2018 PSLE Discussions & Strategies (Born in 2006)

[sadhuvish]

lego:

sadhuvish:

Just wanted to share some more info for parents who will be exercising their DC's secondary school options during this week. I did some search on Google. Found this MOE website, which is more informative for anyone who are still confused like me:
https://www.moe.gov.sg/microsites/psle/FAQs/posting-changes.html
Hope this helps!

Do note that those changes are only for the 2021 batch.
Those exercising their options this week is still based on the merit over choice system as spelt out in the choosing your sec school 2019 booklet. (Page 3)

https://www.moe.gov.sg/docs/default-source/document/education/admissions/secondary-one-posting/2018/s1-posting_english.pdf

Yes. the NOW section is current system

[lego]

mdas:

Hi, my girl got 246. I am considering Bukit Panjang Govt High School, St Margaret's Secondary School, Swiss Cottage Secondary School. We are staying at Bukit Panjang area. Anybody can recommend any other school? Also any review on St Margaret's Secondary School? Appreciate your feedback.

I have a pretty good impression of nan hua high school when I went to their open house a few years back.

[oldman123]

emoh:

oldman123:

Hi Emoh, actually B and C are Christian schools (Maris Stella and St. Andrew) ,which we preferred, but they are in the East while we are staying in the West. They will take 40 to 45 mins to get there with at least one change in MRT or bus. While A is walking distance from home. Do you think it is worthwhile ? Son is only child easily infleunced by his peer. Thanks a million.

A is Clementi Town ? Its a good school. Bring him to the schools to have a feel of the place and let him have a say. Make him take public transport so he knows how is it like if it involves travelling 45 mins daily.

Dear All
Yes, A is Clementi Town. We will consider it carefully too. We actually passed by the school almost every other day.
We have also taken our son to visit St. Andrew yesterday by bus and returned by MRT, and will visit Maris Stella this Saturday.

Would appreciate if any experienced parents can advise on whether travelling 40 to 45 mins to a secondary school (with an exchange of MRT/bus) considered too demanding/exhausting. Please take into consideration of the three schools we mentioned above. Thank you so much. :thankyou:

[vectorbiz]

mdas:

Hi, my girl got 246. I am considering Bukit Panjang Govt High School, St Margaret's Secondary School, Swiss Cottage Secondary School. We are staying at Bukit Panjang area. Anybody can recommend any other school? Also any review on St Margaret's Secondary School? Appreciate your feedback.

My son is in Swiss Sec 3 this year, he enjoys Swiss life and always say Swiss is the best school in Singapore. Swiss give fair opportunity to everybody regardless their academic results, Swiss very emphasize on leadership program, my son always at bottom line in exam results but he get the fair opportunity to train as CCA leader and some overseas trip. He also encourage his sister to enroll to Swiss this year.

My daughter score 248 + 2 and she is very hard working type and she would like to try RV and follow by Bt Pjg Gov High (we went to open house for RV, Swiss and BPGH ).

I saw somebody recommended Nan Hua, I admitted that this is a very good school and the study environment is good. But the travelling time is long and only 1 bus available fr Clementi to the school , I drop this idea few years back after I try myself the travelling hour.

Personally, since you are staying in Bt Pjg why not you try BPGH follow by Swiss ?

[TwentyFiftyTwenty]

Hi All,


This is a bit of a different post to what others are posting. While I am not exactly a parent, I am an older brother to a sister who gave the PSLE and received her scores yesterday.

I am relatively new to this procedure, and, due to some circumstances, I am helping her out in choosing a Secondary school and educational matters if she has a doubt in subject matter. Her PSLE score is a 258. As of now, she is considering Temasek JC and MGS. Would you have any recommendations for a school of that score?

In addition, I noticed a post a few pages back or so concerning whether to choose IB or A levels down the line. As a current IB student about to graduate in next year May, I feel I can help out a bit here. A Levels definitely has a much more vast curriculum than IB, and academically wise, is tougher than the IB from my experience. However, IB is much more harder overall due to extra curricular's you have to complete if you are taking the Diploma, i.e. CAS (a form of community service), EE (Extended Essay of 4000 Words on a topic of your choice within a subject offered - basically like a thesis in university), IA's (\"Investigations\" within a topic for subjects; it is called IA's for Science subjects and Math and Written Tasks for Language Subjects). In addition to this, there are a multitude of forms etc you have to fill during the diploma program. Additionally, the IB Diploma Program allows a student to usually remove one year from their total study time in University. For example, I am serving my National Service next year, but after that, when I go to university, I will only have to do 3 years of Uni and not 4 because the diploma acts as a credit form of system.

