Holy Innocents' High School

Infobox Singapore School
name = Holy Innocents' High School
圣婴中学



motto = 谦诚和爱 Sincerity and Charity
established = 1892
type = Govt-aided
colours = white and blue
address = Singapore
session = single
school code = 7108
city/town = Hougang
enrollment = approx. 1500
principal = Ms Soh Lai Leng
viceprincipal = Ms Christina Michael
homepage = [http://www.holyinnocentshigh.moe.edu.sg Link]

Holy Innocents' High School (Abbreviation: HIHS; Simplified Chinese:圣婴中学, Traditional Chinese: 聖嬰中學, pinyin: "Shèngyīng Zhōngxué") is one of the earliest catholic schools in Singapore. Founded in 1892 by the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Chinese mission school is providing secondary school education leading up to a Singaporean GCE 'O' Level certification, in both express and normal streams. Every year during Thanksgiving Day, the students and teachers take an exodus to the Church for thanksgiving mass and award ceremonies.

The co-educational high school has gone through major facelits in 1994 and 2004 in order to upgrade its old colonial style buildings and facilities.

Today, Holy Innocents' High School stands on an elevated ground in Hougang Central, surrounded by the HDB flats and shopping centres.

chool Motto

The school motto, in Chinese, stressed on four areas of student development; intellect, morality, physical wellness and harmony. The four areas branch out and include values like humility, hardwork, honesty, kindness, righteousness, sincerity and charity.

chool Crest

Shield : represents the defence of our faith with Christ at the centre of our lives Red : symbolises the blood of Christ Blue : symbolises the ever soothing presence of our Mother Mary who is always there for us White : symbolises sincerity and honesty

chool Mission

To nurture students into highly principled and truthful adults with a Christian sense of right and wrong; useful citizens capable of committing themselves to God and the society in which they live.

chool Vision

Morally upright individuals with a passion to learn and a commitment to serve.

Culture

tudents

The Chinese language is widely spoken in the predominantly Chinese school. Almost all the students are Chinese, with a small handful of Indians and Malays. The school prides in areas of Chinese, Mathematics and Sciences.

Majority of the students come from Holy Innocents' Primary School, situated about 500m away. Most students continue their studies in polytechnics or junior colleges such as Anderson Junior College, Nanyang Junior College and Serangoon Junior College and Temesek Polytechnic. Despite affiliation with Catholic JC, only a small handful of students enrolled to the school due to the far distance.

Uniform

In 1997, under immense students' petition, upper secondary boys were allowed the option of wearing long trousers. Lower secondary school boys continued to wear shorts.

For both females and males alike, students wear a white top and light blue bottom.

Recently, the school introduced a new uniform, but the basic colours of white and blue remain unchanged. It is tucked out for the sake of the students' well being.

Habits Of Mind

The Habits of Mind(HOM) was introduced to the school in 2004 by then principal Mrs Pauline Wong. The Habits of Mind were made as a "guide" to how one should lead their lives.

* Thinking FlexiblyLook at it another way!Being able to change perspectives, generate alternatives, consider options.

*Creating, Imagining, InnovatingTry a different way. Generate novel ideas, and seek fluency and originality.

*Responding with Wonderment & AweUnderstand Others!Devoting mental energy to another person's thoughts and ideas; holding in abeyance one's own thoughts in order to perceive another's point of view and emotions.

*Thinking InterdependentlyWork together.Truly work with and learn from others in reciprocal situations.

*PersistingStick to it. See a task through to completion, and remain focused.

*Taking Responsible RisksVenture Out!Being adventuresome; living on the edge of one's competence

*Managing ImpulsivityTake your time.Think before you act. Remain calm, thoughtful, and deliberate

*Apply Past Knowledge to New SituationsUse what you learn!Accessing prior knowledge;Transferring knowledge beyond the situation in which it was learned

*Thinking about thinking(Metacognition)Know your knowing!Being aware of one's own thoughts, strategies, feelings and actions and their effects on others.

*Questioning and Posing ProblemsHow do you know?Having a questioning attitude; knowing what data are needed and developing questioning strategies to produce those data. Find problems to solve.

*Striving for Accuracy and PrecisionCheck it again!A desire for exactness, fidelity and craftsmanship

*Gathering Data through All sensesUser your natural pathways!Gathering data through all sensory pathways - gustatory, olfactory, tactile, kinesthetic, auditory and visual

*Learning ContinuouslyLearn from experiences!Having humility and pride when admitting we don't know; resisting complacency

*Find HumourLaugh a little!Finding the whimsical, incongruous and unexpected. Being able to laugh at oneself

Class Names

At that time, all express streamed classes are named after the alphabets, A, B, C and D. The numerical numbers 1,2,3,4 and 5 are all Normal Academic and Normal Technical streamed classses.

