Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) [*IP]

[red rose]

Red rose,


It is incorrect to say that 113 is the top class. The class comprises students who take MEP, AEP and students strong in Math Olympiads. Not all of these students scored >270. There are students in 113 who scored <260.

I also do not know of any of the classes being told that by their teachers that 113 is the top class either. The average of the students in 113 may be high, but so are the averages of some of the other classes.

In any case, why does it matter? PSLE is in the past and the girls all do the same syllabus regardless of which class they are in.[/quote]

Dear Turquoise,

You have misunderstood some parts of my sharing. I did NOT say 113 is the top class. Notice I used the words 'so-called'. I am only sharing what I do know for a fact -- Many mainstream classes have been given that information from their teachers themselves. I don't know why the teachers chose to reveal that. Perhaps your dd is in a GEP class, which is why the teachers may not be comfortable sharing this info.? To minimise competition? The pupils from that class in question have apparently also been told exactly the same thing from their form teachers.

If you had read the first part of my post carefully, I made it clear that I view all the girls equally and with respect. I do not think it is important to differentiate them further academically too, as all of them are very bright. I was sharing just for interest sake - perhaps, I should not have. It is nothing personal at all !

[turquoise]

red rose:

Dear Turquoise,


You have misunderstood some parts of my sharing. I did NOT say 113 is the top class. Notice I used the words 'so-called'. I am only sharing what I do know for a fact -- Many mainstream classes have been given that information from their teachers themselves. I don't know why the teachers chose to reveal that. Perhaps your dd is in a GEP class, which is why the teachers may not be comfortable sharing this info.? To minimise competition? The pupils from that class in question have apparently also been told exactly the same thing from their form teachers.

If you had read the first part of my post carefully, I made it clear that I view all the girls equally and with respect. I do not think it is important to differentiate them further academically too, as all of them are very bright. I was sharing just for interest sake - perhaps, I should not have. It is nothing personal at all !

Dear red rose,

Thank you for sharing your nuggets of information. It was interesting reading for the most part. I just didn't see the point in highlighting that 113 is the so-called top class. Indeed, why is there this fascination with which are the better classes, which are the GEP classes etc? Do the students in these classes get more opportunities? Do they do a different syllabus from the other classes? If that is the case, I would be interested to learn more.

I am surprised that the teachers would tell the girls which is the top class, if there is one. If indeed the teachers of \"many mainstream classes\" did tell their classes that 113 is the top class, then I stand corrected. Perhaps parents of students from 113 and the other classes would like to confirm/correct this, based on whether their children have actually heard this statement from their teachers.

[CoffeeCat]

I think red rose do not has any particular intention to mention the top class thingy. It could be like a "just for your information" thingy. It’s just some enthusiastic person sharing what he/she heard.

[applecore]

CoffeeCat:

I think red rose do not has any particular intention to mention the top class thingy. It could be like a \"just for your information\" thingy. It's just some enthusiastic person sharing what he/she heard.

Haha! I agree with CoffeeCat that Red Rose was just a very enthusiastic person sharing some information with those who may be interested.(Kay-pohs like me!!) She doesn't seem to have any 'bad' intentions and does not seem too concerned about which is the top class. She probably brought it up in response to another few forummers who were still harping about this subject of GEP classes.

Just to add to it, for fun only , my dd's teachers, not 1 but a few, did mention that fact to the class too. Not sure why they brought it up. In fact, it is very common knowledge and a widely-accepted fact among the mainstream classes already. I'm surprised Turquoise hasn't heard about this.

I also have direct 'inside' information from the class in question, who apparently are reminded regularly by all their subject teachers that they are the 'best' and hence are expected to deliver accordingly. As for opportunities and privileges, it's better not to divulge too much here. Not convenient.

I'm sure all capable RGS pupils will be recognised and groomed as deemed fit by their respective teachers, so no point comparing. Parents have also been informed during briefings that the curriculum may be tweaked a little, depending on abilities and may vary from class to class. It's no big deal really!

Hope I haven't added fuel to the fire. All the best to your girls. Hope they've settled in nicely! :lol:

[mjl]

I somehow agree with turquoise that there is no such thing as top class. Class 109-113 are grouped to include primary GEP students, DSA and non-GEP students who did very well in PSLE. I don’t think any class is particularly outstanding among 109-113.


Anyway, I think from this year’s Year 3 batch, there is no such thing as GEP classes which are previously grouped in the last few classes. All girls are placed based on their subject combination. I think this is a good initiative by the school, to minimise the breeding of elitism (which is already present among some students in RGS, so it would be rather unhealthy to further breed elitism in a so-called ‘elite’ school).

[wmd]

I think no need to discuss about this topic anymore, PSLE is over, regardless top class or not top class, they are in the same starting line.


mjl, any idea about AMC10/AMC12 result in singapore? my daughter attended AMC10B last month, she scored 96, not bad, among all Grade 7 participates, her result is acceptable, do you know the AMC10/AMC12 result in RI/HC/NUSH?

[red rose]

CoffeeCat:

I think red rose do not has any particular intention to mention the top class thingy. It could be like a \"just for your information\" thingy. It's just some enthusiastic person sharing what he/she heard.

Wow! I didn't realise I had opened a Pandora's box! So sorry! :oops:

CoffeeCat and Applecore seem to understand where I'm coming from - Thanks! It was 'just for your information' kind of sharing. Guess I got carried away.

Personally, I too do not see how any class can be labelled as such, as the distribution seems fairly random. Nevertheless, the teachers seem to have unofficially labelled a class based on criteria only they know. I don't think they will tell us even if we asked. My dd's class was one of those who heard this 1st-hand from their teachers, which surprised me greatly. I subsequently confirmed this with friends with dds in a few other classes.

Whatever the case, let's close this discussion. It's how each individual pupil chooses to live her life which is important and not the class or school she hails from.
Cheers! :celebrate:

[ezmum]

Agree. Let's move on!

[mjl]

wmd:

mjl, any idea about AMC10/AMC12 result in singapore? my daughter attended AMC10B last month, she scored 96, not bad, among all Grade 7 participates, her result is acceptable, do you know the AMC10/AMC12 result in RI/HC/NUSH?

Hi wmd,
I think the statistics for 2010 has not been released yet. It does appears that this year's AMC10 and AMC12 are harder, with less people (or none?) getting perfect scores for AMC10 and a low cut-off point for AMC12 (88.5 only out of possible 150) to qualify for AIME. Last year, besides a few other schools, none from RI and one each from HCI, NUSH and RGS got perfect score for AMC10 (none for AMC12, which is much harder). This year, none from NUSH and RGS got perfect score for AMC10. I doubt the other schools have perfect scorers for AMC10 too.

[mjl]

How do parents find the RGS exam system? I find that there has been changes in the last few years - in the past the MYA was taken in one whole stretch just like the EYA, but it seems like now it was a few papers a week (can be 3 different papers in a day) and lasted a few weeks. Also for those who take RA Maths, in the mid year GPA computation, Maths will be counted as 1 subject instead of 2 subjects (for the non-RA Maths students) - a bit disadvantaged for students strong in Maths.


I heard that it is not uncommon for top RGS Humanities students to move to HCI instead of continuing with the Raffles Programme at RI(JC) after Sec 4. Is HCI much stronger in Humanities than RI?