Choosing and Evaluating Primary Schools

[cherrygal]

hiaks62:

Hi,


How do we find out which primary schools have strong aesthetics (arts) programmes?
We are looking in the north area (Ang Mo Kio, Yishun, Sembawang, Woodlands)

Thanks.

I heard Mayflower Primary has an arts programme.

[yc_mw]

Hi all,

I’m enrolling my daughter for p1 this July. We stay within 1km to Rosyth and Xin Min primary school.

Both are tough nuts. Been thinking if we should just try other schools straight away.

Any suggestions please?j

[gorobaby]

Hi, I am new to this forum. I am trying to get more information on which school is better. Radin Mas Primary School or River Valley Primary School??

Thank you for your time and assistance.

[RLa]

Hi, I m confused btw De la salle and Yew tee primary school? Any feedback/ comments about which is better school? Thks!

[galaxyraider]

I read many posts asking us to compare schools. Please note that this is a very subjective issue. What is good for me might not be good enough for you. Every parent has his/her own standard, thus it will be difficult to conclude. You really need to decide your own standard and look for a suitable school accordingly. List down your priorities such as home-school distance, affiliation to secondary school, popularity, etc.

[janet88]

galaxyraider:

I read many posts asking us to compare schools. Please note that this is a very subjective issue. What is good for me might not be good enough for you. Every parent has his/her own standard, thus it will be difficult to conclude. You really need to decide your own standard and look for a suitable school accordingly. List down your priorities such as home-school distance, affiliation to secondary school, popularity, etc.

:goodpost:
it's hard for anyone to advise which schools are good...because we all have our own perceptions of the word 'good'. even if anyone says so-and-so school is good, it depends on the child's character and whether the school culture is suitable for him/her. for eg if the parents are planning to register their child in a SAP school, they have to remember higher MT is compulsory from P1. if the family hardly speaks Mandarin, it will be challenging for the child.
btw, parents are also expected to play an active role to see that their kids are able to catch up in class.

[FantasyLandDreams]

Open house dates:


https://www.schoolbag.sg/story/primary-school-open-houses-and-school-tours-in-2017

[zac's mum]

I agree. Popular schools may not be the best fit for your child. On the other hand, it is very difficult for first-time parents to discover what criteria are important to them.


For myself, it was an eye-opener for me that despite all primary schools being under MOE, the way that each school is run can be extremely different from another. I never knew until I spoke to friends whose kids went to different primary schools all over Singapore, just to kaypoh & compare.

The things that differ are: whether or not there are CA1 and SA1 exams for P1 level, whether or not there is streaming at P3/4/5, whether there are any grades/banding in the mid-year report book. Even nitty-gritty things like whether the form teacher communicates via email only or uploads photos to a Class Dojo app, that one can vary among classes depending on the teacher’s preference.

Some parents didn’t know of the academic stress until the child got into the school. Some parents erroneously thought the spelling & tingxie and tests would matter but the school emphasized more on character development & behaviour in class. Some were shocked at the heavy amount of homework daily. Some were equally shocked at the lack of homework given.

Perhaps, these are the things parents want to know? It would be good if there is such discussion in the forum.

[phtthp]

1)


Also, some schools are very secretive over the level cohort academic performance : ie Over the release of average mean score, highest score, std deviation.
These schools won't disclose, nor even show parents the average mean of cohort SA1, SA2. An example of this secretive school is Raffles Girls primary : everything is very hush, hush ... like \"TOP secret\".

Principal of Rgps said, \"Just do your own personal best. Do not compare with others\". So, school doesn't disclose level cohort average mean, etc.

(Don't know why school need to be so secretive, because parents are only asking to see their own child's cohort level performance, not asking to see other students' level)


In contrast, other schools are very open, about cohort level performance. Form Tr will simply place the level (cohort) performance, inside students' SA1/ SA2 report card.

At one glance, per subject (total are 4 subjects) : parents will know, whether their child is below or above the average mean score (at cohort level). An example of an open school is CHIJ St Nicholas primary.

2)
Also,
some primary schools do not return SA1 / SA2 English composition nor zuowen scripts.

When parents request to see their own child's Eng compo or zuowen script, subject Tr said \"Oh ! Sorry, our school policy doesn't permit us to show parents your daughter's compo / zuowen scripts .\"

Though cannot show parents to see the actual compo script, however Eng / Chinese Tr can verbally tell the parent : where or what type of weakness are spotted, in the student's compo / zuowen. Just that u can't see.
An example of such school is St Anthony Canossian primary. (Bedok)

In contrast, other schools are very open, about returning the child's Eng compo/zuowen scripts to parents, to keep at home. An example is Chij St Nicholas primary.