It was until 2003, the school named all these classes according to values as below, there's also some changes made in 2007,for e.g. 1 more express class is opened:

VIP(Values Inculcation Programme)

*January- Love our calling

>Sincerity and Charity

>Humility and respect

*February-Life and learning our passion

>Joy and enthusiasm

>Creativity and innovation

>Flexibility and adaptability

*March-Service Our commitment

>Sincerity and charity

>Emphathy and Compassion

*April-Perseverance our spirit

>Diligence and patience

>Endurance and resilience

>Excellence

*May-Integrity our foundation

>Integrity and trustworthiness

>Moral courage

*Since June is a June Holiday period, there will be no VIP.

*July-Graciousness our way of life

>Grace and courtesy

>Gratitude

>Purity

*August-Teamwork our belief

>Peace,unity and harmony

>Dedication and commitment

>Loyalty

*September-Healthy living and time management our responsibility

>Responsibility

>Diligence

*October-People our focus

>Faith,trust and confidence

>Humility and respect

*There are no VIP for NOV and DEC as End-yr holiday begins in End-october

Outward Bound Course

All secondary three students attend the OBS Camp in Pulau Ubin during school vacations, in which students from different streams and classes are encouraged to interact with each other.

chool Songs

Main school song

Verse 1:圣婴中学，黉宇高嵩,屹立狮岛，美丽如虹,环境清幽，校址宽宏,树人树木，俱收事功.

Chorus:济济多士，共坐春风,荣主救灵，功德无穷,砥砺品学，婴德是宗,谦诚和爱，景仰大同.

Verse 2:宣传文化，中西并攻,阐扬学术，文质兼丰,培植翘秀，失勤失忠,蔚为国器，南邦之雄.

~完~

chool Creed

Verse 1:I am special because God created me,And he has blessed me with unique talents.I'll be responsible and strive for exellence,So that, I can contribute most meaningfully to myschooland society.

Chorus:I will uphold integrity,and be sincere and charitable.In what I do,I will not hurt others and myself.So as to craete a more loving,and peaceful community* for all,for all!

Verse 2:I am special because God created me,And he has blessed me with great potential.I'll stirve to be an independent lifelong learner,Humble in spirit, to accept new challenges. [Back to chorus]

Verse 3:Standing with all, in the HIHS family.We will be one where the love of God reigns.~END~

For first time singing chorus,sing till for all and go verse 2.After singing verse 2,the second time singing chorus, take the *sign asa coda and go verse 3.

Academic Programme

Holy Innocents’ High School will be one of the few schools in the pioneering batch to offer Advanced Elective Modules (AEMs) in 2007. The school will be collaborating with Republic Polytechnic (RP) to offer elective modules to expand the learning experience of pupils and provide exposure to the practice-oriented learning approaches adopted in the polytechnics.

AEMs may be used for polytechnic admission under the Joint Polytechnic Special Admissions Exercise (JPSAE) and the Direct Polytechnic Admission (DPA) exercise. They may also be used for credit exemption in subjects that are relevant to the pupil’s subsequent course of study in the Polytechnic.

Affiliated Schools

Holy Innocents' Primary School and Catholic Junior College

Facilities

In 2004, the school moved to it temporary premises in Punggol in order to facilitate the rebuilding of Hougang campus. The school moved back in early 2006.

The upgraded campus at Hougang Central boasts some unique facilities like an air-conditioned hall, a chapel, an alumni room, two theatres, and a unique 500 sq meters roof garden. On June 2 2006, the upgraded campus was opened and blessed by Archbishop Nicholas Chia, head of the Catholic Church, Archdiocese of Singapore.

Activities

Holy Innocents' High School has an extensive Co-curricular programme, with some groups gaining recognition on national level competition.

Awards

2008

*St. John Ambulance: -Silver (consecutively for the past 6 years)
*St. John Ambulance: -Soccer Girls (Champion)/ Soccer boys golden boots award: Samuel Quah Cheng Kai
*St. John Ambulance: -Zone first aid & home nursing competition (Nursing cadet foot drill: 3rd position)
*St. John Ambulance: - 10 chief commissioner award receiver.