Apologies to all if I broke some form of rule or this became too big. If anybody has a question for IB or anything you can just drop me a PM. I just wanted to help other parents make an educated decision. Also, if anybody has any recommendations for a school, that would be very helpful.

Thanks

[msnakim]

sky minecrafter:

msnakim:

Hi! DD scored 230. We are considering these schools:

Clementi Town
Anyone can share info on the school culture and student behaviour/discipline? Looking for nurturing environment and dedicated teachers.

Hello msnakim, Clementi Town has a decent Maths Olympiad program spanning the 4 years. Children sit for a test in Term 1 and they will be considered alongside past Olympiad experiences.
(1) Enrolment at Sec1: 4 classes of Express, 2 classes of NA, 1 class of NT.
(2) Upper Sec: 1 class of triple SC (entry depends on MA+SC grades as well as overall grade), 2 classes of double SC (popular combination is Pure Chemistry + Pure Biology), the others take combined SC. Chemistry is a compulsory subject in all Secondary schools. The difference between Combined SC and Pure SC is depth.
(3) Upper Sec: Elementary Maths is compulsory in all Secondary schools. The school also offers Additional Maths to whoever is interested. Those who are not mathematically inclined can opt for POA.
(4) Upper Sec: Social Studies is compulsory in all Secondary schools. The school offers Pure SS (some schools offer combined SS, with either History or Geography). The difference between Combined History and Pure History is breadth.
(5) Upper Sec: The school also offers English Literature, Pure Geography, Pure History.

Thanks Sky Minecrafter. Excellent info!

[floppy]

TwentyFiftyTwenty:

...

I am relatively new to this procedure, and, due to some circumstances, I am helping her out in choosing a Secondary school and educational matters if she has a doubt in subject matter. Her PSLE score is a 258. As of now, she is considering Temasek JC and MGS. Would you have any recommendations for a school of that score?
...
Additionally, the IB Diploma Program allows a student to usually remove one year from their total study time in University. For example, I am serving my National Service next year, but after that, when I go to university, I will only have to do 3 years of Uni and not 4 because the diploma acts as a credit form of system
...

258 may not get her into MGS based on last year's COP: Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) IB (girls) – 260.
TJC COP is on the lower end of the IP schools: Temasek Junior College IP (co-ed) – 249.
She can consider anything in between, but if she die-die wants TJC, then you can fill in anything for choice 3 to 6 and it won't matter.

For IB Diploma credits, not all universities accept advance credits for IB Diploma - most of the US universities do, and if you have your eyes set on a US university, it's worth considering.

[zac's mum]

In case anybody is looking for this page. I am posting the link here for your convenience: https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=91634&start=10


The schools are sorted according to their last year’s COP. Just match your kid’s T score to the COPs here and you will get a few schools in that range. Narrow down to those schools nearer your house. Easy peasy. Im sure u can find 6 choices to put in.

[Estéema]

oldman123:

emoh:

[quote=\"oldman123\"]Hi Emoh, actually B and C are Christian schools (Maris Stella and St. Andrew) ,which we preferred, but they are in the East while we are staying in the West. They will take 40 to 45 mins to get there with at least one change in MRT or bus. While A is walking distance from home. Do you think it is worthwhile ? Son is only child easily infleunced by his peer. Thanks a million.

A is Clementi Town ? Its a good school. Bring him to the schools to have a feel of the place and let him have a say. Make him take public transport so he knows how is it like if it involves travelling 45 mins daily.

Dear All
Yes, A is Clementi Town. We will consider it carefully too. We actually passed by the school almost every other day.
We have also taken our son to visit St. Andrew yesterday by bus and returned by MRT, and will visit Maris Stella this Saturday.

Would appreciate if any experienced parents can advise on whether travelling 40 to 45 mins to a secondary school (with an exchange of MRT/bus) considered too demanding/exhausting. Please take into consideration of the three schools we mentioned above. Thank you so much. :thankyou:[/quote]oldman123,

Based on your one remark “only child easily infleunced by his peer”, I wld suggest you consider a few actions :-

1. You might want to chat more with your child about his choices in everything & give praise for those he make good decisions with & esp those he showed ability to resist temptations (can be choice of sugary drinks, deep fried or dry crackers, violence on TV programmes, etc). Do this regularly & often enuf.

