2017 PSLE Discussions and Strategies

[xn_mummy]

SpartanMum:

xn_mummy:

hi hi

thanks thanks for the reply.
@BonaFides
thanks for your reply!
possible to share with me the tuition center/private tutor

@fable, SpartanMum
Thanks!
Actually with the result, he cant get to his dream school, which is a \"better\" neighbourhood school.
I am more in dilemma now cos that all these years, we didnt put him for tuition till P5.
Am worried is it my mistake that i should start tuition early ?
now i worried my younger one, cos with her current result , it might be end up in normal stream and
she hope to go to girls school which mostly are not easy.

So i dun know is it we should start the \"push\" earlier like p4.
So looking for advises

You are welcome and congrats again on 23X and dream school too!
If he is in his dream school, I don't think P5 was too late for him?

Now for your DD...as mentioned in my earlier msg and fable's ...its about her needs. And if she is struggling and feeling like she could do with some help, you can actually give her that. Whether it's group or 1-1 tuition, sometimes it's hard to work that out..might need a bit of trying out especially if you cannot just use the same tutors you engaged for your first child, for the second one too.

Be very careful with copy paste approach from others cos the different types of tuition works for different kids.

To be honest, I am the type that hates last minute pushing. So I think if you can afford it and if your DD is able to cope, the extra tuition can be started earlier rather than later. This will also give you more time to find the right help she needs for PSLE.

All the best

ok, i guess i have to start tuition early as i am worried of last minute pushing too.
My DD has a slower learning speed.
My elder has tuition at centre, only went for 1 year, also cant really tell if good or bad. So thinking if any parent can help to feedback any centre that are more established and we can go try while there is time.
Sometime is very sian, thought we are on the right track, but the end result isnt what we are expecting.

Yes, have to try out different center/tutor , hopefully with some recommendation, is easier

[xn_mummy]

FantasyLandDreams:

HI all

Just wanted to ask, is it true the base mark weightage is as per below, which means those stronger in maths and science are at a disadvantage actually?

English 200
Chinese 200
Maths 100
Science 100
Total: 600

Keep seeing above info circulated in Facebook these few days, but I always thought each subject is 100 base mark before converting to t-score. Any current or ex teachers here can help verify? Thanks.

What i understand T-score on 100 marks for language

[Zappy]

FantasyLandDreams:

HI all

Just wanted to ask, is it true the base mark weightage is as per below, which means those stronger in maths and science are at a disadvantage actually?

English 200
Chinese 200
Maths 100
Science 100
Total: 600

Keep seeing above info circulated in Facebook these few days, but I always thought each subject is 100 base mark before converting to t-score. Any current or ex teachers here can help verify? Thanks.

I think you can find that info in many schools Teacher-Parents meeting slides.
All subjects have equal weightage and the formula for T-score calculation is also not a secret.

Once you calculate the T-score, it depends on the cohort average and standard deviation.
So it doesn't really matter if the base score is 100 or 200 anyway, since average and SD of all the students taking the exam is also based on that 100 or 200.

The only reason why people keep asking and suspecting that the languages have a higher weightage is because even if all the your kid's scores are equal for all 4 subjects, the T-score for languages will tend to be higher since the averages for those subjects are usually lower at the national level.

Lower national average => Higher T-score

[Musings]

Zappy:

FantasyLandDreams:

HI all

Just wanted to ask, is it true the base mark weightage is as per below, which means those stronger in maths and science are at a disadvantage actually?

English 200
Chinese 200
Maths 100
Science 100
Total: 600

Keep seeing above info circulated in Facebook these few days, but I always thought each subject is 100 base mark before converting to t-score. Any current or ex teachers here can help verify? Thanks.

I think you can find that info in many schools Teacher-Parents meeting slides.
All subjects have equal weightage and the formula for T-score calculation is also not a secret.

Once you calculate the T-score, it depends on the cohort average and standard deviation.
So it doesn't really matter if the base score is 100 or 200 anyway, since average and SD of all the students taking the exam is also based on that 100 or 200.

The only reason why people keep asking and suspecting that the languages have a higher weightage is because even if all the your kid's scores are equal for all 4 subjects, the T-score for languages will tend to be higher since the averages for those subjects are usually lower at the national level.

