School Of The Arts, Singapore

[Startz]

vlim:

eager_beaver:

@ vlim, i'm sorry if you are offended but my comments is not directed at anyone in particular.


what i'm trying to stress is that it is very difficult to prepare a child for sota. there are some who started their art form very early & yet were not selected & there are others who receive no formal training but were. i believe students & their parent chose to opt for sota because of the children' passion for their art form & not because of a financially rewarding prospect. If you followed earlier news, you may have read about a girl who forgo her comfirm place in rjc to join sota losing 2 academic years!

i would suggest you expose your child & let her develop naturally accordingly to her interest including other things like sports & even computers. when the time comes, you will have a better picture & can help your daughter decide

perhaps, i'm the one in the wrong forum

oh eager_beaver...i accept your apology...haaaaa just joking...we are just parents who are very concern abt our children..actually i know very little abt SOTA... just to find out more abt it here and see if there is a possibility my dd can enrol to it in future...so now at least I know that it is not easy to get in unless the kids' art talent is real gd and it only accept students who score above certain aggregate in psle.... I always thinking of alternative for my dd after teaching her maths... :stupid:

From a 'kiasu' point of view, it's not too early to think of where to send your kid to - at Pr 2 even. vlim's sharing about the maths brings back memories :stupid:

At that time, i was already analysing options for my dd.I used report books, ccas, teacher's comments, ptms, and of course my personal interaction with my dd.Every testimonial,award,certificate of participation..I compiled them in a file(from nursery I had already been doing it)- it was her 'resume' file. (Never realised how useful that was until she was in Pr 6 when I had to extract relevant items , either for dsa or other considered school admissions, after psle results were announced.(even when applying for scholarships, I continue to use this resource-fabulously useful because it is organised and accessible )

I believe this options exploration and conclusions should be done earlier - by Pr 5( in this year, P5 teachers are already preping the children's exam and subject skills)It's a stressful year for parents and kids and who needs the additional 'work' about w'what school am I going to?' grief.Just my opinion

Another important point to note is that all mums' and dads' aspirations and goals must be acknowledged and reflected upon - to see if the child's competencies and interests can meet it. If that is actualised, then it's a congruent decision and all parties can then focus on the psle exam- with peace of mind.

Come what may the child can achieve, he or she has already given the best during the psle year.

My opinion is that the above would really work for those kids who are quite independent..I also share this because my dd would get quite nervous during exmainations so my awareness as a parent helped because I did a lot of ground work before her major exam-school choice, subject choice, interests defining. So that PSLE year was more 'smooth-going' for her.

I had fully realised how pragmatic society we were when many years back I had to go to Ministry of Manpower to enquire about career options. The career counsellor was very competent and a good listener. From her I was made aware that it helps greatly that human talent be fully utilised or optimised.

I do that for my children (with all that loving too :love:)as it also boosts self esteem and when they are older, they feel they can 'contribute' to others, they know what they want, helps smoothen the teenage angst a bit too cos' they are a bit more 'in control' with all that 'ability gathering'-they know their strengths and weaknesses :celebrate:

[totful mum]

Hi, my daughter and some of my students are currently studying at SOTA. Should you need advise on the SOTA admission, I can help.

[dance and theatre]

totful mum:

Hi, my daughter and some of my students are currently studying at SOTA. Should you need advise on the SOTA admission, I can help.

Hi what do you teach ? Is it music ?

[jtoh]

Do the students at SOTA have CCA? I heard from someone that they don’t.

[dance and theatre]

They have no CCA, only sports during PE (SOTA calls it Ex E) which changes every 2 terms and these vary from Touch Rugby, Badminton, Netball etc. Ex E is during school hours.


School usually ends between 2.45 to 5.30pm depending on their art discipline (Theater, Visual Arts. Music or Dance). My daughter is in Dance Year 1 and so far enjoys school very much, she has accepted that long hours are part of her life. Currently homework and assignments are manageable and SOTA kids are constantly reminded of the importance of good time management. I like how the small class size gives each student opportunities to shine in their differing academic abilities and develop better bonds with the subject teachers.

[1825papercranes]

Hi, first and foremost I’m not a parent I’m a secondary four student. I’m so desperate for information that I’m actually posting on a KIASU parent website haha. I’ve attended the talen academy when I was P6 but failed to get in, and here I am trying again. needless to say, my past failure has really been creeping up on me and making me feel very uncomfortable, unsure if I should even try again.


anyway, I am taking my o’levels this year and am currently considering applying for DSA to Sota this june through Dance (ballet) I have a few questions on the school as well as admission because the information provided on the SOTA website is rather confusing to me as it mentions mostly on P6 students only.

1. Is there a large amount of students who are accepted through DSA every year? (based on the students currently studying there, do they find that there are alot of transfer students?)

2. How hard is it to actually get in? they make it sound like the difficulty level is really high and you’ve really gotta be the cream of the crop to get in.

