Raffles Institution (Junior College)
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| Raffles Junior College 莱佛士初级学院 (Láifóshì chūjí xuéyuàn) Maktab Rendah Raffles |
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Auspicium Melioris Ævi
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| Location | |
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| 10, Bishan Street 21, Singapore 574013 Singapore |
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| Information | |
| Type | Independent |
| Session | Full-day |
| Established | 1982 |
| Principal | Lim Lai Cheng |
| Enrolment | Approx. 2500 |
| Campus size | 8.65 hectares |
| Campus | Open concept |
| Colour(s) | Green, black, white |
| Website | Link |
Raffles Institution (Junior College) (formerly Raffles Junior College) is a junior college in Singapore offering a two-year course for students. It is located in Bishan beside the campus of Raffles Institution. The Principal is Mrs Lim Lai Cheng (2007–present). She takes over from Winston James Hodge, (2001–2007) who stepped down as Principal on 17 December 2007 after leaving the school to assume a post at the Ministry of Education.[1]
A merger has been approved by MOE. Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College has been merged into a single institution since 1 January 2009. Raffles Girls' School was reported to have rejected the idea of a merger.[2] In addition, a common Board of Governors for Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College has been implemented since June 2008.[3]
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[edit] History
Raffles Junior College was established to provide students with a three-year pre-university course previously provided by Raffles Institution (RI).
In 1982, RI’s pre-university section was transferred to a temporary campus at Paterson Road. RJC was then established to offer the GCE A Level curriculum. It was the first junior college to be established with both JC1 and JC2 students, with the JC2 students having just completed their Pre-U Year 1 in RI.
RJC then moved to Mt Sinai Road in 1984 which provided better facilities and a larger site to cater to junior college education. It was the college's home for the next 21 years.
On 29 December 2004, RJC held its moving ceremony from its previous Mount Sinai campus to Bishan Street 21 beside RI, where students took a chartered MRT train to Bishan and walked to their new campus.
On 1 January 2005, the Junior College became an independent institution. In the same year, RJC became the first junior college to be awarded the School Excellence Award, the highest award in the MOE Masterplan of Awards.
The new Bishan campus was officially opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 8 April 2006, in conjunction with the college's 25th anniversary celebrations.
[edit] Principals
- Mr Rudy Mosbergen (1982–1987)
- Mr Lee Fong Seng (1988–2000)
- Mr Winston James Hodge (2001–2007)
- Mrs Lim Lai Cheng (2008–)
[edit] Culture
[edit] College anthem
The College Anthem of RI(JC) is the same as the Institution Anthem of Raffles Institution. It was written by E. W. Jesudason, who served as the headmaster of RI from 1963 to 1966, and was retained by (then) RJC since it was born from the bosom of RI.
[edit] Coat of arms
The school badge is a modified version of the Raffles coat of arms – granted permission for use by his family. This replaces the original gold portion of the field with erminois, and the purpure of the gryphon crest with gules .
The gryphon on the crest is a stately creature, majestic and strong, symbolising stability and success for the school. The gryphon's lower lion half symbolises the school's anchors in Singapore. The double-headed eagle on the shield signifies the looking back onto the past and onto the future, symbolizing RI(JC)'s tradition of drawing strength and experience from the past in order to excel in the future. This also indicates universality - looking to the East as well as the West.
The school motto, "Auspicium Melioris Ævi", is displayed black on gold at the base of the shield. While the school's official translation is "Hope of a Better Age",[4] strictly speaking, this is a mistranslation. Auspicium primarily means an augury or auspice, which is a divinatory omen derived by an augur from watching the flight of birds.[5] It may, in a transferative sense, mean omen, token or sign, but not hope. It is also the motto of the Order of St Michael and St George.
[edit] Affiliation
RI(JC) is affiliated to both Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) (RGS). It has shared its school anthem and school crest with RI (Secondary) since its establishment, prior to the merger.
RI(JC)'s new Bishan campus is adjacent to RI. The two sections run open concept campuses. Students of both sections may access both campuses. Most facilities, however, are not shared between the schools, except for certain co-curricular activity (CCA) training grounds. Both sections share a common driveway and main gate. RI(JC)'s Block A is linked to the new 7-storey academic block, the S. Rajaratnam Block, in RI by a bridge, which provides a seamless link between RI(Secondary) and RI(JC).
RI(JC) offers the Raffles Programme (RP), an Integrated Programme which takes students from Secondary 1 to JC2, skipping the GCE 'O' Level Examinations. Students spend the first four years in RI(Secondary) or RGS, and the last two years in RI(JC).
[edit] Attire
Boys wear white shirts and white long pants, which is largely similar to that for RI(Secondary) boys. The main differences lie in the pleat at the back of the shirt for RI(JC) boys, upturned sleeves which are sewn down, pleats in the long pants and the material of the uniform.
Girls wear a white, medium-sleeved blouse with a green pleated short skirt. The college badge retains the old RI design, though RI modified its badge slightly in the 1990s.
On Wednesdays, which are dress-down days, both boys and girls are allowed to adorn the black "Team Raffles" polo T-shirt.