Lower national average => Higher T-score

Again, it depends on the difficulty of the paper. For this year 2017 PSLE, it seems unanimous that the Science paper was the most difficult. Therefore, the mean will tend to be lower. For students who excel in the Science paper, their Science grade will contribute more to the T score. (I suspect that is why several boys in DS class scored between 260 - 270 which is rather unexpected although they are not as strong in languages - only score A for English and Chinese.) The same rationale will apply to a year where the Maths paper is difficult.

So it is not entirely accurate to say that languages contribute more to T score than Science or Maths. It will depend on the difficulty of the paper.

No one really knows which subject has the lower national average - but given that about 70% of the cohort scores A* and A for Chinese nationwide, I would have thought Chinese will have a higher national average compared to other subjects such as Maths.

[soneat]

xn_mummy:

soneat:

[quote=\"xn_mummy\"]dear all


seeking some advice
if you DD/DS has done with in psle with A*, do you mind sharing with me if your kids are having private tuition or centre tuition ? and when they start having tuition ?

For my elder, only managed to get A for PSLE, so am i thinking of what i can do to help my 2nd child whose result currently is a lot lower than my elder.

1. Private or Center tuition
2. Eng subject : English vs Writing class ? which one are more effective ?
3. Year start tuition (my elder only start in end year of P5 , is it too late ?)
4. Should we focus on the 2 language paper rather than math/sci ?
As i understand math/sci will be easy to GEP/Top school students and therefore after applying the T-score, the result of an avg student will not make much a different ??

Advice need.
Much appreciated

262+2. 3A*, 1A
1. Learning Lab
2. English class
3. We started during P6 in Feb 17 and ended Sep 17.My DD reaped a lot of benefits from the lesson. However, we are not a big fan of enrichment. This is the only enrichment stint DD had.
4. Depends on your strategy, your child strength and her current level. Under the T-score system, I would tend to agree languages matters more.

thanks!
Congrats to your DD!
Is the only enrichment , your DD must be hardworking and motivated kid!

Can i check , attending Learning Lab, is it a big jump in the result ? Which subject did your DD attend ?[/quote]By the way, there is no miracle solution so what worked in this case may not work else where.. We took on a very targeted approach to improving the results.
P4 Second Half - Focus on Chinese - Improve (knowledge, skills, technique etc) and hold the result
P5 First Half - Focus on Science - Improve and hold
P5 Second Half - Focus on Maths - Improve and hold
P6 First Half - Time for English. This is the trickier portion as we felt it was rather difficult to improve from 80s to 90+. So we enrolled in Learning Lab and I highlighted to the teacher the specific sections that DD was weaker in. Content wise LL is pretty good. I also observed DD's improvement over the few months.
By P6 Prelim - English has improved to A*.

By the way, I have friends who send their kids to lots of enrichment, including LL but the results are not as desired. Please don't form the impression that LL is the solution itself. At the end of the day, you will still have to do a bit of research, understand what is being taught and how it is being taught, talk to the teacher, track and review the progress etc.

[xn_mummy]

Hi soneat

thanks for the detail feedback!
TTL -> agree that some might be suitable , some might not be
Actually i monitor my elder's result very very closely till i feel i am the one taking exam
my elder , his score at P5 was then near 80 to 85. However at P6, it start to drop to 65-75.
I look at his work, math alot of question cannot handle but the tuition centre cant really help as it is a class

[chenlaoshi]

FantasyLandDreams:

HI all

Just wanted to ask, is it true the base mark weightage is as per below, which means those stronger in maths and science are at a disadvantage actually?

English 200
Chinese 200
Maths 100
Science 100
Total: 600

Keep seeing above info circulated in Facebook these few days, but I always thought each subject is 100 base mark before converting to t-score. Any current or ex teachers here can help verify? Thanks.

Actually the main factor behind the perception of language subjects making a 'bigger' difference as compared to Math and Science is the Standard Deviation (how spread out the marks of all the pupils are).

If number crunching doesn't do your head in, you can take a look at http://www.greatminds.edu.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89:disclose-t-score-secret&catid=59:great-minds-club&Itemid=91...

Historically, [quote]the 4 subjects' raw score bell curves vary in the size of their bell bottoms in the following manner...

