Raffles Institution

Raffles Institution (RI), founded in 1823, is the oldest school and centre for pre-tertiary learning in Singapore. It is an independent school in Singapore providing secondary and pre-university education. RI consists of a boys-only Year 1-4 section and a coeducational Year 5-6 section. Its current campus is in Bishan.

Starting in 2007, the school offered the six-year Integrated Programme, which allows students to bypass the GCE O-Levels, and take the GCE A-Levels instead. Known as the Raffles Programme, it is jointly offered with its sister school, Raffles Girls' School (Secondary).

RI was among the first schools to receive the Ministry of Education's School Excellence Award, which recognises "excellence in both education processes and outcomes". It is a member of various academic partnerships and alliances, such as the G20 Schools and The Winchester Network. It also cofounded the Global Alliance of Leading-Edge Schools.

RI was awarded the Singapore Quality Award in 2011.

History
Initially named Singapore Institution, Raffles Institution was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles on 5 June 1823. He had secured a grant from the British East India Company, drafted the curriculum and set up the structure for the board of trustees headed by patron William Wilberforce in order to provide education for the sons of the Company's employees and the children of local leaders in the new British colony of Singapore. The original campus of Raffles Institution was on Bras Basah Road, where Raffles City Shopping Centre now stands. The Bras Basah campus's library building is featured on the $2 paper and polymer bill in the Singapore legal tender.

In 1844, the school became Singapore's first institution to enrol girls. In 1879, the girls wing of the school was established as Raffles Girls' School (Secondary). Girls from RGS join RI at Year 5 for their pre-university education leading to the GCE A-Levels.

The school moved in March 1972 to Grange Road. In 1982 Raffles Junior College (RJC) was established at Paterson Road to take over the school's burgeoning pre-university enrolment. It subsequently moved to Mount Sinai. In 1984, it became one of two schools selected by the MOE to pilot the Gifted Education Programme to cater to intellectually gifted students. In 1990, the school attained independent status and moved to its present campus at Bishan.

In 2004, the new Raffles Programme was offered to Secondary 1 to 3 students. It allows RI students to enter RJC and sit for the GCE A-Levels at 18, without having to sit for the GCE O-Levels, giving them more time to engage in enrichment and co-curricular or passion-driven activities. The curriculum serves to "seek to nurture the best and brightest into men and women of scholarship who will be leaders of distinction, committed to excellence and service in the interest of the community and nation." This subsequently led to the merging of RI's GEP and Special/Express streams to form a single Raffles Programme stream, and the establishment of its in-house academic talent development programme, Raffles Academy, catering to exceptionally gifted students via subject-specific pullout classes from Year 3 onwards, in 2007.

RJC moved to its new Bishan campus located next to RI at the start of the 2005 school year, after attaining independent status and becoming the first Pre-University Institution in Singapore to be awarded the School Excellence Award.

In 2009, RI and RJC re-integrated to form a single institution under the name Raffles Institution to facilitate the running of the Raffles Programme and better align processes and curriculum.

RI's alumni body, the Old Rafflesians Association (ORA), includes former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, and three former presidents of Singapore: Yusof bin Ishak, Benjamin Henry Sheares, and Wee Kim Wee.

Lee Kuan Yew wrote about his time at RI in the 1930s in The Singapore Story and this section of the book is available on line.

The history of Raffles Institution (1823–2003) is documented in the book The Eagle Breeds a Gryphon, by a former headmaster, Eugene Wijeysingha. The latest edition includes events up to 2003.

Motto
RI's motto - Auspicium Melioris Aevi - comes from the coat of arms of its founder, Sir Stamford Raffles. The official translation by the school is 'Hope of a Better Age'.

Mission & Values
The school's mission of nurturing thinkers, leaders and pioneers of character who will serve by leading and lead in serving is further supported by the institution's FIRE Values - Fortitude, Integrity, Respect and Enterprise.

