Hwa Chong Institution (High School)

[Maple leaf]

lexis:

don't think there's a requirement for touch screen. my ds is using a normal Asus one which we bought in year 1 (he's in year 4 now). They use google a lot to communicate with each other, and i think it's useful to have MS office too. Are the year 1s doing Infocomm now? Back in 2014, one of the subjects was Infocomm and they had to learn some basic programming. I recall Mac OS didn't work well with certain programming language, which is how he ended up with his own laptop.

Hi,lexis
Apprreciate your sharing.
Now,hv a better idea. :thankyou:

[CatMoon]

Oh My Gosh:

CCA Selection is really a headache, more so with limited vacancies in each CCA.

(1) Can DS put down less than 9 choices as he really dun feel like putting a CCA just for the sake of having to put 9 choices. In his own words, \"If I anyhow put down the CCA and they allocate me there, then they will say that it is my choice!?!?\"
(2) Any idea of the chance of appeal cos I see appeal dates on the announcement.

When your ds did the try-outs two weeks ago, how did he feel about some of the other CCAs?
It's quite hard to talk about successful appeals because you are right, it depends very much on the vacancies. However, boys whose appeals did not succeed are encouraged to give the CCA a try. Unfortunately, many of the CCAs are quite competitive and so the coaches/teachers-in-charge are constantly looking out for talented kids to join the school teams.
Having said that, there are some boys who were selected for CCAs which they had no experience before and they made tremendous improvements so much so that a few of them were selected for competitions overseas.
However, you can email Mr Tok Aik Lin as he is in charge of CCAs if you've any queries.

[Oh My Gosh]

CatMoon:

Oh My Gosh:

CCA Selection is really a headache, more so with limited vacancies in each CCA.

(1) Can DS put down less than 9 choices as he really dun feel like putting a CCA just for the sake of having to put 9 choices. In his own words, \"If I anyhow put down the CCA and they allocate me there, then they will say that it is my choice!?!?\"
(2) Any idea of the chance of appeal cos I see appeal dates on the announcement.

When your ds did the try-outs two weeks ago, how did he feel about some of the other CCAs?
It's quite hard to talk about successful appeals because you are right, it depends very much on the vacancies. However, boys whose appeals did not succeed are encouraged to give the CCA a try. Unfortunately, many of the CCAs are quite competitive and so the coaches/teachers-in-charge are constantly looking out for talented kids to join the school teams.
Having said that, there are some boys who were selected for CCAs which they had no experience before and they made tremendous improvements so much so that a few of them were selected for competitions overseas.
However, you can email Mr Tok Aik Lin as he is in charge of CCAs if you've any queries.

Thank you. Where can I find the email of Mr Tok, or even any HCI teachers?

[hwachie]

Oh My Gosh:

CCA Selection is really a headache, more so with limited vacancies in each CCA.

(1) Can DS put down less than 9 choices as he really dun feel like putting a CCA just for the sake of having to put 9 choices. In his own words, \"If I anyhow put down the CCA and they allocate me there, then they will say that it is my choice!?!?\"
(2) Any idea of the chance of appeal cos I see appeal dates on the announcement.

Hi Oh My Gosh, don't worry, all Sec 1s and parents are probably going through the same headache now
To answer your queries:
(1) Students can put down less than 9 choices if he doesn't have interest in that many CCAs. The minimum is 1 Sport and 1 UG, and the maximum is 3 Sports, 2 UGs, 2 Clubs&Societies and 2 Performing Arts. Hence, Sec 1s are able to put from 2-9 choices, all of which they need to be comfortable with getting into any of them. Do not anyhow put down a CCA if you are not interested in it. The 9 choices are meant to give students freedom, but does not necessarily need to be completely filled in.
(2)Appeals are on a case-by-case basis, and most of the time don't go through, unless students have medical conditions that prevent them from fully taking part in the CCA. Most of the time, teachers would want the students to try out the CCA they're allocated for 1 to 2 years, after which most students who originally wanted to appeal would have gotten used to the CCA, and some might even excel in them.

More information on CCA Selection can be found on ISP (I think), there's a FAQ there, if you have any more doubts can also consult what the school says

Hope this info helps.

[hwachie]

Oh My Gosh:

Where can I find the email of Mr Tok, or even any HCI teachers?

HCI teachers' email addresses are really easy to find: <Teacher Initials>@hci.edu.sg.

[CatMoon]

Oh My Gosh:

Thank you. Where can I find the email of Mr Tok, or even any HCI teachers?

You can find Mr Tok's email in the Student's Handbook. The class teachers would have already given their email addresses to the class by now. You can also reach out to other parents in the class whatsapp group.

[HairyOrange]

Oh My Gosh:

CCA Selection is really a headache, more so with limited vacancies in each CCA.

(1) Can DS put down less than 9 choices as he really dun feel like putting a CCA just for the sake of having to put 9 choices. In his own words, \"If I anyhow put down the CCA and they allocate me there, then they will say that it is my choice!?!?\"
(2) Any idea of the chance of appeal cos I see appeal dates on the announcement.

