2018 PSLE Discussions & Strategies (Born in 2006)

[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.

[phtthp]

Hi TwentyOneDogs,


Is it possible to elaborate more in detail, how MGS (O-level) program is good ? Thank you, very much, for kind sharing

[oldman123]

Dear Esteema


Thank you for your kind advice. We have only one child and every thing is new to us. We try to play an active parenting role but sometime not quite sure we are doing the right thing or not. We think he would look toward his peers as he has no elder sibling to play role model.

[TwentyFiftyTwenty]

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.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll help her look for something in between because putting all egg into TJC can be risky. Perhaps RV? From what I understand, SJI (Institution) becomes co-ed during 11th and 12th, so maybe we will keep that for down the road. NJC might work?

And yes, perhaps I should have been more specific. US Universities tend to be the only ones that knock off a year. I understand that some Australian and a few European Universities (one in Austria and France as far as I know) accept credits too. Not sure for Singapore.

[Estéema]

oldman123:

Dear Esteema


Thank you for your kind advice. We have only one child and every thing is new to us. We try to play an active parenting role but sometime not quite sure we are doing the right thing or not. We think he would look toward his peers as he has no elder sibling to play role model.

I u’stand yr concern as a parent.

Do prepare yourself mentally to allow for yr child to veer towards peers but guide alongside w/o criticizing his frds outright. It is natural for growing teens to navigate amongst their peers. If possible join a parent chatgrp to work behind the scenes to guide the kids. If the new sec sch has any parent volunteer activities, join in to contribute to your child’s wellbeing & to build a positive community in yr child’s sch.

[TwentyFiftyTwenty]

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.

Appreciate the advice. I'll definitely help her look into it. For now, she is quite set on joining IP, as my IB materials now will help her in the future. But even if she takes O Levels, I have IGCSE Materials which are quite similar to O Level work which will help, so it is definitely an option on the table for her.

[emoh]

TwentyFiftyTwenty:

floppy:

[quote=\"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.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll help her look for something in between because putting all egg into TJC can be risky. Perhaps RV? From what I understand, SJI (Institution) becomes co-ed during 11th and 12th, so maybe we will keep that for down the road. NJC might work?

And yes, perhaps I should have been more specific. US Universities tend to be the only ones that knock off a year. I understand that some Australian and a few European Universities (one in Austria and France as far as I know) accept credits too. Not sure for Singapore.[/quote]Though SJI is co-ed in JC1 and JC2, they will take in students from the O Level track via JAE. Might be tough if already in IP school as they would have their own JC1 and JC2 programme, be it NJC, TJC etc.

[ski]

258 can get her into MGS (SBA) class not IB. So technically she can still get into MGS.

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.