2018 PSLE Discussions & Strategies (Born in 2006)

[valiant88]

floppy:

.zeit:

Yes because A's a broad band and there's the bellcurve, the std deviation vz cohort, etc.

But under the new grading system, you should focus on bettering your own raw scores and ignore everyone else's. There were some interesting discussions in another thread among some forummers re strategising / prioritising one's revision based on the historical % of qns set on X topic (e.g. UTM Ratio - 4-mark qn) per past year Math papers, and sacrificing selected tough topics so as to grab the low hanging fruits. The logic is: after all, sacrificing 4 marks or 8 marks may still give you the same outcome of AL 1-point (> 91%), provided you're super solid in other topics.

My view is this sort of gamble should be discouraged under the present system (till 2020), because if the vast majority of kids in one's cohort can solve that 4-mark qn, the one who burnt that qn would have one's t-score affected.

Question : Is the grading of the current PSLE being adjusted according to bell curve or does it reflect the raw score with only T score being bell curve? (i.e. if someone has an A* does it mean that for the paper they get >91% or it will be adjusted depending on what others get?)

[I wanna know]

queendom:

Dear all

like to hear feedback on Nan Chiau and Chung Cheng High Main. Both schools are of almost same standard, both SAP schools, similiar chinese culture. Only difference is Chung Cheng high has affiliation to JC. Nan chiau is near my place whereas chung cheng high is far, about an hour journey.
Is it worth to travel so far for the affiliation?
Many thanks.

A few years back, I went to Nan Chiau High school for election officer training. Past by their class. Students were self discipline during recess. Totally impressed by their mannerism. They will bow to visitors. At around 5-6pm, I still see boys wearing spectacles hanging in school studying and greeted me as well. It's a really good school in Sengkang that many of us in the neighbourhood hoped for. I know a few students in Sec 1 last year who got in the schools. Their character are excellent too.

[.010675zeit]

Valiant88


Not too sure at this point. I’ve always suspected there’s still gonna be a bellcurve under the new system.

We’ll have to wait patiently for a 2021 candidate to tell us. Someone who does the Math paper should be able to advise parents the answer, cos as soon as the PYP is released on Popular bookshelves in Jan, the kid can check the marks he/she lost and correspond against his actual AL-point for Math If kid was darn sure he lost more than 10 marks, and yet still attained AL1, that means there has been a moderation.

[queendom]

I wanna know:

queendom:

Dear all

like to hear feedback on Nan Chiau and Chung Cheng High Main. Both schools are of almost same standard, both SAP schools, similiar chinese culture. Only difference is Chung Cheng high has affiliation to JC. Nan chiau is near my place whereas chung cheng high is far, about an hour journey.
Is it worth to travel so far for the affiliation?
Many thanks.

A few years back, I went to Nan Chiau High school for election officer training. Past by their class. Students were self discipline during recess. Totally impressed by their mannerism. They will bow to visitors. At around 5-6pm, I still see boys wearing spectacles hanging in school studying and greeted me as well. It's a really good school in Sengkang that many of us in the neighbourhood hoped for. I know a few students in Sec 1 last year who got in the schools. Their character are excellent too.

Thanks for the feedback.

[24hr]

need advice, torn between 2 confirm can get in choices, Beatty Sec and Kent Ridge, dd ok with both.

In terms of discipline, academic and the badminton cca,
which will be a wiser choice?

[mlee01]

ds1246:

zac's mum:

[quote=\"ds1246\"]I am looking for the priority order from below school list for O Level.


Anderson Secondary - 245
Anglo Chinese School ( Independent ) - 249
St. Joseph Institution - 244
Swiss Cottage - 239
Victoria School - 246
Yishun Town Secondary - 235

1. Anglo Chinese School ( Independent ) - 249
2. Victoria School - 246
3. Anderson Secondary - 245
4. St. Joseph Institution - 244
5. Swiss Cottage - 239
6. Yishun Town Secondary - 235

Thanks a lot for your time ans suggestion, for your info tscore is 246
In case of victoria school we are worried travel time, as we stay in north.[/quote]My son is in year 2 next year. He has a classmate who lives in the North (where exactly I don't know), he stays at the boarding school on weekdays and goes home on weekends. Depends on individual boy whether he can be independent, not every child likes this arrangement.

[pirate]

hazeline:

The benefits of IP is very different from taking third language. Your comparison is unwarranted and hostile. I mentioned that my question is other the benefit of acquiring a new language.


I wanted to know if there is any benefit for taking 3rd language since IP students are entering JC directly, unlike O level students where there is a 2 point bonus for admission into JC.

