History

Origin

Tampines, a thriving regional centre in the east of Singapore since the 1980s, has its name from the Tampines tree, a timber tree found in this area. Tampines wood is recognised for its strength, durability and resilience. An iconic primary school to represent the roots of this multi-ethnic neighbourhood of great vibrancy and prosperity was realized in 1985 when Tampines Primary School came into being.

Tampines Primary School started humbly in 1985 at Yumin Primary School and moved to its own premise at Tampines Street 12 in 1986 with a teaching staff of 42 and an enrollment of 1152 students in 29 classes.

The school was officially opened on 30 March 1988 by Mr Phua Bah Lee, the former Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Defence) and Member of Parliament for Tampines.

Journey of Growth

Tampines Primary School embraces the core belief that every pupil can learn and excel. In addition to the emphasis on holistic education, the school recognises the need to be responsive to the changing needs of education.

In 1999, the school’s crest was changed to a tapered ‘T’ to project its forward looking vision as a School of Distinction and strong endorsement in the use of ICT to support teaching and learning. By 2000, the school had acquired 280 computers to provide better support in teaching and learning – a sharp contrast to the 20 computers that were acquired in 1991.

From 2004, the school has taken on the multi-approach of furthering the frontiers in teaching-learning by structuring and operationalising the supporting belief that every staff is an innovative and collaborative leader, and in leveraging the school as a learning tool – creating learning experiences beyond the classroom boundaries for our students. Action research in teaching and learning became vibrant and PoETEL was introduced as the guiding framework for greater effectiveness in lesson deliveries to fully engage students in learning.

In 2007, Programme for Rebuilding & Improving Existing Schools (PRIME) for the school was confirmed and single session for all levels was also experimented on the Monday of each week. By going single session, more facilities were freed up for after school enrichment programmes. The school has implemented single session, starting lessons at 8.00am from 2008. Come December 2009, when PRIME is completed, students can look forward to a new school building blessed with better and improved facilities for an enriched teaching and learning experience.

Our journey of growth has been made possible with the strong stewardship of our past and present school leaders.

Moving Forward

In our short history, Tampines Primary School has created a visible trail of successes in academic and non-academic accomplishments. This momentum will flow with the vibrancy of Tampines Town, marked by the school’s motto “To Persevere and Succeed”.

Click here to find out more about our history.