Temasek Junior College

Infobox Singapore School
name = Temasek Junior College
淡馬鍚初級學院


motto = For College, For Nation
established = 1977
type = Government
session = Single-session
principal = Loke-Yeo Teck Yong (Mrs.)
city/town = Bedok
school code = 0702
enrollment = approx. 1800
colours = Green, Yellow, Orange
homepage = [http://www.tjc.edu.sg www.tjc.edu.sg]
border_color = yellow
uniform_color = #CCFF99

Temasek Junior College (TJC) is a junior college located in the Eastern region of Singapore and is considered to be one of the most prestigious institutions in Singapore.

The bulk of the students (affectionately called "TJCians") enter as graduated secondary 4 students. They are admitted on the basis of their net L1R5 aggregate from their Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'Ordinary' Level examination. In junior college, they take a two-year course leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examination. Students offer three to four H2 A level subjects in addition to General Paper, Mother Tongue and Project Work. In the revised curriculum, exceptional students may take one to two H3 modules that are more in-depth than the regular H2s if they desire to compete for scholarships offered by various private and public bodies. The H3 syllabus effectively replaces the Cambridge Special Papers being offered earlier.

In 2005, TJC started its Temasek Academy 4-Year Integrated Programme with 100 secondary 3 and foreign students from various local secondary schools and countries respectively. Its aim was to provide students with an intense, challenging and exciting college life, bypassing the GCE 'O' Level examination and culminating in the GCE 'A' Level examination.

TJC is one of the traditional top five junior colleges in Singapore.

College History and Identity

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

The College has been under the leadership of seven Principals:
# Mr Wee Heng Tin (1977-1979)
# Mr Eugene Wijeysingha (1980-1985)
# Mrs Goh Chi Lan (1986-1988)
# Mr Robert Tan Hui Sen (1989-1999)
# Mrs Cheong Poh Gek (2000-2001)
# Mrs Lim Lai Cheng (2002-2005)
# Mrs Loke-Yeo Teck Yong (2005 to present)

hared vision

* Teamwork and open communication
* Every TJCian matters
* Achievement of excellence
* Adaptability to change
* Spirit of caring and sharing
* Passion, Purpose and Drive

College Motto

The College motto is "For College For Nation". While the ultimate objective of the College is for the good of society, the initial drive will be to the College community and then broaden out to embrace the nation.

College Crest

The College 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.Contrary to popular belief, the "T" is not a mushroom but in fact the design of the original two lecture theatres in the college.(LT 1 and LT 2)

The green background acknowledges our alignment with the national objective of projecting a clean and green country.

The divisions in the cross of the T stand for the 5 national ideals of justice, equality, happiness, prosperity and progress.

The segments in the trunk of the T symbolise the 4 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 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 3 consecutive years; for Physical Fitness for 5 consecutive years; and the SAA for Arts for 2 consecutive years. The College was also 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 also a recipient of Best Practice Award (BPA) in Teaching & 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 sound system to bring about a quality 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 Teachering & Learning. The school had also been awarded SAA for Asthetics and Physical Fitness in both JC and Secondary section, bringing the total number of awards in 2008 to 7.

Recent Student Achievements

Sports
* Singapore Sports School Council National Schools Netball Championships 2006 'A' Division - 2nd runners up
* Badminton Boys & Girls (national 2nd for both boys and girls)
* Basketball Boys (champion)
* Taekwondo Mixed (Overall champion)
* Table Tennis Boys
* Cricket (2nd Runners Up, Colours Award)
* Swimming Girls
* Sailing Girls
* Soccer Girls (2005-3rd, 2006-2nd)
* Air Pistol Boys & Girls
* Chinese Pugilistic Club (Wushu) Boys & Girls (Overall National Champion, Colours Award)
* Rock Climbing Boys & Girls
* Bowling Boys & Girls

SYF Performing Arts Groups
* Chinese Orchestra: Gold with Honours (2007)
* Guitar Ensemble: Gold with Honours (2007)
* Band: Gold (2007)
* Choir: Gold (2007)
* Drama: Gold With Honours (2008)
* Indian Cultural Society: Silver (2007)
* Malay Dance: Silver (2007)
* String Ensemble: Silver (2007)
* Chinese Drama: Bronze (2007)

College Facilities

Academic

Library The modern and spacious library houses books (fiction and reference), multimedia, magazines and newspapers. A specific area in the library is also set apart for selling Subway sandwiches (Subs) and cookies. Students can do work and read materials from the library in this area set for consuming food.

Study areas Private study areas that can accommodate 380 students are made available under Lecture Theatre (LT) 1 and LT 2, near the Art studios and the Library. Students can study at benches in these open-air spaces. Additionally, students can also study in air-conditioned LTs when they are vacant. During the 2006 haze, additional air-conditioned classrooms were opened for students to study in.

Photocopying Shop The photocopying shop, otherwise known as the ZAP, is located in a canteen. Lecture notes, tutorials and past-year exam papers from GCE as well as other JCs can be purchased from this shop, for paranoid students. The shop also provides photocopy service to students.