(1) Math - wide bell bottom
(2) Science - less wide bell bottom
(3) English - even less wide bell bottom
(4) Chinese - narrowest bell bottom.[/quote]Graphical examples (figures used are random though):
- This chart shows how that the SD influence on T-score (note that Mean is kept constant for comparison purposes - obviously unlikely/impossible)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4I3iBY9WfFM/UHa7AdGhQLI/AAAAAAAABvc/wdUvGKUGz9k/s320/T-Scores+Table.png\">

- Based on this chart, the child 'performed better' in Math than Science (since the Mean for Math is lower). However, note how SD can influence the T-score.
https://s18.postimg.org/fwxdtt66h/image.jpg\">

At the end of the day no ones knows what the Mean and SD is for each subject annually but a glimpse at past years' PSLE subject performance (like this one for 2016) does suggest the above SD 'trend/pattern' is likely
https://s18.postimg.org/7jwqw3kyh/2016.jpg\">

[soneat]

xn_mummy:

Hi soneat

thanks for the detail feedback!
TTL -> agree that some might be suitable , some might not be
Actually i monitor my elder's result very very closely till i feel i am the one taking exam
my elder , his score at P5 was then near 80 to 85. However at P6, it start to drop to 65-75.
I look at his work, math alot of question cannot handle but the tuition centre cant really help as it is a class

IMHO, monitoring alone is insufficient.
First, one must have the desire to improve.
Second, one must believe that he can always do better tomorrow.
Third, one must take action, else its NATO (No action talk only).

For us, P4: 75-85, P5: 80-90, P6: 9x-100.
P5 was the toughest period for us as there was a lot of work/content. We review through each and every worksheet, homework and assignment from school. We also buy some assessment/guidebooks from Popular. DD will go through them herself and \"consult\" me for tougher questions for all subjects. We do not adopt the mindset that this subject or that subject is tough and therefore cannot handle - we make sure we always get them resolved. We also set realistic target for each subject during each CA/SA.
By P6, DD was 90% auto-pilot for her studies and self-driven. For English, I couldn't help to mentor to a higher score for Oral and Compo - so that's when I seek temporary external help.

We work hard and play hard, so its not just study and study. We do have several family trips a year.

Btw, if your DS cannot answer a certain maths question, he should try to seek clarification after the class and the teacher should at least give a sample solution.

[sharonkhoo]

FantasyLandDreams:

HI all

Just wanted to ask, is it true the base mark weightage is as per below, which means those stronger in maths and science are at a disadvantage actually?

English 200
Chinese 200
Maths 100
Science 100
Total: 600

I think this \"double-weightage on languages\" is old and should be ignored, just as the term \"aggregate\" is no longer valid. I don't think it's been used since the PSLE grading switched to T-score years ago. The reason that languages have a greater impact on T-score is because the standard deviation for those subjects is probably greater.

[SpartanMum]

soneat:

xn_mummy:

Hi soneat

thanks for the detail feedback!
TTL -> agree that some might be suitable , some might not be
Actually i monitor my elder's result very very closely till i feel i am the one taking exam
my elder , his score at P5 was then near 80 to 85. However at P6, it start to drop to 65-75.
I look at his work, math alot of question cannot handle but the tuition centre cant really help as it is a class

IMHO, monitoring alone is insufficient.
First, one must have the desire to improve.
Second, one must believe that he can always do better tomorrow.
Third, one must take action, else its NATO (No action talk only).

For us, P4: 75-85, P5: 80-90, P6: 9x-100.
P5 was the toughest period for us as there was a lot of work/content. We review through each and every worksheet, homework and assignment from school. We also buy some assessment/guidebooks from Popular. DD will go through them herself and \"consult\" me for tougher questions for all subjects. We do not adopt the mindset that this subject or that subject is tough and therefore cannot handle - we make sure we always get them resolved. We also set realistic target for each subject during each CA/SA.
By P6, DD was 90% auto-pilot for her studies and self-driven. For English, I couldn't help to mentor to a higher score for Oral and Compo - so that's when I seek temporary external help.

We work hard and play hard, so its not just study and study. We do have several family trips a year.

Btw, if your DS cannot answer a certain maths question, he should try to seek clarification after the class and the teacher should at least give a sample solution.

If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it's that while every child is different, every family is also very different. The motivated parent can do wonders if they have all the right resources. I refer to resources in the broadest possible sense - in-born and acquired.

xn_mummy: you have your heart in the right place - you want the best for your kids. Some parents don't even monitor their kids...so you are off to a great start! Not every kid can go into auto-pilot at age 11/12. Especially boys! I should know ...I have two of them! Just do your best, don't worry too much. That's all we can all do as parents ya?

Take care, take care