All About GEP

[lee_yl]

Yeah, I have a close friend whose DD is in GEP P6 this year but in another centre, who also complains about GEP Sc not as well taught as Eng/Math. So we should just be mindful and see what we can do to help our kids.

[cafemug]

Morning to all experienced parents here, may i find out if your children face any difficulty transferring to a gep school in pri 4? My child is the only one from his school being selected. He is afraid curriculum is stressful. However i am more concern about the social emotional part. I am afraid he may not integrate well with gep kids who are already studying in existing gep school. Have you face or heard of cases of bullying? It will also be the first time taking school bus to and fro. So many new changes. Kind to pm me to let me know?

[hquek]

cafemug:

Morning to all experienced parents here, may i find out if your children face any difficulty transferring to a gep school in pri 4? My child is the only one from his school being selected. He is afraid curriculum is stressful. However i am more concern about the social emotional part. I am afraid he may not integrate well with gep kids who are already studying in existing gep school. Have you face or heard of cases of bullying? It will also be the first time taking school bus to and fro. So many new changes. Kind to pm me to let me know?

hi cafemug, congrats first. DS1 was one of a handful that was selected then and there was another child who opted for the same school (he wasn't friend friend with her, just classmates). I was concerned at first but he managed to in and find friends after a while. I think a couple of his good friends were from that school originally. Thing about gep is that kids from all over come together, so it's not like a school transfer where kids are more gelled (I feel).

Curriculum is not easy but it will be super fun at first (recall a lot of fun and games in the first couple of weeks). get used to what's really teach less learn more (DS1 watched so many shows in class and his teachers seem to be on courses a lot - at least in P4/5).

Good you have initial trepidations, just so you are prepared for the worst, but I would say, go with the flow and enjoy the learning. All the best to your child.

[blur_mum]

Hi all,

can i check is there a great difference in p4 gep science and mainstream science?
Different schools teach different topics at p3 level. Any impact?

[fable]

There were I think 10 from DS’ school selected for the GEP but he was the only one to go to the school he chose. It took a few months to settle in and make new friends, but after 3 years, he has definitely developed a group of good friends in his "new" school. I was asking him when he started P4 who in his class was new to the school and who had been in the school already, and he could not tell me. I realised then that a) the kids don’t really talk about / care about this and b) just because they were in the school before doesn’t mean that they are friends with their new classmates.


On Science, in P4, the school spent the first term (I think), levelling up on the syllabus so that the kids are all on the same footing when they move forward. In my son’s previous school, it seems they had covered quite alot of the topics so this period was fairly relaxed for him. So blur_mum, this isn’t something to worry about. As for the difference between GEP and mainstream science, according to my son, the syllabus is very similar, but in GEP they study the concepts to a deeper level and are expected to provide fuller answers than in mainstream. They also seem to do more hands on experimentations, which is great for my boy!

[cafemug]

Thank you all for your quick replies! It definitely make me feel better. We have yet to decide whether to take up the offer. It sure is a tough decision to make.

[blur_mum]

Yes. same here…tough decision to make…

[sean wife]

I think kids are after all kids...before you know it, they will start to talk about the same few names and you will know that these are their new-found friends. And gep kids or not, they don't seem to talk much about results and marks (to them, these are real boring stuff to talk about)...Whenever I ask them what they talk about, they will say 'random stuff' (aka gossip in adult world maybe... )

[jtoh]

What’s most important is whether your child wants to be in GEP. If he wants to be in GEP, he will make it work. He will make friends, he will adapt to the new environment, he will try his best in the challenging curriculum. If he doesn’t want to be there, it’ll just be harder for him to adapt to new friends, the environment and curriculum. Go for the talk. They’ll tell you that attitude is paramount.

[hquek]

cafemug:

Thank you all for your quick replies! It definitely make me feel better. We have yet to decide whether to take up the offer. It sure is a tough decision to make.

definitely not easy choice to make. We went for it after asking DS if he would be fine to drop out should it not be what he wanted and he said yes. Few months down the road, he can't imagine being anywhere else.

Life got tougher, he went from someone who could sit back after school to having to scrabble to do homework until evening in P4, relax in P5 (I dunno why and how) and then having to work till 8/9pm on homework and what nots. Never did hear him grimace and complain about making the choice to gep. Used to think that it was tough to stay on the program, but then it's not. If you don't meet the 70%, they will give you chance and teachers are there to guide the kids and provide help. So if anyone really go back to mainstream, they probably made a firm and very conscious effort to get their child out.