National Junior College (Junior High)

[sheryltan]

MdmKS:

Have a question here. what distinguish NJC from other IP schools like HCI, RV, RI, ...etc in their high school programme and activities besides being a government school, some boarding school experience and get to go to NJC(junior). Or no much different from usual secondary school on a day to day, ie lessons and CCA? Appreciate parents who have kids joined them from sec1 to share.

Hi MdmKS , I'd like to add on to phankao's post.

I do believe a distinguishing factor is that my child is experiencing what most students in RGS/RI/HCI/NYGH/RV etc do not experience, is the whole experience. Studying in the same campus as JC students, she gets to see how life in a JC is like, and NJC IP has adopted certain JC teaching styles, thus the students will not need too much effort adapting to JC life in time to come.

The standard in NJC IP is quite high, even my son in RI agrees. My daughter has already learnt certain topics which even my Sec 2 son has not covered. However, the stress level is just right and not too high, neither is the environment competitive. My eldest daughter finds Nanyang Girls' High pretty competitive intra-school, and even against Raffles Girls' Secondary School.

NJC IP students get exposed to way more stuff then their JC seniors, according to my daughter. In this 6 years, they were told to expect more then just textbook based learning, and mere studying. Currently, I feel that my daughter has been exposed to quite a lot, and indeed I do feel her maturing within just this few months. She says that the Junior high ( secondary level ) students of NJC are very bonded, and that does motivate her some. However, she did mention that some Senior High ( JC level ) seniors are \"not as nice\" as those of the lower levels.

For sec1s, they have a special programme called CAFE. Instead of the regular CCAs, they get to go for experience trials, and they have 3 trials this year. They can chose any of the given CCAs, but at least one performing art and one sport. Each trial lasts for about 8 weeks or so.

I like the structured and organised curriculum for the students. From my experience, my eldest daughter's school ( NYGH ) does some out of the textbook learning, but the curriculum was a total mess at times. I had no idea what to expect and what she should expect. Not to forget, the holistic education they'll receive and the skills they will learn when they board. I find that NJC focuses more on \" filling bottles to the capacity , regardless of their size \" instead of \" trying to increase the bottles' capacity \" before even filling them.

Personally, I feel that my choice of NJC IP for my youngest daughter is the best among my three children, but of course parents should attend the Junior High School Tours ( refer to http://www.njc.edu.sg ) for more details and to sign up, and find out more information about the school, as different parents / children see things differently. My advice is, do not limit your child or let your child limit him/herself yet. Take a visit to schools which interests your child, or are suitable for your child's academic level, and find out more about the school, before making your choice.

Just my two cents worth


Do feel free to ask any questions about NJC ( or RI/NYGH ).

[phankao]

sheryltan:

She says that the Junior high ( secondary level ) students of NJC are very bonded, and that does motivate her some. However, she did mention that some Senior High ( JC level ) seniors are \"not as nice\" as those of the lower levels.


For sec1s, they have a special programme called CAFE. Instead of the regular CCAs, they get to go for experience trials, and they have 3 trials this year. They can chose any of the given CCAs, but at least one performing art and one sport. Each trial lasts for about 8 weeks or so.
.

Oh, my son has made quite a few friends among the seniors and totally enjoys interacting with them. Probably bc he has a regular CCA apart from CAFE CCA .

[sheryltan]

Wow, that's good

Hope my daughter will be able to interact well with seniors, I think that's important. How's your son coping so far? Does he like it?

[phankao]

sheryltan:

Wow, that's good

Hope my daughter will be able to interact well with seniors, I think that's important. How's your son coping so far? Does he like it?

Yes he loves it. He's coping quite alright, busy as he is

[dunnoleh]

sheryltan:

... She says that the Junior high ( secondary level ) students of NJC are very bonded, ...

my daughter says the same, and this bonding thing is something magical?


I believe her.

[phankao]

dunnoleh:

sheryltan:

... She says that the Junior high ( secondary level ) students of NJC are very bonded, ...

my daughter says the same, and this bonding thing is something magical?

The cohort is small, and plus various activities and boarding, they know many in their cohort and beyond. Actually this is probably one of the reasons why they did not have the same students in the Orientation Groups and in the Classes - so they can know more students.

In the integrated programme, each cohort is going to be capped at a maximum of 250 per year. This is really small compared to the cohort sizes of RI/RGS/NYGH which are like 400.

The current past 2 years' cohort is only 150 for last year's year 1s and 190+ for this year's year 1s.

[sheryltan]

That's a plus point too - the small cohort.


However, NJC does not have uniformed groups, which my daughter is interested in.

Well, I hope the CAFE programme can help her find another CCA she'll be interested in.

[phankao]

sheryltan:

That's a plus point too - the small cohort.


However, NJC does not have uniformed groups, which my daughter is interested in.

Well, I hope the CAFE programme can help her find another CCA she'll be interested in.

Hmm... that's true huh? No uniformed groups. Never occured to me. There's a CCA fair at the beginning of each year though, I think?

[sheryltan]

Sigh, my daughter has been a little affected by those rumours about NJC being a boring mugger school. Well I told her that she doesn’t need to worry, as she can already see for herself that junior high life has been really " happening " , but maybe the mugger connotation only applies to the current JC students of NJC.


But it’s still just a rumour afterall, I believe and hope. Has your son ever came across this rumour?

[phankao]

sheryltan:

Sigh, my daughter has been a little affected by those rumours about NJC being a boring mugger school. Well I told her that she doesn't need to worry, as she can already see for herself that junior high life has been really \" happening \" , but maybe the mugger connotation only applies to the current JC students of NJC.


But it's still just a rumour afterall, I believe and hope. Has your son ever came across this rumour?

I hear that all around, but well, i think the kids are not affected by that rumour - gee, who cares.