Dunman High School (Junior High)

[phtthp]

octoberbaby:

What is the point to go inside this school? For O level? The booklet put 'dash' sign.

Since Dunman High 2019 pioneering first batch of JAE students only open up around 80 brand new vacancies, 80 is a very small number. As such, the Cut-off-point estimated to be a single digit

[RestandRelax]

Finally the school included B+ and C+ into the grading system this year. Good news to the students as it will help in their GPA.

[gancheongdaddy]

RestandRelax:

Finally the school included B+ and C+ into the grading system this year. Good news to the students as it will help in their GPA.

Indeed... this is good news for the students.. I know a number of parents have voiced this out to the school before, and it's good that the school is listening... though it takes a while... :rahrah:

[kuroo]

hi! I am a secondary 1 student this year(2019), studying at Temasek Junior College(IP). I would like to seek a transfer to Dunman High School at the end of the year. I was wondering if I manage to get a good gpa for eoy, would Dunman consider me for transfer? my psle score was 252+2, and Dunman’s cop for 2018 was 256. would the psle score be taken into consideration when applying for a transfer?


In TJC, there is a lot of stress placed on ip1 students, considering that there is a large leap of change from primary 6 to secondary 1. A large amount of homework is given each day, and both my friends and i have to stay up until 12 to 1 am just to complete homework. School ends at 5+ on wednesdays and fridays because of pdp(cca). School usuallly ends after 2pm, which i feel is the time which most secondary schools end,with the exception of Thursday, with school ending at 1+. There is not enough time to complete the homework given. From what i hear from my friends at DHS, they do not have much stress placed on them, have fun activities and generally leading a good secondary school life. On the other hand,here at TJC, students are not getting enough sleep and are forced into an unhealthy lifestyle,most of which consists of wake up,go to school,go back home,homework,sleep,rinse and repeat. In school, students are sleepy and cannot concentrate on lessons. I myself have slept in class before, unable to keep awake due to the accumulation of sleepless nights trying to complete homework. TJC’s discipline is also quite strict.

Many of my classmates also feel strongly about the amount of stress placed on us. Quoting one of my classmates, he said "at this rate, I’m going to die already", another of my classmates "at this rate I am going to die before year 1 ends. I’m going to fail". There are already at least 6 people wanting to transfer out. Considering it is only at the start of the year, I feel like this is quite a few people.

This is taking an effect on my mental health. It is only the start of the year, yet i already feel the need to go to the counsellor. There is an overwhelming load of stress, and many of my friends and classmates complain, and are also unable to cope.
We are told that even if we fail non-examinable subjects, such as art, pe, and s&k(skills and knowledge), we would not be promoted to secondary 2.

My parents also feel that TJC is too stressful,and would like me to transfer to another secondary school in secondary 2. They said that I should work hard and get a good gpa for eoy, then I might have a higher chance of transferring to DHS. They know how much I wanted to go to DHS. After we got my psle results, I had, in hope, put DHS as my first choice, and TJC as my second. I am keeping my options open for other schools in the area as well, such as Chung Cheng High(Main) and Anglican High School.Of course, I understand that this would only be successful if the school has a vacancy. Also, I am not too sure about this,but also a very good reason to transfer out of a school? However, I desperately want to transfer out of TJC. I would like to ask, what is the success rate of transfer into DHS?

[phtthp]

perhaps you may submit Transfer request application form to Dunman High, let the school process (decide).

They (Principal or Vice-Principal, of DHS) are the best person (authority), to answer your question.

Besides those two O-level schools mentioned (Anglican High, Chung Cheng Main), try to expand your casting net wider, in case eventually you intend to seek Transfer into other O-level schools, in the event in the end really cannot cope (handle) with IP rigor (Temasek Junior College), although Secondary 1 is the initial, starting year where many students start to

a) adapt to a Secondary school environment, with much more subjects coming in now, with minimum 7 or 8 subjects now, as compared to P6 in the past, and

b) adapt to an IP academic rigorous environment, where more self-directed independent learning (attitude) is expected from students, compared to O-level students.

all these, need (require) to take time to adapt. Now is only February, initial 2nd month of Sec 1, too soon to tell. Many students are also trying their best to adapt, to new Secondary environment. This adaptation, happen to all Secondary 1 students, be they come from Dunman High (IP), from Temasek JC (IP), from Cedar Girls (IP), from St Nick (IP), or from any other IP school or from O-level school.

With your very good 252 (+2) 2018 Psle T-score, and if vacancies still arise (abound) in O-level schools, your chance of Transfer could be high, as long as you have met their official entry Cut-off-point, provided vacancies still exist.

The most important underlying question u need to ask (analyse) yourself is, do you think yourself is more suitable to study O-level, or to study IP : be it study at Temasek Junior College (IP), or study Dunman High (IP) or study IP elsewhere ?
While as a Sec 1 student, u are trying your best to adapt to Secondary school, have to still face this question, honestly. Only you can answer this question. If the truth stare at you that u are more suitable for O-level, because you prefer or you study better in a more structured curriculum, then waste no time, try to seek Transfer out to an O-level school, asap. Hope you are not a DSA student. If by DSA entry, MOE won’t allow Transfer, from one IP school to another IP school. But not sure, about Transfer from one IP school to an O-level school, because Temasek Junior College (IP) herself doesn’t have any O-level class.

