National Junior College (Junior High)

[Heartlander]

My DS was in panel H. He did well.


Did your child go for the interview?

[PowerPuff Mum]

Heartlander:

My DS was in panel H. He did well.


Did your child go for the interview?

Hi Heartlander,
how many schools did yr DS try DSA for?
Why did u choose NJC?

[phankao]

Heartlander:

1) NJC started offering Sec 1 from 2009. They do not have a lot of experience with Sec 1 students unlike with the JC students. This is unlike say RI or HCI that has decades of experience. If any parent has children who joined Sec 1 in 2009, can you share the experience of your child?

My ds1 joined sec1 in 2010, not 2009.

Heartlander:

2) In NJC, it is fully integrated. The Sec 1 students mingle with the JC students. I know it has been used as a selling point. But is it a good thing? Younger students are more innocent entering into teenage years. The JC students are older and more mature, they have BGR issues, etc.

My ds has no problem with this. He has great fun mingling with the Year3s & 4s and the JC students. And they have so far had a positive impact on him. He has the greatest interaction with them thru his CCA which he joined since Feb this year.

Heartlander:

3) The ratio of girl to boys I heard is 2:1. Is this an issue for the boys compared to spending 4 years in an all boys school?

My ds was from an all-boys pri school. Interacting with girls - both a love/hate relationship. Some good, some bad. They have no choice but to work together in their workgroups. Overall, he's been doing fine. And he has lots of friends among the boys. They go running together, and study together on weekends too.

Heartlander:

Another issue would be the lack of CCAs for boys. There are no uniformed groups at all. This could also be due to the fact that NJC just started taking in Sec 1 students and they may need to increase the CCA offerings.

Why would boys need to just do uniformed groups? In the CAFE CCA List (they get to try 3 CCAs in Year 1 under the \"CAFE\" programme), there's Track&Field, Canoeing/Dragonboating(which my ds totally enjoyed), Chinese Orchestra, Squash, and I believe others, like Guitar Ensemble.

Anyway, I notice in IP schools, unless there's a fierce tradition or standard to uphold, the students are generally not so all-out to excel in CCA, bc they don't need the CCA points to enter JC like those in o-level track sec schools. Eg. RICO(chinese orch) is not of excellent standard, altho' RISE(strings) is. RGSCO is also around there, Strings too....for them, attaining silver or gold in syf is alright to them. No need Gold with Honours' kind of standard, unless they need to guard their reputation (like RISE).

My ds also joined a CCA that is not in the CAFE list. That CCA used to only be available for year 3s onwards. Now he even roped in another year 1 to join in with him.

Heartlander:

4) Are there enough teachers in NJC. I know it may not be a fair comparison to compare say with RI or HCI. But RI has about 480 academic staff. HCI has 380, and NJC probably has about 180. How does that affect the student ratios, subject offerings and quality of education.

Don't know how to answer this. They don't seem to have a lack of teachers, that's what I know. They had some A-level grads in the 1st half of the year, but there is no frequent changes of teachers, etc.

Heartlander:

5) For the facilities, I am aware that they are building more classrooms for the students, and a library for the Junior High students. Does anyone know when this will be completed? I know some students are studying in containers. Does this affect them adversely?

Sorry, this one - again, don't know how to answer - maybe the other parents can. But hey, didn't your boy have his interview in one of the containers??? The containers are not bad!

[Jennifer]

During my time in NJC, our classroom was one of the containers. We all turned out alright

[Jennifer]

I think one advantage being a student in NJC Junior High is the small student population. Everyone has a higher chance of being selected in any special programme vs the large student population in other IP schs like RI and HC.


My boy is happy there is no uniformed group in NJC. Really a personal preference issue here. I would prefer he joins one for the sake of toughening him up and be more independent and street smart.

I dun think the girls to boys ratio is 2:1 for this year JH1. In my boy's class, out of 25 students, 5 are boys. Most girls are ok, only a very few are eyes on top type

[PowerPuff Mum]

When we went to the NJC open house in July, there were construction going on. I was a little concerned abt the noise.


Other than that, I like what I see. The students looks happy there and there was a lot of buzz. My hubby was impressed by their holistic approach to education and we like the smaller classes too.

