Hwa Chong Institution (High School)

[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:

[Oh My Gosh]

Happy New Year to all Hwa Chongians and parents :rahrah:

[CatMoon]

:rahrah: Happy Lunar New Year!


For those in the ProEd consortium, our boys will be invited to the annual ProEd Lo-Hei Lunch on 8th Feb (Wed) !!!!!

[Oh My Gosh]

Any idea why do the boys go to apply online for their CCA? iVLE? or?

[Oh My Gosh]

Oh My Gosh:

Any idea why do the boys go to apply online for their CCA? iVLE? or?

DS have just received notification on iEMB... so settled

[timtamfan]

Hi. Son unlikely to make it to table tennis CCA but am still keen to develop table tennis skills. Am looking for like-minded kids to train together once a week, to provide matchplay skills and encourage each other. Perhaps even form teams to compete in local tournaments. If your kid is still motivated to develop table tennis skills (on top of school and assigned CCA), please drop me a message. Thank you

[pinkpinkmumz]

Hi all, will the school provide opportunities for the students to clock their external cip hours ?

[hwachie]

pinkpinkmumz:

Hi all, will the school provide opportunities for the students to clock their external cip hours ?

Yes, HCI does provide multiple opportunities for students to serve the community. However, unlike Primary School, not all CIP, whether internal or external, are teacher-organised, and it is not compulsory to sign up for every CIP activity. Students have to check iEMB regularly for CIP opportunities, be it from a Service Learning project group (Flag Days; Homework Clinics etc.), or from community centres. After which the student just needs to register and be accountable for his attendance during the CIP. With all these opportunities around, it's not difficult to clock the required CIP hours so long as students volunteer eagerly--I myself have over 200 hours after 4 years, and I know some friends who have nearly double of mine.

~Hwachie