History
The school was founded in 1917 by Tan Chu Nan and Teo Eng Hock as the Primary section of Nanyang Girls' High School with a pioneer enrolment of 100 pupils. It functioned in a rented shophouse at Dhoby Ghaut, adjacent to the Cathay Cineplex. In 1927, the school moved to its current premises at King's Road. It was the then-chairman Lee Chin Tien and principal Liew Yuen Sien who revamped the school.
During World War II, the school campus was used as a field office by the British Army. When the Imperial Japanese Army captured Singapore, it took over the premises and the entire school was destroyed. After the war in 1945, when the British returned, the school was restored to its previous state.
In 1948, a new block comprising 10 classrooms and an office was built to accommodate the increasing enrolment. This building was again rebuilt and extended in 1974 to include 25 classrooms.
1978 saw the school expanding its intake of students and to facilitate more effective management, the primary school, which had over 1,000 pupils in 28 classes, was separated from Nanyang Girls' High School and was given its current name.
English classes were introduced in 1983, and the school was selected by the Ministry of Education to be one of the four bilingual schools under the Special Assistance Plan, and pupils took two languages, English and Chinese as a first language.
As more students joined the school over the years, the School Management Committee built a wing on a newly acquired piece of land at Coronation Road in 1981. It was completed in July 1985.
In 1993, the now defunct Farrer Primary School premises at Lutheran Road were acquired for Primary 1 and 2 students. The school thenceforward functioned at two campuses.
Some rooms in the school were converted into classrooms to accommodate Primary 3 classes so that all classes were able to function in the morning session. However, as the intake of students increased, Primary 3 classes had to revert back to having lessons in the afternoon.
When Nanyang Girls' High School moved to a new campus at Linden Drive, the school took over the site. The former building was demolished and a new building with six storeys was built to accommodate all pupils in the same campus.
On 4 June 2003 the school moved to the new and present campus at 52 King's Road. When the students returned from the holidays in Term 3, the school started fully functioning. The old hilltop block of the school was renovated and has been in use since 2004 in order for the school to function as a single-session school.
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Nanyang Primary School celebrated its 95th anniversary in 2012.
Read more about this topic: Nanyang Primary School
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