I don’t have problems with them mixing with the seniors, I think it’s a great idea cos they are like big brother or sister to the juniors.

I really like the boarding facility and I am all for the compulsory boarding cos that is definitely a great opportunity for our "precious little ones" to learn abt independence and self reliance. My DS is a scout and goes to camping regularly but he comes home after a week at most…it was just fun fun fun…it’ll be different with boarding for 1.5 mths at a time.

[Heartlander]

[quote]My ds has no problem with this. He has great fun mingling with the Year3s & 4s and the JC students. And they have so far had a positive impact on him. He has the greatest interaction with them thru his CCA which he joined since Feb this year[/quote].


This is ok as long as they are matured and well-behaved. A friend of mine has a daughter who got influenced by school mates and goes to pubs, etc.
[quote]My ds was from an all-boys pri school. Interacting with girls - both a love/hate relationship. Some good, some bad. They have no choice but to work together in their workgroups. Overall, he's been doing fine. And he has lots of friends among the boys. They go running together, and study together on weekends too.[/quote]During Day activity, only 2 boys and 5 girls in the group. If he gets in, hopefully he clicks with the few other boys.

[quote]Why would boys need to just do uniformed groups? In the CAFE CCA List (they get to try 3 CCAs in Year 1 under the \"CAFE\" programme), there's Track&Field, Canoeing/Dragonboating(which my ds totally enjoyed), Chinese Orchestra, Squash, and I believe others, like Guitar Ensemble.[/quote]Most boys schools offer lots of uniformed groups. Like scouts is good for their development. Thise who want to be doctors could join Red Cross, etc.
[quote]Anyway, I notice in IP schools, unless there's a fierce tradition or standard to uphold, the students are generally not so all-out to excel in CCA, bc they don't need the CCA points to enter JC like those in o-level track sec schools. Eg. RICO(chinese orch) is not of excellent standard, altho' RISE(strings) is. RGSCO is also around there, Strings too....for them, attaining silver or gold in syf is alright to them. No need Gold with Honours' kind of standard, unless they need to guard their reputation (like RISE).[/quote]Agree that it is less competititive. CAFE is good approach
[quote]Don't know how to answer this. They don't seem to have a lack of teachers, that's what I know. They had some A-level grads in the 1st half of the year, but there is no frequent changes of teachers, etc.[/quote]I think this is related to the number of subjects offered as well as population size

[quote]Sorry, this one - again, don't know how to answer - maybe the other parents can. But hey, didn't your boy have his interview in one of the containers??? The containers are not bad![/quote]Yes he wasinterviewd in container. Quite comfortable.

[Heartlander]

Jennifer:

I think one advantage being a student in NJC Junior High is the small student population. Everyone has a higher chance of being selected in any special programme vs the large student population in other IP schs like RI and HC.


My boy is happy there is no uniformed group in NJC. Really a personal preference issue here. I would prefer he joins one for the sake of toughening him up and be more independent and street smart.

I dun think the girls to boys ratio is 2:1 for this year JH1. In my boy's class, out of 25 students, 5 are boys. Most girls are ok, only a very few are eyes on top type

Thats a different perspective! So smaller population can be a plus.

I didnt know that the population of boys is only 20%. I think it would be healthier if they could balance it out. Otherwise NJC will end up as a girls' school over time. But I am still puzzled over it.

[Heartlander]

PowerPuff Mum:

I really like the boarding facility and I am all for the compulsory boarding cos that is definitely a great opportunity for our \"precious little ones\" to learn abt independence and self reliance. My DS is a scout and goes to camping regularly but he comes home after a week at most..it was just fun fun fun...it'll be different with boarding for 1.5 mths at a time.

Powerpuff mum, when you say your DS is a scout, do you mean that this offered as a CCA in NJC? or was this in primary school?

[Jennifer]

Heartlander:

I didnt know that the population of boys is only 20%. I think it would be healthier if they could balance it out. Otherwise NJC will end up as a girls' school over time. But I am still puzzled over it.

Dominated by girls, yes. Dun think wld become all girls :lol:

In a few years later, two other all girls' sch (St. Nicks and S'pore Chinese Girls) will also hv IP. MGS also right?