History & Philosophy
Touching Lives, Transforming Futures
Catholic High School (CHS) is one of Singapore’s highly regarded institutions under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore. It is a Catholic institution but enrols both Catholic and non-Catholic students.
Founded in 1935 by the late Rev. Fr. Edward Becheras, a French missionary, the school had her humble beginnings within the premises of the Church of St Peter and Paul at Queen Street. CHS relocated to its present site in Bishan in 1992 to cope with the demand for places.
Reverend Father Becheras envisioned the school as an institution of learning, and also one for acquiring competence in bilingualism. His enunciation – “The way of the Catholic High School is a way made of two rails – Chinese and English, free from any entanglement, straight to its end. Happy are those who follow. They shall obtain the scope of a sound education”_ remains firmly as a cornerstone of the school’s philosophy.
As a Special Assistance Plan (SAP) school, CHS is grounded in the philosophy of bilingualism and biculturalism. Offering the unique Dual Track model with both the O-Level Programme (OP) and Integrated Programme (IP), the CHS experience offers a curriculum strong in academic distinctions, leadership and character development, and sports and aesthetics excellence. In over 80 years’ of educating students, CHS has nurtured a crop of leaders and professionals in various fields who give back to society and our school. (Click here for a list of some of our illustrious alumni
In this 21st century, all students in our OP and IP tracks continue to benefit from our forward-looking curriculum centred on developing 21st century competencies such as critical and creative thinking, civic literacy as well as communication skills, through inquiry-based learning, research and passion pursuits. Our IP students will spend their first 4 years in CHS before progressing to the new Eunoia Junior College to complete the IP.
Our Committed, Capable and Caring Staff
Our teaching and non-teaching staff are the cornerstone of CHS’ quality education and our efforts in achieving the desired student outcomes. They are people-oriented, selfless and sincere, exemplifying our school values of Love, Creativity, Constancy of Purpose and Continuous Improvement.
We have a diverse team of teachers who enrich their classroom teaching and students’ learning with a wealth of knowledge and experiences from past careers, overseas stints and/or years of classroom teaching.
Amongst our teachers are generations of alumni who continue to carry and pass on the torch of educating the next generation of CHS gentlemen.
More importantly, our teachers understand our students, and are able to motivate them to strive for their best, be it in academic or non-academic areas.
Award-winning Staff
Our teachers are knowledgeable in subject content, pedagogy and assessment.
Many of them are recognised by the Ministry of Education and other organisations for their professionalism and innovations, and have won accolades such as the President’s Award for Teachers and MOE Innergy Award.