3)
Some schools tend to place more heavy emphasis to teach more Zuowen, than Eng composition.

In other words, in one year, for lower primary (P1 to p3) -
They tend to do more Chinese zuowen class exercises per year, very little english compo class exercises. It is not equally balanced.
You can compare the number of class English compo vs. The number of zuowen issued, Term by Term : you can tell the difference.
example of such school is Maha Bodhi primary, for Lower primary (P1 to p3)

Hence, every school is different.
If your child is stronger in English than Chinese, u may prefer schools, like Maha Bodhi

But if is the other way round : suppose yr child's Chinese is very much stronger than English, because everyday child speak Mandarin at home, or child tend to automatically pick up Chinese storybooks to read, instead of English storybooks, u may prefer to choose other schools.

Thus, Is very subjective, to say \"Oh ! You know, this school is better than the other or not\", because every school is run differently, by different team of Principal / VP / HOD, etc. And they emphasise on different perspective(s).

4)
Some primary schools conduct Primary 4 (CA1, SA1, CA2, SA2).

So, parents and students get stressed literally the whole year round, because every Term: whether is CA or SA, a certain percentage / proportion, is being apportioned or allocated, towards the Total Final Year end exam. Being kiasuparents, we tend to help our child prepare. Unless we have trained our kid so well, that they can auto-pilot run themselves, independently.

One example of such a school, at 2017 Primary 4 : is St Anthony Cannosian primary (Bedok).

In contrast, other schools get stressed twice, per year : they have P4 (SA1 and SA2), but no CA, whatsoever. Thank God.

CHIJ St Nicholas primary, is one example.

So when u choose a primary school for your child, the qn you may ask yourself is -
Do you (parent) prefer to be stressed the whole year round, where every Term from January till October : you need to help or supervise your child to prepare for tests, or do you prefer to be stressed only Twice per year, at SA1 & SA2 only, no CA ?

Thus, before enrol your child into a primary school, perhaps can check some due diligent background work first. Once your kid enter a primary school, it will be for the next long 6 years, all the way until PSLE (inclusive). So, it is good to know what kind of school situation, your child will be facing subsequent, particularly in the later part of stressful Upper primary school years.

5)
Another thing is :-
You have to check how the VP ser the SA1 / SA2 Exam timetable.

Eg

St Anthony Canossian primary 2017 SA1 cohort Exam timetable.

That labor week (1 May) SA1 examination week :
The school literally cramped all the 4 subjects : P4 (English paper 2, Science, Chinese, Maths) to start & end, within the same labor week.

So many 2017 P4 parents were so stressed, because there wasn't any time to breathe. Everyday, after straightaway come home, u must prepare the next day exam, immediately.

In contrast, a few other primary schools nearby Bedok :
Their exam SA1 timetable is more well spread-out. No doubt they also start in that labor week (1 may), but they spill over other subjects, into the next week, i.e. May (8 and 9) that week.

This way, parents and P4 students were given more time, esp o er the week end, to prepare the last few papers.

Yes, no doubt face stress, but who do u think face more stress ?

The P4 students from St Anthony Cannosian primary, or those other schools where their exam timetable is more spread out, giving them more time to prepare ?
Anyway, last week of Term 2, was in week 10. Why is there a rush, to cramp all 4 subjects, to end so fast ?

[zac's mum]

Thank u, that’s very useful to know.


While we are on the topic of the disparity in what is taught/expected in each school, at P1 level: CHIJ Kellock Convent is already training/expecting the kids in picture compositions of 3-5 sentences. ACSJ kids are only required to write 1 sentence with 3 guiding adjectives to choose from.

For Chinese, St Nicholas (SAP school) has SA1 written exams, ACSJ only simple oral & listening bite-sized assessments and their fortnightly Tingxie written Hanzi only 5 out of 8 MOE syllabus words are tested. Hanyu pinyin just circle the correct one out of 3 choices. Learning Lab teaches to HCL standard and tingxie is 5 weeks ahead of MOE syllabus.

Some schools teach very little (and brief very little), then set very difficult papers for the exams. Other schools teach according to the syllabus, then set very easy papers. Some schools provide remedial lessons for P1s if they can’t cope, other schools simply tell the parents to pay for external tuition.

And lest anybody has the misconception that neighborhood schools are "easy" academically, many of them have the traditional CAs and SAs. Queenstown Primary, Bukit Timah Primary, Kong Hwa. Now I finally understand why those tuition centres that drill kids in English & Chinese composition are so popular with worried parents!