Besides the shop, students can also photocopy in the library.

College House System

The College has four houses, namely:

A L P H A(Blue)
B E T A (White)
G A M M A(Yellow)
D E L T A (Green*)

(*respective house colours on house and group PE t-shirts, as of 2007.

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

The houses compete actively 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.

Recreational/Sports

Students' Lounge For students to relax after school with music or board games such as Chess and Go. It is a double decker bus, courtesy of SBS Transit. Sports Complex The sports complex houses an air-conditioned gymnasium, dance studio, air rifle range and a stadium gallery. The gallery overlooks a multi-purpose sports field and a standard 400 metres running track.

Other sporting facilities include:
* Four Indoor squash courts
* Four Tennis courts
* Three Basketball courts
* Two Netball courts
* Two Volleyball courts
* Three Long jump pits

Barbecue Pits Students are welcome to use the 3 barbecue pits near the sports complex for social gatherings. The pits are available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

tudent welfare

First Aid and Sick Bay The First Aid Unit is run by students and provides ancillary services at College functions and in the sick bay.

Lockers Small private lockers available to students for a small fee. Notice Boards and the Public Address systemThe notice boards beside the General Office are used to convey information intended for the entire the student body. Announcements made over the public address system during morning assemblies will be minimal and confined to urgent and vital matters only.The Higher Education notice board is located outside the General Office.

Dining

Cafeteria

There are nine stalls in the cafeteria offering a wide and affordable variety of food, including pasta, Malay food, and Chinese rice and noodle dishes. Halal food for Muslim students is available at two stalls. Snacks, drinks and fruits are also available.

Additionally, the hawker centre and 7-11 located opposite to TJC are frequented by students during lunch time. Apart from providing more variety and convenience for students, they serve to cater to students at late hours - when the stalls in the cafeteria are closed. Waffle/bread from the nearby bakeries are also a popular choice among TJCians. Vending Machines Vending machines situated in the cafeteria make packet/canned drinks available to students at all time of the day. Vending machines selling snacks are not allowed due to MOE's restrictions.

Academic regime

Teaching Styles

The teaching system in the college is rigorious and approximates very closely to that in the university and all subjects, except for the Second Language and General Paper. They are conducted using the lecture-tutorial method.

A lecture takes the form of a straightforward lesson delivered en masse to all students studying a particular subject (usually with powerpoint or the visualizer/projector) while a tutorial is generally a follow-up lesson on the lecture, involving a smaller number of students and providing for closer interaction between the students and tutor. Generally tutorial lessons involve going through homework (called tutorials) and clarifying doubts.

Civics Groups

On admission to the College, students must participate in orientation the 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 2 CGs. The boy to girl ratio is usually not equal in most classes, especially in art stream CGs where they may be only one or two boys only in each CG of around 25 students.

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'

The MaTrix (http://matrix.tjc.edu.sg), which refers to the College E-learning Portal, was first implemented in 2002. All students are required to sign up with the MaTrix and subscription fees will be deducted from their Edusave fund. In 2008, Matrix2 (http://matrix2.tjc.edu.sg) was launched.

The MaTrix aims to facilitate and enhance the learning experience of students in the College. It is used in conjunction with the lecture-tutorial system in the College. In theory, selected 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. In practice, however, the MaTrix is often just used as a platform for teachers to upload lecture slides and tutorial questions for the students to download. The chemistry department also uses MaTrix to host online quiz during holiday periods.

To support the e-learning portal, the College has a recently completed IT-Block housing four Computer Labs and two IT Resource Rooms. Students also have access to computers in The Hub and College Library. In addition, there are also wireless-hotspots around the entire college for internet surfing. Any student with a wireless-enabled laptop can use the wireless internet service for free.

TJC also has a students portal for students at http://student.tjc.edu.sg and a parents portal at http://parents.tjc.edu.sgMoreover, as of 2007 April, all TJC students have their own TJC email account for dissemination of information at http://mail.tjc.edu.sg

Higher Education

The Higher Education department in TJC actively invites guest speakers from both foreign and local universities to give admission talks. In 2006, speakers from Oxford, 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, specific 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.

Notable alumni

*Cyril Wong (Singaporean poet)
*Evelyn Tan (Singapore Artiste)
*Fatimah Lateef (Member of Parliament, Marine Parade GRC)
*Inderjit Singh (Member of Parliament, Ang Mo Kio GRC)
*Lim Biow Chuan (Member of Parliament, Marine Parade GRC)
*Lyu Shi Lin (News Anchor, Channel 8)

External links

* [http://www.tjc.edu.sg Official Website]
* [http://forums.tjc.edu.sg TJC Forums - upgrading in progress]
* [http://forums.tertiaryessayist.com Alternate TJC Forums]
* [http://sc.tjc.edu.sg TJC Students' Council Website]
* [http://www.tjc.edu.sg/ta/ Temasek Academy]
* [http://www.tjc.edu.sg/anniversary 30th Anniversary Website]