Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Secondary) (Abbreviation: PLMGSS) is an all-girls school located in Hougang, Singapore, running on a single session catering to pupils in the Special, Express, Normal Academic and Normal Technical streams, hence fulfilling its mission of opening its doors to the very able as well as the less able. Since 1995, PLMGSS has been offering Higher Chinese (HCL) to her pupils. There are 61 teachers, 80% of whom are committed Christians. Approximately 25% are old girls, a special feature of the school.

History

On 31 October 1916 the Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Building and Location Board purchased a piece of land Lot 425-9 Mukim XVII Title Pt Gt 37 with an area of in the district of Amokiah and started the school known as Paya Lebar School. This was the beginning of Paya Lebar MGS.

It was started as a branch of the Anglo-Chinese School and known as Paya Lebar English School. The first headmaster was Mr. Robert Hanam. When it started functioning in 1917 it had a staff of 3 and a pupil enrolment of 24 boys. In 1918, it began taking in girls. It was an elementary school providing education up to Primary 4.

In 1935, Mrs Chew Hock Hin became Principal. She is regarded as founder because she was founder of the Girls' School and reorganised the school with help from the American Crusade Fund. The school after World War II was co-ed with the boys in the PM Session and the girls in the AM Session. It became a government-aided school in 1949. It was then still a primary school. Gradually one secondary class after another was added. In 1954, the school presented its first batch of School Certificate girls who set the standard by scoring 100%.

In 1986, Paya Lebar MGS made its move from Boundary Road to the present campus along Lorong Ah Soo. The year also saw the creation of 2 schools, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School and PLMGSS.

In 2005, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Secondary) was relocated to a holding site in Serangoon North Avenue 1 while construction works went on at its Lorong Ah Soo site. In 2007, the school was located back to Lorong Ah Soo.

Co-curricular Activities

PLMGSS has many CCAs and are especially well known for doing well in the performing arts. The school has even been selected as the East Zone's Centre of Excellence for the Performing Arts, and various groups performed in the school on one day to showcase what PLMGSS had to offer in terms of music, drama and dance.

Two CCAs that have constantly done well in competitions and performances are the Guzheng tuan, a chinese plucked instrument, and the Handbell Ensemble. Both groups have always gotten the Gold award or the even higher ranking of Gold with Honours award at the Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging, and have only gotten Silver awards once or twice in the school's early years.

The PL Handbell Ensemble is known informally as being the best handbell choir in Singapore, and has even gone overseas to showcase their incredible handbell skills. One such event held overseas that they attended was the 13th International Handbell Symposium, organized by the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR), held in Orlando, Florida from the 4th to 8th of August 2008. The mere nine girls (out of the group's 35 members) that went for the symposium were remembered for their tantalizing South-east Asian piece, Lenggang Kangkong, which amazed many of the other symposium participants and conductors. Some of the other participants even commented that they had done 'beautifully well' and that their high standard and unique techniques of ringing could set the bar for the other groups' solo performances.

Through events like these, PLMGSS has thus been known for producing well-cultured and learned students with a passion for the performing arts, an art so much like an unspoken language.

Affiliation

PLMGSS is affiliated with Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (PLMGPS), giving PLMGPS students priority for admission to. PLMGSS is also affiliated to the Methodist Church in Singapore and other Methodist Schools in Singapore including: Methodist Girls' School, Anglo-Chinese School, Fairfield Methodist Secondary School and Geylang Methodist Secondary School.

External links

• School Website