Raffles Junior College
| ||
| Name |
Raffles Junior College | |
| Established |
1982 | |
| School code |
0704 | |
| Address |
10 Bishan Street 21 Singapore 574013 | |
| Country |
Singapore | |
| Town |
Bishan | |
| Type |
Independent, Full Day | |
| Students |
Mixed | |
| Levels |
JC Year 1 and 2 | |
| Colours |
Green Black White | |
| Motto |
Auspicium Melioris Aevi | |
| Newspaper |
Rafflesian Outlook | |
| Yearbook |
The Rafflesian | |
| Distinctions |
School Distinction Award 2004-2008 | |
| Website | ||
Raffles Junior College (abbr. RJC, or RJ as most people call it) is a prestigious junior college in Singapore offering a two-year course for students. It is located in Bishan beside the campus of Raffles Institution. It is consistently ranked among the top 3 Singaporean junior colleges, until the ranking of junior colleges was discontinued in 2004. At least 95% of RJC graduates attend university, many of them on scholarships.
The current Principal of the school is Mr Winston Hodge (2001 – present).
History
RJC was formed in 1982 to provide Pre-University classes which were then discontinued in 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. It is as yet unknown if the Spirit is indeed an actual spirit, or merely a metaphorical one.
In the 2004 GCE 'A' Level Examination, Raffles Junior College has obtained the best results in 24 years since its establishment, with 75.5% of the class of 2004 scoring 3 or 4 'A' Level Distinctions.
On 29 December, 2004, RJC held its moving ceremony from its previous Mount Sinai campus to Bishan Street beside RI, enlisting the help of the RI student population to line the pavement leading to the new campus, strengthening the bonds between the two schools. The two schools now run open concept campuses, where no fence separates the two campuses. Facilities between the schools are shared in terms of Co-Curriculum Activities, and students of both schools may access both campuses. Both schools also share a common driveway with vehicles going to both schools entering through the RI gate and exiting through the RJC gate.
On 1 January 2005, the junior college became an independent institution, only the second JC to be accorded this status after Hwa Chong Junior College a year earlier.
College anthem
The College Anthem of RJC is the same as the Institution Anthem of Raffles Institution (RI). 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 Aevi
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 ev'ry sphere
The sons of Singapore
Come heed the call Rafflesians all
And let our hearts be stirring
We'll do our best whate'er test
And keep our colours flying
Let comradeship and fervent hope
With one voice make us pray
Auspicium Melioris Aevi
With God to guide the way
Affiliation
RJC is affiliated to Raffles Institution (RI) and Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) (RGS). It shares its school anthem, school crest and much of its school culture with RI. The uniform for RJC boys is largely similar to that of RI boys, with the main differences lying in the pleat at the back of the shirt, the single fold at the end of the sleeves, pleats in the long pants and the thickness of the material of the shirt. RJC girls wear a white blouse with a green pleated skirt. The school badge, however, is marginally longer than the RI badge. In addition, a third of its 2001 intake was from RI and a quarter from RGS. Still, the students generally come from diverse backgrounds.
RJC is currently involved in 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.
When the students of the first batch of RP enter RJC in 2006, its enrolment would increase from 2150 to 2850. Most of the students would then be from RI and RGS, who will gain direct admission to RJC.
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, Engineering, Computing and Pure Science and Arts Faculties combined was smaller than the Medicine Faculty. 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 does not allow students to take "triple science" (Biology, Chemistry and Physics), as well as the fact that Computing is no longer offered as a subject. These are the faculties from the old system that have ceased to exist:
Arts (Red) (Formerly "Arts and Commerce" until Commerce ceased to be offered at the Junior College Level)
Commerce (Black) (Merged with Arts to become "Arts and Commerce" sometime in the 1990s)
Computing and Pure Science (Green)
Engineering (Blue)
Medicine(Yellow)
(Note: For the first half of 2005, Medicine Faculty was split into two: Medicine 1 and Medicine 2. This split is temporary and has been replaced by the house system as well.)
Students from RI and RGS 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 the five houses each from RI and RGS as follows:
Bayley-Waddle (Yellow)
Buckle-Buckley (Green)
Hadley-Hullett (Purple/Black)
Moor-Tarbet (Red)
Morrison-Richardson (Blue)
Each house is led by a house captain. The house captains are both members of the house committees and the Students' Council. House committee members are elected by members of their respective houses after a brief campaigning period.
Facilities
RJC's new campus in Bishan has an area of 86,500 square metres. It has state-of-the-art facilities, located within 11 blocks. Students spend much time during lectures in lecture theatres and tutorial sessions in the tutorial rooms in Block A, B and C. Humanities Scholars in the Arts stream have tutorial sessions in air-conditioned seminar rooms.
Notable facilities include an 850-seater lecture theatre, a Performance Arts Centre and an Indoor Sports Hall. "Chat Rooms" are provided for individual teacher-pupil conferencing. The 3-storey Media Resource Library is also frequented by students, especially during the common test and examination periods. All parts of the campus are linked by a wide network of walkways and ramps. Lifts that serve all floors are available in Blocks C, D and H. Tables have been placed along walkways and other accessible areas for students to study at.
Students' Council
All members of the RJC Students' Council, with a strength of around fifty, are selected through an annual college-wide election. Throughout its one-year term, the council organises projects and functions for the college, such as the orientation, graduation night and open house. The council also rallies student support for important competitions that the college participates in.
As of 2005, the 25th Students' Council is currently in place, with 52 members. Its departments include: 1. Communications Department, fondly known as CommzD 2. CCA Department (Co-curricular activities), otherwise termed CCAD 3. Welfare Department
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.
Notable alumni
- Kwek, Mean Luck
- Puru, Prakash
- Tang, Tee Sing
- Alfian Sa'at
- Tseng, Michelle
- Kit Chan - singer
- Rui En - actress, singer
- Corrinne May - singer-songwriter