Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) [*IP]

[Neko267]

slmkhoo:

Questions about Research Studies for Yr3: besides the mentorship programmes for science and humanities, what sort of RS projects are offered? Can you give some examples? Do the girls need to come up with their own ideas or will the school have a list that they choose from? Do they select at the end of Yr2 or wait until Yr3? Does it have to tie in with the student's RA subject if she is in RA? Thanks!

Hi I'm a Year 2 at RGS so I'm also pretty clueless, but I hope this helps!

Here are some RS (Academic) project topics that were offered for 2013:
- Bat Ecology (Biology)
- Ecotourism Development (Geography)
- Designer Babies (Philosophy)
- Mathematics & Games (Math)
- Crystallization of Ferrous Sulphate (Chemistry)
If you want the complete list, you can go to this link: https://inet.rgs.edu.sg/students/rs/Lists/SALE_Mentors/AllItems.aspx

In addition, here are some special programs that are offered in-lieu of RS:
- Community Problem Solving (CmPS)
- Future Problem Solving
- Odyssey of the Mind (OM)
- NASA Space Settlement
- F1 in Schools
- Fashion Cluster
- Film Cluster
- Innovation Program (IvP)
- HSSRP
- Science Mentorship Program
You can find more info at iNet > Research Studies > Project Selling and Proposals > 2013 Project Selling.

Answering your other questions...

Do the girls need to come up with their own ideas or will the school have a list that they choose from?
Yep the school will have a list you can choose from, but you have to write your own research proposal, etc. You can also come up with your own topic if you want, just email a relevant RS mentor and ask

Do they select at the end of Yr2 or wait until Yr3?
It depends on the RS project. For RS Academic projects, you select at the start of Y3 whereas for most special programs (offered in-lieu of RS), selections are held in Y2. For example, auditions for Odyssey of the Mind are held around mid-October (I think).

Does it have to tie in with the student's RA subject if she is in RA?
Not necessarily, although it's very very very highly recommended that Science RA students take a science-related RS project (eg. F1, OM, SMP). Other than that it's better if you do but not a must.

[sharonkhoo]

Neko267:

slmkhoo:

Questions about Research Studies for Yr3: besides the mentorship programmes for science and humanities, what sort of RS projects are offered? Can you give some examples? Do the girls need to come up with their own ideas or will the school have a list that they choose from? Do they select at the end of Yr2 or wait until Yr3? Does it have to tie in with the student's RA subject if she is in RA? Thanks!

Hi I'm a Year 2 at RGS so I'm also pretty clueless, but I hope this helps! ...

Thanks! You are very well-informed! Was there a briefing last semester which my daughter missed (she is Yr2 as well but wasn't in school last semester)? Unfortunately, I don't have permission to open the link - I will ask my daughter to try. Just curious what might be in store for her next year.

[Neko267]

slmkhoo:

Neko267:

[quote=\"slmkhoo\"]Questions about Research Studies for Yr3: besides the mentorship programmes for science and humanities, what sort of RS projects are offered? Can you give some examples? Do the girls need to come up with their own ideas or will the school have a list that they choose from? Do they select at the end of Yr2 or wait until Yr3? Does it have to tie in with the student's RA subject if she is in RA? Thanks!

Hi I'm a Year 2 at RGS so I'm also pretty clueless, but I hope this helps! ...

Thanks! You are very well-informed! Was there a briefing last semester which my daughter missed (she is Yr2 as well but wasn't in school last semester)? Unfortunately, I don't have permission to open the link - I will ask my daughter to try. Just curious what might be in store for her next year.[/quote]No (at least not that I know of), but there was a briefing at the end of last year. Most of the powerpoint slides for that briefing should be available on iNet under the project selling page I think... I suppose there should be another one later this year or something but I'm not too sure Hope your daughter is coping well so far!

[sharonkhoo]

I have some questions about Raffles Academy and would be grateful to get feedback from girls who have done RA or their parents, especially RA Maths and ELit.


1. What are the benefits of RA other than acceleration (ie. learning stuff earlier than their cohort)? Is the work in RA more than just covering material which they would cover later on (eg. in Yrs 5 & 6) anyway? Do they do stuff which is completely different from the normal curriculum, eg. projects, other (non-exam related) aspects of the subject etc?

