School Of The Arts, Singapore

[blitz]

This is certainly new to me, because 4 yrs ago, I did not receive any forms nor letter to state abt such rights when my child first attended school.

It is definitely this new management’s idea.

[lalaland]

A clarification:

Does this release of individual rights cover only the works the student does as class assignments/projects/productions, or does it include the self-started hobbies/projects that the student does on his own while he is a student at SOTA?

[blitz]

That is what we are questioning, among other things.

The school is looking into it because alot of parents and students are not happy with their terms. Will update when I know more.

[lalaland]

Thanks, Blitz do keep us updated.

I am just wondering - what do other world class art institutions do? May be useful to do some research… if their policies are online

[lalaland]

So how did it go, any update, blitz?

[midnightstars]

Ragamuffin shinobi:

ayeitsme:

How will the student know?? SOTA gives them the letter immediately after JA or via school?

That's a good question. I always thought they would be told on the spot but as mentioned, my dd said no one in her JA class was told anything...which is quite hard to imagine coz none in a class of 20 were good enough? And besides, she knows that some were even CSTD summer school winners...surely they would be good enough to be called. :scratchhead:

if that's the case, hm maybe they stopped giving shortcuts then.[/quote]


Thanks ayeitsme. Think this years JA is totally through schools. We had to apply thru school to do JA. And till now, my girl hasn't heard any of her friends from other schools have gotten email regarding skipping 1st round of auditions. Guess they may have really stopped that practice this year.[/quote]


Hey, just for your information, just because you do well in dance comps does not necessarily mean you'll do very well in dance here at Sota. I'm in Year 1 Dance and no one got A for ballet. Highest was a high B (A is 80+ B is 70+ C is 60+... you get the idea) I have friends who win lots of comps but Sota is really strict when it comes to marking. They do however give you good corrections and they told us individually why we got the marks we got and gave us some comments that really helped. But I've really improved so much in my 4 months here at Sota and definitely do not regret it :)))

[Ragamuffin shinobi]

midnightstars:

Ragamuffin shinobi:

[quote=\"ayeitsme\"]How will the student know?? SOTA gives them the letter immediately after JA or via school?

Hey, just for your information, just because you do well in dance comps does not necessarily mean you'll do very well in dance here at Sota. I'm in Year 1 Dance and no one got A for ballet. Highest was a high B (A is 80+ B is 70+ C is 60+... you get the idea) I have friends who win lots of comps but Sota is really strict when it comes to marking. They do however give you good corrections and they told us individually why we got the marks we got and gave us some comments that really helped. But I've really improved so much in my 4 months here at Sota and definitely do not regret it :)))

[/quote]Thanks for that ,midnightstars! It's always good to know what life in SOTA dance is like.
Are your exams over yet? Maybe you can enlighten us on what it's like in the school. Besides worrying if my child can get in, I am also wondering if she will be able to cope there.
1) how many classes are there yr 1 etc? Are they grouped by PSLE results or what?
2) what's the ave PSLE score like? We seems to hear quite a number with 250ish. Is that the usual or did we happen to just happen to ask those who scored similar results.
3) how stressful do you find balancing dance and studies? Everyone we saw at the open house sounded really upbeat about everything.
4) do most of the dance kids continue with dance classes out of school? Will these 'clash' with what SOTA teaches?

Would really love to hear from you or any other SOTA dance students. Thanks!

[yip33]

[/quote]Thanks for that ,midnightstars! It's always good to know what life in SOTA dance is like.

Are your exams over yet? Maybe you can enlighten us on what it's like in the school. Besides worrying if my child can get in, I am also wondering if she will be able to cope there.
1) how many classes are there yr 1 etc? Are they grouped by PSLE results or what?
2) what's the ave PSLE score like? We seems to hear quite a number with 250ish. Is that the usual or did we happen to just happen to ask those who scored similar results.
3) how stressful do you find balancing dance and studies? Everyone we saw at the open house sounded really upbeat about everything.
4) do most of the dance kids continue with dance classes out of school? Will these 'clash' with what SOTA teaches?

Would really love to hear from you or any other SOTA dance students. Thanks![/quote]

Hi, I'm currently a Year 2 dance student and I would love to share more about sota!
1) I am assuming by \"classes\" you mean both arts and academics. There are about 8-9 different subjects, and the academic classes are streamed by psle score in Year One. For dance, the cohort is split into two classes (depending on the amount of intake, but usually two classes only) by random.

2) There is quite a wide spectrum of psle results, from barely express to 260+, so the ability level when you first step into sota is actually quite different across the cohort. However, I hope this does not deter your child from joining the sota community as what is most important is the open-mindedness and the willingness to learn and absorb as much as one can

3) Dance is a very physically and mentally draining art form, and it does get quite tough to juggle it, even at year two (years one and two are considered the \"honeymoon years\" before the \"real stress\" begins apparently). I think that if there's a will, there's a way. Personally, I feel that as long as you know how to prioritize and time-manage, you're good to go. With an arts education like sota, discipline is of utmost importance and I feel that this is what the school is trying to drill into us as young artists-in-the-making through the school curriculum.

Of course, it is stressful. But the arts is the way it is, and not to mention the amount of schoolwork that is heaped on on top of that, it is definitely tedious. But what can you expect from a school with both arts and academics, right?

4) We are allowed to have external dance classes, but one thing that the dance faculty emphasizes is that sota dance always come first, not any external commitments.

I should think that there would be some clashes, even though I've never experienced it myself, but sota dance is always the priority and you would jolly well make sure you attend sota dance classes, I guess
~~
I think all in all, sota is definitely not for the weak-hearted. It is stressful, tiring, and mentally and physically draining. However, in a way, the whole reason why we feel like this, is actually because we heap the expectations onto ourselves. Artists are always very self-critical and always pushing themselves further and further towards perfection. It's always trying to get up to the next level, and the next, and the next, striving for excellent (note: excellence, not perfection). I feel that is creates a sense of responsibility and self-awareness, and the values of discipline and hard work and perseverance that is so hard to find in other mainstream secondary schools. I am not talking about just discipline or just responsibility, I'm talking majorly responsible and majorly discipline. Why, you have to, to be able to keep pushing and pushing at the boundaries that may or may not even be there.

This is why I feel that SOTA provides such good training in not only the arts or academics, but life in general

Hope this answers your questions and sorry about the long post (got a bit passionate there at the last bit). Do voice out more of your queries if you have any, I and all other sota parents and students, I'm sure, would be delighted to answer them

[lalaland]

Anyone received notification of the TA in June?

[musicfidelity]

Notification is out for Music (Performing Track). We have received it