School Of The Arts, Singapore

[Startz]

Hi Solo,


Apologies for not replying earlier..some technical glitches with my laptop...

I let my dd interest/s lead me in the decisions I make for her. It's always difficult with children..ye know..their interests change over time. I observe..if I am not sure.

But my dd is not cut out for the school 'system'.She is a cheerful and bright kid and has a definite point of view. Such a talent should be nurtured, nut surpressed. As early as Pr 2, I had already made a conscious decision to send her to SOTA.

From Pri. 4 to 6, I cut out newspaper articles of SOTA and read snippets of it to her, to gauge her reactions, 'retreating' when it became too 'overpowering', 'advancing' when an opportune moment arose. Altho' I knew it was in her best interest, but it is a six year programme and she must like the Arts or else her teenage years will be unhappy ones..

At the Open House/ talks held by SOTA, I made sure I was not around when she attended. Then I asked those who accompanied her (aunty /friend) for feedback on her reactions during these events. The feedback was positive, so the decision to go SOTA was confirmed by Pr 6.

She attended Art classes at Arts Fission (Cairnhill Arts Centre)She discussed with her teacher which artwork to compile as part of her portfolio.Any Art teacher will know what those 'dimensions' for portfolio submission means - can approach them for help ( I left it to my dd- told her it's good 'training' for her - heh heh )

Children who go to SOTA must like the arts - music, literature, dance etc. I think u can return to the Mainstream ( I heard a parent ask that at a QA session in P6 at SOTA) Call/email/visit Sota and have a word with the Principal - she's very friendly- It's worthwhile doing your research

Dd's journey at SOTA is one more of exploraton/experimentation. With the teachers/mentors guiding her, she should know which field or course she wishes to specialise in, be it University or work after six years. I think an individual has a right to be happy. Self-esteem / confidence is something worth nurturing in anyone.It's all they have :lol: 'out there'

Thanks for your well-wishes

Hope the information helps in any way..

[eager_beaver]

i have 2 daughters in sota, both in dance, 1 in the pioneer cohort & the other now in year 2.


though it is not a vocational school, the training (at least for the dancers) can be long & tiring but like most sota sudents i know, they are enjoying themselves.

yes the school culture is very different from main stream schools & there is also a vibrancy when i visited their interim campus in goodman road.

i am not familiar with ib but i can see what my daughters are doing is very different from main stream school so i think it may be quite difficult to switch to GCE after say a couple of years.

i understand competition amongst each art form itself can also be vicious & i understand some become disillusion because may be before sota, they may be the best but when in sota they find that are probably competing with the best in their art form age for age

[Startz]

Hi eager_beaver


Finally I 'meet' someone whose children are in Sota..

Yeah..I understand when you say the competition within each arts group can be 'intense' - if one does a bit of reflection, they are a talent before they get in, but after they are in , they are amongst the 'talented' - so anything goes..

For me, I look at the positive side .. my daughter mentions who is good in something..cartoons, anime...and I think it is all abt getting inspired..and a little edgy competition is always good for an individual..and I sense that is what the school's direction is all about..

at this point because she is in Year one, I am allowing her to adjust first..because Year one can be pretty overwhelming..being in a massive building doesn't help.. :?

what I like is the 'culture' which encourages independence and creativivity. when she tells me what happens and who, I sense the kids are not'talked down to'..they are encouraged tto be passionate abt things , to be 'good' (people) and that's important..

I do worry abt her academia and keep a watchful eye..but at this stage of her life it's all abt being independent and self-disciplined..no one can predict what's going to happen..we'll sow one grain at a time..

[Bentan]

Several SOTA students came to http://singapore.math-chinese-tutor.com for Math tuition.


Being Arts-inclined, many SOTA students are weak in Math, since primary school. I was told that many of them scored B for Math in PSLE.

SOTA program is IB and students therefore do not need to take O-Level. Many SOTA students therefor do not really know how bad their Math is. Personally I think that their Math is really bad. I am encouraging all my students to sit for O-level as private candidate so as to benchmark their standard against the Express students.

[Startz]

Thks Bentan for the useful info .. always good to know..

[solo]

eager_beaver:

i have 2 daughters in sota, both in dance, 1 in the pioneer cohort & the other now in year 2.


though it is not a vocational school, the training (at least for the dancers) can be long & tiring but like most sota sudents i know, they are enjoying themselves.

yes the school culture is very different from main stream schools & there is also a vibrancy when i visited their interim campus in goodman road.

i am not familiar with ib but i can see what my daughters are doing is very different from main stream school so i think it may be quite difficult to switch to GCE after say a couple of years.

i understand competition amongst each art form itself can also be vicious & i understand some become disillusion because may be before sota, they may be the best but when in sota they find that are probably competing with the best in their art form age for age

Hello eager-beaver and StartZ,

Thanks for sharing about your dds experiece in SOTA. How many hours of art/dance do you dds do everyday? Do they separate the academic class from the art class? That's to say, in an academic class, do they have students doing different types of art(dance, theatre, music, etc).

For IB, I understand that the 1st 2 years are the same as mainstream Sec1&2 but the 3rd and 4th are pre-IB years meaning they start teaching in the style of the IBDP. I guess if the student wants to go Cambridge, they have to decide at the end of Sec2. The question is, does it mean he has to leave SOTA? What if the student decide to go polytechnic instead? What's the point of doing IBDP then?

StartZ, I like your unwavering and positive attitude in making your decision for letting your dd go to SOTA. We need more brave parents like you who dare to get out of the comfort zone and go into uncharted waters. I'm sure all will be well for your dd because she's doing what she loves. If my dd ever want to go to SOTA for art, I'm sure I'll do the same. Meanwhile, she's has a few more years to know what her passion is. She's still very innocent and all-loving. I hope to keep in touch with you!

[Startz]

hi solo,


my dd's classmates are doing different art forms - all in one class.

specialised art forms (the one u audition for) 3 times a week , 2-3 hours at one time and integrated art form(the rest like theatre,music,dance..) 1 time a week , about 2 hours per time)

my dd says that chinese and maths her class is split up into different groups - i think this arrrangement is based on PSLE grades - a wise move for teaching and learning

yeah..u are right..parent must be congruent with decision to send kid to sota..or else halfway through change mind a lot of unravelling..i heard someone at sota mention this major difference between sota and mainstream school- at sota yr kids arts training and academia all at one site so parent no need to chauffeur kid from one place to another..also ACS(I) at year 5 and 6,my fren sent her dd there for IB after finishing mainstream-her girl did pretty well for IB :celebrate:

r you going to their 'open house' at sota in february- details on their website?can find out more..

[puppylove]

Hi my DD is interested in getting into SOTA. So I want to just get to know others who are also interested in SOTA or are already in SOTA. How is life there ? How good is the school ? In Orchard area is it convenient to get there ? Is it really so great like what the newspapers have reported recently ? :lol:

[dance and theatre]

Hi all I am new to this forum, and this topic is one very near to my heart as my daughter is in the school in Year 1. As well, we have family friends whose kids are at SOTA (Years 2 and 3) and what I post here is based on experiences and feed back from them, and what led us to choose SOTA above mainstream schools. The disclaimer here would be : my daughter is in dance, so too most of the kids we know personally, and this is the area where I have the most information.


Yes in SOTA your child would have to pass PSLE with an Express T-score, obviously the better the score the better the chances of getting in. The kids in my daughter's class have a range of 230 to 269, and from what I can see for the Year 1s, the classes have been banded according to their strongest subject in the PSLE.

What about the road leading up to getting through the Talent Academy ?

SOTA's 2010 total intake for dance is 36 - 27 via classical dance, the rest through Ballroom, Hip Hop, Jazz/Tap or Malay, Chinese and Indian Dance.

For the auditions under Classical Ballet, several students who got into the school had dance portfolios which included - RAD Ballet Gd 5 or 6, ISTD Modern/Jazz Gd 5, ISTD Tap Medals in Silver or Bronze, a few were already in the RAD Majors at Foundation or Intermediate levels. Some of the students were competition winners at the annual CSTD Competition usually held in July. These are recognised benchmarks for any dance programs in full schools, be it in Singapore, Australia or Britain.

For dance auditions under the Other catergory, the focus is talent and presentation especially with dance forms that do not have a graded syllabus or formal examinations. My personal observation for students auditioning under Ballroom, Chinese and Indian dance - the standard in Singapore is high. In SOTA, ethnic dance is taught under the less formal Intergrated Arts. If your child wants to continue Ballroom, Tap, Malay, Chinese or Indian dance seriously, it would have to be outside of school time. Students who enter SOTA under the other dances will start Classical Ballet from the beginning.

The SOTA dance schedules are very rigorous - two hours everyday and about twice a week my daughter finishes school as late as 6.45pm. The fact is - a dancer's life is very tough physically, there is no molly-coddling, it requires discipline and very good time management. As young as the 12 year olds are, they are beginning to learn that any slacking comes with a consequence. Regardless, the dance students do not see it as hardship, they take in it their strides and understand the tough schedule as part of their everyday. Along with experienced and well trained dance teachers, SOTA has physiotherapists, podiatrists and an orthopaedic surgeon to compliment the work of the faculty when required.

IB learning - it is NOT the easy way out, it is challenging and completely opposite of what they are used to in mainstream schools. Discussions, well thought out, informed opinions are required and with the small class size of 25, there is little chance of hiding from the teacher. SOTA is part of the Global Apple Wired School, alot of the learning, the projects are web-based, your child has to like reading and learn to work independently and become adept at managing group dynamics (to listen, to value and learn from another person's opinion even when it's different from their own).

All I can say is - my daughter feels very inspired, she loves school and the way the subjects are taught and made relevant to their chosen art-form. If you check the resumes of the teachers in the website, you will know they come from premier Singapore school backgrounds and have the experience to manage broad-based learning. In her primary school, although my daughter had good friends and wonderful teachers, none understood her feelings about dance, it's culture and commitment. At SOTA, the students all speak the same language, they breath and live their art forms, you can truly sense the positive and exciting vibes.

On top of that, the school building is beautiful, with the huge advantage of purpose built facilities to accommodate all the art forms. SOTA's fee is the same as any other Singapore independent school (RI, MGS, ACS I, Hwa Chong, SJI, SCG, NUS High etc).

If your child is unsure about SOTA after PSLE, and opts for a mainstream school, but later decides he/she wants to go to SOTA, you can still audition for the Talent Academy at Secondary 1. This is provided the PSLE score is within the Express range.

I hope all this is useful to those requiring basic information about the school, particularly in dance.

[dance and theatre]

Bentan:

Several SOTA students came to http://singapore.math-chinese-tutor.com for Math tuition.


Being Arts-inclined, many SOTA students are weak in Math, since primary school. I was told that many of them scored B for Math in PSLE.

SOTA program is IB and students therefore do not need to take O-Level. Many SOTA students therefor do not really know how bad their Math is. Personally I think that their Math is really bad. I am encouraging all my students to sit for O-level as private candidate so as to benchmark their standard against the Express students.

Bentan, I think it differs from co-hort to co-hort ?

This year, the students are the strongest academically compared to the previous years ...... the kids I know in Year 1 had A* for both PSLE Math and Science. As the school gains acceptance, it's a natural progression that the academically better (arts inclined) students will opt for SOTA.

Tuition is not recommended as the IB is taught differently. If your child needs extra help, they will be assigned small group or one to one remedial classes with the subject teachers.