all the fine architectural details found in the chapel. The new chapel was consecrated on 11 June 1904. Much of the knowledge about the daily activities of the convent comes from seven volumes of diaries that were meticulously kept by convent scribes. These diaries cover over a hundred years of convent history, from 1851 to 1971; they are handwritten in French and entitled Annales de Singapour. From their observations, it is known that life within the convent walls was anything but sedate. Apart from daily chores, the nuns also had to organise and attend mass, grade papers, maintain the buildings and the grounds as well as raise money to support their activities. Saint Nicholas Girls' School was established on 16 January 1933 and held classes in the four old bungalows which once formed the Hotel van Wijk of the 1890s. During the Battle of Singapore on 15 February 1942 at 3:30 pm, four bombs were dropped by the Japanese warplanes onto the complex; one bomb exploded near the main gate and damaged; the second bomb exploded near the orphanage, which destroyed it; the third bomb exploded in the field next to the chapel, scattered its stained glass windows including the two of the large panels around the chapel's high altar; a fourth bomb exploded at the school field of the Saint Nicholas Girls' School. During the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, about forty of the Sisters, together with the orphans and teachers were deported to a camp in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan, Malaya (present day Malaysia), where many of them would die from the harsh conditions there. Two months later after the Occupation began, the school reopened under Japanese authority as the Victoria Street Girls' School. The remaining Sisters at the Town Convent had to wear armbands to show they were not British people, and had to learn Japanese in order to teach Japanese curriculum to their students. Students there were made to learn Japanese songs and watch Japanese films as part of the curriculum. Following the surrender of the Japanese in 1945, the school resumed under its former name. Later in 1949, one of the bungalows' room had suddenly collapsed. The bungalows were subsequently deemed unsafe and demolished in 1950. The new three storey building blocks designed by Swan & Maclaren was later built on the former site and completed by 1951. In 1964, the school was separated into primary and