St. Anthony's Canossian Secondary School (SACSS) is a government-aided autonomous Catholic girls' secondary school located in Bedok, Singapore. It is part of the Canossian family of Catholic girls' schools in Singapore. The school is well regarded for its dance and drama programmes, which widened students' appreciation of arts as well as cater to the unique needs of students with different artistic talents through the expanded range of programmes. It educates deaf students who do not need to use sign language to communicate. History In August 1879, Father Jose Pedro Santa Anna de Cunha of Saint Joseph's Church started a school for poor parishioners. As a result, the Saint Anna's School with an enrolment of six students opened in Middle Road. In 1886, the school became known as Saint Anthony's Boys' & Girls' School. The boys' and girls' school split 15 years later. The first four Canossian sisters arrived to run the Portuguese Mission school, and there the poor and neglected found refuge. The younger girls attended school while the older ones learned sewing and embroidery. The 1900s marked the beginning of a new era for the school. Saint Anthony's Girls' School was renamed Saint Anthony's Convent in 1906. Subsequently, a new chapel, quarters for the nuns, a kindergarten and first Junior Cambridge class (equivalent to Secondary 3 or 4) were added. The school buildings survived World War II and the Japanese occupation of Singapore. The Japanese military police took over the school and the sisters were placed under house arrest. When the war ended, the buildings were used to house war orphans. In 1952, the wooden convent was demolished and a five-storey building was constructed in its place. The following year, the new school was officially opened. In 2002, the school introduced a new uniform to commemorate its first year of being a government-aided autonomous girls' school. 2002 ended with a watershed historical event of the handover of stewardship of SACSS to its first lay principal in its 108-year history. Sister Cecily Pavri, being the last Canossian nun to lead the school, handed over the reins of leadership to vice-principal Jennifer Loh on 1 January 2003. In 2002, the school received recognition for its niche in performing arts education. Present-day SACSS clinched the Ministry of Education's Best Practice Teaching and Learning Award in 2007. The school was accorded the School Distinction Award by the Ministry of Education in 2008, and