3. How is a typical classical ballet class like? ( we have to attend one during the audition)

4. Is the written essay in the talent academy something that I have to study for beforehand? is it expository in nature or is it something which we can be more creative with and come up with our own stories etc.

5. Is it very stressful in sota? (in terms of keeping up academically)

6. Is it a must to take english literature to be legible for DSA because I currently am not taking it.


The main reason I’ve decided to try SOTA again is because I have a strong passion in dance, however I face the difficulty of expressing this especially with the demands of normal school plus cca ( I take dance outside as well). In school, we are expected to perform well as a student and a dancer (cca is dance).

Last year when we were training for the SYF I danced for up to 16 hours a week including my regular classes outside, on top of that I still had to juggle the heavy load of school work. my days could stretch from 6am when I wake up all the way to 8/9pm when i finish dance classes. I barely manage to squeeze in some time for tuition. This year is my final year and my school had organized a concert just 2 weeks before our mid years, four weeks before our chinese o levels. My grade 8 RAD ballet exam was the week after the concert. the first four months of the year was burned just like that. My results took a major beating from all this.

In light of all this, do you think I should DSA into SOTA? it just seems like a more sensible choice to me.

[phankao]

Are there any more open houses for this year for SOTA? None shown on SOTA website.

[dance and theatre]

Hi Papercranes, I'm sorry you did not make the cut at P6 and if dance is your passion, I can understand how SOTA is attractive to you. You are sitting for you O's ths year so I am not sure how you wld fit in with the IB curriculum, you really need to speak with the school to find out their exact requirements. Only they would be able to assess you correctly.

[quote]1. Is there a large amount of students who are accepted through DSA every year? (based on the students currently studying there, do they find that there are alot of transfer students?)[/quote]Last year 36 students made the final cut after the PSLE results or school tranfers (for those in Sec 1 already).
[quote]2. How hard is it to actually get in? they make it sound like the difficulty level is really high and you've really gotta be the cream of the crop to get in. [/quote]It really depends on how good the dancers are for that year's audition, the better dancers for the year, the more competitive it is. The way I see it, while talent is important, for SOTA they seem to prefer dancers who are quick at pick up, ie able to quickly visualise their dance instructions and follow immediately, good Ballet vocab helps.

You are now in GD 8 ? Have you done the Majors ? If this is the case, you will be in a far higher ability level than the P6 students auditioning and SOTA will assess you differently from the rest. I know of one Sec 4 student last year who auditioned, she is a beautiful dancer but did not get in because she was academically weak and probably will not make a successful transfer to the IB program. They do look at your school results as well, and you wld have to be a consistant student with reasonably good grades. Ultimately, SOTA is about academics.
[quote]3. How is a typical classical ballet class like? ( we have to attend one during the audition)[/quote]It is pitched at RAD Gd 5 to 6. The dance teachers are all RAD qualified, besides being former performers. They look for dancers who have a feeling for the dance rather than an automatic dancer, a performance personality so *smile, smile, smile*, , look as if you enjoy dancing, no long faces. At the Talent Academy they might take you aside to for a short, separate audition after the class as you are older.

Not all the dancers have RAD certificates. Having RAD certs just puts the dancer in an all Ballet group, they work differently from the non-ballet dancers (those who entered SOTA with ballroom, hip-hop, jazz etc)
[quote]4. Is the written essay in the talent academy something that I have to study for beforehand? is it expository in nature or is it something which we can be more creative with and come up with our own stories.[/quote]It's an open ended essay, not difficult.
[quote]6. Is it a must to take english literature to be legible for DSA because I currently am not taking it. [/quote]They will probably assess your academics separately from the rest due to your age. Also if they decide you qualify for SOTA, you have to make the decision of transferring immediately and forego your O levels. This might not be agreeable to your parents, so do speak to them about what you want.
[quote]Is it stressful in SOTA ?[/quote]It is stressful in any secondary school. You just need to manage your time efficiently and honestly if dance is a passion, the longer hours pass very quickly. Dance is built into the curriculum, the timetable is juggled by the teachers to make sure you finish your lessons and get to dance classes. Unlike mainstream schools where dance outside of school is seen as an irritating, unwelcome intrusion to school schedules.
[quote]In light of all this, do you think I should DSA into SOTA? it just seems like a more sensible choice to me.[/quote]I feel you should, you never know until you do. If you are successful, excellent ...... if not, you will be able to move on and seek other options like LaSalle. Stay positive and if dance is really what you want to do, stay focused on that, SOTA is not the only way

[eager_beaver]

[quote]I'm sorry you did not make the cut at P6[/quote]
if i'm not wrong, sota will not allow you to audition for the same art form twice.

it seems unfair to 'late-developers' but think of all the logistics if all the rejected applicants keep coming back.

i've known of people who didn't make in in dance but succeeded through theatre

[Redwine]

My daughter has just gone for the DSA for yr 5 in June for visual arts. Any parent currently in yr 4 can throw some lights on how big is the cohort now in yr 4?


Many thanks.