Hwa Chong Institution (High School)

[ASLMUM]

Hi Parents,


My son is considering taking up the Science and Maths Talent Program and I am hoping if anyone can give me some insight to the program? Is it very time consuming, what are the benefits of being in the program both in high school as well as in JC? Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks!

[Song22]

Smtp goes into greater depth for maths and all the sciences. It is more demanding as the kids needs to take extra papers for all these subject during year end exams. I heard from ds some A level topics were covered since beginning of the year and they have already purchased some of the A level text. It is also longer hours and I think they also need to do a research paper in one of the the maths or sciences.

[joe0599]

Song22:

Smtp goes into greater depth for maths and all the sciences. It is more demanding as the kids needs to take extra papers for all these subject during year end exams. I heard from ds some A level topics were covered since beginning of the year and they have already purchased some of the A level text. It is also longer hours and I think they also need to do a research paper in one of the the maths or sciences.

Yes, Song22, is correct. My DS is from SMTP and he is in J1 now. They will study extra topics in all sciences/maths subjects, the course is quite intense and at an accelerated pace but it will benefit your DS when he enter J1 because some topics they have already covered in high school compared to others. Getting good J1 exam results is important if you want to take H3 subjects in J2. Yes, there will be research and projects.

It will also probably help if you your DS want to continue SMTP in college or get into GATE (if you have good result, you will be invited to join or you will need to take some kind of test which you will probably get better results than others)

[Song22]

joe0599:

Song22:

Smtp goes into greater depth for maths and all the sciences. It is more demanding as the kids needs to take extra papers for all these subject during year end exams. I heard from ds some A level topics were covered since beginning of the year and they have already purchased some of the A level text. It is also longer hours and I think they also need to do a research paper in one of the the maths or sciences.

Yes, Song22, is correct. My DS is from SMTP and he is in J1 now. They will study extra topics in all sciences/maths subjects, the course is quite intense and at an accelerated pace but it will benefit your DS when he enter J1 because some topics they have already covered in high school compared to others. Getting good J1 exam results is important if you want to take H3 subjects in J2. Yes, there will be research and projects.

It will also probably help if you your DS want to continue SMTP in college or get into GATE (if you have good result, you will be invited to join or you will need to take some kind of test which you will probably get better results than others)

Hi Joe0599

Which h3 subject is your ds planning to take? Is your ds is gate or SMTP at JC if you don't mind to share? At the other HCI JC thread, I understand that your ds is still able to go on long holiday with you, that's good to hear My impression is that JC life is so busy that kids don't have time to go long holidays

[ASLMUM]

Thanks Song22 and joe0599. My son quite worried that he will not be able to cope due as his CCA is quite demanding and he is in the student council. Based on your sons’ feedback, the boys generally can cope well in the classes? Any idea what happens if they are not up to it, will they go back to the standard IP curriculum?


Thanks much!

[Song22]

ASLMUM:

Thanks Song22 and joe0599. My son quite worried that he will not be able to cope due as his CCA is quite demanding and he is in the student council. Based on your sons' feedback, the boys generally can cope well in the classes? Any idea what happens if they are not up to it, will they go back to the standard IP curriculum?


Thanks much!

My son is also in student council and exco, he seems to be doing ok. I think all if not most are doing fine in his class. One thing to take note is that my son didn't opt for bio, which I think it is a good choice made by him or he will have even more to cope. Does your son rely on tuition on his maths and sciences? if he is doing well enough to meet the SMTP criteria without tuition, he should be able to cope? I am not sure about returning to normal IP curriculum, perhaps you can check with the school?

[joe0599]

Song22:

joe0599:

[quote=\"Song22\"]Smtp goes into greater depth for maths and all the sciences. It is more demanding as the kids needs to take extra papers for all these subject during year end exams. I heard from ds some A level topics were covered since beginning of the year and they have already purchased some of the A level text. It is also longer hours and I think they also need to do a research paper in one of the the maths or sciences.

Yes, Song22, is correct. My DS is from SMTP and he is in J1 now. They will study extra topics in all sciences/maths subjects, the course is quite intense and at an accelerated pace but it will benefit your DS when he enter J1 because some topics they have already covered in high school compared to others. Getting good J1 exam results is important if you want to take H3 subjects in J2. Yes, there will be research and projects.

It will also probably help if you your DS want to continue SMTP in college or get into GATE (if you have good result, you will be invited to join or you will need to take some kind of test which you will probably get better results than others)

Hi Joe0599

Which h3 subject is your ds planning to take? Is your ds is gate or SMTP at JC if you don't mind to share? At the other HCI JC thread, I understand that your ds is still able to go on long holiday with you, that's good to hear My impression is that JC life is so busy that kids don't have time to go long holidays [/quote]He intend to take H3 bio and may be another one econ/chem. He is from Gate.

JC life is busy no doubt and he still have to go back to school/NTU for his science project.

[zeedoo]

Hi, I have a P6 boy deciding between Hwa Chong and RI, and I have some questions regarding SMTP:


1) From which year does the programme start - Yr 1? Yr 3?

2) Do students apply for a place in the programme or are they chosen by the teachers?

3) Typically how many students are in the programme for each cohort?

4) Is the programme further subdivided into Math and the various Sciences (eg individual students can pick Math and not do the Sciences), or must all students partake in a combined Math and Science programme?

Thanks in advance for your input!

[lexis]

zeedoo:

Hi, I have a P6 boy deciding between Hwa Chong and RI, and I have some questions regarding SMTP:


1) From which year does the programme start - Yr 1? Yr 3?

2) Do students apply for a place in the programme or are they chosen by the teachers?

3) Typically how many students are in the programme for each cohort?

4) Is the programme further subdivided into Math and the various Sciences (eg individual students can pick Math and not do the Sciences), or must all students partake in a combined Math and Science programme?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Hi, my son is not in SMTP although he qualified - so hope i can help with some of your queries, esp since the DSA submission deadline is near (my dd took the PSLE this year too!)

1. SMTP starts in Sec 3.

2.You can apply for the program if you qualify - IIRC you need an A1 for both Math and Sci, and English too. And overall MSG cannot be more than 2.

3. I think there are 2-3 sec 3 SMTP classes in 2016- that would be about 60-70 kids.

4. No, they have to do Higher Math and higher Sci for all the sciences. Cannot just choose to do higher Math and normal Sci or vice versa.

[lexis]

double post.