Rafflesian Principle of Honour

 * In intellectual pursuit, I shall reflect discipline and passion for learning, and in personal conduct, I shall live in integrity and regard individuals, groups and the community with kindness and respect, and in so doing uphold the Rafflesian Principle of Honour. 

Houses
The five houses, three of them named after former headmasters, are Bayley, Buckley, Hullett, Moor and Morrison, represented by the colours yellow, green, black, red and blue respectively.
 * J.H. Moor was the first Headmaster of the school
 * R.W. Hullett was the Raffles Institution's longest-serving Headmaster.
 * J.B. Bayley was a Headmaster who "raised Raffles Institution to a large and flourishing establishment", as recorded by the Board of Trustees.
 * The Reverend Robert Morrison was the co-founder of Raffles Institution.
 * C.B. Buckley was the Secretary to the Board of Trustees of Raffles Institution.

Year 1 students are sorted into houses by class. The results from interhouse sports and academic competitions are summed up in a yearly points system. In the early years of RI's history, there were ten houses, including a sixth Philips house (purple), later disbanded. House allocations used to be student-based, instead of class-based.

Prefectorial Board
The Raffles Institution Prefectorial Board (RIPB) aims to serve as role models of character, committed to inspiring and rallying the school, so as to forge a united Rafflesian community.

In July 2012, the RIPB engaged the school in a comprehensive review of the role of prefects in RI. It was the first in many years for the Board; and after 3 months of dialogues with students, teachers, alumni and the school management, the RIPB now comprises 2 key branches, Standards and Spirit, reflecting the core mission of all prefects. The work of these 2 branches is supported by the Development branch. The Board is headed by the Head Prefect and Deputy Head Prefect, together with 4 members of the RIPB Executive Committee. They work closely with the prefects and a team of RIPB teachers to fulfill the mission of the Board.

The selection of prefects is a rigorous process. Prefects are first nominated by students and seconded by teachers and prefects. The RIPB will then shortlist a number of candidates for interview. A selection camp may also be conducted. Subsequently, potential prefects will be voted in by the school population. In addition to helping maintain order in the school, the Board organizes activities ranging from interest groups to formal occasions. In 2005 the Board raised S$40,000 to buy a van for use by the handicapped at a voluntary welfare organisation, as well as co-organising a Guinness-record-breaking attempt with Dr. William Tan, in aid of a cancer foundation.

Class Executive Committee
Every class in Raffles Institution has its own Class Executive Committee (CEC). This consists of three students: a Chairman and two Vice-Chairmen. Often, students vote for classmates to take up these positions, but some Form Teachers may choose to select students themselves.

The CEC Council is made up of representatives from the CEC from each level. These representatives are nominated and voted by all the CEC members in their respective level. It works closely with RIPB to organize events. It also organises inter-class events, such as the inter-class classroom decoration competition and the inter-class soccer tournament.

Year 1: Orientation Camp
The new intake of Year 1 students go through a 3-day orientation camp, involving understanding the school's culture and knowing the campus grounds, and various activities to facilitate class bonding, leadership development, etc. Year 4 Peer Support Leaders (PSLs) guide them through this camp and the rest of the orientation period. At the end of the camp, the Year 1s receive their school badges in the Junior Rafflesian Investiture Ceremony (JRIC).

Year 2: Malaysian Montage
Year 2 students undergo a community experience trip to Malaysia, with the aim of bonding the batch and allowing students to experience farm life, community service and the wider world. This trip was originally held during the June break but would be rescheduled to the first week of school from 2012.

Year 3: Outward Bound Singapore Camp
At the beginning of the year, all Year 3 students undergo a five-day Outward Bound course in Pulau Ubin. After the camp, these students are recognised as seniors of the secondary section.

