2021 PSLE Discussions and Strategies (Children born in 2009)
-
Participate in ICAS to gauge the child’s standard. But not all schools participate.
-
nowadays, many primary schools had done away with ICAS already.
The stand now from MOE,
is clear : de-emphasize lesser, on academic tests / assessments -
No more TOP school exam papers for Pri 1 & 2.
-
Cloud Cloud:
No more TOP school exam papers for Pri 1 & 2.
Those vendors selling Top schools past year papers, their earnings affected because now, students no need to buy
- (P1 / P2) past year papers,
- (P3 / P5 / Sec 1 / Sec 3) SA1 past year papers anymore -
phtthp:
My girl pri school is considered neighbourhood. Had wanted to use the top school papers to assess her standard. Her school most probably won’t participate in ICAS.Cloud Cloud:
No more TOP school exam papers for Pri 1 & 2.
Those vendors selling Top schools past year papers, their earnings affected because now, students no need to buy
- (P1 / P2) past year papers,
- (P3 / P5 / Sec 1 / Sec 3) SA1 past year papers anymore -
Cloud Cloud:
You can still apply ICAS and do a benchmark test on your own as a private candidate.
My girl pri school is considered neighbourhood. Had wanted to use the top school papers to assess her standard. Her school most probably won’t participate in ICAS. -
My DS school was already compliant with the P1 and P2 changes, ahead of this press release. I guess it was either a “pilot school” or the principal just wanted to implement the changes earlier.
So I wish to debunk the fact that there will be no more school “exam” papers being set and/or sold. The schools will still continue to conduct topical tests. And orals and listening compre mocks + tests. Just that they will be spread out more evenly over the year. And broken down into smaller components eg cloze passage test, synthesis & transformation test. What is being removed is the high-stakes SA1 (30%) and SA2 (50%). It is these 2 major exams that make the kids and parents feel excessively pressurized. It is unnecessary.
What the change requires is a mindset change (in both students & coaching parents) to consistent, regular topical revision. The test will still be marked. I still see a score on the test paper when it comes home. But there is no total mark in the report book for parents to see. Merely qualitative indicators on the child’s behavior and character as observed in school (yes, like kindergarten report book). I am happy and satisfied. I don’t care to know whether he’s top or bottom of the class. And the kids should not be fixated on their ranking either.
Again, the school is ahead of other schools by eliminating streaming. All the P2s will be sorted into mixed ability class. No top class or bottom class at all. So there is definitely an internal total mark tabulation by the school. For confidential use only. Otherwise how to sort them fairly into mixed ability classes right? -
Cloud Cloud:
for languages (English / Chinese):-
My girl pri school is considered neighbourhood. Had wanted to use the top school papers to assess her standard. Her school most probably won’t participate in ICAS.
grammar, vocab don't change, over the years. So, you can still use Top schools past year papers, let your daughter practise at home.
But for ( Maths & Science) :-
every 5 years or so : MOE tend to change syllabus, different from languages.
Since (P3 / P5) SA1 are gone : ignore all those (P3 / P5) SA1 past year papers.
Just focus on SA2 past year papers will do, since SA2 remain to be tested : from (P3 all the way right up to Secondary 4) SA2. Junior College A-level H1 vs. H2 subject combination, is another different scenario.
Just go with the flow, whatever the new MOE changes had been announced.
another thing to note is :
currently, there are still some schools that stream at the end of P2, into Top few new P3 classes vs. average classes, although on the other hand, there are also a number of schools that had already eliminated this streaming thing, at end of P2 : by turning all P3 classes into \"Mixed Ability\" classes. Eg. many GEP schools had already implemented this.
Going forward, with this new MOE announcement that the first 2 years of (P1 and P2) going to be tests-free, this means from 2019 onwards, no more streaming at end of P2.
All P3 classes will become \"Mixed Ability\" classes. So, u won't hear of Top x number of P3 classes anymore, since MOE direction said clearly, \"no more graded nor weighted tests, at P2\"
In the past, x can be Top (2 or 3) P3 classes.
No more streaming at end of P2, is correct.
But, there is still streaming at end of P4, because of different subject combination taken, at P5.
ie. take # of Standard subjects vs. # of Foundation subject.
Cannot run away, from P4 year-end streaming. -
Zappy:
many primary schools had already done away with ICAS tests : particularly those from Affliated primary schools, plus some GEP schools.
You can still apply ICAS and do a benchmark test on your own as a private candidate.Cloud Cloud:
My girl pri school is considered neighbourhood. Had wanted to use the top school papers to assess her standard. Her school most probably won’t participate in ICAS.
Why (reason), No need ICAS tests ?
For Affliated primary schools :-Principal informed parents that ICAS tests are not necessary, since students can enter back into their Affliated Secondary schools; via the Affliated Discounted new AL score, from this pioneer batch of 2021 (born 2009), onwards. -
Relevant ICAS certs can be submitted for DSA applications as of now… But yes in future, who knows.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login