Surviving Normal stream

[Bentan]

DCparent:

Yes fully agreed...been reading coments on the top student and top sch COP how about the tier 3 school or NA COP...my son is one of the either Express or NA...which should I encourage him???? :?:

The gap between Express and N-Level is now very narrow. If the students from both steam have to study almost the same amount, Express should be your preffered choice. Read http://singapore.math-chinese-tutor.com/normal-academic-streaming-in-secondary-school/ for more details. There is also an article on http://singapore.math-chinese-tutor.com/beating-the-n-level-system/

[DCparent]

He posted to Commonwealth NA and start the term and just received call that Tech Whye give him a place in Express. :idea: Should I take Teck Whye or remain in Commomwealth? :?


I know Commonwealth is a good school vs Teck Whye but should I choose Express over NA....

[bornsingaporean]

My son scored 147 for his PSLE and was put in the N(T) stream. Good news is that he got the school he wanted, well you all know the bad news. Wife was devastated and was trying all ways to appeal but to no avail. His first year was an eye opener for all of us. My son found out that no teacher in his school wanted to teach the Tech class. His form teacher was an Art teacher. There was very little focus on Maths and Science, and I found out that throughout the whole year in Sec one, his class only stepped into the science lab ONCE. But yet the exams included experiments and lab work. Even trying out for CCA’s , the Tech boys were often not selected. Needless to say, my wife and I were furious with the school. It seems that the school had already written off these boys and they were just going through the motions until they could off load them to the ITEs.


So we took over his studies, we told him to go to school and make friends and enjoy school life, while the real studying will take place at home. We had good tuition teachers and we got him to study both the Academic and the Tech stream curriculum. You see, my son loves history and geography, but being in the Tech stream, MOE has decided that he is not smart enough to learn about these subjects.

To date , my son has topped his class in Sec one and Sec Two . He scores A’s for math science english and CPA and Home econs He managed to get a C for chinese. He has identified the course he intends to do in ITE and has chartered his path to Poly. He knows what he wants and how to get it. He has not given up all though the school has given up on kids like him. He has learnt perseverence, honesty and getting the job done regardless of what others think. Those skills are more important for success in life.

I have no doubt that he will succeed in whatever he does. And to all parents who are in the same situation, my advise is look at your child’s strengths and more importantly listen to their plans and ideas and work with them to achieve those plans. Nobody wants to fail. Don’t abdicate your child’s education to the schools.

Hope this helps.

[corneyAmber]

Thanks BornSingaporean for yet another inspirational story. Kudos to your son and Kudos to you as a parent. :salute:


All I want to say is if I were a teacher, I will opt to teach the Normal Stream.

[autumnbronze]

bornsingaporean:

My son scored 147 for his PSLE and was put in the N(T) stream. Good news is that he got the school he wanted, well you all know the bad news. Wife was devastated and was trying all ways to appeal but to no avail. His first year was an eye opener for all of us. My son found out that no teacher in his school wanted to teach the Tech class. His form teacher was an Art teacher. There was very little focus on Maths and Science, and I found out that throughout the whole year in Sec one, his class only stepped into the science lab ONCE. But yet the exams included experiments and lab work. Even trying out for CCA's , the Tech boys were often not selected. Needless to say, my wife and I were furious with the school. It seems that the school had already written off these boys and they were just going through the motions until they could off load them to the ITEs.


So we took over his studies, we told him to go to school and make friends and enjoy school life, while the real studying will take place at home. We had good tuition teachers and we got him to study both the Academic and the Tech stream curriculum. You see, my son loves history and geography, but being in the Tech stream, MOE has decided that he is not smart enough to learn about these subjects.

To date , my son has topped his class in Sec one and Sec Two . He scores A's for math science english and CPA and Home econs He managed to get a C for chinese. He has identified the course he intends to do in ITE and has chartered his path to Poly. He knows what he wants and how to get it. He has not given up all though the school has given up on kids like him. He has learnt perseverence, honesty and getting the job done regardless of what others think. Those skills are more important for success in life.

I have no doubt that he will succeed in whatever he does. And to all parents who are in the same situation, my advise is look at your child's strengths and more importantly listen to their plans and ideas and work with them to achieve those plans. Nobody wants to fail. Don't abdicate your child's education to the schools.

Hope this helps.

Hi Bornsingaporean,

Indeed, it is really heartwarming to read your inspirational story.

I am appalled that your child's school is like that. From my experience as as a former educator, the mgt usually assigns 'tough' and 'seasoned' teachers to such classes. For the school to 'write off' your son's class, really - SHAME on them.

