HISTORY OF OUR SCHOOL

 

In 1905 the Portuguese Mission residing in Malacca requested the Canossian Sisters to provide for the formation and education of the descendants of the Portuguese settlement. And so it was that on 5 May, 1905, 4 Canossian Sisters from the Singapore community were sent to Malacca . They were Rev. Mother Luigia Spazzini, Mother M.C. McBean, Mother Ermelinda Rozario and Mother Felicia Victoria.

They first settled in an old house in Bandar Hilir and immediately took over the running of a school in Tranquerah for boys and girls, with a small boarding school for the girls in need. That was the first seed that soon grew and expanded in the typical Canossian activities: catechesis, retreats for the girls, visits to hospitals, etc.

In 1930, a new block of seven classrooms was erected in Banda Hilir to take in the girls who were in Tranquerah. This was to ensure that these girls could eventually be integrated into the mainstream of society. On 8 August, 1930,the school was officially known as Sacred Heart Convent. In 1932, for the first time, the students took the Junior Cambridge Examination followed by the Senior Cambridge Examination the next year.

The school was temporarily closed during the Second World War and on 14 January 1946, under the British rule, the school re-opened with a total of 477 students. Between the years of 1948 - 1950, a new school block was built in the Portuguese settlement with the aim of educating the children of the fishermen. It was known as Canossian School.

   Since 1952, the school in Banda Hilir went on expanding to cater for the increasing number of students. Soon, the school in Portuguese Settlement became part of the Sacred Heart Convent. In 1966, the primary and lower secondary classes were situated in Bandar Hilir and the upper secondary in Portuguese Settlement. This was necessary as the number of students kept increasing even though a three-storey block was constructed in Banda Hilir in 1965 and 1967 in Ujong Pasir.   On 23 August, 1980, the school celebrated the 75th. Anniversary and the offical opening ceremony of the new block. This was officiated by YB Datu Chan Siang Sun, Deputy Education Minister. On 23 March 1986, another block of four-storey classrooms in Ujong Pasir was officially opened by YB Datuk Ling Liong Sik, Minister of Transport. With this, the lower secondary classes in Banda Hilir were united with the upper secondary classes in Ujong Pasir. The school changed its name to Sekolah Menengah Canossa Convent Melaka.

In 1995, the school celebrated its 90th. Anniversary.

  

 

" The most perfect act of charity we can experience towards our neighbour is to help him to know God and to love him."
St. Magdalene of Canossa
 
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