Da Qiao Primary School

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“Happy Teachers, Flourishing Students” captured the critical role teachers played in flourishing lives @ DQ through PERMA (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning and Accomplishment).

Beyond Just A Hat Trick – DQ produced 4 consecutive PAT Awardees: Mdm Safidah Samsudin (PAT Recipient 2015), Ms Rezia Rahumathullah (PAT Recipient 2014), Mdm Shakila Jamal Mohamed (PAT Recipient 2013), and Ms Susan Koh (PAT Recipient 2012).

A prototype school for Holistic Assessment, DQ championed the use of balanced assessment system in schools and shared its best practices at various national platforms and hosted LJs.

“Do Good, Feel Good” in DQ reached a new high in 2018 when the whole school community and members of the public folded more than 22000 paper cranes to raise rice for charity, in partnership with SongHe!

School History

Da Qiao Primary School started in 1936 as a Chinese-medium public school to serve the education needs of the community at North Bridge Road. It was then known as Tai Keou School (公立大侨学校). The word ‘大’ (da) in the name refers to Dabu, the Chinese province where the founder, Mr Qiu Lin Rong, was from, and ‘侨’ (qiao) refers to Chinese immigrants in Singapore at the time.

To better support the school, members of the Char Yong (Dabu) Association came on board to serve as the school’s board of directors in 1939. In the same year, the school shifted to Lim Tua Tow Road at Hougang (后港五条石). The school was closed during the Japanese Occupation and reopened at Lorong Tai Seng (大成巷) in 1947. In 1964, it relocated to Jalan Paya and remained there until the end of 1980.

In 1981, Da Qiao Primary School was established as a government school in Ang Mo Kio. The school name ‘Da Qiao’, a hanyu pinyin version of Tai Keou, was chosen to continue the name of the former Tai Keou School and to recognise the contributions by members of the Char Yong (Dabu) Association. In January 1982, the new school started operating at 10, Ang Mo Kio Street 54 with 38 classes of 1,200 students. The school was officially opened on 22 July 1983.

Following the PRIME upgrading programme, Da Qiao Primary School moved to a new campus at 8 Ang Mo Kio Street 54 on 8 December 1999. In 2000, it merged with Chong Boon Primary School to form the present Da Qiao Primary School. The new campus was officially opened on 22 February 2002.

From 2010, Da Qiao Primary was one of 16 prototype schools that embarked on Holistic Assessment and was in forefront to share best practices on the implementation of Holistic Assessment. The year 2014 marked a key milestone when Positive Education was leveraged as a whole-of-school approach to develop students’ well-being. Da Qiao Primary became a reference school for Positive Education after organising the inaugural symposium, SymPosEd 2017. To celebrate its legacy before the merger with Jing Shan Primary school, Da Qiao held a Positive Education Learning Festival in 2018 to share its best practices with the fraternity.

Da Qiao Primary School’s Learning for Life Programme, FLOURISH @ DQ, aims to develop character strengths, resilience and mindfulness through values in action. FLOURISH @ DQ focuses on enhancing well-being through the provision of learning experiences where values can be put into action. 

Principals:
- Mr Qiu Lin Rong (1936–1939)
- Mr Yuan Ping (1939)
- Mr Liu Jun Jie (1940–1941; records unavailable from 1947 to 1978)
- Mr Sin Jeok Tong (1979–1980)
- Mr Cheong Cheng Swee (1981–1984; first principal at the Ang Mo Kio campus)
- Mrs Christina Koh (1985–1994)
- Mr Lee Lam Hua (1995–1999)
- Mrs Loh Meng Har (2000–2006; principal of merged school)
- Mrs Bilveer Singh (2007–2013)
- Mrs Joyce Ang (2014–2018)

Key Milestones

School Motto

United and True

School Crest

The crest highlights the letters ‘d’ and ‘q’ which are the initials for Da Qiao Primary School. The interlocking letters ‘d’ and ‘q’ emphasise the importance of the UNITY within the school organisation. The circle signifies that with truth there will be harmony.

School Song

♫ Listen ↗ (opens in new tab)

Verse 1:
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

Verse 2:
Let’s strive along from day to day
Where there’s a will there is a way
Our heads held high to face every test
Da Qiao we promise to do our best

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