I saw other parents asking about 3rd language selection here, hence, it was a follow on question. It was a genuine question in my mind, being a first time p6 parent.

It is important for parents to keep in mind what are the supposed benefits of IP (other than entering JC directly), which is primarily to free up time from having to prepare for 'O' levels, and use the time freed up to provide greater breadth in academic and non-academic curriculum, ie. so that the child can be 'stretched' in supposedly non-academic areas.

Taking a 3rd language is itself greater breadth - the kid is learning something outside the usual A-level or IB subjects. It 'stretches' the child. There are any number of experts who are of the view that learning another language develops the brain's cognitive ability. It takes the child out of his/her comfort zone. The different grammar and linguistic rules force the child to think differently from the manner he/she was used to. Indeed, it appears (from the third language thread) that many children find it so challenging to balance taking a 3rd language and keeping up with school curriculum and activities that they drop out of the program within a year, and we are talking about the cream of the crop here, ie. IP students and top 10%.

So, no. If you look at it from a fundamental level, the benefits of IP and taking 3rd language is not very different.

But if you are thinking of tangible perks, then no, there is no obvious tangible benefit to taking a 3rd language if the child is already in IP, other than that the 3rd language can eventually be taken in lieu of a subject (if the child eventually achieves A-level standard in that language), and university faculties may consider knowing a 3rd language as a plus when considering applicants.

If parents think that their child is already sufficiently 'stretched' by IP, and the 'breadth' provided by IP is enough for the child, then have to think very hard whether to take up the additional challenge of doing a 3rd language. The drop out rate suggests it is no joke.

[FantasyLandDreams]

Thanks XYZ1 and yap_susan for your replies. The problem is the t-score of the child is not very good which already did not leave the parents with many choices to begin with, and after throwing in reasons like no girl school allowed / no co-Ed school allowed, it makes the decision even more difficult. So it is back to the discussion table again. My take is , while parents should try to be open-minded, children should not be stubborn as well in order to reach the ‘best’ decision. Hope it ends well for my friends.

[pirate]

floppy:

This reminds me of O and A Level.


Just drill yourself to answer all the MCQ correctly - 30 out of 30, 50 out of 50 or whatever. Pick up all the low hanging fruits to form the base.
Then pick off those mid-tier difficulty level questions or topics.
Leave out those tough topics and if need to, sacrifice a few marks. If the tough topics appear in those type of select A or B questions where you are able to avoid picking them, it's like striking a jackpot.

I guess it's inevitable once the O / A Level AL style comes into play. Since the student is no longer ranked from 1 to x, just make sure he / she squeeze within a certain min / max band.

O and A level easy to get A1 and A lah. Only need 75%. Those careless kids can lose 10+ marks for sheer carelessness and still have plenty of room to score A1 or A. :siam:

New PSLE banding still not the same if the first band is at 91 marks.

[comfy]

hazeline:

The benefits of IP is very different from taking third language. Your comparison is unwarranted and hostile. I mentioned that my question is other the benefit of acquiring a new language.


I wanted to know if there is any benefit for taking 3rd language since IP students are entering JC directly, unlike O level students where there is a 2 point bonus for admission into JC.

I saw other parents asking about 3rd language selection here, hence, it was a follow on question. It was a genuine question in my mind, being a first time p6 parent.

pirate:

[quote=\"hazeline\"]Apart from the child's interest, anyone knows if there is any practical benefit in taking 3rd language for IP students? They are already through train to a JC so it's unlike O level students who can get 2 marks off the cop point for JC admission.

That's like asking is there any benefit in IP other than through train to a JC? Depends on what kind of 'benefit' you are referring to. See the 3rd language thread in the Selecting Secondary Schools forum for discussions on the pros and cons of taking 3rd language.

[/quote]
I think it is beneficial to the student if she/he has passion in the 3rd language and can score well to take it. Why? So far I have came across two students (HCI). One took up Japanese and in JC1 chose her subjects combination - Lit, KI, Japanese Lang. Econ. She does not have to take Math/Sci subjects which she literally has no interest or aptitude for it. So to me, she already going to get her A without much effort ( She is already getting very good score in those humanities subjects ) and she is enjoying/loving every moment of JC life.

Another student takes Spanish and her subjects combination - Geog, Spanish, Math and Econ as she already got good score in IP geog, Spanish and Math. So it seems that she is going to do well for her A lvl exam.

So it seems that 3rd language can be a good substitute/choice from those 'normal' A lvl subjects if you really love it and good at it and if the JC allows such combinations.