Networking Group - JCs General

[PiggyLalala]

jtoh:

I do hope the girl next to your dd was just having allergies and not crying. I think the very first question was a shock to the students. That can throw some people off.

Hi jtoh,
I have seen the Maths paper. I thought question 1 is rather an easy question. Why did you say it can throw some people off. My friend who is a tutor said the paper is not tough. The only tough question is question 3. But why am I reading here that most of the dc felt that the paper was not easy? Is it because they are aiming for a perfect score? Sorry for all the questions. Hope you don't mind. I am trying to understand and set a more realistic expectation for my boy next year. We know that because of the bell curve, the raw score for A* in PSLE goes above 90 each year. Any idea what about the A level? Did the teacher mention what is the raw score that the student should aim in order to get a A grade for A level? Thanks.

[jtoh]

PiggyLalala:

jtoh:

I do hope the girl next to your dd was just having allergies and not crying. I think the very first question was a shock to the students. That can throw some people off.

Hi jtoh,
I have seen the Maths paper. I thought question 1 is rather an easy question. Why did you say it can throw some people off. My friend who is a tutor said the paper is not tough. The only tough question is question 3. But why am I reading here that most of the dc felt that the paper was not easy? Is it because they are aiming for a perfect score? Sorry for all the questions. Hope you don't mind. I am trying to understand and set a more realistic expectation for my boy next year. We know that because of the bell curve, the raw score for A* in PSLE goes above 90 each year. Any idea what about the A level? Did the teacher mention what is the raw score that the student should aim in order to get a A grade for A level? Thanks.

I may have misunderstood about the difficult question, coz I didn't look at the paper. Something about how in the past the question would be quite straightforward but this year there was a lot more steps to work out before arriving at the answer. So it's not difficult, but just more tedious.

I don't think the kids are aiming for perfect scores. Not mine anyway. But it seems it's universally acknowledged that the Math paper is tough; even the strong students felt it.

No idea about the raw score for obtaining A.

[PiggyLalala]

Thank you very much, jtoh for yr reply. Hope you don't mind my earlier questions. Perhaps this year the questions set are the less common ones, so under stressful exam condition, the students became doubtful of their own solution especially when the steps are much tedious as compare to the past years questions. My friend's feedback is question 3 can be quite tough even for some of the strong students. She just glanced through the paper and did not work out the solution. So her assessment of the paper may not be accurate too. Some questions may look do-able but can turn out to be very tedious in solving. Yep, most of my friends' dc who sat for the paper said that the paper is tough. :sad:


Btw do you happen to know the percentage of the cohort getting A and B respectively for H2 maths? Seem like there are more information on the O level exam than the A level exam.

[Augmum]

jtoh:

I do hope the girl next to your dd was just having allergies and not crying. I think the very first question was a shock to the students. That can throw some people off.

@ Jtoh...i am thinking did u mix up Q1 from Chem paper instead of the Maths paper...
Becos my gal said that Maths Q1 is Ok...But Q1 for Chem is tough...

PiggyLalala:

I have seen the Maths paper. I thought question 1 is rather an easy question. Why did you say it can throw some people off. My friend who is a tutor said the paper is not tough. The only tough question is question 3. But why am I reading here that most of the dc felt that the paper was not easy? Is it because they are aiming for a perfect score?

@Piggylalala,
I hv to be \"thick- skinned\" again to ask her further after reading what u hv said.....
(wah...nowadays very hard to squeeze details fr her... :razz: )

According to her, Q1 is not hard, Q3 is still manageable ...
The harder ones were those at the back ...some sub questions here n there...n 1 -2 questions in the middle...

On the whole...Under exam conditions ...she felt that the paper was
- tricky n tedious...Many steps to derive the answers, not as straightforward like some past yr Questions...

- easily lose marks becos of careless mistakes along the way (as being tedious) ... some pitfalls here n there...

No, not looking at perfect score...anyway, u dont need a perfect score to get an A...

[Augmum]

@ Zeemimi ... Wanna to read more inputs by various students after \"analysing the Aftermath\" ??


Sharing the link of a H2 Maths tutor's website below ... solutions n answers can be found there too...

Gal's general feel of the paper was rather similar to his comments ...

http://theculture.sg/2015/11/2015-a-lev ... solutions/

@Piggylalala ...according to this tutor...raw score of 170/200 can safely gurantee u an A...

[Augmum]

zeemimi:

I follow Augmum and ask dd abt the math paper. She called the setters of this year's H2 math paper \"evil\", \"really evil\". :rotflmao:

LOL...she is starting to call me \"annoying\" alrdy... better stop asking for this wk ...

Next wk... Paper 2 , then try again ...

[KTKS]

Augmum:

Sharing the link of a H2 Maths tutor's website below ... solutions n answers can be found there too...

Gal's general feel of the paper was rather similar to his comments ...

http://theculture.sg/2015/11/2015-a-lev ... solutions/

@Piggylalala ...according to this tutor...raw score of 170/200 can safely gurantee u an A...

Thanks Augmum for the link.

That brought me to this link which may be useful for current J1 pupils:
http://theculture.sg/2015/11/2015-a-levels-gp-paper-1/

[jtoh]

Augmum:

@ Jtoh...i am thinking did u mix up Q1 from Chem paper instead of the Maths paper...
Becos my gal said that Maths Q1 is Ok...But Q1 for Chem is tough...

I could have. I didn't look at the paper. I remember both papers having non-standard questions that threw the students off.

[rainbowie]

Jennifer:

Should this thread be focusing on ways to assist our child to perform above average academically ?

I prefer to have a variety of topics being discussed here rather than your suggestion though it's very practical. It's exciting to follow the earlier 'debate' and find out more about how different JCs function and its 'verdict', minus the insensitive remarks and distrusts displayed. It will leave bad impression on readers on some parents of top school pupils.
P/S: I am not here to start a round of argument please.

[PiggyLalala]

Augmum:

@Piggylalala,
I hv to be \"thick- skinned\" again to ask her further after reading what u hv said.....
(wah...nowadays very hard to squeeze details fr her... :razz: )

According to her, Q1 is not hard, Q3 is still manageable ...
The harder ones were those at the back ...some sub questions here n there...n 1 -2 questions in the middle...

On the whole...Under exam conditions ...she felt that the paper was
- tricky n tedious...Many steps to derive the answers, not as straightforward like some past yr Questions...

- easily lose marks becos of careless mistakes along the way (as being tedious) ... some pitfalls here n there...

No, not looking at perfect score...anyway, u dont need a perfect score to get an A...

I like yr 'thick-skinned'.. haha... you are really good... you have dug up so much information. That is quite true. If the solution is tedious, chances of making careless mistakes will be high and they can be very costly.That is why I think it is extremely important for the kids to sleep early the night before each paper. Otherwise they may drop into the pitfalls ....

Glad to know that the kids are not aiming perfect score. It will be too stressful and unrealistic.

Thank you for yr sharing.