华文名：圣婴女校 (大巴窑)

History

Convent of the Infant Jesus Primary at Toa Payoh was the first of 11 schools set up by the Infant Jesus (IJ) Sisters in Singapore. It was originally known as Convent of the Infant Jesus Primary – popularly known as Town Convent. The Convent started in a house (now known as Caldwell House) at the corner of Victoria and Bras Basah roads, bought by Father Beurel with 4,000 Francs in 1852. Over the next decade, Father Beurel expanded the Convent property through land acquisition from Bras Basah Road to Stamford Road. In February 1854, three IJ Sisters led by Rev Mother St Mathilde Raclot arrived in Singapore and set up the Convent at Victoria Street. The sisters got to work. Within 10 days, they had taken in orphans, were doing needlework to support themselves, and teaching 14 children.

In 1881, the colonial government made Town Convent a government-aided institution – a status it holds to the present day. Soon, the number of students increased and the school became well known. In 1894, there were 167 pupils; 10 years later, the enrolment increased to 300. Secondary education began in 1905. Under Mother Hombeline, the expansion programme continued.

Between the 1910s and ’30s, some boys were also taken in as students, aged six or seven – like the girls – but they left at the age of 10, while girls could continue until 16 years old. Most boys who left would join Father Beurel’s school, St Joseph’s Institution, which was across the street. Town Convent stopped taking in boys after the Japanese Occupation. During this time, the Convent also started a boarding house with two tiers of boarders. The first-tier paid $30 a month, and the second-tier allowed parents to pay whatever they could afford.

Two months after the start of the Japanese Occupation, the Convent reopened as Victoria Street Girls’ School under the Japanese authority. Japanese curriculum was also introduced during this period.

Town Convent resumed operations in 1945 after the war. The focus of its education shifted from domestic or vocational skills to the teaching of academic subjects, particularly the sciences.

Between 1957 and 1964, a national curriculum was developed which all schools had to adhere to, and the role of the Sisters was revised to being an administrator. In 1957, a convent school board was set up to oversee the management of IJ schools, while educational policies were left to the newly formed Ministry of Education.

In the late 1960s, the boarding house closed down due to the decreasing number of boarders. In 1964, a third of the staff and 300 pupils that occupied the afternoon session at Victoria Street formed CHIJ Kellock and moved to their new premises on Zion Road. In 1984, a new era began as Town Convent moved out of Victoria Street to Toa Payoh.

In November 2002, the 18-year-old building in Toa Payoh underwent major upgrading under PRIME. The school returned to Toa Payoh Lorong 1 in January 2006, to a new building with the latest facilities. The premises were upgraded again under the PERI intiative in 2012, and the works were completed in 2014.