[pnkknke]

The comment on TJC IP is different from what my daughter told me. She told me that her homework seems to have reduced by a lot as compared to her Primary school. The school ends at 1.15pm on both Tuesday and Thursday. Her teachers are caring and approachable. Perhaps, you may want to speak to your teachers about the challenges that you faced. I am sure they will be able to help you.

[kuroo]

pnkknke:

The comment on TJC IP is different from what my daughter told me. She told me that her homework seems to have reduced by a lot as compared to her Primary school. The school ends at 1.15pm on both Tuesday and Thursday. Her teachers are caring and approachable. Perhaps, you may want to speak to your teachers about the challenges that you faced. I am sure they will be able to help you.

perhaps your daughter was lucky enough to meet good teachers. A vast majority of my class dislike my art and Chinese teachers, and personally, the only teachers I like are my LA, s&k and Science teachers. I am generally neutral towards most teachers, but I truly dislike my chinese teacher. Math lessons are quite 'boring', as some of my classmates are able to calculate faster than my math teacher. It also seems to my group that my math teacher has to keep on referring to his notes to write and explain on the whiteboard, while I feel like if teachers know the content well, they would not have to constantly refer to material.

[floppy]

kuroo:

pnkknke:

The comment on TJC IP is different from what my daughter told me. She told me that her homework seems to have reduced by a lot as compared to her Primary school. The school ends at 1.15pm on both Tuesday and Thursday. Her teachers are caring and approachable. Perhaps, you may want to speak to your teachers about the challenges that you faced. I am sure they will be able to help you.

perhaps your daughter was lucky enough to meet good teachers. A vast majority of my class dislike my art and Chinese teachers, and personally, the only teachers I like are my LA, s&k and Science teachers. I am generally neutral towards most teachers, but I truly dislike my chinese teacher. Math lessons are quite 'boring', as some of my classmates are able to calculate faster than my math teacher. It also seems to my group that my math teacher has to keep on referring to his notes to write and explain on the whiteboard, while I feel like if teachers know the content well, they would not have to constantly refer to material.

Here's the thing, the two different comments / perspectives tell us:
TJC has some good teachers and some bad teachers (just like 99.9% of the schools out there).
kuroo may have been 'suay' to meet teachers that he / she dislikes while pnkknke's daughter is 'heng' to meet those who sing with the same key.
kuroo friends in DHS may have met some good teachers, but there's no guarantee kuroo wouldn't be getting the bad ones should the transfer be successful (Then what? Seek a transfer to another school in sec 3 if DHS don't work out?)

Long hours, unhealthy lifestyle, etc can be par for the course. A lot of it could be due to adjustments to the sec school environment. And where are we now? Only the second month? Moving from 4 core subjects to 6 or 8 core subjects is a big jump for most people. Some may have adjusted better / faster, some may not. That's normal. The school's environment may play a part in students getting adjusted but that's not the only factor, an individual's receptiveness to changes, as well as his / her resilience level play a big part as well.

[UBKmom]

I agree with @phtthp and @floppy, its either:


1) you are not suitable for IP programme
2) you need more time to adjust to secondary school life since its only about 3 months from start of school

Its a big jump from P6 to Sec 1, intern of number of subjects and curriculum not mentioning cca, its even a bigger jump to IP prog.

Its not wise to compare with your friends in DHS, no 2 individuals are the same, may be your friends’ capability/intellectually more suitable for IP or they have better time management, may be you need 1 hr to understand a topic and they only need 10mins?? May be in DHS, their curriculum is designed in such away to go slow in the first few months to let the sec 1 adjust better and go faster/heavier load in the 2nd half? Then what?

I hv a friend with DS studying at a top IP school, she is worried over her DS free time available, come back from school do about 1 or 2 hrs homework (or play pc game) and slept at 10pm. She was wondering is the school teaching enough or giving enough homework. At the sometime, she is hearing from others in the same school feeling stressed from all the workload but at the end, her DS scored fantastic eoy results. What I am trying to say is the perception of whether a course is tough or not varies from individuals (just like someone commented her DD in TJC has experienced reduced workload!?) due to different capabilities, attitude and character. Some view it as a challenge some view it as a burden/problem.

Both TJC and DHS are working towards A level and the depth/breath of the content of each subject taught/required should be the same,there are certain level of knowledge you need to attain, there should be no such thing as easier school to study for A level. Grass is always greener on the other side, may be your perception of TJC is influenced by your dislikes of certain teachers but how sure you wont meet such teacher in DHS? There is no easy way out if you want to score well in A level, hard work, study smart and consistency is very important. I am worried for you, IP program is a long 6 years course and you only started for like 2 months!!? My advise, go to O level course if you seriously think that you cant handle TJC IP because what make you think that DHS is any easier.

TJC discipline too strict also a problem (You mean DHS discipline very lax?)?? Wah…you really lei…when you set your mind in leaving, everything also a problem. err…got check colour of the bra??..no??..then not strict lah…so so only…just checking…how about the canteen foods?..bus service to TJC?..enough shady tree in the compound?..enough benches for study??..any complain?(in case u miss out)

[The Math Note]

I am a mathematics tutor and I have a few students currently from DHS IP. I would say that the amount of Math homework is quite substantial. Students sometimes might asked for more time to complete the homework. Generally the school culture is quite good and students are positive. Hope my little input helps.