Networking Group - JCs General

[xmark]

KTKS:

xmark:

I'm new here. Try to find out more info to select JC for my boy next year. Looking for those JCs located at east. Currently JCs list in mind are Victoria JC, Temasek JC, Nanyang JC and Meridian JC. Can someone here share your view on these JCs.

Thanks.

Let me try.
In terms of COP, VJC will be most competitive, follow by TJC but this year, it seems like NYJC has overtaken or at par with TJC. The last in the rank among the four will be MJC.
In terms of achievement of year 2014 candidates, about 1 in 2 of VJC pupils, about 180 of TJC pupils and about 120 of MJC pupils had achieved at least 3 distinctions for 3H2 subjects. No idea about NYJC pupils.
Most of the comments I heard were that VJC pupils need to be very independent and involved in CCA whereas MJC has many hardworking teachers. NYJC, being affiliated to chung cheng high (main & yishun) schs, and a favourite choice of nan chiau high, has a more chinese oriented environment. For TJC, many who didn't get a place in VJC will choose TJC due to proximity in location.

I may not be totally right. Hope someone will correct me.

Thanks for the sharing. BTW, is there an 'advantage' of going to a JC that's significantly 'below' academic performance L1R5 points?

[starlight1968sg]

Is setting a very challenging paper so as to sieve out the best and hence the worst the main objective for learning?

[MyMelborne]

starlight1968sg:

Is setting a very challenging paper so as to sieve out the best and hence the worst the main objective for learning?

Obviously not but if a school leader is able to improve its pupils' national exam's performance consistently over the years, the school will be deemed as a value-added one and its leader will be rewarded implicitly (applauded for leading sch to higher ranking) & explicitly (by getting recognised & hence promoted).

[angwc]

As a former JC lecturer, I can share a few personal opinions why certain schools set very challenging paper.


1) Recent A level papers can be a little challenging (math) as the trend is that there will be a couple of unseen or uncommon questions. These questions need not be very difficult but can be challenging to students who learn through route learning. Therefore the school needs to prepare students to face the "unusual" questions.

2) No school will set a paper at A level standard. It is like training for a running race of 1km. People will train beyond 1km so that their skills are above what is required. Some of the schools have been successful in using this approach to train their students and hence the good A level results.

3) "Scare" the students, to let them know never be too confident.

However end of the day it depends on the general ability level of the students in that school, whether the students can withstand the rigorous training and to build a solid foundation both academically and psychologically. Some students benefit from rigorous pushing and stretching while some don’t. Hence it is important to choose the correct school at the beginning and do not go for just the branding.

[pirated]

angwc:

As a former JC lecturer, I can share a few personal opinions why certain schools set very challenging paper.


1) Recent A level papers can be a little challenging (math) as the trend is that there will be a couple of unseen or uncommon questions. These questions need not be very difficult but can be challenging to students who learn through route learning. Therefore the school needs to prepare students to face the \"unusual\" questions.

2) No school will set a paper at A level standard. It is like training for a running race of 1km. People will train beyond 1km so that their skills are above what is required. Some of the schools have been successful in using this approach to train their students and hence the good A level results.

3) \"Scare\" the students, to let them know never be too confident.

However end of the day it depends on the general ability level of the students in that school, whether the students can withstand the rigorous training and to build a solid foundation both academically and psychologically. Some students benefit from rigorous pushing and stretching while some don't. Hence it is important to choose the correct school at the beginning and do not go for just the branding.

S t r e t c h i n g their ability

[HappieNewbie123]

Dear parents,

Is any any good GP book to recommend for preparation for GP during the holidays. My dd is in IP, JC1 next year. Is the book ‘GP power’ by Robert Wilks good?

Also dd is planning to choose 3H2 1H1 combi: H2 PCM H1 General studies in Chinese. Will this be a good combi? Her Chinese is good, better than English but need to put in effort for H2 Mathematics. She is planning to focus on PCM with this combi. This is what she has thought and said. Parents take on this?

Thanks.

[zeemimi]

There is NO good GP book to recommend. In fact the best GP prep is for the student to read intelligently and widely, VERY widely.

http://waffle.ketupat.me/2015/11/02/stu ... gy-policy/
Read this humorous writeup after last Monday's GP paper. It kind of portrays studying for GP an all futile affair.
.

[Jennifer]

During the recent PTM session at NJC, I asked the teachers how are the school papers compared to the actual A levels paper in terms of difficulty level. All of them told me : comparable.


I will ask my boy later if he agrees with what the teachers told me.

[KTKS]

zeemimi:

There is NO good GP book to recommend. In fact the best GP prep is for the student to read intelligently and widely, VERY widely.

Mastering good writing skills is also vital? I heard from an RI boy that some GP tutors from popular tuition centres have different approach as compared to JCs' teachers and that Cambridge examiners prefer the formers' style of writing.

[pirated]

Writing skills is of course part of the GP