The school was recognised by the Ministry of Education in 2006 by being awarded the School Excellence Award (recognising schools with 'exemplary school processes and practices'), among other awards.[7]
Before RGS became a school in its own right, it existed as a section of Raffles Institution (RI).[9]
The precursor to RGS opened in the RI campus of Bras Basah Road on 4 March 1844 with 11 students, five day-scholars and six boarders, who were clothed, fed and instructed by the RI management. The demand for education grew and in 1847, the school moved to RI's eastern wing, extending towards Bras Basah Road. Edmund Augustus Blundell, the Governor of the Straits Settlement, described the school as "a female school designed for the education and religious training of the children of poor Protestant parents" in 1855.[10] In 1871, the school moved into a house, the George Family's Old Mansion at the corner of Bras Basah Road. In 1879, the school separated from RI and M. Nelson was appointed the school's first headmistress. Together with three assistants, she ran the school which had an enrolment of 77. Since then, 1879 has been officially regarded as the year of the founding of RGS.[11]
On 21 October 2019, RGS moved from Anderson Road, where it had been located since 1959, to its new campus at Braddell Rise, located opposite RI.[4]
School culture and identity
Uniform
The usual school uniform is a belted, deep blue pinafore and a white collared blouse.[12]
Awards and accolades
A group of four students from RGS emerged Champion at the Kids' Lit Quiz 2018, and represented Singapore in New Zealand in July that year.[13]
Joseph Toh Kim Leng won the Teaching Award in 2016, which honours outstanding teachers of English language, English literature and General Paper in Singapore.[14]
Jodie Lai, a 2015 Optimist World Championships Under-15 champion, was conferred the title of Best Sportsgirl for sailing at the 46th Singapore Schools Sports Council (SSSC) Colours Awards in 2016.[15]
Students from the school have won the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition.[16][17][18]
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(October 2024)
^"SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2006"(PDF). Ministry of Education. 19 September 2006. Archived(PDF) from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
^"2019 essay world finalists". The Royal Commonwealth Society Canterbury (NZ) Branch Incorporated. 22 November 2019. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.