| Raffles Institution 莱佛士书院 (Láifóshì shūyuàn) Institusi Raffles ராப்பிள்ஸ் கல்வி நிலையம் |
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Auspicium Melioris Ævi
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| Location | |
| One Raffles Institution Lane Singapore 575954 |
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| Information | |
| Type | Independent |
| Established | 1823 |
| Session | Full-day |
| School code | 0704 |
| Principal | Lim Lai Cheng |
| Enrolment | Approx. 2500 |
| Campus size | 8.65 hectares |
| Campus type | Open concept |
| Colour(s) | Green, white, black |
| Website | Link |
Raffles Institution (Year 5-6) (formerly Raffles Junior College) offers the Raffles Programme at Year 5 and 6 (equivalent to Junior College). It is located in Bishan beside the Year 1-4 school campus of Raffles Institution. The Principal is Mrs Lim Lai Cheng (2007–present). She took over from 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.[1]
A re-integration had been approved by MOE. Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College were re-integrated to form a single institution on 1 January 2009. Raffles Girls' School rejected the idea of a merger.[2] In addition, a common Board of Governors for Raffles Institution (Year 1-4) and Raffles Institution (Year 5-6) has been implemented since June 2008.[3]
RI has produced 85 President's Scholars to date.
Raffles Institution is Singapore's only member of the G20 Schools Group.
Contents |
Raffles Junior College was established to provide students with a two-year pre-university course previously provided by Raffles Institution (RI). It is commonly regarded as one of the best pre-university education institutions in the world. It produces many scholars and was regarded as the "gateway to Ivy Leagues" by Wall Street Journal.
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 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.
The College Anthem of RI(JC) is the same as the Institution Anthem of Raffles Institution. It was written by E. W. Jesudason, who served as the headmaster of RI from 1963 to 1966, and was retained by (then) RJC since it was born from the bosom of RI.
The school badge is a modified version of the Raffles coat of arms – granted permission for use by his family. This replaces the original erminois portion of the field with gold 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 RI(JC)'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",[4] this is a mistranslation. Auspicium primarily means an augury or auspice, which is a divinatory omen derived by an augur from watching the flight of birds.[5] It is also the motto of the Order of St Michael and St George.
RI(JC) was affiliated to both Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) (RGS). It has shared its school anthem and school crest with RI since its establishment, prior to the re-integration.
In 2004, then RJC had moved to a new campus adjacent to the existing Raffles Institution campus. Since then, the two sections run open concept campuses. Students of both sections may access both campuses. Most facilities, however, are not shared between the schools, except for certain co-curricular activity (CCA) training grounds. Both sections share a common driveway and main gate. RI(JC)'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(Secondary) and RI(JC). Since early 2010, construction for a new office has resulted in the demolition of the aforementioned bridge; students instead use a temporary walkway to move between campuses.
RI(JC) offers the Raffles Programme (RP), an Integrated Programme which takes students from Secondary 1 to JC2, skipping the GCE 'O' Level Examinations. Students spend the first four years in RI(Year 1-4) or RGS, and the last two years in RI(Year 5-6).
Boys wear white shirts and white long pants, which is largely similar to that for RI(Secondary) boys. The main differences lie in the pleat at the back of the shirt for RI(JC) boys, upturned sleeves which are sewn down, pleats in the long pants the design of their school badges and the material of the uniform. Girls wear a white, medium-sleeved blouse with a green pleated short skirt. The college badge retains the old RI design, though RI modified its badge slightly in the 1990s. On Wednesdays, which are dress-down days, both boys and girls are allowed to wear the black Raffles polo T-shirt.
An article in The Wall Street Journal in 2004 identified then Raffles Junior College as the "Gateway to the Ivy League", the high school outside the USA that sent the most students to elite American colleges, topping the rate of many elite prep schools in America.[6][7] The article calls it "no ordinary institution". A product of Singapore's highly competitive approach to education, designed to fuel the national economy, Raffles is the peak of a government-controlled pyramid-style school structure that unabashedly pushes the cream to the top.
A recent Wall Street Journal survey of high schools that feed elite U.S. colleges focused on U.S. schools and thus didn't include Raffles. Adding international schools, that list shows that Raffles sent more students to 10 elite colleges than any other international school and topped such prestigious U.S. secondary schools as Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn., and Harvard-Westlake, in North Hollywood, Calif.
In addition, RJC was mentioned in The Straits Times to be "known as the most successful high school in the world".[8]
Each year, hundreds of Rafflesians bag scholarships to top universities in the United States and United Kingdom, including many to the Ivy League and Oxbridge equivalent universities.[9]
RI(JC) consistently produces significant numbers of President's Scholars, Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Scholars, Singapore Police Force (SPF) Scholars and Public Service Commission (PSC) Scholars annually.
RI has produced 85 President's Scholars to date, a record amongst all schools nationally. With her 80th President's Scholar (Ms Sharon Tan Xin Hui), RI has also produced the first female Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholar (SAFOS)[10][11]
Raffles Institution offers the Integrated Programme, also known as the Raffles Programme (RP), together with Raffles Institution (Secondary) 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 (Secondary), and their fifth and sixth year in Raffles Institution (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) was implemented in Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) and Raffles Institution in 2004, and in (then) Raffles Junior College in 2006.
With the time freed up from not having to prepare for, and sit, the 'O' Level examinations, there are more opportunities for mentorship, research studies and industrial attachment with institutes of higher learning or industry partners.
RI (Year5-6)'s campus in Bishan has an area of 8 hectares, located within 1 block and seven stairs. Other facilities include the 800-seater Lecture Theatre 1, a Performing Arts Centre, an indoor Sports Hall and the three-storey Shaw Foundation Library.There is also a 7-Eleven convenience store located adjacent to the canteen. Four lifts serve all floors in the main block.
RI(Year5-6) has over seventy CCAs which are divided into sports groups, performing arts groups, and frats 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. However, student are advised to join up to two CCAs, only one of which may be from the sports groups or performing arts groups. Ultimate Frisbee, a fast-growing sport in Singapore has been well received by students in RI with the college team finishing in the top 3 positions of the InterJC tournament since 2007.
In 2007, sports CCAs in (then) RJC garnered a total of 36 medals - 22 Gold, 10 Silver and 4 Bronze in the National Inter-Schools Sports and Games Competitions. This achievement is the best showing ever in the college's history.[12]
All members of the Students' Council are selected through an annual college-wide election. Throughout its one-year term, the Council organizes projects and functions for the college, such as Open House, Orientation, Take 5, National Day Celebration and Graduation Night. It is headed by a President and two Vice-Presidents. The council also rallies student support for competitions that the college participates in. The Students' Council is considered an official CCA.
The council is subdivided into departments:
The Presidents, Heads of Departments, House Captains as well as the Secretary (Resources) and Secretary (Finance) form the council's executive committee. 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, where the new batch of councillors is now given the task to manage the body and school activities.
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![[4]](http://www.ri.edu.sg/files/Presidents_Scholars_Award_Straits_Times.jpeg.jpg){kind=link}