RIVER Valley High's new $79 million campus in Jurong - boasting full facilities for its six-year integrated programme - will be one of the largest and most expensive government schools.

The 7.64ha campus, at the junction of Jalan Boon Lay and Boon Lay Avenue, will welcome its first batch of students in 2010.

It will cater to 2,500 students from Secondary 1 to Junior College Year 2.

River Valley High, which will offer a six-year integrated programme, now has 1,600 students from Secondary 1 to Secondary 4 at its current location in Malan Road, off Alexandra Road.

The new campus will include a hostel for 500 students (below, artist's impression) for its upcoming boarding programme.

Principal Ek Soo Ben expects all students to stay in the hostel at some point in their six years there.

She also wants to open it to their foreign partner schools as part of learning exchanges.

'With a hostel, we can have learning symposiums for foreign partner schools and their students can work on meaningful projects together with our students,' she said.

Apart from standard facilities like 50 classrooms, two lecture theatres, an indoor sports hall and a big canteen, the school will also have non-standard ones like a performing arts theatre and special science laboratories.

The school will have to raise about $1.2 million to $1.5 million for these non-standard facilities.

As the school is the West Zone Centre of Excellence for Science and Technology, its six special science labs will have up-to-date facilities for photonics, mechatronics, analytical chemistry and molecular biology.

Being a Special Assistance Plan school with a strong Chinese tradition, the new building's design will take in elements of Chinese heritage.

This motif will, for instance, be incorporated into the 'meandering walkways and six courtyards', each with a different theme, such as science, design and performance.

The design will also have learning and social interaction spaces. For instance, the science courtyard will have an eco-trail and the performance courtyard will encourage music jam sessions and outdoor performances.

Students said they were excited about the prospect of moving to a new campus.

Secondary 4 student Lim Ze Ming, 16, who is a 400m runner, said: 'Now, we can only do strength training in the gym when it rains. An indoor sports hall will allow for training regardless of the weather.'

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