Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)
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messageinabottle:
I believe the 2 most important factors would be the interview as well as his Y1/Y2 average percentage for his exams. What i heard from my friends who came in at Y3 was that it was necessary to think carefully about why he would wish to offer the IB over the traditional O/A level track as most of the interview questions are structured around this topic. Other questions would be his commitment in his CCAs, etc.OpenSecret:
Hey all! I'm from this year's graduating Y6 class (just finished my exams this week!) Feel free to ask me any questions you may have especially about life in Y5/Y6 and ill be glad to answer to the best I can!
My DS psle t score is way below expectation.how shld he prepare for the entrance test for IB at sec 2 level? Any advice is much appreciated.he is a reasonably intelligent and an extrovert child consistently scoring in 90's in maths and sci during his primary.
For exam results in Y1/Y2, I heard that any score about 70% average would stand a reasonable chance at moving up to IP, but I know of people who did manage to get in with 60+% perhaps due to CCA or excellent interviews -
ngl2010:
ngl2010:
:faint: He is not gifted in languages and not interested in taking them if there is no direct benefit to him such as lightening his workload in Year 5/6
This boy must know the benefit first then he will work on it :evil:
Thank you, Autolycus, for all the explanation.
Haha, I get your son's point loud & clear. To cut the long story short, yes, taking HMT in ACSI from Yr 1 - Yr 4 doest not have direct benefit when it comes to points calculation. Simple reason being it's harder to score a 7 point (ie >80 marks) in HMT compared to MT. Majority of students who cleared HMT at \"o\" levels take CLB in Yr 5 anyway even when they have an option to take a 3rd lang @ ab initio.
Still, for 2013 cohort of Y1 (IP) students, i understand that there was a big surge in the number taking HMT. Students will be more \"at peace\" if they see taking HMT as an enrichment in ACSI...
Autolycus:
A side question: I just learned from my son that assessment for CLB actually completes by yr 5 leaving students time for other subjects in Yr 6. May I know for other 3rd language @ ab initio, is it the same or will it stretch into yr 6? (My son is considering a 3rd lang for Yr5 next yr but unfortunately, he won't be allowed to take \"bahasa malayu\" as he has taken MSP @ \"O\"-levels this yr.) By any chance you know if the school offers \"bahasa indonesia\"? ;)) Thanx much! -
breezy:
Thank you, Breezy, for the explanation
ngl2010:ngl2010:
:faint: He is not gifted in languages and not interested in taking them if there is no direct benefit to him such as lightening his workload in Year 5/6 This boy must know the benefit first then he will work on it :evil:
Thank you, Autolycus, for all the explanation.
Haha, I get your son's point loud & clear. To cut the long story short, yes, taking HMT in ACSI from Yr 1 - Yr 4 doest not have direct benefit when it comes to points calculation. Simple reason being it's harder to score a 7 point (ie >80 marks) in HMT compared to MT. Majority of students who cleared HMT at \"o\" levels take CLB in Yr 5 anyway even when they have an option to take a 3rd lang @ ab initio.
Still, for 2013 cohort of Y1 (IP) students, i understand that there was a big surge in the number taking HMT. Students will be more \"at peace\" if they see taking HMT as an enrichment in ACSI...
Autolycus:
A side question: I just learned from my son that assessment for CLB actually completes by yr 5 leaving students time for other subjects in Yr 6. May I know for other 3rd language @ ab initio, is it the same or will it stretch into yr 6? (My son is considering a 3rd lang for Yr5 next yr but unfortunately, he won't be allowed to take \"bahasa malayu\" as he has taken MSP @ \"O\"-levels this yr.) By any chance you know if the school offers \"bahasa indonesia\"? ;)) Thanx much!
As long as DS can converse in the language, I am contented already No need HMT if it will drag the overall points down. Btw, I just realized I am such a potato :slapshead:
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OpenSecret:
There are some simple points to note: 1) the questions are designed to assess motivation and capability, especially in two main areas; 1a) time management and 1b) passion for holistic education; 2) a student can indeed be transferred despite sub-standard scores if he has certain redeeming features e.g. high-end Olympiad performance as compensation for mediocre science scores, outstanding language or math scores. We want to know if he knows what he is in for and whether he can cope with it. That's basically it.I believe the 2 most important factors would be the interview as well as his Y1/Y2 average percentage for his exams. What i heard from my friends who came in at Y3 was that it was necessary to think carefully about why he would wish to offer the IB over the traditional O/A level track as most of the interview questions are structured around this topic. Other questions would be his commitment in his CCAs, etc.