Uniform
The Raffles uniform is all-white, including a white short-sleeved shirt with badge at the top-left corner of the shirt pocket. Lower secondary students wear white short trousers and white socks. After the Outward Bound School camp at the start of Year 3, students may continue in short pants or opt for white long trousers. Shoes are at white-based for all students, with the exception of laces, which must be fully white. Year 3 and 4 prefects must wear formal black shoes, except for Physical Education lessons, where they are required to change into appropriate shoes. School ties are worn on Mondays and for functions and ceremonies. Teachers have a formal gown for special occasions.

Discipline
In former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's book The Singapore Story, he mentions being caned for chronic lateness in the 1930s by the then headmaster, D.W. McLeod. In 1956, a former RI prefect wrote that, during his time there, "boys were caned on their bottoms for even winking at the girls. We did have very good discipline in our time and the boys became good citizens, lawyers, doctors, etc."

The school continues to maintain strong discipline with a strict set of rules and regulations. Disciplinary measures are based on the Raffles Online Warning Slip system, introduced in 2011 and adapted from the Year 5 - 6 Section. Prior to the present system, student records were maintained based on a demerit point system, with Reformative Work Order and detention sessions for repeat offenders. These systems are primarily targeted at petty offences. Current school rules include prohibitions on eating and possessing sweetened drinks outside the canteen, physical activity in school uniform (as opposed to PE attire), and changing in class. The discipline framework is administered by the Discipline Master, in collaboration with the RIPB, for Year 1-4 students, and the Assistant Department Head (ADH) for Discipline for Year 5-6 students. For more serious offences, all students are liable to receive corporal punishment in the form of caning if necessary.

In serious cases, caning is administered in front of the boy's form class, or even the entire school to serve as a deterrent for others.

Raffles Academy
The Raffles Academy (RA), implemented in 2007, is a programme for students with higher capabilities in specific subjects. RA offers a curriculum pitched at a deeper level. During the academic periods, RA students leave their normal classes to join a special pull-out class. Furthermore, compulsory extra classes are held. The subjects available are History, Geography, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Literature. RA has also offered Music starting in 2010.

At Secondary 2, students can apply for RA via a submission of portfolio of achievements, selection tests and interviews, before they are identified for RA. Minimum requirements for application include a minimum GPA of 3.60, and an 85th percentile rank in the cohort for the subject in question. Each student is allowed to take a maximum of two RA subjects, to allow students to focus their time and effort on subjects they are truly passionate about.

The Raffles Academy has also been initiated in the Junior College section in 2009 so that there is a continuation of the curriculum. However, students who wish to continue taking RA for subjects in RI(JC) will have to sit for a separate placement test at the end of Secondary Four.

Raffles Leadership Programme
The Raffles Leadership Programme (RLP) is an initiative of the Leadership Development Department, aimed at preparing Rafflesians to take on positions of leadership in school and in life. All Year 3 pupils go through the programme which includes going through the Leadership Challenge Workshop and taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Instrument.

Under the RLP, Year 3 pupils also get to take part in an eight-week residential programme in RI Boarding to learn about independent living skills.

Student Leaders (consisting of all CCALs, ACCALs and Prefects) also get additional training which includes the annual Student Leader Camp, or SL Camp. This takes place around term 3 to prepare the student leaders to take up their responsibilities as leaders of their CCAs. Participants board in the school's boarding complex and take part in several team-bonding and leadership-oriented activities both locally and overseas.

Co-curricular activities
Raffles Institution offers about a hundred CCAs under the Co-curricular activity (CCA) programme, including sports, uniformed groups, performing arts, and clubs and societies.

CCAs are categorised as either core or merit CCAs. Core CCAs comprise all sports, uniformed groups and performing arts, as well as Raffles Debaters while merit CCAs consist of all other clubs and societies. Every student of the school takes up at least one core CCA. Merit CCAs are optional, but students are encouraged to take up at least one merit CCA to supplement their core CCA. Certain merit CCAs, such as the Infocomm Club, however, may substitute for a core CCA instead.

The school's sports teams and uniformed groups have earned top places in many national inter-school competitions, doing well in Red Cross Youth, Rugby, NCC, Floorball, Boys' Brigade, and cross-country among others.

