Mike and Helen Tyson – visit on 28th September 2009

 Parents of Gabriella who attended Nursery and Reception in 1998-2000 and Yasmin who was pre-school age during their stay in Singapore, Mike and Helen visited Tanglin Trust School on the final day of their special holiday to Singapore to celebrate Mike’s birthday and enjoy the Singapore F1.

Gabriella had asked them to call in to Tanglin and take some photographs to share with her and show how the school has changed since she was in Mrs Jane Rogers’ Nursery class and Miss Debbie Downes’ Giraffe Class in Reception.

Their visit brought lots of fond memories back and there were lots of familiar settings.  However, Mike and Helen were also very impressed with some new additions to the Infant classrooms:  the computers easily accessible for all children, the huge library which has been constructed and opened since Gabriella left Tanglin and also the Adventure Playground.

They also had a quick tour of the relatively new Berrick Building Performance Hall and Sports Hall and saw the other new additions to the campus: the brand new Sixth Form Centre, the extra floor on the Senior School and even the Junior School building is new and in a slightly different place to when Gabriella attended Tanglin!

They completed their visit to Tanglin with the purchase of a teddy in Infant School uniform from the shop for Gabriella who is now a Year 10 student starting her GCSE’s at a school in Fordingbridge in Hampshire, England.

The Tyson Family left Singapore in 2000 and moved first to Eindhoven in the Netherlands where Gabriella attended the International School and then in 2002 they moved back to England where they live in a beautiful part of the country in the New Forest.

Line-Marie Poppe (nee Husby) – Class of 1991 – visit on 30th September 2009

Line-Marie Poppe attended Winchester Nursery and Raeburn Park School in 1977-1978.  At that time Winchester Nursery was located in Alexandra Park and Raeburn Park was located in Portsdown Road.

Line visited Tanglin Trust School with her father Olav on Wednesday, 30^th September during a two-week holiday in Singapore, their first visit back here after leaving Singapore over 30 years ago.

Olav was the Assisting Minister with the Norwegian Seaman’s Mission in Pasir Panjang and Olav and Line were thrilled to find that their house in Chwee Chian Road was still in existence, the most dilapidated house in the road, but still standing!  They also found the Mission still located in Pasir Panjang Road.  Line and Olav then hit the jackpot when they discovered that Tanglin Trust School Infant School stands on the same site as Raeburn Park.  To be able to find your house, your ‘office’ and your school (or at least the site of it) in Singapore after 30 years is quite an achievement in this country which keeps redefining its coastline and is capable of moving complete roads overnight!

So they had fun trying to work out where the big hall used for assemblies once stood and where the cars used to drive in and drop off and pick up the children.  There were no school buses in those days, lots of Jaguars, Bentleys and other expensive cars along with their little Norwegian Seaman’s Mission Bus!

All the kampongs along Pasir Panjang Road have disappeared but Line and Olav have shared reminisces with the taxi drivers while travelling around Singapore and rediscovering areas such as Chinatown.

Line is now married to Andreas with three children Amalie aged 11, and twins Celius and Aurora aged 9.   Olav and his wife, Kristin live in mid Norway (Trondheim), and Line and her family all live in the southern tip of Norway close to the town of Arendal where Line (Assisting Headmaster) and Andreas (Department Leader) work at two different schools with students aged 16 – 18. 

These are equivalent to our Sixth Form but not only including students who will progress to university but also those following agricultural, vocational, building, Health and Social Sciences courses and also those in the Special Education Stream.   Line’s school has three different campuses, with approximately 90 staff, 350 students and 350 sheep, 35 cows, 20 calves, 200 pigs and horses  (the latter group are required by the agricultural students). Visit their website at www.tvedestrand.vgs.no