For exam results in Y1/Y2, I heard that any score about 70% average would stand a reasonable chance at moving up to IP, but I know of people who did manage to get in with 60+% perhaps due to CCA or excellent interviews
(Disclaimer: former interrogator's perspective here. )
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Autolycus, OpenSecret, parents of boys who have made the switch to IP after year 2 - please share your experiences, will be of great help:
How many seats are available for the interested ACS(I) O-level students to move to ACS(I) IP programme?
There seem to be other IP options available for boys around 250-254/255 like Victoria, Temasek, CHS, SJI, etc. So for a child inclined to IP/IB and in this 250+ score, what would be the reason to join ACS(I) O-level and then hope to convert to the IP programme. (I agree that PSLE score may not be a good gauge of the child's calibre, but sadly that is what dictates admissions :sad: )
How good is ACS(I) O-level results in comparison to other schools that offer pure O-level only. In case the child is not able to get into IP and has to continue O-level. At Sec 2 getting into some other IP school is near to impossible. Since ACS(I) has World class results in IB, is that the key focus of the school or is it also getting similar spectacular O-level results. Also how do the students from both the tracks feel towards each other.
I feel with this years' COPs being clustered, and in the hope of them being lower than last years' COPs, parents need to evaluating their risks and chances of getting into IP schools.
Autolycus,
Any guess on how the ACS(I) IP COPs will swing this year :skeptical: -
autolycus:
Here's a view from an insider. The PSLE score is used only as a gauge of potential. The thing is that a PSLE score of 250+ is very roughly equivalent to 2-sigma above the mean of the PSLE distribution. This means that the student is likely to fall into that group which would normally ace the O-levels anyway, which means that allowing them to skip the O-levels is reasonable — and that's the point of the integrated programmes.messageinabottle:
If psle score again is a criteria then i guess his fate is sealed!!besides standing first in class he has won numerous awards in his cca and edusave awards.. Unfortunately these seem to have no weightage as it turns out to be a \"Numbers Game\"\" anyways!!!
Thanks once again! And best of luck in your future endeavours!
All the other items are much more important because they are an empirical measure of how well he has done AFTER his PSLE. If he has overachieved, then clearly the PSLE (if it was sub-250) was not a good gauge of his particular talent potential (after all, the PSLE is only a fair statistical indicator of general academic performance). There is hope yet, and no, it is not all a numbers game — ACS(I) in particular values non-academic or para-academic ability!
Hi \"messageinabottle\":
don't give up! Like \"Autolycus\" said, there is hope, which needs the boy to put in effort continuously. My son scored 249 in his PSLE 2 years ago, and joined ACS(I) express. He likes science and math, probably even not as good as your DS. He was not top in his class for the past 2 years, yet, he was prompted to IP in year3. I totally agree with \"Autolycus\", psle is not all, but a \"fair statistical indicator\". Continue to incubate your DS's interests and passions, using ACS's slogon: \"the best is yet to come\". -
kandc:
Here's a view from an insider. The PSLE score is used only as a gauge of potential. The thing is that a PSLE score of 250+ is very roughly equivalent to 2-sigma above the mean of the PSLE distribution. This means that the student is likely to fall into that group which would normally ace the O-levels anyway, which means that allowing them to skip the O-levels is reasonable — and that's the point of the integrated programmes.autolycus:
[quote=\"messageinabottle\"]If psle score again is a criteria then i guess his fate is sealed!!besides standing first in class he has won numerous awards in his cca and edusave awards.. Unfortunately these seem to have no weightage as it turns out to be a \"Numbers Game\"\" anyways!!!
Thanks once again! And best of luck in your future endeavours!
All the other items are much more important because they are an empirical measure of how well he has done AFTER his PSLE. If he has overachieved, then clearly the PSLE (if it was sub-250) was not a good gauge of his particular talent potential (after all, the PSLE is only a fair statistical indicator of general academic performance). There is hope yet, and no, it is not all a numbers game — ACS(I) in particular values non-academic or para-academic ability!