The performing arts groups have also done well in the Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging, held once every two years, while the clubs and societies have also won awards.

RI has not offered football for many years, and there has recently been some criticism that the school has not re-introduced it now that more facilities are available. The official reason now given by the school is that boys will often be able to be exposed to soccer outside school, and would not be exposed to anything new in school. The school also said that if such a CCA were to be created, resources such as teacher allocations would have to be diverted away for it.

Student Interest Groups
In 2004, Student Interest Groups (SIGs) were introduced by the Prefectorial Board. These were defined as interest groups formed by students themselves. However, SIGs are not considered to be CCAs and do not receive school funding like CCAs do. Also, as with members of Merit CCAs, students are still required to take up at least one core CCA. Currently, many of the original SIGs no longer exist. Exceptions include the Raffles Institution Student Entrepreneurship (RI$E) SIG, which has been successful in nationwide competitions.

Boarding
Raffles Institution Boarding is housed in a Boarding Complex consisting of five blocks. These are named after the five Houses; Bayley, Buckley, Hullett, Moor and Morrison. Each block, apart from the new Hullett block, can accommodate 90 pupils. All blocks have their own staff, and the Boarding Complex is overseen by several Boarding Masters.

History
The foundation stone of the Boarding Complex was laid by Lee Kuan Yew on 25 March 1994. The first batch of boarders moved into the Complex in 1995.

During the upgrading works in 2006, the former Moor block was demolished to make way for a 13-storey twin tower hostel, the Hullett block, completed in July 2007. The former Hullett block was renamed Moor and, together with Bayley, caters to girls.

The boarding complex is currently undergoing renovation and is estimated to be completed by the end of 2012. There will also be a new facade that blends in with the contemporary looks of Hullett block with new windows and new exterior coat of paint. The tiles along the common areas like the staircase and corridors will also be changed to new ones. There will also be new lifts installed at every block. The current games rooms in the 4 blocks will be shifted into the current reception lobby and in its place, the Buckley block will have a new minimart cum alfresco cafe, Bayley a new gym cum dance studio (only for RIB boarders), Morrison and Moor will have new offices for ORA/RPA and the Internationalisation Office. All rooms would also be fully air-conditioned too.

Culture
Boarders consist of local Raffles Institution pupils and scholars from other countries (mostly China and ASEAN countries), as well as pupils from other secondary schools and junior colleges. The Raffles Leadership Programme's first two cycles, in 2008 and 2009, which first phase was mandatory for CCA leaders, included a semester long (Term 3-4) residential component. The remaining two phases, open to applicants though their CCAs, each had a one term long boarding component. Since its third cycle in 2010, all three phases have been open to all interested Year 3 students, and had a one term long boarding component.

Boarding traditions include formal dinners that are held twice a year, as well as an orientation programme for newcomers. Other programmes include the annual RIB Night.

Campus


The Raffles Institution campus consists of six main blocks on 12 hectares of land.

Yusof Ishak Block (Former Admin Block)
The main building is the Yusof Ishak Block, comprising offices, staff rooms, lecture theatres, study areas and computer labs, as well the Main Atrium. It houses the Year 1-4 General Office and the Raffles Archives & Museum. Major upgrading works were completed in early 2007.

Science Hub
The Science Hub, opened in 2008, includes facilities for specialized research such as Xploratory-Labs; as well as Chemistry, Physics and Biology labs. It also houses the Discovery Labs, a Laser Animation/Technology Studio, the Materials Science Lab and the Raffles Academy Home Room.

Marshall Block (Former Senior Block)
The Marshall Block, named after Singapore's first Chief Minister David Marshall, currently houses classrooms for Year 1 students since year 2013. In the past, the block was solely reserved for Year 4 seniors of Raffles.

Humanities Hub
The Humanities Hub comprises history, geography and literature rooms as well as two circular theatres on the ground floor, and an open-air experimental area. It was officially in use by Term 3 in 2009.

