All About GEP

[CheLee]

Good post!!! Argh really help me to understand a lot more about what to expect!!

fable:

jtoh:

To add on to my earlier reply, what is the end goal of a primary school education? If it is a high PSLE score that you're looking for, then mainstream education might better prepare a child for it.

I find that the end goal of GEP isn't the student's PSLE score. It's the process of learning, the journey, the exploration into out-of-syllabus work, the freedom to express and question, to conduct independent research... Most definitely a lot of this isn't immediately relevant to PSLE, but it is interesting and helps train the mind and will prepare them for secondary school. Which is why a lot of GEP students find lower secondary relatively smooth sailing.

:goodpost:

There were times during the last 3 years when I felt that too much was expected of my son. Not academically, per se, he loved everything he studied there, but handling the filing. I was happy to hear the teachers and GEB folk say to leave it to the kids to learn, and I did just that, until I realised that his files were missing half his papers and the bits and bobs that were filed were not completed - e.g. submitted and marked but corrections not done. His classmates didn't seem to have the same trouble - I don't know if it was because they were more organised, or because their parents were. He slowly worked out a system with some help from me, and while he will never win an award for his filing, he's proud of how far he has come.

It occurs to me that this reflects the GE journey. There will be things your kid is good at, and things that he/she's not so good at. In a cohort of gifted, there are likely to be a good number who are better than he at various things. This journey is about how he learns and grows, not how much better or worse he does compared to his classmates. In the last 3 years, he has had the opportunity to attend challenging programmes, learn things I never had the patience to teach him, face times when he did badly in subjects he thought he was good at, be near the bottom at subjects he thought he was quite bad at, and also be best in his class in some things. And learn to make his way in a new class of very bright, very opinionated, sometimes kind, sometimes cruel kids. Thats what education is about, isn't it? To challenge, inspire, face difficulties and learn what you're made of, learn to get up and try again, try harder. Figure how what kind of person you are, and what kind of person you want to be.

As for the PSLE, its not that GE kids don't follow syllabus at all. Essentially they learn the same concepts. But extended - either wider or deeper than the PSLE syllabus. When the GEB people say they work on PSLE curriculum after Term 2, its means that (by and large) they stop the extended curriculum, and teach the kids how to answer the questions for the PSLE. In my son's school they did a billion (only slightly exaggerated) mock papers so they would have an idea of the kinds of questions asked in PSLE and how to answer them. So the difference is that in a mainstream school, the focus in the whole upper primary period is on the PSLE and teaching the kids a specific syllabus towards that goal.

[CheLee]

Nan Hua pri is not affiliated to Nan Hua secondary I think...

zac's mum:

I hope you don't mind...can somebody confirm my understanding? Which are the GEP centres with affiliated secondary school?

ACSP - for boys
CHS - for boys
HPPS - none
Nan Hua - yes? to Nan Hua High School?
Nanyang - for girls only, to NYGH
RGPS - none
Rosyth - none
St Hilda's - yes? To St Hilda's Secondary?
TNS - none

[CheLee]

But in a way boys seem to have an advantage!! There is only one sch that has safety net for girls??

[fable]

zac's mum:

I hope you don't mind...can somebody confirm my understanding? Which are the GEP centres with affiliated secondary school?


ACSP - for boys
CHS - for boys
HPPS - none
Nan Hua - yes? to Nan Hua High School?
Nanyang - for girls only, to NYGH
RGPS - none
Rosyth - none
St Hilda's - yes? To St Hilda's Secondary?
TNS - none

Are you thinking of O level programme or IP? My understanding is that only NYPS girls benefit from the affiliation to NYGH. With CHS and ACSP, they only enjoy affiliation \"discount\" into the O level programme. There is no affiliation benefit for the IP programme. Oh, and Nan Hua Pri has no affiliation to Nan Hua High School, while St Hilda's Pri does have affiliation to St Hilda's Secondary

[zac's mum]

goosiegoose:

I am torn between acs and ny. Nygh was my alma mater so I have lotsa feelings for ny but there is no safety net for DS!

ACSP has double safety net. Affiliated to both ACS Barker and ACS Independent (Express stream only; IB no affilation accorded).

[goosiegoose]

Yup. This is in the event DC do really badly that the safety net into a good sch O levels track is useful. When they do well, the options are plenty

[fable]

I happen to have the Sec School Guide nearby.


ACSP - for boys ACS Barker (Express - 188, N(A) - 155, N(T) 126), ACSI O level - 235
CHS - for boys CHS O level - 240
HPPS - none
Nan Hua - none
Nanyang - for girls only, to NYGH - 250
RGPS - none
Rosyth - none
St Hilda’s - St Hilda’s Secondary (Express - 188, N(A) - 152, N(T) 134)
TNS - none

[zac's mum]

:thankyou:

[goosiegoose]

Does chs have the normal tech NT classes as well? Looks like ACS really want to keep all their boys throughout with the COP so low. Tks.

[CheLee]

I was present at the question and answer session when parent X brought up this point about XXX school.


X said that his son is highly talented in programming, created many games on YouTube etc . His son spends 80% of time programming and 20% time in reading (correct me I am wrong). But he didn’t have any chance or platform to compete and thus, nothing significant on his portfolio … and X says the grades is not good, though he didn’t quantify the marks. And do he question the panel - so now how???

Just my very personal opinion:

1. I feel that XXX school principal could have spoken up instead of leaving it to moe to take the question.

2. There are actually makeathons or hackathons that might be out there for X to tap on, even if moe or school can not facilitate.

3. I thought it was pretty unfair for him to demand an answer and harped on it since from the start of the brief , moe has been emphasizing that entry to sec school will be based on individual merits.

4. While I want to have safety net, i want advantage during sec sch posting (sorry to be so frank) but I feel we are all going in with eyes open. It is unfair to start accusing the system on that day…

Sorry just my personal opinion