Anderson Secondary School

Infobox Singapore School
name = Anderson Secondary School
安德逊中学 (ān dé xùn zhōng xúe)


motto = With Constancy and Purpose
established = 1960
type = Autonomous Secondary
session = Single session
principal = Poh Mun See(Mrs)
city/town = Ang Mo Kio
school code = 3001
colours = yellow, black, green
enrollment = approx. 1300
homepage = [http://schools.moe.edu.sg/andersonss/ Link]

Anderson Secondary School (Anderson or ANDE) is an autonomous, co-educational government school in Ang Mo Kio, Singapore. It is one of the first autonomous schools in Singapore, becoming such in 1994. It was ranked "Top Neighbourhood School" by the "Straits Times" in 1992, and has received the Singapore Quality Class Award (2002) and the Best Practice Award for Staff Well-being (2003). It is a Band 1 school in Singapore since 2005.

History

The school was founded in 1960 as a girls' primary school. In 1964 it expanded its mission to become Anderson Girls' Secondary School, and in 1965 began admitting boys for the first time. The school has been hosted at many sites; it was originally located at Anderson Road, but in 1984 moved to Ang Mo Kio Street 44. In December 1993 it moved to its current location, Ang Mo Kio Street 53.

Anderson Secondary School has been used from time-to-time for educational experiments. In 1994 it was declared an autonomous school, and in 1996 was one of the first schools to use the Student's-and-Teacher's Workbench project. In 1997, it was chosen as an IT demo school.

Notably, the principal who helped the School to get the Singapore Quality Class award was Chan Khah Gek.

The former school vision "Caring and Responsible Leaders of Tomorrow" was changed to "An Institution of Distinction to Inspire and Serve" in 2003.

In 2007, the school underwent the Vision Mission Statement review, under the flagship of Mrs Poh Mun See. After the review, the school concluded that the vision, mission and values statement remained relevant for the next ten years.

chool Principals

*1964 Mr M A Mallal
*1965-1973 Miss Heng Cher Siang
*1974-1975 Mrs Peggy Phang
*1976-1978 Mrs Lim Soon Tze
*1979-1980 Miss Lim Hsiu Yun
*1981-1983 Mr Sarwan Singh
*1984-1992 Miss Leong Yop Pooi
*1993-1996 Mr Kwek Hiok Chuang
*1997-2001 Mrs Chan Khah Gek
*2002-2005 Mrs Tan Wai Lan
*2006- Mrs Poh Mun See

Emblem and motto

The school's emblem is the bamboo, meant to symbolise greatness, nobility, distinction, purity, and humility. The school's motto, "With Constancy and Purpose", is also related to the bamboo, which is very versatile, hardy and unyielding.

Events in Anderson

There are many events throughout the year in Anderson, creating a vibrant school culture. They include the ANDnovation Carnival, Cross Country, Sports Carnival, Speech Day, Arts Festival other festive events.

At the same time, there are many student initiated events hosted in Anderson. Mainly under the flagship of the Student Council (ASC), events like fund-raising carnival, Anderson Cultural Project, March/April Games were held. These games were targeted at improving school vibrancy, as well as to inculcate a stronger sense of belonging within the students for the school.

Most of the intra-school events are played at the class level, where students compete in events for their classes. This is done instead of inter-house competition to encourage greater bonding within classes. It is hoped that the stronger class spirit will create a better learning environment.

Old Andersonian Alumni Society

The Old Andersonian Alumni Society ( "OAAS" ) was set up on 18 May 1999. With the help of the school, a protem Committee was first formed in November 1998 to spearhead the formation and setting up of an Alumni association. Some twenty ex-Andersonians came forward to help plan, strategise and execute the launch of the OAAS.

The objectives of the OAAS are enshrined in the OAAS's Constitution. Its main objectives are to provide an organisation for ex-Andersonians to interact, reconnect with one another as well as with their Alma Mater and to assist it to achieve greater heights in all respects.

PRIME Upgrading

In year 2003, the school had undergone a PRIME upgrading project for around three years until mid 2006. The school had been raising funds for non-standard facilities such as a student activity hub, heritage centre and a multi-purpose studio. It also upgraded the lecture theatre and classrooms and also had a new five-storey building.

It has also been noted that in 2005, the final stage of the upgrading process of the school was extremely challenging. The temporary canteen was used as a canteen and an assembly area, which would mean that the students would experience stuffiness there. Most of the students were unable to use some of the facilities such as the school hall, cookery rooms and mostly the football field which was only ready in July 2006. The school library was moved to another part of the school building in the first half of the same year and had undergone a new zen-style layout. Like any of the facilities down for upgrading in 2005, the students had to bear with the inconvenience for not using the library. Borrowing of books and lessons held in the library were suspended.

A special facility called the "INSPIRE TOWN" was officially opened in 2005. The INSPIRE TOWN is a room where innovation and creativity is encouraged amongst pupils. This is done through the setting of an informal environment that allows great room for creativity and innovation.

External links

* [http://schools.moe.edu.sg/andersonss/ Official website]
* [http://www.andersonsec.moe.edu.sg/ Anderson Portal]