All About GEP
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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? -
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! -
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.
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Yes. same here…tough decision to make…
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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...
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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.
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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. -
hquek:
I agree. We were really in two minds about taking up the programme - after all, he was quite happy where he was, could handle schoolwork fine (tho he was never a top student), and had time for his many other interests. But at the end of the day, he wanted to try it out. And while it hasn't been pain-free (my son's organisational skills are awful so the biggest challenge was filing his stuff and managing all the papers he received!), at the end of these 3 years, no matter what his T score, I am happy that he had this opportunity to learn lots of random things and find out that there are folk out there as odd as he is.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.
Apart from a short period in P6, he continued to have time to do his homework (and corrections, and filing) as well as balance that with various outside school activities. Like someone said before, how stressful the journey is depends alot on parental expectations. I think if you enter this programme with a view that its an adventure and a fun journey for the child to learn more about themselves and a wide range of things, as opposed to a programme to give them better grades or a shortcut to a premium secondary school, then it works out better. If you think you'll be stressed that they're not being prepared for PSLE or that the topics they're studying are not directly relevant to exams, then I think perhaps the GEP might not be the right fit... -
Thank you all for your precious replies. I’m really touched seeing so many of you sharing your experiences and thoughtsw .
Tomorrow’s the talk. Hopefully we will make the best decision. To go or not to go. And which schools to choose. -
cafemug:
You'll still have some time to think about it after today's talk. We found that at the end of the day not all our questions were answered and it was a leap of faith we had to take. So alot really depended on whether our boy wanted to take the jump. As much as he did choose the GEP and are glad for having had the opportunity, I think the process of thinking through our options was as important as the final decision we made. There really is no objectively right or wrong decision - just one that is right for you at this point in timeThank you all for your precious replies. I'm really touched seeing so many of you sharing your experiences and thoughtsw .
Tomorrow's the talk. Hopefully we will make the best decision. To go or not to go. And which schools to choose.
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