results that have added value to the students sent to us. This means that while a certain performance level was expected of them, the School was able to motivate them to do more.
The School is also becoming known for adopting Restorative Practice and Self Science to help students know and manage themselves better.
We remain a physically active school with a Gold standard for our physical fitness for the third year running. We were first for hockey and third for rugby.
In the Singapore Youth Festival last year, the Military Band had a gold for the 11th year running, the Drama Club won a gold for the 2nd time and the Choir secured a silver. Our student artists regularly win a mixture of prizes and we look forward to the present cohort being able to match if not exceed the talent of their seniors.
DESIGN OF THE SCHOOL
The secondary school has been designed to integrate the old with the new. Visitors will see the old warden's house, Woodsville House, preserved as a heritage building and used by the school as an archival centre as well as the offices of the principal, vice-principal and heads of department. It stands in a courtyard which is flanked by two long wings of classrooms, workshops and laboratories, running in the shape of a V. At the foot of the courtyard is the hall while at the apex is situated the library.
We no longer have classrooms but have instead subject home-rooms. These are in clusters according to disciplines, and depending on the subject, are fitted differently to accommodate the learning needs of the students.
At the wider end of the courtyard is housed our Design & Technology Centre of Excellence. Adjoining the V-shape set of buildings is the cafeteria and the after-school facilities which look onto the field and the walkway that links the secondary school and the junior school to the junior college across the river. Roberts Court with the old rain tree carefully preserved, opens onto a large living space at the side of the V where boys gather to study or to chat.
The Swimming Pool, which overlooks the field, is next to the old Boarding House which is now a fully renovated Day-Care Centre with 120 children from the junior school in its after-school facility.
Facilities in Progress
There are always new facilities to add. In 2007, the CCA complex beneath the cafeteria was completed together with a Student Centre. The security guards were also given a guard house. Early this year, we celebrated the opening of the Synthetic Rugby Field, shared between the junior and secondary schools.
SCHOOL CALENDAR
Founder’s Day this year will be celebrated on Saturday, 25 August. We have been slowly recording the histories of several donors and their relationship to the school and intend to organize a visit to the school by these donors and interested alumni towards the middle of the year. We will also be replanting the four palm trees that were in the Potong Pasir site when the secondary school was there.
Do keep in touch with the website so that you won’t miss these events as they come along.
Warmest regards,
Mrs Belinda Charles
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