Basically, help him discern & make sensible choices.

2. In every school, there will be ‘bad influences’ of diff genre & varieties.

In a so-called top/popular school, yr child might meet with peers that are given loads by parents w/o considerations & yr child may be tempted to want to similarly possess (can be latest hp, latest CCA sports shoes, latest Ts, latest bagpack, etc). You get more peers entering sec with good grades but they’re in their tweens & teens hence easily influenced. Yr child may be influenced either way if he does not hv strong resolve & discerning abilities. I’ve seen students’ grades nosedived.

In a neighborhood school, yr child will mix with both highly motivated & unmotivated peers. What is of more concern will be peers with overdrive of hormones looking for arguments & fights. Hence, a school with strong value system, strong culture & strong school policies against such issues as bullying, use of hp outside of sch lessons, etc wld be a school to consider.

It really depends on your child’s personality & ability to make sound independent choices as he grows into maturity. So u’re probably the best as a parent to assess which school he will thrive in.

DC hv many peers fr far ends of west, north & east, who wake up at 5.30am just to reach a school that is not near any MRT Stations. You’ve to decide if this is sth he is able to live up to as a growing young man.

Whilst waiting for new sec sch term, I thot DC still not mature enuf to use his time fruitfully & May not take the dugouts of 2 CCAs a week & a whole lot of considerations whether he’ll use after sch hours gallivant or hover ard Starbucks & the likes gaming, etc. Thankfully, with good mix of students, and good sch environment, he was able to be focus & I’ve seen him mature & made very wise choices amongst some negative influences. The majority of students come fr family bkgrds that reject watching porno (when one of his classmate was fond of & tried to rope other kids to watch with him). Was not always clamouring for all things branded after initial term of excitement & kids wants to be like their peers wearing underarmor Ts & shoes & backpacks... Faint!

But there’ll be more as they grow so, whichever sec sch one is being posted. I wld say it might help with a good sch culture but as parents we still hv to help them by teaching them coping & surviving skills in midst of worldly temptations or various sort. Help him build resilient skills to face with all yr child will need to face with amongst peers when you’re not there for him.

Just sharing fr my own perspectives.

[TwentyOneDogs]

TwentyFiftyTwenty:

Hi All,


This is a bit of a different post to what others are posting. While I am not exactly a parent, I am an older brother to a sister who gave the PSLE and received her scores yesterday.

I am relatively new to this procedure, and, due to some circumstances, I am helping her out in choosing a Secondary school and educational matters if she has a doubt in subject matter. Her PSLE score is a 258. As of now, she is considering Temasek JC and MGS. Would you have any recommendations for a school of that score?

In addition, I noticed a post a few pages back or so concerning whether to choose IB or A levels down the line. As a current IB student about to graduate in next year May, I feel I can help out a bit here. A Levels definitely has a much more vast curriculum than IB, and academically wise, is tougher than the IB from my experience. However, IB is much more harder overall due to extra curricular's you have to complete if you are taking the Diploma, i.e. CAS (a form of community service), EE (Extended Essay of 4000 Words on a topic of your choice within a subject offered - basically like a thesis in university), IA's (\"Investigations\" within a topic for subjects; it is called IA's for Science subjects and Math and Written Tasks for Language Subjects). In addition to this, there are a multitude of forms etc you have to fill during the diploma program. Additionally, the IB Diploma Program allows a student to usually remove one year from their total study time in University. For example, I am serving my National Service next year, but after that, when I go to university, I will only have to do 3 years of Uni and not 4 because the diploma acts as a credit form of system.

Apologies to all if I broke some form of rule or this became too big. If anybody has a question for IB or anything you can just drop me a PM. I just wanted to help other parents make an educated decision. Also, if anybody has any recommendations for a school, that would be very helpful.

Thanks

Hello, 258 is below the COP for MGS IP program. However, she can try to get into the IP program in Secondary 2. My DD was in a similar situation a few years ago, where they raised the COP for MGS IP to 261, even though she got 259. However, she managed to get into MGS IP in Secondary 2 after getting good results for the Secondary 2 exams. I strongly recommend MGS. Even if she is unable to get into IP, their O level program is quite good.