Temasek Junior College

Temasek Junior College 淡馬鍚初級學院
For College, For Nation
Location
Bedok South Road, Singapore,
Information
Type	Government
Established	1977
Session	Quarter system (4 terms)
School code	0702
Principal	Loke-Yeo Teck Yong
Enrolment	Approx. 1800
Colour(s)	Green
Website	www.tjc.edu.sg

Temasek Junior College (TJC) is a prestigious junior college located in the Eastern region of Singapore and is considered as one of the top five colleges (for Year 11 and Year 12 students) in Singapore.

In 2005, TJC started its Temasek Academy four-year Integrated Programme with 100 Secondary 3, and foreign students. It bypasses the GCE 'O' Level examination and culminates in the GCE 'A' Level examination.

From 2013, TJC will start admitting students who just completed primary school (Year 6) and will provide a full 6 year secondary education leading up towards the GCE A level examinations.

College history

Temasek Junior College was established in 1977 as the second government junior college in Singapore.

The college has been under the leadership of eight Principals:

1. Mr Wee Heng Tin (1977–1979)
2. Mr Eugene Wijeysingha (1980–1985)
3. Mrs Goh Chi Lan (1986–1988)
4. Mr Robert Tan Hui Sen (1989–1999)
5. Mrs Cheong Poh Gek (2000–2001)
6. Mrs Lim Lai Cheng (2002–2005)
7. Mrs Loke-Yeo Teck Yong (2005-2011)
8. Ms Susan Leong (2012 to present)

Motto

The college motto is "For College For Nation".

College crest

TJC College Crest

The crest depicts the letters TJC in bold form, with the letter T taking a symbolic shape and reflecting a characteristic architectural feature of the College. The square in the middle of the crest is the original school badge, taking the shape of the quadrangle surrounded by the administrative building.

• The green background acknowledges the school's alignment with the national objective of projecting a clean and green country.
• The divisions in the cross of the T stand for the five national ideals of justice, equality, happiness, prosperity and progress.
• The segments in the trunk of the T symbolise the four major areas working in unison within the College towards the national ideals.
• The name of the College encircles the crest, flanked by laurels which represent the recognition which the College has achieved and are a constant reminder of its commitment to its motto.

College Personal Development Programme

Every student is involved in at least one co-curricular activity or personal development programme (PDP) as it is known in TJC. Students choose a selection of programmes based on their interests.

The College PDPs are grouped into three areas. They are: Cultural and Performing Arts, Service and Enrichment, and Sports and Games.

Culture & Performing Arts • Artivity • Chamber Ensemble • Chinese Calligraphy • Chinese Cultural Club • Chinese Orchestra • Choir • Creative Writing and Journalism Club • Drama Club • Debate • Guitar Club • Indian Cultural Club • Malay Cultural Society • Modern Dance Club • Symphonic Band • Wushu

Service & Enrichment • Entrepreneur Club • First Aid Unit • House Committees • Infocomm Club • LEO Club • Science Council • Students' Council

Sports & Games • Air Rifle • Badminton • Basketball • Bowling • Climbing Club • Floorball • Netball • Outdoor Activities Club • Touch Rugby • Soccer Boys and Girls • Squash • Swimming • Table-Tennis • Tae-Kwon-Do • Touch Rugby • Tennis • Track & Field • Volleyball • Water Polo (Girls)

College awards and achievements

The Sustained Achievement Award (SAA) was inaugurated by MOE in 1999. The College has won the SAAs for Academic Value-Added for three consecutive years; for Physical Fitness for five consecutive years; and the SAA for Arts for two consecutive years. The College was the top Value-Added College from 1996 to 2000 and in 2003.

TJC officially received the Singapore Quality Class Award from Spring Singapore in 2003.

The College is a recipient of the Best Practice Award (BPA) in Teaching and Learning, as well as the School Distinction Award (2004–2008) from the Singapore Ministry of Education. The School Distinction Award is awarded to schools with a system to bring about a holistic development in students, not just academically.

In 2008, the school won the School Excellence Award, the pinnacle award under the Singapore Ministry of Education Masterplan of Awards, as well as BPAs in Staff Wellbeing, Student All-round Development and Teaching and Learning. The school had also been awarded SAA for Aesthetics and Physical Fitness in both JC and Secondary section, bringing the total number of awards in 2008 to 7.

House system

The college has four houses:

• Alpha - blue
• Beta - white
• Gamma - yellow
• Delta - green

Each house is run by a House Committee (led by the House Captain), which is part of the second highest student body in the school. The members of the House Committee are elected by students of their own houses.

