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Raffles Junior College (abbr. RJC, or, commonly, RJ) is a top[1] junior college in Singapore offering a two-year course for students. It is located in Bishan beside the campus of Raffles Institution. It was consistently ranked among Singapore's top few junior colleges, until the ranking of junior colleges was discontinued in 2004.[2] On average, 99% of RJC graduates attend university, many on scholarships.[3] In recognition of its sterling academic accolades, this prestigious junior college was termed by Wall Street Journal as the "Gateway to the Ivy League".[4] In addition, RJC was mentioned in The Straits Times to be "known as the most successful high school in the world".[5]

The current Principal is Lim Lai Cheng (2007–present). She has replaced 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.[6]

A proposed merger has also been established and approved by the Ministry of Education (Singapore). It was announced to the pupils of both Raffles Institution, Raffles Junior College, and Raffles Girls School on 13 October 2008. Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College will combine into a single institution with effect from 1 January 2009. Raffles Girls' School, however, rejected the idea of merger and will still operate independently, although there will be even closer collaboration with the new Institution. RJC's current principal, Mrs Lim Lai Cheng, will head the new Institution. In addition, a common Board of Governors for Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College was already implemented with effect from June 2008.[7]

History

File:Raffles Bust.jpg
The Raffles Bust.

Raffles Junior College was established to provide students with a three-year pre-university course previously provided by Raffles Institution (RI), in keeping with national trends. Since then, it has "excelled in both academic and non-academic fields", developing "fine traditions and excellent spirit". There is a distinct school spirit, termed the Rafflesian Spirit, which bonds Rafflesians near and far, past and present, in common purpose and determination.

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 specially 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.

With effect from 1 January 2009, Raffles Junior College will be renamed Raffles Institution after the proposed merger was approved by the Ministry of Education. The Institution will continue to be headed by current principal.

Past principals

Mr Rudy Mosbergen 1982–1987
Mr Lee Fong Seng 1988–2000
Mr Winston James Hodge 2001–2007

Culture

College anthem

The College Anthem of RJC is the same as the Institution Anthem of Raffles Institution. It was written by E. W. Jesudason (Principal of RI 1963–1966), and retained by RJC since it was born from the bosom of RI.

Auspicium Melioris Ævi

When Stamford Raffles held the torch

That cast Promethean flame

We faced the challenge of the day

To give our school a name


The eagle eye and gryphon strength

They led us to the fore

To reign supreme in every sphere

The Sons of Singapore


Come heed the call Rafflesians all

And let our hearts be stirring

We’ll do our best whate’er the test

And keep our colours flying


Let comradeship and fervent hope

With one voice make us pray

Auspicium Melioris Ævi

With God to guide the way

Coat of arms

Auspicium Melioris Aevi.

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 RJC'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",[8]

Affiliation

The common driveway of Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College in their Bishan campuses.

RJC is affiliated to both Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) (RGS). It shares its school anthem and school crest with RI.

RJC's new Bishan campus is adjacent to RI. The two schools run open concept campuses. Students of both schools may access both campuses. Most facilities, however, are not shared between the schools, except for certain Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) training grounds. Both schools share a common driveway and main gate. RJC'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 and RJC.

RJC currently offers the Raffles Programme (RP), an Integrated Programme which takes students all the way from Secondary 1 to JC2, skipping the GCE 'O' Level Examinations. Students spend the first four years in RI or RGS, and the last two years in RJC.

Attire

RJC boys wear white shirts and white long pants, which is largely similar to that for RI boys. The main differences lie in the pleat at the back of the shirt for RJC boys, upturned sleeves which are sewn down, pleats in the long pants and the material of the uniform.

RJC girls wear a white, medium-sleeved blouse with a green pleated skirt with most choosing to wear shorts underneath. The tradition where girls from RGS fold the sleeves of their blouse, has been carried over into RJC. This is largely because due to the affiliation between the schools, many students originally from RGS entered RJC.

The college badge retains the old RI design, where RI modified its badge slightly in the 1990s. However on Wednesday both boys and girls are allowed to adorn the polo T-shirt.

