Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)


Raffles Girls' School is an independent all-girls secondary school in Singapore.
Established in 1879, the school is one of the oldest in Singapore.
Its educational and co-curricular excellence have made it one of the premier secondary schools in Singapore. It provides students with a 6-year Raffles Program which cumulates in the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate in Education 'Advanced' Level Examination.
The school was recognised by the Ministry of Education in 2006 by being awarded the School Excellence Award, among other awards.
It was a member of Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia.

History

Before RGS became a school in its own right, it existed as a part of Raffles Institution.
The department for girls was opened in the RI campus of Bras Basah Road on 4 March 1844 with 11 students, 5 day-scholars and six boarders, who were clothed, fed and instructed by the institution itself. The demand for education grew and in 1847, the school moved to RI's eastern wing, extending towards Bras Basah Road. Governor of the Straits Settlement, E.A. Blundell described RGS as "a female school designed for the education and religious training of the children of poor Protestant parents" in 1855. In 1871, the school moved into a house, the George Family's Old Mansion at the corner of Bras Basah Road. In 1879, the school separated from RI and Miss Nelson was appointed the school's first headmistress. Together with three assistants, she ran the school which had an enrolment of 77. Since then, 1879 has been officially regarded as the year of the founding of RGS.
On 21 October 2019, it moved from Anderson Road, where it has been located since 1959, to its new campus at Braddell Rise, located opposite Raffles Institution.

School culture and identity

Uniform

The usual school uniform is a belted, deep blue pinafore and a white collared blouse. Students customarily fold their sleeves on most shirts, which also requires a colour-coded nametag, along with the school badge, on the top left of the uniform, right below the name tag. There are also school culottes, worn with the PE shirt.

Awards and Accolades

A group of four students from Raffles Girls' School emerged Champion at the Kids' Lit Quiz 2018, and represented Singapore in New Zealand in July that year.
Mr Joseph Toh Kim Leng won the Teaching Award in 2016, which honours outstanding teachers of English language, English literature and General Paper in Singapore.
Jodie Lai, a 2015 Optimist World Championships Under-15 champion, was conferred the title of Best Sportsgirl for sailing at the 46th Singapore Schools Sports Council Colours Awards in 2016.

Notable alumnae