Da Qiao’s History

The Roots

Da Qiao Primary School was officially opened on 11 January 1936 at North Bridge Road. It was a Chinese-medium public school that served the education needs of the community and provided education opportunities for children from the low income families. It was known as Tai Keou School (公立大侨学校) then. ‘大’ refers to ‘Dabu’, the province where the founder came from, and ‘侨’ refers to the Chinese immigrants in Singapore at that time. The founder Mr. Qiu Lin Rong (丘林容先生) also served as the Principal of the school at that time.   To better support the functioning of the school, members of the Char Yong (Dabu) Association came aboard to serve as the school’s Board of Directors in 1939. Mr. Yuan Ping (袁萍先生) was appointed the new Principal of the school after Mr Qiu Lin Rong (丘林容先生) left. In the same year, the school shifted to Lim Tua Tow Road at Hougang (后港五条石). In 1940, Mr. Liu Jun Jie (刘俊皆先生) took over the Principalship of Da Qiao Primary School.   The school was closed down during the Japanese Occupation. After the Japanese Occupation, Mr Liu Jun Jie re-opened the school at Lorong Tai Seng (大成巷) in 1947. It re-located to Jalan Paya in 1964 and functioned there until the end of 1980.

The Dawn of a New Beginning

In 1981, Da Qiao Primary School was established as a government school in the residential estate of Ang Mo Kio. The school name ‘Da Qiao’, a Hanyu Pinyin version of Tai Keou, was chosen to perpetuate the name of the former Tai Keou School and to recognize the past contributions made to the school by members of the Char Yong (Dabu) Association.   The new school started operating in its new building at 10 Ang Mo Kio St 54 in January 1982 with 38 classes and a pupil enrolment of about 1200. The school was officially declared open by Mr Hwang Soo Jin, Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament for Jalan Kayu on 22 July 1983. The first Principal was Mr Cheong Cheng Swee and the Vice Principal was Mr Ng Hing. Mr Cheong was succeeded by Mrs Christina Koh in 1985 and later, by Mr Lee Lam Hua in 1995.   As a result of PRIME, a Ministry of Education school rebuilding programme, Da Qiao Primary moved to its current campus at 8 Ang Mo Kio St 54 on 8 December 1999.

DA QIAO PRIMARY SCHOOL SONG  

Let’s stand together side by side
Da Qiao we cherish with love and pride
At work or play in all that we do
We’re always courteous united and true  

Chorus:
Side by side with love and pride
We stand united and true
Dear Alma Mater we gladly pledge our loyalty to you

Let’s strive along from day to day
Where there’s a will there is way
Our heads held high to face every test
Da Qiao we promise to do our best

Breaking New Grounds

The new millennium marked another milestone in the history of the school when it merged with Chong Boon Primary on 1 Jan 2000 to form the present Da Qiao Primary. On 2 February 2002, the school celebrated its 21st Anniversary and the Official Opening of its new campus which was declared open by Mr Wee Siew Kim, Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC. The new merged school was headed by Mrs Loh Meng Har from 2000 to 2006.  Mrs Bilveer Singh took over the helm as Principal from 2007 to 2013.   Since its merger, the school has consciously focused its efforts in providing a holistic education for all its students by engaging them in various programmes and activities which mould their character, develop their academic potential, nurture their aesthetics and sports talents, groom them as leaders, equip them with lifeskills and instill in them a passion for learning. Today, the school offers a variety of CCAs in sports and games, performing and visual arts, clubs and societies. Students also performed consistently well in the PSLE with results above National Average for most academic subjects.   Mrs Joyce Ang, the current Principal, leads a team of highly dedicated teachers and administrative staff in delivering a quality student-centric, values-driven education in line with the school philosophy of ‘Everyone can flourish’. To date, Da Qiao has forged strong partnership with Char Yong (Dabu) Association. The association has made important contributions to the educational and wellbeing of the students. It was with the aim of nurturing and developing the young that the Association started two schools, one of which was Da Qiao. Annually, the Association awards the bursaries and scholarships to our students to affirm their good effort. The Association believed in bringing learning beyond the walls of the classroom. In 2017, the Association partially funded our students for their Trips for International Experience (TIE) Fund, to Dabu and Xiamen, China. 

During this visit, the students visited the schools in Dabu. They visited Hongdu Elementary School and Dabu County Zhangyunzai Experimental Primary School. The students also had the opportunities to visit the Lee Kuan Yew Memorial Hall where they learnt more things about Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Through this trip, our students are able to broader their horizons and expands their learning experiences that transcends beyond the shores of Singapore. Over the years, Char Yong Dabu Association has played a significant role in partnering Da Qiao. Together in close partnership, we shape our students education.