A legacy founded on love, excellence and hope

13 March 2012

Methodist Girls’ School celebrates 125th Anniversary

AS METHODIST GIRLS’ SCHOOL (MGS) commemorates its 125th Anniversary this year, it celebrates 125 years of a legacy founded on love, excellence and hope.

When Miss Sophia Blackmore planted the MGS seed in a modest shophouse in Short Street on Aug 15, 1887, her dream was for the girls in this island to be educated and to strive for excellence.

Today MGS continues to build on its heritage, to “soar and sing of our Maker’s praise”, and to educate every girl in “a Christian environment in order that she may grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and Man”.

To commemorate Miss Blackmore’s vision and the MGS mission, the school expects to release, in July, “Voices of Hope – A Hope for Every Season”, a compact disc (CD) specially designed to bring hope to others in need of emotional and social support.

This is one of the major events planned for the year’s celebration. A Commemorative Book is also being produced, and there will be a Gala Dinner and the 125th Founder’s Day Service and Graduation Ceremony.

MGS goes IP
As MGS gears up for its celebration, it is doubly happy that it will soon be taking in students for the Integrated Programme (IP).

In September 2010, it was announced that the school will be taking in students for the IP, the through-train programme that leads to the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme at ACS (Independent). MGS is expected to admit its first Secondary 1 IP intake next year.

A latest announcement from the Ministry of Education now allows MGS to take in students in 2014 for the IP at Secondary 3 level. Correspondingly, these students could enter Year 5 at ACS (Independent) in 2016, a year earlier than was previously announced.

The announcement means that the cohort of Primary 6 girls who took their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) last year have the opportunity to take on the IP when they reach Secondary 3 in 2014.

Mrs Shirleen Ong, Principal of MGS, said: “We are truly delighted with this news. is is a chance for them to ride on the enriched programmes and dynamic learning environment at MGS!” MGS has always promoted the ethos of excellence, not just in academic performance, but in all aspects of education. It is the school’s mission to ensure that every MGS girl excels within a holistic learning environment.

When the IP is implemented, MGS will be the only all-girls’ school oﬀering students an IP leading to the IB Diploma. MGS will continue to oﬀer the “O” Levels alongside the IP. e faculty staﬀ are poised to provide a dual track education for the students.

The “Voices of Hope” CD is a collection of songs which endorses the message of hope, and which is an encouragement for people of all ages. It is a journal, with contributions from those aﬀected, directly and indirectly, by cancer. e songs take the listener through the seasons of change in his or her life.

The project was initiated last year when the hunt for performers began in MGS, with performing groups like the MGS Choir, the Strings Ensemble and the Handbells Choir rehearsing for the recording; and soloists comprising past and present MGS girls. e girls from MGS are providing the artwork for the CD.

The essence of life at MGS is easily observed and amplified in a typical school day. For this reason, MGS has invited photographers – professional and amateur, well-known or debutantes – to chronicle the moments in school over two weeks last month to record for posterity the life of MGS in its 125th year.

The photographs will be published in a Commemorative Book to show how the girls, their teachers, the school administrators, the cleaners, tuckshop vendors, bus drivers, parents and others of its community play their part in making MGS the vibrant school which would make Miss Blackmore proud.

The photographers have begun their hunt for evidence of the learning and teaching unique to MGS. They are attending the school assembly in the quadrangle and lessons in the classroom, the laboratory, the gymnasium; with the girls, they are going on learning journeys to places of significance in Singapore. They are also queuing at the vending machines for a soft drink, and in the tuckshop for a red bowl brimming with soup and noodles. They are invading the staff room to better appreciate the work of a teacher; and are being welcomed in the library, at the eco-pond, around the playground and other favourite places of MG girls.

To complement the photographs, the book will include essays written by the girls who know what it is to have a quiet spot or a faithful friend or dedicated teacher in the school.

The book will be launched by the Guest-of-Honour during the school’s 125th Founder’s Day Service and Graduation Ceremony on July 23. It will be on sale thereafter and proceeds will go to benefit the needy.

The 125th Anniversary celebration will come to a fitting close at a Gala Dinner at the Ritz Carlton on Oct 27. The Gala Dinner, a fund-raising event, will focus on MGS as the loving place where memories are cherished through the years.

All proceeds will go towards the building of a new Integrated Sports Hall and Swimming Pool at Blackmore Drive. Plans for the Gala Dinner are being finalised and will be made known soon.– Methodist Girls’ School Corporate Communications.