June 2015

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LIFE&FAMILY
120 June15
Overseas Family School is at 25F Paterson Road until
11 August, and thereafter at the junction of 81 Pasir Ris
Heights. 6738 0211 |
Other school developments
• A new German European School Singapore
in Dairy Farm is slated for completion in 2017.
• Sir Manasseh Meyer International School’s
new campus at Sembawang is expected to open
in early 2016.
NEW HORIZONS
As the Overseas Family School (OFS) prepares to
move to a new $300 million campus, we asked its
Academic Director, PAT KEENAN, what teachers and
students can look forward to at the Pasir Ris location.
Why did OFS decide to build a new school?
Our Paterson Road campus has always been a temporary
site, and we had been negotiating with the government for
a permanent site. We are absolutely delighted with the new
facilities, as many of the design features are world-firsts.
When do you open the doors?
First day is 11 August 2015, when our population of around
3,500 students will move in.
The new school has amazing facilities; what can
students expect?
• 20 classrooms dedicated to 14 different languages taught
in the mother tongue programme, all located together on
one floor;
• a 10-lane, 50-metre swimming pool;
• five full-sized, covered basketball courts;
• large numbers of specialist rooms, including two science
laboratories in Elementary School (we intend to increase our
science focus as we transition to the International Primary
CurriculumA 2,000-seat auditorium), plus numerous studios
and activity rooms dedicated to the performing arts;
• 12 escalators and 27 elevators;
• spacious hallways and classrooms, plus more specialist
rooms, including a chess suite and coding labs.
What about the teachers; what are they looking
forward to?
We are focusing intensively on utilising the new facilities
to enhance student learning across the entire educational
spectrum. For example, the performing arts have always been
emphasised at OFS, and the new auditorium and expanded
teaching spaces greatly expand the scope for this. Our
physical education and sporting facilities have also been
expanded, with an extra sports field, and the pool is quadruple
the size of our previous one.
The extra space offers exciting potential for collaboration
and large group-learning activities; the huge activity room
available for each grade level in the Elementary School is
just one example.
We’ve planned for the physical school environment too,
installing full-spectrum LED lights in all rooms, and CO2
sensors linked to the air-conditioning system that pump in
fresh sea air at pre-set thresholds. Importantly, all teachers
will have individual offices, providing them with a more
professional working environment.
What about travel to and from school?
Student drop-off and pick-up will be streamlined, with
underground parking for 500 cars and 120 buses; this will
be particularly advantageous on wet days. And rather than
congested inner-city roads, there are quick exits to the school
on and off the TPE expressway, via a four-lane road that leads
straight to the front gate.