Temasek Junior College
Encyclopedia : T : TE : TEM : Temasek Junior College
| Temasek Junior College 淡马锡初级学院 | |
| |
| For College, For Nation | |
| Established | 1977 |
| School Type | Government, Single-session |
| Principal | Loke-Yeo Teck Yong (Mrs.) |
| Location | Bedok, Singapore |
| School Code | 0702 |
| Enrollment | approx. 1600 |
| School colours | Green, Yellow |
| Homepage | [Link] |
Temasek Junior College (commonly known as TJC or TJ) is a Junior College located in the Eastern region of Singapore. It was one of the top five junior colleges in Singapore before Ministry of Education did away with the school ranking system in 2004.
Students here (affectionately called "TJCians", prounounced tee-jay-shens) enter as graduated secondary 4 or 5 students. They are admitted on the basis of their net L1R5 aggregate from their Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'Ordinary' level ('O' level) examination. In the junior college, they take a two-year course leading up to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'Advanced' level ('A' level) examination. Students offer three or four A level subjects in addition to General Paper, Mother Tongue and Project Work. Furthermore, they may also take one, two or three Special Papers in some choice subjects if they desire to compete for scholarships offered by various private and public bodies. (Starting from year 2006, students are offered subjects at H3 level and are not offered Special Papers anymore.)
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, particularly from China and India, 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.
College History and Identity
Temasek Junior College was built in 1977 as the second government-aided junior college in Singapore. It has earned for itself the reputation of being one of the best academic institutions that focuses on the all-round development of its students.
The College has been under the leadership of six dynamic 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)
Shared vision
- Teamwork and open communication
- Every TJCian matters
- Achievement of excellence
- Devotion to College and Country
- Forward-looking
- Adaptability to change
- Spirit of caring and sharing
- Trust, respect and integrity
- 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.
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 in 1999, 2000 and 2001; for Physical Fitness in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003; and the SAA for Arts in 2001 and 2002. 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 from the Singapore Ministry of Education.
Recent Student Achievements
Sports
- Top 4 National in Sports 2004 – “A” Division
- Badminton Boys & Girls
- Basketball Boys (champion)
- Table Tennis Boys
- Cricket
- Swimming Girls
- Sailing boys
- Air Pistol Boys & Girls
- Wushu Boys & Girls (Champion)
- Rock Climbing Boys & Girls
- Bowling Boys & Girls
- Taekwondo Mixed
- Symphonic Band: Gold with Honours (2005) (One of the two bands to be awarded "Top 2" status besides SAJC Band in 2005)
- Chinese Orchestra: Gold (2005) (Best Chinese Orchestra of the Year 2001)
- Modern Dance: Gold with Honours (2005)
- Guitar Ensemble: Gold with Honours (2005, the only guitar ensemble in the whole of Singapore to be awarded this)
- Choir: Gold (2005)
- Art: Gold
- Drama: Silver
- Chamber Ensemble: Bronze (2005)
- Malay Dance: Silver
- Malay Debates (Champion)
College Facilities
Academic
Library
The modern and spacious library houses books (fiction and reference), multimedia, magazines and newspapers. There are many chairs and tables available for use. In addition, a specific area in the library is also set apart for selling Subway sandwiches and cookies, as well as iced lemon/peach tea and mashed potatoes. They are open on certain days, managed by the Entrepreneurship Club. There are plans to revamp this area to create a more conducive environment for eating and drinking.
Study areas
Private study areas that can accommodate 380 students are made available under LT1 and LT2, 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.
Photocopying Shop
The photocopying shop, otherwise known as the Zap, is located in canteen. Lecture notes, tutorials and past-year exam papers from GCE as well as other top-five JCs can be purchased from this shop. The shop also provides photocopy service to students.
Besides the shop, students can also photocopy in the library (ground floor behind the magazines rack). The photocopier machines in the library operates on card system. Students can purchase the photocopy card from the photocopy shop at a cost of $5.00 and $7.00 for 140 and 210 photocopying pieces respectively. In practice, it is always easier to borrow the book and send down to the photocopy shop for printing.
Book/Stationery Shop
The bookshop is located in the cafeteria, next to the photocopying shop. The bookshop sells stationery, books, school uniforms, as well as T-shirts.
Recreational/Sports
Students' Lounge
For students to relax after school with carrom, snooker or board games.
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 400m running track.
Other sporting facilities include:
- Indoor squash courts
- Tennis courts
- Basketball courts
- Netball courts
- Volleyball courts
- Long jump pit
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.
Student 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. The sick bay is open on Monday to Friday from 0740 hours to 1540 hours. Students are required to sign a book-in/book-out register in the General Office when they make use of the sick bay.
Lockers
Small private lockers available to students for a small fee.
Notice Boards and the Public Address system The 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. Students are expected to refer to the relevant notice boards for information on co-curricular activities or on academic matters. The Higher Education notice board is located outside the General Office. Students interested in studying overseas are strongly advised to keep an eye on the board.
Dining
Cafeteria
The cafeteria opens during school days (weekdays) from 7am to 3pm. Although there are designated times for recess and lunch, students may eat at the cafeteria at any time during their schoolday.
There are nine stalls 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 from two stalls. Snacks, drinks and fruits are also available.
Additionally, a hawker centre is located just opposite to TJC, and students are allowed to go over during lunch time. This creates more variety and convenience for the students.
Vending Machines
There are altogether 7 vending machines located in the cafeteria; one serving snacks and the others serving packaged/canned drinks.
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 taught 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 OHP) 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 the orientation programmes organised by the Student Council. They will be divided into Civics Groups (which are also Orientation Groups) automatically by the College in-house 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. As the CGs are created before students choose their subjects, there is no fixed subject combinations in a CG. In order to encourage bonding within the group, students of the same CG will join the same Orientation Group. An Orientation Group usually consist of 2 CGs.
However, as of 2006, Civics Groups no longer function like this, but rather as Subject Combination Groups, although the name "Civics Groups" is maintained.
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.
Subject Combination Groups
Students are placed into Subject Combination Groups (SCGs) by the computer system once they have indicated their choice of subjects to offer during the orientation period. A student may join many subject groups, one for each subject that he/she offers. Similar to CGs, students in the same SGs do not stay in an assigned room for all their lessons but instead move to different rooms for different lessons.
TJC has recently confirmed that from year 2006 onwards, all the SCGs will be renamed as CGs to avoid confusion.
Number of Subjects to Offer
As the computation of points for the admission into the NUS, NTU and SMU is based on the General Paper and only the best three ‘A’ level subjects, the logical choice for students in the college would be a combination of three ‘A’ level subjects. The Second Language will only be included if it helps to improve the overall score. This would mean having more time for an in-depth study of the subjects as well as participation in College life. Taking a course of four ‘A’ level subjects can prove taxing both on curriculum time and the workload. Analysis of students’ performance in past examinations show that weaker students who offered three subjects at ‘A’ level scored better grades than students of similar standing who offered four subjects at ‘A’ level.
However, because of the special prerequisites for admission to certain courses of study at the NUS and the NTU, students with four ‘A’ level subjects do enjoy broader course options at the university. The academically stronger students are thus encouraged to offer four subjects at ‘A’ level in the college. An approximate measure of one’s ability to cope with four ‘A’ level subjects is one’s performance in the GCE ‘O’ level examination.
Students who wish to have an additional edge in competing for scholarships and for degree courses which are in high demand may also want to offer four ‘A’ level content subjects as well as up a maximum of 2 ‘Special’ Papers. A 3 "S" paper combination is also possible for exceptionally bright students.
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.
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 use 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 Centrino laptop can use the boardband wireless internet service for free.
Recently a number of Tablet PCs were lost in the college compound. It was suggested that this was mainly due to the carelessness of the students as well as the widespread use of expensive laptops in TJC. As a follow up, the college administration has taken positive steps in preventing further loss of laptops by hiring security guards and installing numerous close-circuit cameras around the college. Students are also strongly advised not to leave their laptops in areas under LT 1 as well as the Scope unattended.
Higher Education
The Higher Education department in TJC actively invites guest speakers from both foreign and local universities to give admission talks. Students are invited to attend. SAT lessons are no longer offered in TJC. Students are to study on their own.
External links
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