Our School History

Ngee Ann Primary School History

Ngee Ann Primary School was formerly known as Ngee Ann Girls’ School. In 1940, The Ngee Ann Kongsi’s Board of Directors comprising the late Mr Lee Wee Nam, the late Mr Yeo Chan Boon, the late Mr Lim Kim Seng and a few other members set up this institution to encourage education for girls.

The school ground was a bungalow owned by a Kongsi member situated at 229, River Valley Road, where Teo Yeonh Huai Kuan stands today. During the Japanese Occupation, the girls’ school was forced to close down but was reinstated shortly after the war in the mid 1950s. At that time, the school population increased to about 1000 and it also achieved the status of a government-aided school. Post World War Two saw the need for restructuring of the economy to meet the challenges of the period and develop it to one that would put Singapore in the global network. This affected the mindset of parents who decided that English would be the language that would put their children at an advantage. With this demand, English became the medium of instruction in Mathematics and Science.

Ngee Ann Girls’ School played its role well in the community until the 1960s; due to the government’s resettlement program, many families moved to the new public housing complexes. Such demographic shift affected the enrolment of Ngee Ann Girls’ School. In 1967, it started accepting male pupils and refocused its activities to become a full-fledged primary school. In 1980, the school was renamed Ngee Ann Primary School and was relocated to its current premises at Marine Parade in 1982. On 30 March 1984, the school was officially declared opened by Mr Goh Chok Tong, Member of Parliament of Marine Parade MP and the Minister of Defence and Second Minister for Health.

Subsequently, with increasing pupil enrolment of more than 1800, the premises and facilities became inadequate. In order to meet the demands and challenges of the new millennium, the Ministry of Education decided to demolish the building and rebuild a new one on-site. The school then moved to a holding school at Tanjong Katong Road in December 1998. The new Ngee Ann Primary School building was finally ready by November 2000. The school finally made the highly-anticipated move back to Marine Parade in December 2000.

義安小学的前身是義安女校。学校于1940年由已故的的几位义安公司董事李伟南、杨缵文、林锦成和会员们一起创办。创校本意为鼓励当时的女性积极接受教育。

学校的原址位于利峇峇里路229号，即潮阳会馆现址，这乃属一名公司会员所拥有的独立式宅房。在第二次世界大战期间，義安女校被迫停课，但在战争结束后即1950年中期重新开课。当时，学生的人数增至一千多人，也同时成为了政府辅助学校。由于新加坡在二战过后须进行经济重组，来应付当时的挑战和促使国家能登上全球经济网络，这影响了当时家长们的思想，认为掌握好英语将会让他们的孩子更胜一筹。借于此需，英语成为了数学和科学的教学用语。

義安女校在当时的社群中扮演着重要的教育角色，一直到1960年因着政府的重迁计划，许多户家庭都搬入了新的公共住屋区。当时的人口迁移，影响了 義安女校的学生人数。学校在 1967年，开始接受男学生也重新规划不同的活动，使之成为合格的全面性小学。在1980年，学校改名为義安小学并于1982年落户于现今的马林百烈现址。1984年3月30日，马林百烈议员、国防部长兼卫生部次长吴作栋先生，正式为学校进行开幕典礼。

随着学生人数增至于1800人，学校的设备显然供不应求。为了满足新世纪教育的需求和挑战，教育部决定拆旧除校舍，并重新在原址重建新校舍。学校因此在1998年12月暂迁至丹绒加东路。義安小学最终于2000年11月正式落成，也于12月正式搬回马林百烈现址。

Ngee Ann Primary School was accorded the Learning for Life Programme, ‘ GR aciousness through A rts, C reating E xcellence (GRACE) Programme’ and attained the Best Practice Award (BPA) for Student All-Round Development in 2016. It has since been updated in 2022 to encompass a wider artistic experience and renamed as  ‘ GR owing A ppreciation for C reative E xpression (GRACE) Programme’.

From 2014 to 2016, the school upgraded its infrastructure in line with MOE’s Primary Education Review and Implementation (PERI). A new teaching block, a Performing Arts Theatre (PAT) and an Indoor Sports Hall (ISH) were built as part of the expansion. In 2019, the school garden, L.I.F.E. @ Ngee Ann, was officially launched to support our Applied Learning Program - Sustainable Green @ Ngee Ann. L.I.F.E (Learning, Inquiring, Flourishing, Exploring) @ Ngee Ann is an outdoor exploratory garden for learning to come alive beyond the classrooms.

2020 marks the school’s 80th anniversary with the theme, “Hand in Hand, Heart to Heart” ( 携手八十 心系義安 )

Ngee Ann Primary School is an excellent school with a caring community, emphasizing the importance of the values inculcation. The holistic education offered at Ngee Ann Primary School builds upon the strong foundation laid down by the founding fathers of The Ngee Ann Kongsi to nurture every child to his/her best.