[edit] Faculty and house system
In May 2005, the school introduced the house system which replaced its faculty system. This was due to the large imbalance of people taking different subject combinations in recent years. For example, the Engineering and Arts Faculties combined was smaller than the Medicine Faculty in 2005. Other reasons include the pioneer batch of students in the Raffles Programme entering RJC in 2006, the major change in the Singapore junior college education system from 2006 which discourages students from taking "triple science" (Biology, Chemistry and Physics), as well as the fact that Computing and Further Mathematics are no longer offered. These are the faculties from the old system that have ceased to exist:
- Arts (red) (A01, A02, A03, A04) (formerly "Arts and Commerce" until Commerce ceased to be offered from 2000)
- Commerce (black) (C0X) (merged with Arts to become "Arts and Commerce" in the 1990s)
- Computing and Pure Science (green) (S04, S05, S06, S07)
- Engineering (blue) (S01, S02)
- Medicine (yellow) (S03)
In 2005, the Medicine Faculty was split into MedFac 1 and MedFac 2 due to the large population. However in 2006, this was replaced by the current system in which students from RI (Secondary) and RGS will remain in their original houses while students from other schools will be evenly allocated into the five houses. The names of the Houses are merged from RI (Secondary) and RGS as follows:
- Bayley-Waddle (yellow)
- Buckle-Buckley (green)
- Hadley-Hullett (purple/black)
- Moor-Tarbet (red)
- Morrison-Richardson (blue)
[edit] Accolades
- School Excellence Award (2005–2009)
- School Distinction Award (2004–2008)
- Best Practice Award (Organisational Effectiveness) (2007–2011)
- Best Practice Award (Staff Well-Being) (2007–2011)
- Best Practice Award (Student All-Round Development) (2007–2011)
- Best Practice Award (Teaching and Learning) (2007–2011)
- Outstanding Development Award (Character Development) (2007–2011)
[edit] Achievements
[edit] "Gateway to the Ivy League"
A Wall Street Journal article in 2004 identified Raffles Junior College as the "Gateway to the Ivy League", the high school outside the USA that sent the most students to elite American colleges, topping the rate of many elite prep schools in America. [6] [7]
[edit] Scholarships
RI(JC), like a few other Junior Colleges, has produced President's Scholars, Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Scholars, Singapore Police Force (SPF) Scholars and Public Service Commission (PSC) Scholars. In 2007, three out of four President Scholars came from (then) Raffles Junior College.
[edit] Raffles Programme
Raffles Institution (Junior College) offers the Integrated Programme, also known as the Raffles Programme (RP), together with Raffles Institution (Secondary) and Raffles Girls' School. Under the RP, students will experience a seamless curriculum from Sec 1 all the way to JC2, spending their first four years in either Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) or Raffles Institution (Secondary), and their fifth and sixth year in Raffles Institution (Junior College). RP will culminate in the new and revised Singapore Cambridge General Certificate in Education 'Advanced' Level examinations (GCE 'A' Level) at the end of the sixth year.
The Raffles Programme (RP) [8] was implemented in Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) and Raffles Institution in 2004, and in (then) Raffles Junior College in 2006.
With the time freed up from not having to prepare for, and sit, the 'O' Level examinations, there are more opportunities for mentorship, research studies and industrial attachment with institutes of higher learning or industry partners.
[edit] Facilities
RI(JC)'s campus in Bishan has an area of 86,500 square metres, located within 11 blocks and seven floors. Students attend lectures in lecture theatres and tutorial lessons in the tutorial rooms. After academic lessons, tutorial rooms are sometimes used by students for self-study or for co-curricular activity purposes.
Other facilities include the 850-seater Lecture Theatre 1, a Performing Arts Centre, indoor Sports Hall asnd the three-storey Shaw Foundation Library "Chat Rooms" are provided for teacher-pupil conferencing. There is also a 7-Eleven convenience store located adjacent to the canteen. Four lifts serve all floors in the main blocks.
[edit] Co-curricular activities
RI(JC) has over seventy CCAs which are divided into sports groups, performing arts groups, and clubs and societies. Unlike in the affiliated secondary schools, there is no distinction made between core and merit CCAs and students are free to choose their combination of CCAs. There is no limit to the number of CCAs a student can join.
In 2007, sports CCAs in (then) RJC garnered a total of 36 medals - 22 Gold, 10 Silver and four Bronzes in the National Inter-Schools Sports and Games Competitions. This achievement is the best showing ever in the college's history.[9]
[edit] Students' Council
All members of the Students' Council are selected through an annual college-wide election. Throughout its one-year term, the Council organizes projects and functions for the college, such as orientation, graduation night and open house. It is headed by a President and two Vice-Presidents. The council also rallies student support for competitions that the college participates in. The Students' Council is considered an official CCA.
The council is subdivided into departments:
- Communications Department, otherwise known as CommzD
- CCA Department (Co-curricular activities), otherwise termed CCAD
- Welfare Department
- House Directorate
The Presidents, Heads of Departments, House Captains as well as the secretary and treasurer form the council executive committee.
Every council batch goes through a council camp, which serves as the initiating event for the incoming council, and a closure to the term of the outgoing council. This camp is followed by the Council Investiture, where the new batch of councilors is now given the task to manage the body and school activities.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Alfian Sa'at - writer, poet and playwright
- Kit Chan - singer
- Corrinne May - singer, songwriter
- Kaira Gong - singer
- Rui En - actress, singer
- Josephine Teo - Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC
[edit] References
- ^ "Top schools get fresh faces at the helm", Maria Almenoar; Diana Othman, The Straits Times, 11 October 2007
- ^ "Raffles JC, RI looking into merger", Sandra Davie, The Straits Times, 4 January 2008
- ^ Welcome to Raffles Junior College Homepage
- ^ Refer, for example, to One Man's Vision: Raffles Institution in Focus (1992): "Hope of a Better Age, the school motto, is the vision perceived by Raffles Institution, a perception every Rafflesian hopes to achieve for the future."
- ^ Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.rafflesevents.org/RICE2008/rjc.htm
- ^ http://raffles.sg/rp_ov.htm "Raffles Programme, 2006
- ^ Welcome to Raffles Junior College Homepage
[edit] External links
- School website
- Raffles Programme website
- Raffles Institution (Main) website
- Raffles Institution (Secondary) website
- Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) website
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