History of the school
The Anglo-Chinese School was founded by Bishop William F.
Oldham in the year 1886. It was just a small, poorly ventilated house at that
time with only 13 pupils. It taught using English in the day and Mandarin in
the afternoon, which is how Anglo-Chinese got its name. The number of pupils in
the school grew to 104 and it was shifted to a new location at Coleman Street.
The number of students grew to 300 within 3 short years.
Sometime in 1952, the school was started by Principal Rev PL
Peach for students who were average and for those who had to leave school due
to the government imposition on school-going age limit for boys. It was renamed
as OldHam Methodist School after some
time after its founder.
In the year from 1925 to 1929, the school shifted to Cairnshill
by principal Rev A. B Manab. The school anthem and the school crest was also
created within the same period in the year 1926, by Mr H. M Hoisington and Dr
Yap Pheng Geck respectively.
In the year 1930, Mr T W Hinch introduced a new system known
as the House system. The purpose of the house system is to encourage sports and
rivalry among the students of the school.
During the period of the World War 2, the school was shut
down and was only re-opened when the buildings at Cairnhill and Coleman Street
were made safe in early 1946.
Mr T W Hinch who went back Britian during the World War
returned back to Singapore in June 1946. He started the ‘X’ and ‘Y’ classes
which is similar to the Express and Normal streams we have now.
When Mr T W Hinch retired, Dr Herbert H Paterson took over
as the new principal and the school was relocated from Cairnhill to Barker Road
on 29th September 1950.
The first batch of girls was also enrolled in the year 1950
together with the establishment of Post School Certificate Classes which is
later known as the Pre-University Classes. Then in the year 1952, there was
again a change of principal and the new principal was the first Asian principal
assigned to the school by the name of Dr Thio Chan Bee. The school underwent quite
a few changes under his leadership, such as the building of the Lee Hall, which
is a 3-storey block with 12 classrooms and 4 laboratories at Barker Road.
In 1961, the afternoon session which was conducted at OldHam
Methodist School when it was still at Coleman street was shifted to Barker Road
and the afternoon session was conducted as the afternoon session in secondary
school, taking in the first 200 male students who did not make it for the
morning session. But this arrangement ended in the year 1974 when the school
was reorganized and all secondary one and two will function in the afternoon
and all other levels in the morning.
In the year 1977, the Pre-University Classes move to
Anglo-Chinese Junior College at Rochester Park leaving the secondary school
back at Barker Road.
When the Ministry of Education mooted the idea of
Independent Schools, Anglo-Chinese Primary School moved from it’s premises at
Coleman Street to merge with the Secondary School at Barker Road in November
1993 and became a full government-aided school known as Anglo-Chinese School
which will serve both as a Primary school as well as a Secondary school.
In the first year in new school, 309 students were enrolled
in the Secondary section of the school divided among 8 classes, catering to
pupils from the Express Stream, Normal (Academic) Stream and the Normal
(Technical) Stream. There were also 12 staffs working together to establish the
new section.
The ACS family has grown rapidly over the years. To date,
there are 5 schools - Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), Anglo-Chinese School
(Primary), Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road), Anglo-Chinese School
(Independent) and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. In addition, there is a hostel,
Oldham Hall. New boarding facilities are also being provided at ACS
(Independent).
The success of ACS today is the result of the mission and
vision of its founder and the rallying of old boys, parents and supporters to a
cause they believe strongly in. The ACS Spirit gives to all the extraordinary
willingness to come together for good of the School. It is the feeling of
family: acceptance, identity, security and belonging, which compels ACSians to
step into the breach and to make the sacrifice and effort. Above all, the
strive to improve and cater for the future generations of ACSians will always
drive ACS to greater heights and achievements. As the School motto says, 'The
Best Is Yet To Be!'
