SJI is now part of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC).
Founded in 1995, the International Boys’ Schools Coalition is a not-for-profit world-wide coalition of independent schools. They are dedicated to the education and development of boys, the professional growth of those who work with them, and the advocacy and advancement of institutions that serve them.
In schools that educate only boys, the administration is geared towards developing resources and designing their programmes to meet the educational and developmental needs of young men.
In early October, Mr Bradley Adams, Executive Director of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC), Canada, visited SJI. He said, "I wanted to visit a top boys’ school in Singapore and that’s why I am here today. I must say, I am impressed at how well-behaved and hospitable the boys are in SJI. Although it is the examination period now, the boys are very well mannered. I am also impressed with all the work that Dr Koh is doing to develop the teaching staff at SJI to help them to become better teachers.”
Oct09: Most Inspiring English Teacher is at SJI
SJI’s Mr Alan Johnson (Form tutor of Class 211) uses rock songs to teach poetry. His approach to teaching English at SJI is innovative and ... it works! And so, it was not surpising that he was awarded the 2009 Most Inspiring English Teacher award from MOE.
Mr Johnson, who graduated from SJI in 1992, teaches English and English Literature at SJI. Alan wanted to bring poetry and music into the daily lives of the boys and help them to understand and appreciate these finer things.
He said, “I didn’t expect to win. It was a huge surprise and honour to be even nominated. I would like to say that this award would not have been possible without the SJI environment which has nurtured me and encouraged me. For me, SJI is a wonderful place to work inand I am thankful all the time that I was blessed enough to return. Here at SJI, I am surrounded by people who inspire me.’’
His student, Colin Tan, 14, called him “a motivational teacher who makes learning fun’’. he added that Mr Johnson has taught him to draw life lessons from the materials covered in class, be it music, Shakespeare or poetry and become a better person for it.
Mr Johnson was among 10 winners, picked from 124 nominees, who received their award from Senior Minister of State (Trade and Industry, and Education) Mr S Iswaran.
Razor TV
ST and Mypaper
CNN Go
Sep09: SJI garners the coveted SEA award
SJI has been recognized by MOE with a prestigious award this year. The school has been honoured with the School Excellence Award. The School Excellence Award (SEA) is the pinnacle award in the MOE Masterplan of Awards that recognizes the achievement of educational excellence in both academic and non-academic outcomes.
The SEA citation reads as follows: "St. Joseph's Institution (SJI), founded in 1852, was established by the La Salle Brothers. SJI became the only Catholic Independent school in 1988. The school has a tradition , spanning over 155 years, of touching the hearts, engaging the minds and transforming the lives of its boys, giving recognition and affirmation to make them feel special and showing them that they are valued for who they are, not just what they have or can do. This tradition is manifested in the school values of faith, service and community. These values act as a compass for all planning and decision making."
Straits Times
Catholic News
Sep09: SJI Wins First Prize in Video Competition 
Josephians from the Tamil Cultural Society has won the top prize at the Tamil Video Production Competition in 2009. This year marks the 10th commemoration of Mr Naa Govindasamy who was the first person to introduce the Tamil language to t.jpg)
he internet.
The SJI team comprised a total of 12 boys. They are Navin Kumar (203), Pirratheep (204), Tashan Kalleichelven (204), Sakthi Ram (207), Dhakhna Moorthy (210), Vinodhanan (210), Sundaram Balaji (211), Manoharan Karthik (336), T Thanaraj (322), Shaik Imran (323) and Ahabath Rehman (105).
The boys put together a 5-minute video outlining “What is Success?” The leader of the team, Shaik Imran said, “The SJI TCS is entering the competition for the first time this year. It was certainly exciting to learn so many new things and see a short movie come together. We will certainly work hard for the next year as well.”
They were presented the awards at the Boon Lay Community Centre. Teacher-in-charge, Mrs Muthiah Kumudavalli said, “All the boys worked well together and motivated each other to reach a standard higher than I had expected. Although video production was new them, they were committed to deliver their best. I am very proud of all the boys in the TCS.”
The boys were featured in the Tamil News on Saturday, 29 August and also in the Tamil Murasu on Thursday, 3 September 2009. They were featured on Naam (Vasantham) on Thursday, 10 September.
Aug09: SJI in PM Lee’s National Day Rally 2009 Message
SJI was highlighted in PM Lee’s Rally to Singaporeans on Sun, 16 Aug 2009 as a school where students of all faiths can do well although SJI is a Catholic school. He held up SJI as an example of a mission school which has accepted students of all religions.
PM Lee spoke about our old boy, Salman Mohamed Khair who was Josephian of the Year in 2003. Salman had told Berita Harian that he was initially apprehensive about attending a Catholic school, but religion was never an issue during his time with SJI.
PM Lee also spoke about how our Muslim boys attend Friday prayers every week in their school uniform.
(The photo on the right shows Josephians at a Malay Dining Etiquette lesson during Personal and Social Education.
Please read more about SJI's Religious and Moral Education, and our Personal and Social Educationto get a better understanding on the school's initiatives.)
Staff and students in the school were interviewed by the media on Mon, 17 Aug. They were featured on the nightly news as follows:
| Suria |
8.00pm |
| Vasantham |
8.30pm |
| Channel U |
9.00pm |
| Channel 5 |
9.30pm |
| Channel 8 |
10.00pm |
| Channel News Asia |
10.00pm |
PM office: Speech
Straits Times
Aug09: SJI Alumnus receives coveted LKY Scholarship
Gabriel Lim (Class of 1991) was one of the two recipients of this years’ Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship. He would be heading to Stanford University for a 10-month programme to pursue a Masters of Science in Management. Gabriel was the Director for Industry Development and International Cooperation with the Ministry of Health.
The Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship was launched in 1991 and since then, 26 Singaporeans have been presented with the award. The Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship is the post graduate equivalent of the President's scholarship.
Garbriel said, “I personally feel that the larger issues and the issues outside the public service helps us to work better as a public servant. Because at the end of the day, the public service is for the whole of Singapore." (source: Channel NewsAsia, 12Aug)
Gabriel was Guest of Honour in SJI this year at our Founder’s Day celebrations (in picture: third from left). While in SJI, Gabriel was a prefect and a member of the school Track and Field team. His Class Tutor acknowledges him as "a highly intelligent person, and a natural leader".
Gabriel currently serves on the SJI Board of Governors, and EXCO of the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore. He is also on the Board of Directors for Innoheart - a clinical research organisation for medical devices.
Jul09: SJI Hair For Hope - 209
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The team from Children’s Cancer Foundation will be at the school with their team of professional hair stylists to shave the heads of volunteers who want to show their support for the cause and help to raise awareness of childhood cancer in Singapore.
This years effort comes in the midst of the H1N1 crisis in Singapore. As such, the participants are restricted to just staff and students, and those approved by senior management.
Parents and old boys are invited to join the school at Hair for Hope 2010.
Background: On 24 July 2008, more than 150 Josephians and their teachers came together to shave their heads for a worthy cause in support of the Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF) to raise awareness of childhood cancer in Singapore. The event was planned and organised by the Prefects EXCO with guidance from Mr Dominic Ang, Head of Character Development.
Apr09: Old Boy Heads Liver Transplant Team in SGH
Dr Tan Chee Kiat (Class of 1976) is Director of the Liver Transplant Service in SGH.
Upon graduating from SJI, Dr Tan went on to CJC to complete his GCE ‘A’ Level exams. He continued to NUS under the Singapore Government Local Merit Scholarship. After completing NS, he returned to work in SGH and received his post-graduate qualification (MRCP) in 1989.
He then went on to on a MOH HMDP (Health Manpower Development Plan) award for advanced training in liver transplantation and liver diseases at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in 1993-1994. Upon his return to Singapore, he joined SGH as a full-time staff and has not looked back since.
It was reported in the Straits Times that Dr Tan and his team of 50 medical staff made history when they performed a double-transplant in Asia's first heart-liver transplant procedure. The operation that lasted 12 hours and 20 minutes at SGH blessed the patient with another 10 years of life or more. (STPrimeNews/25Apr/pgA4)
Dr Tan shared his thoughts on his alma mater, “SJI is a great school and I'm glad to have spent my formative years there. It taught me life skills and values beyond formal education. I had a great time in SJI -- an experience to last a life-time!"
Mar09: Cross Country Champs!
Congratulations to the boys in the Cross Country Team, the teachers-in-charge Mr Mohamed Tahir, Mr Joseph Edison and Miss Elisa Tan, and Coach Elangovan, on the excellent results at the National Inter-Schools Cross Country Championships.
Both Sumanithiran (426) and Karthic (212) ran an outstanding race and finished strongly to win GOLD in their respective divisions. Sumanithiran is the ‘B’ Division Champion and Karthic, the ‘C’ Division Champion.
This is the first time that we have Josephians claiming the GOLD for two divisions in the same year. Sumanthiran who was also the ‘C’ Division champion in 2007 is also the first Josephian to have won the GOLD twice!
As SJI is the National Convenor for the Nationals Inter-School Cross-Country Championships, about 300 staff and Josephians were on duty and they did an excellent job. As an added bonus they were fortunate enough to have captured the excitement and feel the Josephian sprit come alive when our boys sprinted to the finish line. Truly a magical moment that will be etched on the hearts and minds and be recalled many, many times in the future.
Jan09: SJI Maintains Band 1 Ranking in 2009
| 2008 GCE 'O' Level results |
| 16 subjects with 100% passes |
| Overall mean L1B5 |
10.2 |
| Overall distinction rate |
69.1% |
| Mean subject grade |
2.1 |
Four boys have topped the class at SJI. Yap Li Wei and our foreign scholars David Heryanto, Alvin Adrian Wijaya, and Michael Agung Pradhana scored an excellent 9A1s.
|
 |
Another seven boys scored 8A1s.
Josephians performed very well and achieved high distinction scores in the following subjects:
| Art/Higher Art |
100% |
| Mathematics |
96.6% |
| World History |
90.2 % |
| Biology |
86.4% |
| Add Mathematics |
82.7% |
| Geography |
79.3% |
| Physics |
77.2% |
Jan09: NIE Don to Lead SJI as New Principal in 2009
Dr Koh Thiam Seng, the current Deputy Director of NIE, will be taking over from Mr Lui Seng Cheong as Principal SJI from 1 Jan 2009.
For 11 years as Principal, Mr Lui has made significant contributions to SJI. During his tenure, SJI has attained many accolades including: sustained achievement awards, Gold Value-added Award and lately he has led SJI to 'Band 1' of the MOE ranking of schools making SJI a school of choice for many.
Dr Koh comes to SJI with a wealth of experience in the field of education. He was Director, Educational Technology whilst seconded to MOE. For his contribution to MOE, Dr Koh was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in the 2008 National Day Honour List.
Dr Koh will be the first SJI Alumnus to lead the school.
