2018 PSLE Discussions & Strategies (Born in 2006)

[LeeTaiTai]

fruittree:

Thanks much hquek.. Gotta apply leave liaoo..


Anybody has kids that need to travel 1.5 hours? My DD put SNGS as 1st choice, now am so worried how is she going to survive the commute time 3 hours per day
Hopefully they have school bus from my area.

But again she may or may not get in also..

You may want to check cos I went for open house and one friend i met told me she is thinking of the school as its the rare few that has school bus. I am not sure really but do call to check as it may be due to primary school kids in the same premises.

[ChiefKiasu]

fruittree:

...

1. From the past posts, I noticed most parents (or older bro/sis) opted for MGS/Cedar/SCGS, I somehow seldom see SNGS.
May I know whether this is purely coincidence or somehow SNGS is just less preferred?
2. After we know which sch our kid gonna be posted to, they will need to report to sch on the next day. Does parent need to come along?

Thank You

SNGS is a premiere Secondary school (if not the best) in Singapore. It like Raffles, minus the prestigious name. Singaporeans, being Asian-oriented, tend to like RI (boys) better. I'm not sure why parents think it is because of their own choice that their girls did not go to SNGS. It's more likely they were rebuffed by SNGS.
At Secondary level, kids are supposed to be given more freedom. Some Secondary schools actually tell students not be bring their parents along registration. Better to listen to what the schools want.

[shuangbaoma]

pengpeng:

Hi, my DS got 257+2, my submitted choices are as below table with historical COP data in the past 4 years collected


2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 PSLE cut-off points (COP) for the next year Intake:

Name of school\t COP 2014\tCOP 2015\tCOP 2016\tCOP 2017\tIP / IB\tchoice
Hwa Chong Institution IP SAP\t 256\t 256\t 259\t 258\t IP\t 1
Raffles Institution IP \t 259\t 256\t 260\t 257\t IP\t 2
National Junior College IP 255\t 254\t 256\t 256\t IP\t 3
Anglo-Chinese School(Independent) IB \t 253\t 252\t 256\t 256\t IB\t 4
Dunman High School IP SAP \t 256\t 253\t 257\t 255\t IP\t 5
St. Joseph’s Institution IB \t 250\t 248\t 253\t 253\t IB\t 6


Heard this year COP might not be higher than last year (EESIS is 260 compared to last year 262?)

Does my DS have a high chance to get in HCI? Feel a bit anxious until 19 Dec.

Thanks!

your Son has higher chance.

[6thisnthat9]

Parents stress is self induced lah, and agree that as parents we can't run away from it in a competitive society, but we as parents need to protect our kids from the unhealthy, unnecessary external factors until one day kids are matured and trained properly by us to be able to shield them off.

Al banding is unfamiliar and has uncertainties, hence apprehension is understandable but our kids are still the same, as precious to us as to the society and small country.

laughingcat:

floppy:

I don't think MOE says the new AL banding will give parents less pressure.
https://www.moe.gov.sg/microsites/psle/FAQs/rationale-and-intent-of-changes.html will reduce stress among children.

:rotflmao: the MOE who comes up with such statement must also THINK lah. Parents stress means children stress also leh. Parents transfer the stress level to kids.

[MrsKiasu]

.zeit:

pirate:

[quote=\"MrsKiasu\"]huh, top 30% usually around how many points?

If top 10% is around 252, top 15.9% around 240 (one standard deviation) and mean is 200, my guess will be around 225.

Per 2017 stats, the SAP school that has the lowest COP is MSHS which is an all boys school, so does it mean girls within the cohort's top 30% who want to take HCL can only pick AHS or CCHSM whose COPs are 238?

Can one go to another SAP sec to take his/her HCL lessons? How does this HCL 30% thingy work?[/quote]the 30% thingy is a new one day old info to me more qns ..if kid flung hcl in PSLE, will it affect the chances of kid to choose hcl in sec1 say compared to a kid same points but no attempt for hcl in PSLE assuming both within the 30%?

only SAP secondary schools will offer hcl ie if not in SAP school cant take hcl?

[phtthp]

.zeit:

Per 2017 stats, the SAP school that has the lowest COP is MSHS which is an all boys school, so does it mean girls within the cohort's top 30% who want to take HCL can only pick AHS or CCHSM whose COPs are 238?

Can one go to another SAP sec to take his/her HCL lessons? How does this HCL 30% thingy work?

Hi .zeit,

If fall outside Top 30 percent, cannot go SAP school. Only within Top 30 percent, then can.