Sheares Block (Former Junior Block)
The 4-storey Sheares Block was built in 1997. It was originally named the Junior Block. It houses the Year 2 classrooms, seminar rooms, computer laboratories, an English Studio used by the Raffles Players, one Chinese language room used by Chinese Cultural Club and a class room used by the Tamil class. In 2012, several seminar rooms were renovated and converted into the Raffles Discovery Studio, which houses recording, video-editing and other related facilities managed by the Education Technology Department. A retractable sun roof covers the block's atrium known as the Sheares Block atrium, used for meetings and uniformed group training.

ArtSpace
Formerly known as the Design Centre, the first floor of the ARTSpace houses the art galleries, classrooms, and art and music studios. The roof of the ArtSpace houses the school's mini-weather station.

Rajaratnam Block
The 7-storey Rajaratnam Block was completed in 2006 beside the Sheares Block. Year 3 and 4 classes occupy the new block, named in memory of the late Mr S. Rajaratnam. The first floor is used by uniformed groups for training. The second to seventh floor houses 40 classrooms.

CCA Block
The CCA block houses the canteen, CCA rooms and the Albert Hong Hall (AHH), as well as an auditorium which also serves as a drama theatre and performing arts centre. Two squash courts are below the stage in AHH. There is also a gym on the second floor.

Hullett Memorial Library
The Hullett Memorial Library (HML) stands between the Sheares Block and ArtSpace. Co-founded by Dr Lim Boon Keng and Sir Song Ong Siang, it was named after Raffles Institution's longest-serving Headmaster, Richmond William Hullett, in 1923. The Library's official founding (even though a library and museum, from which the National Museum originated, had existed for deades prior to 1923) also marked the centenary of the founding of the Institution. The Library traces its roots to the founding of the Institution, making it the oldest library in Singapore. The origins of Singapore's National Library lie in the HML.

The library possesses around 50,000 books in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (plus a few in French, German, and other languages), and around 40 computers with wireless internet access. It employs full-time staff for administrative purposes, and other tasks are performed by the members of the Hullett Memorial Library Club as well as parent volunteers.

Sports facilities
Raffles Institution offers sports facilities, including an Olympic-size swimming pool. The former 400-metre track and field was replaced by a rugby union field and a softball diamond during the school's upgrading works in 2006.

The school's gymnasium underwent renovation in 2010, and was used as a training venue for gymnastics in 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, together with that in the Year 5-6 campus. The school also has two tennis courts, two basketball courts, two squash courts, and two cricket nets.

There is an artificial soccer turf known as the Astroturf. It previously served as the Parade Square; the artificial turf was installed around 1995. It was used for school assembly in the morning, and later in the day for hockey training and for individual sports and games, until upgrading works in 2006. Since upgrading works in 2006 were completed, morning assemblies are held at a new area called the Raffles Square, which previously was a carpark.

Following the re-integration with Raffles Junior College from 2009, more sports facilities are available. Floorball, table tennis, judo and gymnastics are RI sports now benefiting from being able to use the Year 5-6 Campus facilities.

IT facilities
The school has six general-purpose computer labs, one music studio with Prodikeys, and one X-lab, short for Experimental Lab for research in computer studies. Connectivity is supplied to all buildings by the campus LAN, with additional wireless access covering most areas such as the Administrative Block, the Hullett Memorial Library (HML) and the S. Rajaratnam Block. Tablet PCs are supplied by the IT department to facilitate the use of eLearning in a classroom setting.

Previously, the first week of the second term of the academic year had been dedicated to eLearning. During this week, lessons and materials would be disseminated online for students to study at their own pace, and students were not required to attend school. The programme was initiated in 1999 but scrapped in 2006. Since then, e-learning has been integrated into the school calendar. It is often used by teachers during holidays during term time, for instance on Staff Training Days during term time when students are not required to attend lessons; instead, teachers attend courses held in the campus.