Noel Evelyn Norris (December 25, 1918 – February 15, 2014) was a

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

educator best known for her association with Raffles Girls' School. She was also the first

principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

of Crescent Girls' School. Norris was a volunteer in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

during World War II and later became a Major in the People's Defence Force in charge of Singapore Women Auxiliary Corps.

Biography

Norris was born Noel Evelyn Norris on December 25, 1918. She started primary school at Raffles Girls' Primary School in 1925. She attended Raffles Girls' Schools until 1933, when she studied for a year at St. George's Girls School. She studied history at

Raffles College The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University. The university offers degree program ...

and earned a degree in Education. Norris started teaching at

Bukit Panjang Primary School This is a list of primary schools in Singapore. Children typically start their primary education in the year they turn seven. Primary education lasts six years, and is compulsory for all Singapore citizens. Primary schools in Singapore are eithe ...

in 1939, but when

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out, she went to India and

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

as a volunteer in the

(RAF). In the RAF, she worked as a

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

in the Royal Air Force Library. When the war ended, she came back to Singapore and taught history at the Raffles Girls' School (RGS) from 1946 to 1955. In 1956 she became the principal of the new Crescent Girls' School. Norris came back to RGS to work as principal there until she retired in 1976. During her leadership at RGS, Norris developed extracurricular activities, including various sports and music programs. She also encouraged students to learn and understand various "

mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...

" languages in Singapore by conducting weekly assemblies in different languages each week. These assemblies rotated through English, Malay and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and other classes included

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

. Norris also worked on

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

committees and helped revise the history

syllabus A syllabus (; : syllabuses or syllabi) or specification is a document that communicates information about an Academy, academic course or class and defines expectations and responsibilities. It is generally an overview or summary of the curriculum. ...

. Norris also stayed active in the People's Defence Force, eventually becoming a

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

of the Singapore Women Auxiliary Corps, and later took over the National Cadet Corps girls' section. After retiring, Norris dedicated her life to community service and worked as a volunteer at the

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which was founded ...

(SPCA). She also taught at the School for Retarded Children. In November 2011, Norris had a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and spent around six months in

Tan Tock Seng Hospital Tan Tock Seng Hospital (abbreviation: TTSH) is a tertiary referral hospital in Singapore, located in Novena. Named after Tan Tock Seng, the hospital has 45 clinical and allied health departments, 16 specialist centres and is powered by more ...

. After her discharge, a group made up of former students and faculty of Raffles Girls' School took care of her at her home in Brighton Crescent. Norris died on February 15, 2014. Norris was awarded the Public Service Administration Medal (Silver) in 1964. In 1977, she was awarded the Long Service Medal. Norris was inducted into the

Singapore Women's Hall of Fame The Singapore Women's Hall of Fame is a virtual hall of fame that honors and documents the lives of historically significant women in Singapore. The hall is the creation of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO), and grew out of an ...

in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Evelyn 1918 births 2014 deaths Singaporean educators Raffles College alumni Raffles Girls' Secondary School alumni Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Singaporean librarians 20th-century women librarians Recipients of the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam Recipients of the Long Service Medal (Military) (Singapore)