Is stated inside Moe website (HCL)

Amongst all the SAP secondary schools so far in Sg, which is the SAP school, that has the lowest Cut-off-point ? It is ... Maris Stella (MS)

And what is Maris Stella Cut-off-point ?
Around 235 or 236 ?

This means that, if students can enter MS (SAP) at 236, one can interpret that the Top 30 percent Cut-off, is somewhere around here (236 T-score)

CHIJ St Nicholas case

If a P6 student PSLE score is

228 (+2)

Total add up is 230, met the affliation T-score (230).

But, strangely :? , why still cannot go back to St Nick (O level) ?

Because 228, fall outside of Top 30 percent, unfortunately. So, cannot apply or utilise her (+2) Higher Chinese. In the end, went to some other Secondary school instead, be ause

- her 228 is short of 2 points from affliation 230. Appeal also no use, because MOE said must meet Cut off point, then can appeal.

- she cannot utilise her (+2) bonus points, because her 228 fell outside Top 30 percent, so cannot apply, cannot utilise.

[MrsKiasu]

ngl2010:

I think rather than spend so much time in HCL, it is better to just take CL and spend more time on other subjects. The child may get 10 points higher than a miserable 3 points (maximum) which he/she may not be able to use it to apply for admission to SAP schools. JMHO

true and I agree..told kid before, and reply received was same same, cl and hcl :? and surviving so I thought just let it be if offered.

[fable]

So 39,672 students sat for the PSLE this year(number taken from ST). If 260 represents the top 3%, that means 1,190 students (rounded down all decimals for convenience) scored at least 260. Just for convenience, lets make some assumptions:

1) the same number of boys and girls in the top 3%, i.e. 595 from each gender.
2) RI intake is 500 students a year (based on an old post somewhere in ksp), and 20% of the places are allocated via DSA
3) About 30% of the students who are in the top 3% already have a place in a school of their choice via DSA - that works out to a little over 400 boys looking for schools via S1 posting.

Based on these assumptions (and please keep in mind that they are just back of envelope), if all of them apply to RI, the COP will be 260 as number of places match number of boys. But since it is unlikely that they will all apply to one school the COP is likely to be lower than ESIS score.

(thanks, pirate, for the correction in number of PSLE candidates :oops: )

[LeeTaiTai]

I have met parents who told me their kids struggling with hcl after going in…but they are reluctant to give it up… they are in the no 3 no 4 situation but I feel kids once inside have a pressure to continue even if they just pass the "make it" line. Must ask yourself…the objective as most parents will want to retain the subject as long as the kid can take it for potential usage. And every school support is different. My niece in a neighbourhood school doing hcl told me her class drop out rate is high, she doesnt feel motivated. So many factors to think…not just using it for bonus points…good to have but there are sacrifices. My DD finds it hard but she wants to continue when school gave the option as she sees big improvement based on her hard work and she finds that she can tackle normal chinese more easily… 一举两得. Her teacher is positive and kind and she loves her lesson…so she is going to give it a shot in PSLE as a personal challenge.

[phtthp]

MrsKiasu:

the 30% thingy is a new one day old info to me more qns ..if kid flung hcl in PSLE, will it affect the chances of kid to choose hcl in sec1 say compared to a kid same points but no attempt for hcl in PSLE assuming both within the 30%?

only SAP secondary schools will offer hcl ie if not in SAP school cant take hcl?

Depends on which SAP school u join.

Some SAP schools are generous, in that even though one had never done PSLE HCL, never mind, it is all right, don't worry. In fact, they encourage u (some even made it compulsory) to take Sec 1 HCL, let u have the experience of learning or try it out. After trying out one of two years later, if really cannot cope, then they allow u to drop HCL. Why they encourage u to take HCL from Sec 1 ? So that after clear it in Year 4, don't have to bother about Chinese anymore, in Year 5.

On the other hand, some SAP schools very particular, very fussy, v strict. Only if your PSLE results say u can do HCL, then they allow u to. Otherwise, cannot.

One thing to note

If u take Normal Chinese in Sec 3, another hurdle can set in. Some schools very fussy, again. If unable to score a minimum of B3 in Normal Chinese at Sec 3 (or Year 3), they forbid u to take Higher Chinese, in Year 4.

But other schools, generous. Regardless of what grade u achieved (obtained) for Normal Chinese in Year 3, they still allow u to take Higher Chinese, in Year 4.

Thus, before enrol into a Sec school, best to find out about how the school handle HCL first.