Pioneer Junior College is a junior college in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, offering a two-year course for pre-university students leading up to the GCE 'A' Level

General Certificate of Education

The General Certificate of Education or GCE is an academic qualification that examination boards in the United Kingdom and a few of the Commonwealth countries, notably Sri Lanka, confer to students. The GCE traditionally comprised two levels: the Ordinary Level and the Advanced Level...

 examinations.

PJC was established on 1 December 1999. The college initially functioned from the campus of the former French-German Institute of Singapore, situated next to the Singapore Science Centre, before it moved to the current permanent campus at 21 Teck Whye Walk in December 2002.

Administration

62 teachers and executive and administrative staff, together with 2 students were the first batch of Pioneers (Pioneer Pioneers). Students were involved in the formation of college rules and design of college crest and uniform. It was the first college to allow two sets of uniform designs for both boys and girls. It was also the first college to allow girls to wear dress pants as part of the uniform. The College vision and mission statements were formally endorsed by the stakeholders, i.e. the College Advisory Committee, the parents, the staff and students on 31 Aug 2000. In the subsequent year, the college anthem and flag were formally adopted by the college community on 8 Aug 2001.

PJC is the first Junior College to launch its own Satellite Ground Receiving Station on 25 Feb 2002. The Inaugural College Day was held on 26 Apr 2002 to award deserving pioneers who have contributed in one way or another to the college. The Guest-of-Honour was the Chairman of the College Advisory Committee, Prof Phua Kok Khoo.

Location

The College was relocated to its present location, 21 Teck Whye Walk on 19 Dec 2002, and was officially opened by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Acting Minister of Education, on 20 Feb 2004.

In Dec 2005, Mrs Tan-Kek Lee Yong became the College’s second principal.

Motto/Qualities/Vision/Values/Mission

The college was named "Pioneer" in the hope of nurturing students who would be "explorers of new knowledge". The college vision is "Always serving, always learning". The vision serves as a guide to students to give back a part to the society, and gaining experience through the process. The college mission is "Nurturing a Community of Committed Learners and Compassionate Leaders". The college aims to nurture students into future leaders and committed learners so that the students will continue to pursue higher education whilst leading the people. The college motto is "While I live, I learn". The motto is intended to encapsulate the following qualities:

• Perseverance in lifelong learning
• Willingness to look at existing knowledge from new perspectives
• Courage to venture into unknown territories to explore new boundaries of knowledge.

The college values are termed as the "5Cs", it comprises the following:

• Having a sense of Commitment
• Showing Compassion
• Seeking Continuous Improvement
• Demonstrating Confidence
• Building Strength of Character

House System

There are 6 Houses under Pioneer JC House System, all are named after various Pioneers in their respective fields. Students are allocated a house based on their civics grouping (classes). Competition among the 6 Houses will take place when the student ex-co (executive committee) takes up office bearer positions. The competition will include events like Inter-House Games (Sports and Non-sports, example of a non-sport include DOTA, computer game etc.), NAPFA

National Physical Fitness Award

The National Physical Fitness Award/Assessment Scheme is a test of physical fitness for Singaporeans as part of Singapore's Sports For Life programme...

 Test, etc. The overall champion in all these events will be awarded the Inter-House Challenge Trophy at the end of each office bearer year. The 6 houses are:

1. Byron, named after Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace (1815–1852). Wrote what was widely accepted as the first computer programme
2. Darwinm named after Charles Darwin
   Charles Darwin
   Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
   
    (1809–1882). Gentleman Naturalist. Known for his evolutionary theories
3. Keller, named after Helen Adams Keller (1880–1968). Lost her hearing and vision. Wrote, spoke, and laboured incessantly for the betterment of others
4. Nobel, named after Alfred Nobel
   Alfred Nobel
   Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer. He is the inventor of dynamite. Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments...
   
    (1833–1896). Dynamite inventor. Left behind a 9 million dollar endowment fund
5. Owens, named after Jesse Cleveland Owens (1913–1980). Won 4 gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
6. Polo, named after Marco Polo
   Marco Polo
   Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
   
   (1254–1324). Most famous Westerner who travelled on the Silk Road

CCAs

CCAs in the school are grouped according to the following categories:

1. Performing Arts
2. Clubs & Societies
3. Student Initiated CCAs
4. Sports & Games
   1. Merit Sports (CCAs that participate in competitions)
   2. Interest Sports (CCAs that are of interest to students but do not participate in competitions)

A point to note: Interest sports may anytime be moved to the Merit sports category if the students are deemed to be able to play in competitions and vice versa.

Performing Arts

• Chinese Orchestra
• Choir
• Modern Dance
• Symphonic Band
• English Drama Society
• Chinese Drama Society
• Malay Cultural Society
• Tamil Language Society

Clubs & Societies

• Astronomy Club
• Alchemist Club
• Audio Visual (AV) Club
• Chess Club
• China Desk
• Debate Society
• Eco Club
• Interact Club
• IT Club
• Media Club
• Outdoor Activities Club (ODAC)
• PJ Ambassador Club
• Reading Club (Chinese)
• Young Reporters' Club (Chinese)

Sports & Games

• Merit Sports
  • Canoeing
  • Netball (Girls)
  • Rugby (Boys)
  • Volleyball

• Interest Sports
  • Archery
  • Badminton
  • Basketball
  • Cuesports
  • Hockey
  • Taekwondo
  • Tennis
  • Ten-Pin Bowling
  • Touch Rugby (Girls)

CCA Achievements

1st Runner-Up National Inter-School Golf Championship 2007 (Girls)

2nd Runner-Up National Inter-School Hockey Championship 2004 (Boys)

2nd Runner-Up(3rd) National Inter-School Canoeing Championship 2007 (Girls)

Top 8 National Inter-School Badminton Championship 2007 (Girls)

Top 8 National Inter-School Netball Championship 2007

Top 8 National Inter-School Basketball Championship 2007 (Boys)

2nd position for Sorsilambam 2007(National Tamil Debates)

College Song

The first half of the college song is sung every Monday morning; on special events, the college song is sung in full.

College Anthem Here I stand The dawning of a brand new day As I look to the way ahead In my heart burns the fire of learning And it shines everywhere I go Never fading and ever yearning While I live, I learn and grow. I will seek and explore Open each and every door Always caring and faithful and true To be a guiding light Set the future shining bright For my college and for nation too I am a true pioneer Crossing every new frontier With conviction I take every turn This passion I will hold So that every one may know I believe: While I live, I learn. Here we stand Together on this special day Pioneers who will lead the way All our hearts share the spirit of exploring In our lives we will always show How we’ve set our sights on soaring While we live, we learn and grow. And we’ll seek and explore Open each and every door Always caring and faithful and true To be a guiding light Set the future shining bright For our college and for nation too Yes, we are true pioneers Crossing all the new frontiers With conviction we take every turn This passion we will hold So that every one may know We believe: While we live, we learn.

College Crest

The 62-degree angle of the white part in between the black and red parts of the college crest correspond to the 62 staff serving in the college when it was first established. Over the years, the number of teaching and non-teaching staff has changed, but the crest remains the same.

External links

• Official PJC Website
• Pioneer Alumni Circle Website