Faculty and house system

In May 2005, RJC 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 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 and RGS as follows:

Bayley-Waddle (Yellow)
Buckle-Buckley (Green)
Hadley-Hullett (Purple/Black)
Moor-Tarbet (Red)
Morrison-Richardson (Blue)

Accolades

Raffles Junior College's Front Façade.
  • 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)

Achievements

Scholarships

RJC has consistently produced President's Scholars, Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Scholars, Singapore Police Force (SPF) Scholars and other Public Service Commission (PSC) Scholars throughout the college's history. In addition, a significant proportion of government scholars are alumni of RJC.[citation needed] In 2007, 3 out of 4 President Scholars came from Raffles Junior College.[citation needed]

Raffles Programme

Raffles Junior College offers the Integrated Programme, also known as the Raffles Programme (RP), together with Raffles Institution 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, and their fifth and sixth year in Raffles 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) [9] is designed to provide students with depth and breadth of discovery, as well as ensure rigour in learning. It was implemented in Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) and Raffles Institution in 2004, and in Raffles Junior College in 2006.

With the time freed up from not having to prepare for, and sit, the 'O' Level examinations, students are given opportunities to develop their capacity and potential for creative, analytical and innovative thinking as well as leadership, service and character development. There are also more opportunities for mentorship, research studies and industrial attachment with institutes of higher learning or industry partners.

Facilities

The bridge connecting Blocks A and B and the courtyard between the two blocks.

RJC's current campus in Bishan has an area of 86,500 square metres, located within 11 blocks and 7 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 Activities purposes.

All tutorial rooms have been fitted with air-conditioning since 2007 to provide a more conducive environment for learning. These rooms may be opened for usage by co-curricular groups or for students to revise and study their work.

Other facilities include a 850-seater lecture theatre (LT1), a Performing Arts Centre and an Indoor Sports Hall. "Chat Rooms" are provided for individual teacher-pupil conferencing. The three-storey Shaw Foundation Library is also frequented by students, especially during the common test and examination periods. Food-wise, the school is served by one canteen and one 7-Eleven convenience store. There are four lifts which serve all floors in the main blocks.

In 2008, the student lounge room officially opened, containing game, karaoke and video screening facilities. This lounge was named "Hodge Lodge" in honour of Mr Winston James Hodge, the 3rd principal of RJC.

Co-curricular Activities

RJC boasts over seventy CCAs which are divided into three categories: sports groups, performing arts, 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. Technically, there is no limit to the number of CCAs one can join, but it is recommended that a student should take no more than two CCAs in order to be able to juggle his or her studies with CCAs.

In 2007, sports CCAs in RJC garnered a total of 36 medals - 22 Gold, 10 Silver and 4 Bronzes in the National Inter-Schools Sports & Games Competitions. This achievement is the best showing ever in the college's history.[10]

Performing arts CCAs, such as the Raffles Symphonic Band and the Raffles Chorale, have also done well, achieving many gold and gold with honours awards at the Singapore Youth Festival, and performing in many competitions and concerts local and overseas, in places such as Austria and Ireland.

In addition, students are able to participate in a range of extracurricular activities such as Olympiads, Quizzes, community service, internships and research attachments.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ Prystay, Cris (May 6, 2004). "Gateway to the Ivy League". Wall Street Journal. pp. B1. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ JC Ranking
  3. ^ Welcome to Raffles Junior College Homepage
  4. ^ Gateway to the Ivy League - WSJ.com
  5. ^ "When outstanding is just average ", Sandra Davie, The Straits Times, 15 March 2008
  6. ^ "Top schools get fresh faces at the helm", Maria Almenoar; Diana Othman, The Straits Times, 11 October 2007
  7. ^ Welcome to Raffles Junior College Homepage
  8. ^ 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."
  9. ^ http://raffles.sg/rp_ov.htm "Raffles Programme, 2006
  10. ^ Welcome to Raffles Junior College Homepage
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