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 died 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.