Pei Chun Public

[Abraham Ho]

love1001:

Hi Parents, following the remover of AS, the next biggest change is the remover of P4 streaming and class allocation. Starting this year, P4 will be randomly allocated to their P5 classes which are all mix ability. There will be no more top classes. As a known fact, current system benefits the top 80 only because the best teachers are teaching these 2 classes. The new system will benefit the remaining 280 in general. DD1 will be the first batch to go through this change. I hope this is something positive. Speaking to a few parents, some feel there is a need to keep 2 top classes to stretch the potential of these HA students. Otherwise they will be bored by the slower pace of learning. What is your take?

I think this is necessary.

At the end of the day, streaming has its disadvantages. Students that are weaker, generally tend to be weaker.

I was helping out a student care just about a month ago and realised the stark difference between two students of different abilities. One was always working to keep up, the other was always doing the bare minimum so that he would not be scolded.

I think streaming serves as a good reminder to my weaker student that he was not good enough.
This is just not a good representation as it is with two students.

I do think that this image sums up a flaw in our current system.
https://s23.postimg.org/nh1fh1q8r/multipleintelligence.jpg\">

[vicki]

Hi love1001,


To your qn:
‘Are there schools that have top classes that put the top 120 in random HA classes (does not need to differentiate A, B or C) and the rest in random mix ability?’

Yes. At the moment my boy’s school streaming is like this in P5. Top 120 to top 3 classes (we don’t have a top class, only top 3), the rest in mixed ability n one smaller class for the kids who need more help. It seems that the same teachers that teaches the top class also teaches the small class.

Sorry for interrupting. Was trying to find out abt the streaming for my fren whose kid is in peichun in P4 n I came across your question.

[potter]

Parents, I am unable to get a slot for the PTM. All slots, form teacher and Chinese teacher, were taken the moment I logged in on 8 May. Did you face similar issue?


I find it weird that the school suddenly change the way that the PTM is managed. It was all good until this year. Shouldn’t it be made available to all parents just like in previous years??!! Why limit to a handle of parents only. It is important for parents with children in upper primary to get a chance to see the teachers, regardless of results.

I disagree that PTM is meant for weaker students only. If a child needs attention, teachers should have already contacted and spoke with the parents, not wait till PTM in that 10-20min to address the issue.

Too many unexpected changes this year but sad to conclude, none is good.

[muska]

Potter, I’m too disappointed with the ptm change made.


I got the last slot with form teacher when I login at 8am, but didn’t get any appt w Chinese teacher.

I noticed that there only 15slot for 40kids, with 2break n lunch just for session 7.30 to 1.30pm!

I heard some slots were pre book by teacher for students identified…so not many remaining slot left…

[love1001]

Hi Potter & muska, I am disappointed with this change in PTM too. I was unable to book any slot for both my girls. Both the FT and CT slots are fully booked.


There is another PTM at end of the year. I would not be surprised if the same parents get to meet the teachers again whereas majority do not get a chance to meet for even once in the academic year.

We should not wait for "problems" to surface before getting the "letter" to see the teachers. This is a bad move and a poor decision executed.

There is a form that we can submit to the FT if we still want to see them. I heard teachers will try to arrange a timing. If the other 25 parents also wish to see the teachers, I wonder how they are going to assign.

Last 2 years, i was able to arrange in such a way that after meeting DD1 teachers, I went on to meet DD2 teachers. If now, teachers assign me same timing, it is a problem. Alternatively, if they assign different timing, it is another headache which means parents with 2 or more children need to stay in school for long hours or go back multiple times.

I do not understand why need to make a simple PTM become so complex. IMO, sometimes no change is better than too much unneccessary changes.

[sean wife]

Was it made known to the parents for priority would be given to the weaker students?

[love1001]

sean wife:

Was it made known to the parents for priority would be given to the weaker students?

It was stated in the PN. I totally agree with potter that teachers should not wait till PTM to feedback to parents of any problems/ issues that a child is facing.

PTM should be available to all parents and not reserved for identified students only. Whether the parents want or available to attend is a separate question.

[wish]

Hi all


Hearing about the PTM feedback (I have no pretext as to how it was conducted previously), perhaps the school is trying to streamline the process?

In my case, I didn’t hear from my child’s Chinese teacher. When I logged into the system, all slots were fully booked.
However, the form teacher gave us option to either arrange for a phone conversation or meet on another day/slot.
Or, we could fill up the form to reflect the concerns since the slots in the electronic system cannot be secured?

Nonetheless I agree it would be good that we receive proactive feedback from the teachers regarding the child’s progress. Not sure if all teachers will leave their contact number to the parents to facilitate communication.

[love1001]

Hi wish, I certainly agree with you that proactive feedback is important. My elder one is P4 and I am keen to understand how she is performing as compare to the cohort. Is she average, below average etc. Are there any area of concern that I need to take note of.


For parents with kids in P5/ P6, I am sure it is even more critical for them to see the teachers and get some feedback.

I thought PTM sessions were very well organized in the last 3 years that I attended. It was good to know and speak to the teachers face-to-face.

[muska]

I also preferred a short face-to face meeting with the teachers. This year my gal is P3…she had all new teachers …whom will follow her till next yr…I really would love to put a face to the teacher’s name whenever she talks about them.


And I have 2 kids different sch…but same day ptm. so it’s more productive if we could complete the ptm on the same day…not coming back on another day…cos I knew my gal wouldn’t really hv problem in sch, that I need to purposely take extra leave to meet the teachers…The std ptm is sufficient…even if it’s just a 10mins talk.