Hi \"messageinabottle\":
don't give up! Like \"Autolycus\" said, there is hope, which needs the boy to put in effort continuously. My son scored 249 in his PSLE 2 years ago, and joined ACS(I) express. He likes science and math, probably even not as good as your DS. He was not top in his class for the past 2 years, yet, he was prompted to IP in year3. I totally agree with \"Autolycus\", psle is not all, but a \"fair statistical indicator\". Continue to incubate your DS's interests and passions, using ACS's slogon: \"the best is yet to come\".[/quote] kandc,
:congrats: to ur DS and you. Then you are the perfect candidate to answer my query above. Please help :please: -
For the 2013 promotion from express to ip for sec 2, the interviews were scheduled over many days, sometimes stretching into 9, 10 pm.
Just wondered whether that may have affected the performance of the students during the interview.
DS1 reached home at 11 plus on a Friday night after the interview.
According to him, some cried after the interview, presumably stressed by the questions. -
growupmom:
How many seats are available for the interested ACS(I) O-level students to move to ACS(I) IP programme?
Likely around 60 at most (physical capacity). However, I see this as possibly being affected by a) the calibre of the uptake relative to the existing intake, and b) the need to reserve 60+ places for incoming MGS girls at Y5.growupmom:
There seem to be other IP options available for boys around 250-254/255 like Victoria, Temasek, CHS, SJI, etc. So for a child inclined to IP/IB and in this 250+ score, what would be the reason to join ACS(I) O-level and then hope to convert to the IP programme?
Very good point. I would suggest that they apply to another school, actually. ACS Barker, for example, is turning out O-level results way above the estimated likely outcomes.growupmom:
ACS(I), like any other unusually large and diverse institution, suffers from inefficiencies of talent allocation. The O-level track is being upgraded well under the current principal, Mr Hodge. It tended to receive poorer resource allocation under the previous principal. Students from both tracks don't spend a lot of time thinking about their feelings towards each other. But if pressed, some of them will express their insecurities in various ways. Things are, I should note, a lot better than they were in the 2005-2010 period.How good is ACS(I) O-level results in comparison to other schools that offer pure O-level only. In case the child is not able to get into IP and has to continue O-level. At Sec 2 getting into some other IP school is near to impossible. Since ACS(I) has World class results in IB, is that the key focus of the school or is it also getting similar spectacular O-level results. Also how do the students from both the tracks feel towards each other.
growupmom:
Well, the COPs are not preset. They are determined by the parents. This kind of predictive exercise doesn't work well. The COPs are not clustered. A COP is the score of the lowest-scoring SOPEX applicant for a given course in a given school. The school doesn't determine its own COP. If 500 people with PSLE score of 235 are the top applicants for RI (just to use an extreme hypothetical case), then the COP is going to be 235 at best.I feel with this years' COPs being clustered, and in the hope of them being lower than last years' COPs, parents need to evaluating their risks and chances of getting into IP schools.
growupmom:
Two factors may affect this: 1) increasing popularity of the IB programme in Y5/6, which is now harder for non-ACS(I) IP students to enter, and which is only offered by SOTA and SJI among the other local mainstream schools; 2) the PSLE distribution itself is z-curved, so a person who is given a t-score of 250 is just as good as one who got 250 in the past, relative to his cohort — but a lot of perceptions have shifted, and this has uncertain effect.Autolycus,
Any guess on how the ACS(I) IP COPs will swing this year :skeptical:
I think ACS(I) IP will go up. But I do not have strong evidence for this guess.
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breezy:
The ab initio languages are really very easy in terms of content and requirements. You are learning essentially how to carry out basic conversations and write basic sentences.Autolycus:
A side question: I just learned from my son that assessment for CLB actually completes by yr 5 leaving students time for other subjects in Yr 6. May I know for other 3rd language @ ab initio, is it the same or will it stretch into yr 6? (My son is considering a 3rd lang for Yr5 next yr but unfortunately, he won't be allowed to take \"bahasa malayu\" as he has taken MSP @ \"O\"-levels this yr.) By any chance you know if the school offers \"bahasa indonesia\"? ;)) Thanx much!
Yes, the school offers Bahasa Indonesia.
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