St Patrick's School, Singapore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see St. Patrick's School (disambiguation).

Saint Patrick's School is a Roman Catholic secondary school for male students in Singapore. It is more commonly referred to as "St Pat's", "SPS" or "St Patrick's" by general public. Students and old boys proudly call themselves "patricians" or "sons of St Patrick's". The school is well-known for its rich heritage and vibrant culture.

Contents

[edit] Information

  • Established: 1933
  • Principal: Mr Lucas Lak Pati Singh
  • Vice Principal: Mr Yong
  • Motto: Potest Qui Vult ( He Can Who Wills)
  • School Virtues: Humanity, Humility, Honesty
  • School Song: School Rally
  • Address: East Coast Road, Singapore
  • Levels: Sec 1 to 4 for Express, Sec 1 to 5 for Normal (Academic/Technical)

School Rally

Verse 1:

All through our college

A voice is resounding

Promptly respond to your duty sweet call

Harken you all for the trumpet is sounding

Your mater proclaiming

Her watch word to all

Chorus:

Forward her children dear

Ever with heart sincere

Render with joy to your mater her due

All that is vile reject

Heaven will e'er protect

Sons of St Patrick

Valiant and True

Verse 2

Onwards and upwards in life earnest battle

Joyously bearing the brunt of the fight

Nobly forgiving for all that may pain you

And bravely defending the cause of the right

[edit] History

The school was founded in 1933, originally as a temporary branch school of Saint Joseph's Institution, another Catholic all-boy's school in Singapore, and was built on land acquired by the La Salle Brothers in 1898. The land was originally meant to be a resort bungalow for the brothers. But Brother Steven Buckley saw the growth in the eastern side of the island and petitioned the La Salle Brothers to build a school on this piece of land. The main school building was completed in 1932, and Saint Patrick's School became a school in its own right in 1933.

In the war years, this school was used by the British as a hospital and by the Japanese as an administrative building. It was officially returned to the Brothers in 1946.

In 1957, the primary section of the school was separated and became Saint Stephen's School.

There was also a short period of time when the school went co-ed with the introduction of Pre-University classes in 1969. But it was phased out in 1975 and the school returned to be all-boys again.

The full rich history of St Patrick's School and all its noted alumni members can be viewed either in the school website, the old boy's website or at the School Heritage Room (previously the library).

[edit] Houses

The school has six houses all named after former brother principals of the school.

  • McNally
  • Kiely
  • Buckley
  • Brenan
  • Alban
  • Justinian

[edit] Co-Curricular activities

Uniformed Groups:

  • School Military Band
  • National Cadet Corp
  • National Police Cadet Corp
  • Scouts
  • St. John Ambulance Brigade
  • National Civil Defence Cadet Corp

Sports:

  • Tennis
  • Cricket
  • Soccer
  • Basketball
  • Hockey
  • Badminton
  • Squash
  • Table Tennis
  • Air Rifle
  • Golf

Clubs:

  • Legion of Mary
  • St. Vincent De Paul Society (SVDP)
  • Infocomm Club
  • Photography Club
  • Library

Student Bodies:

  • Prefectorial Board
  • Students Council
  • Peer Support Board

One of the more prominent CCAs in St Patrick's is the school's Military Band which has consistently brought in gold medals in various competitions both locally and abroad. Most recently in the 2005 SYF, the band brought home a Gold with Honours, the most prestigious award given to participating musical groups and incidentally also the first year such an award was introduced into the SYF grading scheme.

The school also encourages students to take up leadership roles which had led to the establishment of the Prefectorial Board, Peer Support Board and the Student's Council. These Patrician student leaders attend camps like the Patricians' Leadership Training Camp (PLTC). Select number of students are also given the privilege to represent their school and particpiate in the Lasallian Leadership Training Camp (LLTC), where they and other students from Saint Joseph's Institution immerse themselves in 5 days of leadership training.

[edit] General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level)

Subjects offered:

  • English
  • Mathemathics
  • Additional Mathemathics
  • Biology
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Combined Science
  • Combined Humanities
  • History
  • Geography
  • Literature
  • Principles of Accounting
  • Design & Technology
  • Arts
  • Chinese
  • Malay
  • Tamil
  • Chinese (B)
  • Malay (B)

[edit] Icons

One of the most popular icons of the school is the Shamrock, found on various aspects of the student's life, from the school belt to the school running-vests. It is made up of three green hearts touching at the centre at an equal spacing from each other. Two of the hearts are at the lower half with one at the upper half, Like an upside-down version of the People's Association symbol.

Another icon of the school is the "i Love St Pat's" logo, similar to the "i Love NY" slogan. It is printed on mugs, t-shirts, decals and even umbrellas sold by the school during special school functions.


[edit] Affiliations

St. Patrick's School is affiliated to all four of the Lasallian Primary schools in Singapore, St Joseph's Institutions as well as Catholic Junior College.

It also maintains relationships with other Roman Catholic schools in Singapore, such as the CHIJ convents and Maris Stella High School.

[edit] External links