The houses compete in events organised by the school and the House Committee usually takes charge of these events. Some events include the intra-house captain's ball/hand ball events or house functions organised throughout the year.

Academic regime

Teaching styles

Lessons in the JC level are conducted using the lecture-tutorial method.

Civics groups

On admission to the College, students will go through Orientation and participate in programmes organised by the Student Council. They will be divided into Civics Groups (which are also Orientation Groups) automatically by the College computer system. Every CG has nearly the same ratio of boys and girls and an optimum diversity of students from different cultural and educational backgrounds. In order to encourage bonding within the group, students of the same CG will join the same Orientation Group. An Orientation Group usually consists of two CGs.

However, in the year 2009, students in the same Orientation Group do not necessary go into the same CG. Each CG consists of students of various Orientation Groups.

Each Civics Group is under the charge of a Civics Tutor who meets the group during the weekly Civics period on Wednesday. Thus, a civics group corresponds to a class in a normal school. Unlike the school system, however, students do not stay in an assigned room for all their lessons but instead move to different rooms for different lessons.

College e-Learning Portal 'maTrix'

In 2008, Matrix2, the College E-learning Portal was launched. The subscription fee is deductible from the students' Edusave fund.

The MaTrix aims to enhance the learning experience of students in the College. It is used in conjunction with the lecture-tutorial system in the College. Topics may be covered solely online as an e-lecture, aided by streaming video, animations, discussion forums and online assessment outside of curriculum time or more commonly through a mixed mode teaching where readings, content materials and other e-resources are made available for students to access and prepare for tutorials during curriculum time. The chemistry department also uses MaTrix to host online quiz during holiday periods.

To support the e-learning portal, the College has an IT block housing four Computer Labs and two IT Resource Rooms. Students can only access computers in The Hub and College Library. Wifi is accessible in 90% of the college premises for any student with a wireless-enabled laptop or mobile device can use the wireless internet service for free. Their movements are tracked by a moderator and undesirable websites are blocked.

Higher education

The Higher Education department in TJC invites guest speakers from foreign and local universities to give admission talks. In 2006, speakers from Oxford University, Imperial College London, London School of Economics, the University of Warwick and a few other universities were invited. Students are invited to attend such talks to widen their further education options.

Although SAT lessons are no longer offered in TJC, tutors are assigned to handle the university application process for students applying to US and UK universities. These tutors ensure that the student does not overlook any part of the application process and also function as the students' referees. TJC students have been admitted to universities including MIT, Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale, Cambridge, Oxford, Duke, LSE, McGill, UCLA, Berkeley, Caltech, Stanford, Peking University and Amherst. Students of the junior college have been awarded scholarships during and after their education at Temasek, with a few instances being the Public Service Commission Scholarship, PSC China Scholarship, Humanities scholarship, Music Elective Programme scholarship, A*STAR National Science Scholarship, FIREFly–EDB Scholarship, LTA Undergraduate Scholarship, Singapore Press Holdings scholarship, MOE Teaching Scholarship, ABRSM International Scholarship, Bank Negara Malaysia Scholarship, CAAS Overseas Undergraduate Scholarship, DSTA Undergraduate Scholarship, GIC Global Scholarship, Keppel Group Scholarship, Mindef Undergraduate Scholarship, SPF Book Prize, and the Singapore Power Undergraduate Scholarship.

Notable alumni

• Inderjit Singh - Member of Parliament, Ang Mo Kio GRC
• Lim Biow Chuan - Member of Parliament, Marine Parade GRC
• Fatimah Lateef - Member of Parliament, Marine Parade GRC
• Low Yen Ling - Member of Parliament, Chua Chu Kang GRC
• Ivan Heng - Singaporean stage actor and director
• Cyril Wong - Singaporean poet
• Michelle Saram - Singaporean actress
• Evelyn Tan - Singaporean actress
• Roy Loi Fey Huei - Singer and music producer
• Kang Puay Seng and Loh Jwee Poh - Founders of Mr Bean^{[citation needed]}
• Haresh Sharma - Playwright for The Necessary Stage
• Yee Jenn Jong - Non-Constituency Member of Parliament

External links

• Official website
• TJC Students' Council website
• Temasek Academy
• 30th Anniversary website
• TJC Entrepreneurship Club website
• TJC Matrix2 E-learning portal
• TJC Students' portal
• TJC Parents' portal