Hi,

Let me try to answer some CCA concerns. Have two sons in Sports CCA.

HCI, like most other schools, is very competitive in Sports CCA. Hence Sports get first choice in selection and amongst the Sports, Track & Field gets the choice picks.

Since yr DS have gone for trials, the Sports would tell them they are shortlisted and to put the Sport as their 1st choice BUT Track & Field can overrule all choices.

Majority of non-Sports will end up in UG.

Sports training can go up to 5x weekly during competition session but these hardly affect academic performances. All boils down to DS time management.

Boys can change CCA end of Sec 2 if all effort put in to CCA or health reasons. Most time they change because of poor fit.

Welcome to Hwa Chong!

[HairyOrange]

timtim:

hmsg:

Anyone has the info on the laptops Sec 1 should have?

Is it compulsory? Must they bring to school?

Hi Parents with Laptops and Social Media questions,

If you have functional laptop around the house, new laptop definitely not required in Sec 1. No need to bring to school except perhaps during IS Project prep period (and usually someone in the Project group will bring.

School has plenty of computers in labs and library for boys to use and can T-Loan laptops too.

Strongly advised to use Admin restriction to control laptop usage hours from Sec 1 to set expectations. Once you adopt carefree approach almost impossible to reel them in later.

WhatsApp is a necessary evil and do expect 1000s of msg at all hours starting from 5AM till way past midnight. Let's say that a class or CCA teacher starts a WA group, boys will start a concurrent WA group WITHOUT the teacher to gossip and joke. Same goes for official and unofficial WA groups at CCA by level! The other bigger evil parents can control is restricting access to SnapChat because school will never communicate via this route. FYI, official school communications is via EMB.

We had an app last year for announcements to parents, they scrap it and developing their own that should roll out some time soon I hope. Otherwise SMS is used.

Hope this helps

[hwachie]

HairyOrange:

Let me try to answer some CCA concerns. Have two sons in Sports CCA.

HCI, like most other schools, is very competitive in Sports CCA. Hence Sports get first choice in selection and amongst the Sports, Track & Field gets the choice picks.

Since yr DS have gone for trials, the Sports would tell them they are shortlisted and to put the Sport as their 1st choice BUT Track & Field can overrule all choices.

Majority of non-Sports will end up in UG.

Sports training can go up to 5x weekly during competition session but these hardly affect academic performances. All boils down to DS time management.

Boys can change CCA end of Sec 2 if all effort put in to CCA or health reasons. Most time they change because of poor fit.

Welcome to Hwa Chong!

Hi HairyOrange, thanks for your input. As a former student, I'd just like to clarify some of the statements made. While they may be some observations people have made over the years, not all of them still apply.

Firstly, you are right that HCI is very competitive in Sports CCAs. We have clinched countless championships over the past 5 years, and usually students without prior experience have a difficult time getting in as they lack certain skills that coaches are looking for. However, it is a fact that it is not only the Sports CCAs that are competitive, but rather all of the CCAs. e.g. UGs have won consecutive Gold Awards; nearly all of the Performing Arts obtained Distinctions in SYF etc.

Secondly, sports CCAs do not get first pick, and T&F does not get choice picks, neither can they \"overrule all choices\". Our CCA selection system attempts to match students interest (based on option form) with CCAs interest (based on shortlist/trials), such that a student will definitely get into one of his 2-9 choices. That is to say, if a student did not put down a certain CCA as one of his options, the CCA will not be able to recruit him.

Thirdly, I'd just like to insert a word of caution here: \"Sports would tell them they are shortlisted\". This may also apply to all other CCA trials. Some seniors like to mention \"If you put us first choice confirm get in one\", but it really depends on vacancies [All CCAs have a cap on their intake, which is calculated based on number required for competitions and achievement points and how many it takes to sustain the CCA etc] and how high the student is on the shortlist.

Fourthly, the statement \"Majority of non-Sports will end up in UG.\" may not be necessarily true. There are only 4 UGs, compared with 7 Clubs and 6 Performing Arts, hence while it may seem like a huge number is split into UGs (because of their large intake), I would say that students are generally well-split according to each CCAs' needs.

Lastly, the last point mentioned \"Sports training can go up to 5x weekly during competition session but these hardly affect academic performances. All boils down to DS time management.\" is very true, but might also apply to other CCAs as well, not just for Sports. e.g. More practices before a performance. I've personally seen students stay back after 8 to rehearse. And time management does play a huge part in whether students perform well for academics. Even though some may take on many roles both in CCA and council, those who manage their time well will still go on to ace their exams.

Hope this helps
~Hwachie

Edit: Having been only able to find a link to CCA trial information on the HCI website, I dug up an older post with the link to CCA information in general (2016 Achievements) http://www.hci.sg/sports4all/home/home.html
The link includes information about all CCAs, as well as new tabs (some of which are still being updated) on PE and Outdoor Education. Might be useful in choosing CCA options

[CatMoon]

Hwachie, you are good!

:thankyou: