Catholic Junior College Explained

Catholic Junior College
Motto:In Veritate et Caritate
Motto Translation:In Truth and Love
Location:129 Whitley Road
City:Singapore 297822
Country:Singapore
Type:Government-aided
Co-educational
Religion:Christianity (Catholic)
Session:Single-session
Principal:Woo Soo Min
Free:Building a Generation In Truth & Love: Every CJCian to be a Thinker with a Mission, Leader with a Heart
Free Label:Mission
Free 1:CJC - A Place of Excellence in Learning and Living
Free Label1:Vision
Website:cjc.edu.sg
Enrolment:Approx. 1,400
School Code:0802

Catholic Junior College (CJC) is a junior college in Singapore, offering a two-year course for pre-university students leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examination. Founded in 1975, Catholic Junior College was the third junior college to be established in Singapore.[1]

History

Plans for a junior college operated by the Catholic mission was first announced by then-Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew at the opening of National Junior College in May 1970, as one of several planned to be set up.[2] Subsequently, the Catholic mission disclosed plans for a fund-raising campaign in June 1970.[3] The college was to occupy about 15acres of land along Whitley Road, and to use both English and Chinese to conduct classes.[4]

Construction on the college campus was underway by July 1974, and was expected to have a capacity of 1,500 students.[5] CJC took in its first batch of 500 students in January 1975, but as the college campus was not ready, the students initially attended classes at other Catholic schools.[6] The first section of the college, comprising four tutorial blocks, was completed in March 1975,[7] while the rest of the campus was completed by August that year.[6] With the college's opening, pre-university students that were then attending classes in Catholic schools moved over to the college.[8]

In March 1977, the college set up a co-operative.[9] In the late 1970s, CJC formulated its own moral education syllabus designed specifically for its students. Consisting of role-playing and sharing sessions, it took into account ideas from students shared during engagement sessions.[10] In 1985, the college campus was upgraded at a cost of $1 million.[11]

Principal

Name of Principal Years Served
Patrick Loh 1975 - 1978[12]
Joseph Kiely, FSC 1979 - 1987
Deirdre O'Loan, IJ 1988 - 1994
Maria Lau, IJ 1995 - 2001
Paul A Rogers, FSC 2002 - 2009
Christine Anne Kong 2010 - 2016
Phyllis Chua Suan Gek 2017 - 2023
Woo Soo Min2024 -

School identity and culture

Crest

The principal symbol of Catholic Junior College is the Holy Spirit.[13]
The school crest was redesigned and unveiled in 2013.[14]

Motto

The College motto "In Veritate et Caritate" translates as "In Truth and Love".

Uniform & Attire

Catholic Junior College's uniform is themed in a light shade of blue. The uniform was designed by the first batch of CJ students. Male students wear plain light blue shirts with light blue pants while female students wear light blue blouses with light blue skirts. A collar pin bearing the flame insignia of the College is worn on the left collar of the uniform.[15] Navy blue blazers and ties are worn during important ceremonies and events.

The PE uniform consists of a blue t-shirt with the crest on the left side of the shirt and the college flame and abbreviation on the back of the t-shirt, and black shorts with the college flame and abbreviation on the bottom left. It is typically only worn for PE lessons and CCA sessions.

Students are also allowed to wear a polo "dress-down" shirt. This consists of a navy blue shirt with the crest on the left side of the shirt and white stripes on both sleeves and on the sides. This shirt also includes the college motto on the back. Students may order a set of shirts with their CCA listed on the left sleeve of the polo. Student leaders are given a separate polo shirt upon completion of the Leadership Training Camp, which is the same as the regular polo shirt except for the removal of the white stripes in favor of an all-blue shirt, and a shortened form of the college's mission "Thinker with a Mission, Leader with a Heart" imprinted on the back instead of the college motto.

On Friday, students are allowed to wear their house t-shirt, which may be red, orange, yellow or green depending on the student's house. Sports leaders may wear a polo shirt variation. Students are also permitted to wear the collegiate shirt on Fridays.

Admission & affiliation

Catholic Junior College is affiliated to all Catholic schools in Singapore that offer secondary education.

Students from the affiliated institutions are entitled to two additional point reduction to their L1R5 raw scores for their GCE Ordinary Level examination results when applying for admission into CJC as the first choice (a maximum of 4 reduction points to L1R5 score is allowed for JC Joint Admission Exercise, with the exception for appeals through Language Elective Programmes to participating pre-university centres, which allows up to a maximum of 6 reduction points).[16]

Campus

Catholic Junior College is located off Whitley Road,[17] and was built on a site previously occupied by the British forces.[3]

Academic information

See also: Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level. Catholic Junior College offers Arts and Science courses that leads up to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations.

Academic subjects

Co-curricular activities (CCAs)

The list of co-curricular activities (or CCAs) offered at Catholic Junior College are listed below.[18]

Notable alumni

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Our History - Catholic Junior College. cjc.moe.edu.sg. 2017-12-02.
  2. News: More aid for Asean students . . Singapore . 15 May 1970 . 27 February 2021 . NewspaperSG . 1 .
  3. News: Catholic-Mission to build $3mil junior college . The Straits Times . Singapore . 9 June 1970 . 27 February 2021 . NewspaperSG . 4.
  4. News: College talks with govt continue . New Nation . Singapore . 3 May 1971 . 27 February 2021 . NewspaperSG . 3 .
  5. News: 'Stonelaying' for new Junior College . The Straits Times . Singapore . 10 July 1974 . 1 March 2021 . NewspaperSG . 8 .
  6. News: College not ready, but 500 start studies . The Straits Times . Singapore . 1 January 1975 . 1 March 2021 . NewspaperSG . 5.
  7. News: College is $2m short . New Nation . Singapore . 3 April 1975 . 1 March 2021 . NewspaperSG . 4 .
  8. News: Catholic schools will stop pre-U classes . New Nation . Singapore . 26 July 1974 . 1 March 2021 . NewspaperSG . 3 .
  9. News: Co-op's vital role in a consumer society . The Straits Times . Singapore . 5 March 1977 . 1 March 2021.
  10. News: Ooi . Teresa . 5 August 1982 . JC students enjoy unique moral education classes . The Straits Times . Singapore . 19 March 2021 . NewspaperSG . 8 .
  11. News: Tan . June . 17 October 1985 . 3 junior colleges being upgraded . The Straits Times . Singapore . 19 March 2021 . NewspaperSG . 14 .
  12. News: Brother Patrick to call it a day . New Nation . Singapore . 5 October 1978 . 1 March 2021 . NewspaperSG . 2 .
  13. Web site: Our Identity. cjc.moe.edu.sg. 2017-12-02.
  14. Web site: Refreshed Crest . Catholic Junior College . Ministry of Education . 25 March 2019.
  15. Web site: Student Conduct. cjc.moe.edu.sg. 2017-12-02.
  16. Web site: NANYANG JUNIOR COLLEGE - JAE Information Booklet 2016. nanyangjc,moe.edu.sg. 2017-12-02. 2017-05-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20170510070605/http://nanyangjc.moe.edu.sg/qql/slot/u561/Prospective%20NYJCians/2016%20Annex%20E%20(NYJC).pdf. dead.
  17. Web site: Home Page. cjc.moe.edu.sg. 2017-12-02.
  18. Web site: Experience - CCAs. cjc.moe.edu.sg. 2017-12-02.
  19. Web site: Free . www.straitstimes.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080717044344/http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_257387.html . 2008-07-17.