2. It seems that there are many compulsory extra courses, seminars, competitions etc. Do they take a lot of time to prepare and attend? Does doing RA leave time to be involved in CCA and other stuff (my daughter is concerned about having time to play and sleep!)? I know this depends a lot on the individual, but in general, how do girls cope? Can non-RA girls also sign up for a couple of these courses or competitions if they have interest?

My daughter has to hand in the RA application next week, so any feedback would be appreciated. We know she may not get in anyway, but we are still deciding whether to even apply or not! And does anyone know the max. no. of RA students for Maths and Lit? Thanks in advance!

[BananaMilk]

Hi!


I haven't done RA yet, but these are just some things I found out from my teachers and seniors when I asked them about RA ^^

1) RA teaches things that are not taught to non-RA students or an extension of what non-RA students are taught. These are not tested in the paper that non-RA students take.

So, in this sense, it is kind of like acceleration but it might not appear in Year 5/6 curriculum. Some might appear, but others might be for enrichment. However, they would be tested in the RA paper, so it is not totally non-exam related and to stay in RA, there is a minimum GPA required from the RA papers.

2) Yup, RA students are required to attend various events. From a Math RA senior, I have heard that participations in some (if not all) olympiads are compulsory. RA students are exempted from their normal classes in that subject to attend RA classes. So in terms of curriculum hours its the same. Coping wise is dependent on the individual but I think generally its quite okay, and you could always speak to the teacher for help if you feel that you have problems coping ^^ As a last resort of sorts, there are window periods to leave RA should she feel that she is unable to cope.

Non-RA students can also indicate their interest in events that the RA students would have to join. Speaking to the teacher in charge ahead of the event would help as well. Such events are not closed towards Non-RA students. But a key thing is to indicate the interest early so the teachers can plan the number of people, etc.

3) Max number of people in a Math/Lit RA. Math RA has 2/3 classes with a minimum of 15 to a maximum of 25 per class. Lit RA has 1 class with a minimum of 15 to a maximum of 25 per class.

Yup! I hope this is helpful. Personally for me, I think that she should apply because it could give her an opportunity to join RA rather than not applying and not getting the opportunity. If she isn't sure if she can cope, etc. then she can always find out later on, but there is only one chance to join next year's RA >m<

I have the link to inet more information on RA maybe I'll pm it to you? ^^

[esme38]

Hi Parent/students,


Can advise:
1) is it true there is no streaming option eg double or triple science to commence sec 3?
2) How does Raffles program complement or affect streaming option? :shock:

[BananaMilk]

Good morning!


Hi, I'm not too sure what you meant by stream but we do choose subject combinations at the end of year 2 for Years 3 and 4.

We can choose a total of 4 subjects from a list of
Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Area Studies, Geography, History and Literature

So combinations with 2 or 3 sciences are possible.

I hope this helps answer some of your doubts. ^^

[jtoh]

And even combinations with 3 Humanities and 1 Science.

[mamona]

Sorry for asking this question


what is Area Studies ? My daughter is in Sec 1 and I didn’t hear about this yet.

Also I would like to know if 3 humanities and 1 science is a realistic combination. I mean considering the future options. My dd is good in literature and inclined towards humanities and I don’t want her to push for science but she is scared that with kess science subject she may have limited option in future.

Will appreciate your comment and guidance in this matter.

[sharonkhoo]

mamona:

Sorry for asking this question


what is Area Studies ? My daughter is in Sec 1 and I didn't hear about this yet.

Also I would like to know if 3 humanities and 1 science is a realistic combination. I mean considering the future options. My dd is good in literature and inclined towards humanities and I don't want her to push for science but she is scared that with kess science subject she may have limited option in future.

Will appreciate your comment and guidance in this matter.

Can't help about Area studies as I've not heard about it at all!

My daughter is in Yr 2 and we've just had the discussion about subject combinations. Basically, it boils down to how certain the child is about taking a specific Science subject in Yrs 5 & 6. I've been told that a child cannot take a Science subject in Yrs 5 & 6 if she hasn't taken it in Yrs 3 & 4, but this restriction doesn't apply to Humanities. For my daughter, who has absolutely no idea of what she would want to do in Yrs 5 & 6, we have decided that she should take triple science in Yrs 3 & 4 simply as a 'just in case'. If she were quite sure that she disliked one of them and wouldn't want to take it later on, she could drop it now, but she really doesn't know. She regrets not being able to take another humanities subject though as she likes those too. I just wish they weren't so rigid with the Science subjects - if the child is willing to mug up what she missed in Yrs 3 & 4, why not let her take it in Yrs 5 & 6?