2007

*St. John Ambulance: -Silver (consecutively for the past 5 years)
*St. John Ambulance: -Zone first aid & home nursing competition (Ambulance cadet foot drill: Champions)
*Choir: Gold
*English Drama: Gold
*Dance: Bronze
*Military Band: Bronze
*Chinese Orchestra: Bronze

2006

*People Developer Standard
*Sustained Achievement Award: Uniformed Group
*Development Award: TAF Award (Silver)
*Achievement Award: Academic Value-added (Normal)
*NPCC: Silver
*St. John's Ambulance: Silver
*Military Band: Merit (Assessment of Marching Bands)

2005

*Sustained Achievement Award: Uniformed Group
*Development Award: TAF Award (Silver)
*Choir: Gold
*Military Band: Silver
*NPCC: Silver
*Scout: Silver
*St. John's Ambulance: Silver
*Chinese Orchestra: Bronze
*Dance: Bronze
*Drama: Bronze
*Various Shooting awards

chool History

*1892 Holy Innocents' High School was one of the first Chinese Mission Schools to be founded and was named Tao Nan School. Bible studies and classical Chinese were taught.
*1920 Rev Fr Becheras was the Supervisor of the school. The name of the school was changed from Tao Nan to Holy Innocents' Boy School. It means pure, wholesome and innocent.
*1942 During the Japanese Occupation, the school name changed to Syonan School
*1957 A two-storey building consisting of 12 classrooms was built at 7 ¹/₄ miles, Upper Serangoon Road (The present site). Rev Fr Berthold, then Supervisor, appointed Rev Fr Shih as Principal.
*1958 Secondary classes were started and the name of the school was modified to Holy Innocents' High School. His Grace, Archbishop, Rt Rev M Olcomendy, blessed the school and declared it open on 5th January.
*1960 to 1964 An additional 8 classrooms and 2 laboratories were built to cater for the increase in the school enrolment.
*1965 The school started her first Pre-University classes (Science Stream)
*1968 A new three-storey building was added
*1969 Fr Shih was transferred to Taiwan. He has left an indelible mark on the school. Rev Fr Peter Lu assumed office as Principal and has been instrumental in forging the school ahead to keep abreast with educational developments of the times.
*1983 On 9th September, Mr Ho Kah Leong, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education, officiated the opening of the Auditorium and 4 special classrooms. Rev Fr Peter Lu retired at the end of the year.
*1984 The Vice-Principal, Mr Lee Tho Nee, was appointed Principal
*1985 On 25th March, Holy Innocents' High School's primary school section moved to her new premises at Lorong Low Koon and was named Holy Innocents' Primary School. The secondary section functioned as a single-session school
*1987 A School Building Committee was formed headed by then Chairman of the School Management Board, Rev Fr Mathias Tung, to expand the school to a standard-sized secondary school. Approval was given with an 80% capital grant
*1992 The school's lower secondary classes occupied the ex-Hai Sing High School premises while the upper secondary classes reminded at the present site. Construction and refurbishment work started in May.
*1994 The official commissioning of the upgraded facilities by Gregory Yong, Archbishop of Singapore, took place on 30th July The completed project added 3 new teaching blocks and an administrative block to the original building. The total built in area was 9000 sq m.
*1996 Mrs Mary Bay, the Vice-Principal, was appointed Principal in July.
*2001 Mrs Pauline Wong was appointed Principal in December
* Moved to holding school at 51 Edgedale Plains in June, while upgrading of the original site was completed.
*2005 moved back to original site in December
*2006 The new school building was officially opened and blessed by His Grace, Archbishop Nicholas Chia on 2 June 2006
*2007 Ms Soh Lai Leng was appointed Principal in December

Principals

*1920 : Rev Fr Becheras
*1957 - 1969: Rev Fr Shih
*1970 - 1984: Rev Fr Peter Lu
*1984 - 1996: Mr Lee Tho Nee
*1996 - 2001: Mrs Mary Bay
*2001 - 2007 : Mrs Pauline Wong
*2008 - : Ms Soh Lai Leng

Notable Alumni

Chew Chor Meng (Celebrity)

Ann Kok (Celebrity)

Pierre Png (Celebrity)

Lee Wei Song (Musician)

Getting there

The nearest bus stops are opposite and outside Hougang Plaza, which is next to the school. Bus services include SBS Transit 74, 112, 113, 119, 136 and 147.

Hougang Central Bus Interchange, Hougang MRT Station and Hougang Mall are all within 5 mins walking distance.

External links

* [http://www.holyinnocentshigh.moe.edu.sg/ Holy Innocents' High Website]