I do hope many parents will adopt a similar attitude and not give up on their kids as well.

Thank you for sharing, I :salute: you, your wife and your DS

[autumnbronze]

DCparent:

He posted to Commonwealth NA and start the term and just received call that Tech Whye give him a place in Express. :idea: Should I take Teck Whye or remain in Commomwealth? :?


I know Commonwealth is a good school vs Teck Whye but should I choose Express over NA....

DC parent,

I hope this is not too late.

My 2 cents worth ...

Many may advise you to put him in the espress stream...

But to me, as a former educator, its not merely only the matter of choosing. Its also whether your child is able to cope being in the express stream as well. You need to assess your child's capability.

If you do decide to put him in the express stream, you will need to speak to him and explain what it entails for him. You will also need to monitor your child's progress.

Hope this helps

[verykiasu2010]

DCparent:

He posted to Commonwealth NA and start the term and just received call that Tech Whye give him a place in Express. :idea: Should I take Teck Whye or remain in Commomwealth? :?


I know Commonwealth is a good school vs Teck Whye but should I choose Express over NA....

Commonwealth is any time better than Teck Whye. That is why he should stay in Commonwealth, work hard, aim to be the top in the coming SA1 and SA2, and he possibly can be transferred to Express in Commonwealth

I have friends whose kid qualifies for Express (but not in his preferred school) but choose to go Normal in his dream school and hoping to get a transfer to Express later on

I have also seen Express students being transferred out to Normal at end of Sec 1 and end of Sec 2 and vice versa

[verykiasu2010]

bornsingaporean:

My son scored 147 for his PSLE and was put in the N(T) stream. Good news is that he got the school he wanted, well you all know the bad news. Wife was devastated and was trying all ways to appeal but to no avail. His first year was an eye opener for all of us. My son found out that no teacher in his school wanted to teach the Tech class. His form teacher was an Art teacher. There was very little focus on Maths and Science, and I found out that throughout the whole year in Sec one, his class only stepped into the science lab ONCE. But yet the exams included experiments and lab work. Even trying out for CCA's , the Tech boys were often not selected. Needless to say, my wife and I were furious with the school. It seems that the school had already written off these boys and they were just going through the motions until they could off load them to the ITEs.


So we took over his studies, we told him to go to school and make friends and enjoy school life, while the real studying will take place at home. We had good tuition teachers and we got him to study both the Academic and the Tech stream curriculum. You see, my son loves history and geography, but being in the Tech stream, MOE has decided that he is not smart enough to learn about these subjects.

To date , my son has topped his class in Sec one and Sec Two . He scores A's for math science english and CPA and Home econs He managed to get a C for chinese. He has identified the course he intends to do in ITE and has chartered his path to Poly. He knows what he wants and how to get it. He has not given up all though the school has given up on kids like him. He has learnt perseverence, honesty and getting the job done regardless of what others think. Those skills are more important for success in life.

I have no doubt that he will succeed in whatever he does. And to all parents who are in the same situation, my advise is look at your child's strengths and more importantly listen to their plans and ideas and work with them to achieve those plans. Nobody wants to fail. Don't abdicate your child's education to the schools.

Hope this helps.

How come he did not ask to be transferred to Express in Sec 2 ? Discussed that with the principal ? If the result in good enough, why not ? It will be good morale booster for the child

[verykiasu2010]

It is a cruel reality that when a student got sent to NA or NT, the schools may not have the resources and ability to turn them around and just wait for ITE. No wonder that say ITE stands for "It’s The End"



It is very much up to the determination of the child to prove himself and the parents to prod and encourage

[ponyo]

Dear BornSingaporean


Thanks for sharing your story. It's a real shame what the school did. No one child should ever be written off.

Just to share a short story to encourage you, my nephew was also from the Normal stream. However he did not give up on himself and he eventually did well enough to qualify for SP.

Being artistically-inclined, he took up landscape design and he has been topping his cohort since(I think he even got into the Dean's List). As he will be graduating this year, he has even received invitations from NUS/NTU for their degree courses.

So take heart. All roads lead to Rome, so they say. Just that some will take a longer time. Eventually we will get there. To quote Randy Pausch, who gave a really inspiring lecture before he died from pancreatic cancer, \"Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.\"
- Randy Pausch ( 1960-2008 )

If you have the time, do try to read the book \"The Last Lecture\" by Randy Pausch or watch the video (which the book was based on):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Cheers
Ponyo