primary school syllabus

[sleepy]

I prefer no textbooks too. The bag may not be lighter though. Still need to lug tonnes of worksheets to & fro.

[lego]

kamponggirl:

Thanks for both replies...yes, I do understand that schs may use different textbks, hwr, english being the main subject and when there is no text or guide bk used, parents will not know what have been taught in class. Moreover, english language covers grammar, comprehension, vocabulary and sentence structure which i think would need structured lessons.....because when its assessment time (CA or SA or assesment bks), this is how the kids are being tested on, isn't it??

Dd's school uses the STELLAR programme, so we do not have the textbook as well. However, we were given a summary of what they would cover in terms of grammar, vocab for each term based on this programme.
Sometime prior to the CA or SA, the files containing worksheets would be returned to the children for revision. The children are tested based on what have been covered in the worksheets.

[kamponggirl]

:thankyou:

I must really thank all of your replies and info, it really made me feel better and clear some of my doubts.
I guess I just have to monitor the progress of my girl at school and by term 1, the situation should be clearer...
Thanks again! and wishing all a great weekend!

[corneyAmber]

sleepy:

I prefer no textbooks too. The bag may not be lighter though. Still need to lug tonnes of worksheets to & fro.

We have no worksheets to lug...it only appears before me when marked and all corrections have been done.. So only bring home for filing. I personally liked it this way but some parents felt the worksheets should be returned early for revision for the ever-so-regular tests.

[schellen]

my dd1’s sch for p1 last year had no ca, only sa and only sa2 was counted. but this doesn’t mean tt we cld not track her progress and what she is learning since the sch will keep us updated. she also had non-test assessments like show-and-tell. the sch informed us of these beforehand.

[Luvkid]

Ya, think this is a recent year recommendation where school uses Stellar programme. And school started to emphasize on Alternative Assesment where they will let the students & parents to choose a specific poems/ poetry and students will have a presentation on recitation. This help to boost a child’s confidence as they can present in the class. If i am not wrong there is also a project based assesment. From all these assesment, teacher can gauge a child’s overall performance.

[cafelatte]

kamponggirl


I can totally understand where you are coming from.

Your child’s school should be using the new STELLAR programme for English and that will eventually (if not already) be adopted for all primary schools so take heart that you are not alone. As for no exams in P1, that’s also the new direction from MOE and there was a press release some time last year. Your child’s school is likely one of the schools in the pilot programme and hence there are no exams in P1. The CCK school is probably not in the pilot but eventually there should be no exams for P1 in that school too (unless the principal has the autonomy to decide on this) and all other primary schools in Singapore. If I remember correctly, the plan is to have no exams in P1 for all primary schools by 2011.

Regarding STELLAR, using textbooks (old programme) and grammar, personally I find that our primary schools just does not teach grammar or spelling skills in a systematic way.

As for alternative assessment and all that, I take it with a pinch of salt because at the moment PSLE exams are still conducted the way they are. Unless I see PSLE adopting also alternative assessment methods, I would prefer pupils to have more exposure to exam-like environment. Exams are not just testing the contents. The child has to get use to the "pressure" environment - invigilators in the class, no talking, wait for start bell - time management, staying focus for extended period of time etc.

With the new direction, the kids will take their first exam in SA2 of P2 ? Most schools still do class banding using P2 results ? So in P3 you get banded class and mixed ability class ? Those would be my thoughts about the ‘new directions’.

[janet88]

I am one parent who was rather concerned when MOE wanting to do away with exams for P1.


If there are no exams in P1, how are the children going to be graded at the end of the year ? I do agree that the transition from K2 to P1 will be drastic if kids have exams.
There are no English textbooks for P1/2 now, so worksheets will be teaching the kids on grammar and vocab only ?

Mummies,
Can you advise what titles of assessment books to get for P1 English please ? Thank you.

[tankee]

No exam does not equal to no assessments.


Assessments will be spread throughout the year, in different form, eg show-n-tell, etc

likewise, no text books doe not mean the coverage for English is reduced. It just meant that the way English is taught is different from how it used to be taught. Most likely is Stellar Programme. There are some discussion on Stellar here. Check it out.

[pokemon]

we need to pay for a small amount for extra supplementary worksheet (abt 8pgs) to be banded with the normal moe stellar worksheet (abt 7pgs), its in a booklet format. I have checked with a 2 mums from different schools, they also have some supplementary worksheet (contents are different)bt dun need to pay and are stapled instead.


I wonder if other schools are practing having extra supplementary worksheets too?

My son’s school also dun have textbook, but need to buy a grammar guidebook, penmanship book and wordbank book. Actualy i would like to keep the grammar guidebook rather than keeping it with his teacher, i guessed i would use it more often than his teacher, according to ds, they hardly touch it.