Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)

[ACSip]

Thanks, breezy.

[3Boys]

breezy:

We've been quietly \"suffering\"... lol. My boys either have gotten used to this or resigned to fate. They didn't seem to be too bothered with it so... I just adjust accordingly.

Haha! Very hard to let go of micromanaging his life, I must say. But a definite change in attitude, more assertive and insistent on making his own way......so must let go.......

[lesleymaween.09410yahoo.09410com.09410sg]

It might be good if parents feedback to the principal about this.

[Marple]

My son has scored 7(minus 2 for CCA) = 5 points for his O Levels. His results are as follows:

English A1
Humanities A2
E Math A1
A Math A1
Physics A1
Chemistry A1
Biology A1
MT B3

He is considering between VJC A level and ACSI IB Diploma.
As A Levels seems a natural continuation of O Levels we feel it will be better suited for him. But VJC is very far from our house as we live in the north. At the same time we have a few apprehensions regarding the ACSI IB, since he comes from a O level track and has to compete with ACSI IP students. I believe ACSI prepares their IP students for the IB’s ‘Extended Essay’ and ‘Theory of Knowledge’ by provided bridging course in Sec3 and Sec4. Hence would O level students be disadvantaged? Anybody with their kids joining from O level to IB please share your experience. How did your kids cope? My son is strong in English but could not cope up very well with Literature in lower secondary. Would this affect his performance in IB? He reads widely, but mostly non-fictional books. Would that be a advantage or a disadvantage for IB? I’m mainly trying to gauge his suitability to the IB program. Any inputs from fellow parents and students are very much appreciated. Thanks.

[South African]

Hi My DS made the decision to choose IB vs A level route based on the following reasons (mainly talking to seniors/friends)


IB is based on consistent work and a certain % (up to 20% I think) is based on term project work. So you don’t have all the eggs in 1 basket (100% exams like the A levels)

ACSI has a good track record and the teachers are very dedicated to help them, >80% of cohort get > 40 pts. At 40 pts you pretty much qualify for most Ivy league Uni. (His senior got a place in Cambridge with 42 pts - depends on CCA record and chosen course as well)

ACSI IB adopt a more tutorial style while JCs usually more lecture theatre. My DS says he gets distracted with lecture style (check phones etc) so prefers tutorial

ACSI IB has a smaller cohort of 450+ (not sure about VJ) but some JC’s cohort is 1,000 so you can imagine your child may be lost among the crowd. From what I hear and read, ACSI has a very family culture and focus on all rounded education. And a parent told me the average no of CCA for them is 3! How did they find the time to do well and still be involved in CCAs!

There are pros & cons. At the end of the day it’s also how our children make of their school in the next 2 yrs. All the best for your DS.

[lesleymaween.09410yahoo.09410com.09410sg]

Any recommendations for Chinese tuition centre? Anyone tried Feng Hua language centre? Appreciate yyr comments.

[cindyll]

gg:

Any recommendations for Chinese tuition centre? Anyone tried Feng Hua language centre? Appreciate yyr comments.

My son is attending Jiang Education since Primary. So far so good.

[happymom_aa]

When will CCA commence for Y1?

Until now only got and returned the Uniform Group option form, how about the other CCA?
How to apply?

Thanks.

[ngbrdad]

Hi need some help.


My son didn’t really study hard during year 3 or 4 so he ended up with only Lag Art with a grade 6 and Chinese grade 7 with the rest all 4s or 5s

So his options for HL subjects for the IB diploma at year 5 is limited to Lit+Lag Art, any Group 3 subjects, Computer Science.

We are thinking about Lit+lag art, Econs and Comp Science as HL with Chinese, Chem and Math as SL.

Or is it better to do lit/lag, Econs with History at HL ? My boy didn’t do history for year 3 and 4 but enjoyed IS. He would prefer history at HL over Geography .

Or better to take Business Studies at HL compared to Econs ?

[Year to Year - AC]

ngbrdad:

Hi need some help.


My son didn't really study hard during year 3 or 4 so he ended up with only Lag Art with a grade 6 and Chinese grade 7 with the rest all 4s or 5s

So his options for HL subjects for the IB diploma at year 5 is limited to Lit+Lag Art, any Group 3 subjects, Computer Science.

We are thinking about Lit+lag art, Econs and Comp Science as HL with Chinese, Chem and Math as SL.

Or is it better to do lit/lag, Econs with History at HL ? My boy didn't do history for year 3 and 4 but enjoyed IS. He would prefer history at HL over Geography .

Or better to take Business Studies at HL compared to Econs ?

Hi ngbrdad! I run yeartoyear.ac which might be of help in resolving some of your doubts; there's an article on Econs vs. Business

I recently graduated from ACS and frankly, IB subject combinations aren't the end-all. CS/Econs/Lang&Lit sounds good - however History is great too. CS is a niche subject, few people take it and it may require a good bit of prior knowledge to excel in. Lots of folks in similar positions end up taking History HL and doing great in it, since we have an extremely strong humanities department. If he prefers writing essays to writing code (I personally do), History is definitely a good option.

As for SLs, I would urge your son to consider Environmental Systems and Societies if he is more inclined to the humanities. It's a blend of geography and biology but from what I've seen appears to be a pretty fun/useful subject. That said, SLs hardly matter for anything except grades so if he feels more comfortable with Chemistry then he should go ahead with that.