2019 PSLE Discussions and Strategies (Children born in 2007)

[manorway]

floppy\" post_id=\"1948863\" time=\"1574619235\" user_id=\"97579:

manorway\" post_id=\"1948831\" time=\"1574608706\" user_id=\"9303:

Asking for a friend. Please share your views.

Kid is in the NA/NT range. They did not want NT. But NA means only a few schools in the town they live in and they went open houses for schools in 3 nearest towns. But they want “nice” facilities and interesting ALP. Did not like some older looking schools or those with “sleepy” vibes. Don’t mind travelling for 60-90 min on bus one way.

All these are their words. They don’t know how to elaborate what “sleepy” or “nice” means.

I thought it is more important to look at subject combo and CCAs. But kid is really weak in all subjects. No strength or talent. Even if school has Leadership prog, ALP Science related, competitions etc... Low chance that kid will be selected.

My recommendation is to just pick a decent enough school nearby. Save travelling time as kid is weak academically. Any advice?

This post probably will get a better response in NA / Express thread.

To put it crudely, your friend wants ”green”, must be cheap and preferably comes with big melons. Can... but those are only available for top of the class. The way our meritocratic system works, the bottom of the food chain has, unfortunately, limited pickings. It’s not going to be easy to find schools with “nice” facilities as well as “happening” within that range. The best such schools would most likely be the missionary schools. However, I’m not sure that with a t-score in the NA / NT range, he would be able to meet their COP.

Frankly, the real question is what’s the (immediate) end point that they are looking at. By choosing NA, I’m assuming that they are looking for an opportunity to go Poly instead of ITE. As such, there is very little point in looking at all those frills (because the likelihood of the child enjoying / using them is fairly low). Focus on choosing a school that can produce decent results for their NA students and especially, one that can help their students get into the PFP. They should have or should be able to look at the psyche of the school and their approaches if they have paid attention to the teachers / pupils during OH (but if they were distracted by facilities... then jialat lor). O Level is never, ever going to be a realistic option for the child, NA or otherwise. He is most likely going to end up as fodder if he decides to sit for O Level.

Thank you so much Floppy. I agree with you!! I have been trying to explain to her for days since PSLE result was out that her choices are not wise, but she thinks I am prejudiced against low scorers (which I am definitely not!) and do not believe they deserve good facilities and nice environment too.

I will show her your reply, hopefully she will reconsider.

Thanks again.

[O_O_Dad]

Hi, I hope more parents can see the danger of having their decisions dictated by PSLE scores. Hopefully my personal stories can help you to find a decision-making process that suits your family.


I know this article that has a shelf life of no more than 3 days (before 27 November the deadline), but I certainly hope it can go a long way to help more families. Happy reading and have some laughs.

https://livetill100.blog/2019/11/24/078-how-to-choose-schools-wisely/

[rawsalmon]

O_O_Dad\" post_id=\"1948895\" time=\"1574642465\" user_id=\"61178:

Hi, I hope more parents can see the danger of having their decisions dictated by PSLE scores. Hopefully my personal stories can help you to find a decision-making process that suits your family.

I know this article that has a shelf life of no more than 3 days (before 27 November the deadline), but I certainly hope it can go a long way to help more families. Happy reading and have some laughs.

https://livetill100.blog/2019/11/24/078-how-to-choose-schools-wisely/

Thank you for sharing ur story. Ours is very similar to your story, still finding consensus on RI and HCI. Boy wants his first and only choice, HCI. That is why we are still heafache over this and yet to submit online.

[MerlionInGermany]

Omar\" post_id=\"1948832\" time=\"1574608979\" user_id=\"30035:

My daughter had scored 244 and she wants to know which sch is better either PLMGS or Tanjong Katong Girls Sch. Since PLMGS has only 20% for non affliated sch intake, is there a chance that she get in there.
If a person with 240 applies for sch A as first choice and another person with 244 applies for sch A as the second choice, who would get the place assuming that the COP is 241 for this year at that school. Cedar Girls has consistently had a COP of 250, are there any chances for a score of 244 this year. Please guide me.

Cedar O had 24-something as COP not too long ago.

Someone I know from Student Care got into PLMGS express with 24-something in, I think, psle 2015.

[MerlionInGermany]

kiasusis\" post_id=\"1948826\" time=\"1574607696\" user_id=\"182531:

Hi! Would appreciate valuable feedback and recommendations. My boy scored 216. We went to the open houses for both North Vista (COP 214) and Compassvale (214). They both seem okay to us, in terms of the subject combinations offered and also the CCA varieties, thus we cannot make a decision. Does anyone know more about these schools, in terms of culture, teachers, or any other things we may have missed out? Thanks.

North Vista has a strong hockey team if I recall correctly and maybe track and field also? You should check.

Compassvale has a new uniform which I find, is nicer than NV’s

[sembgal]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dX-7hBoAjD0bf9O9Jy02OpSBnkxP0lSF/view?fbclid=IwAR0K1smHS3yCzNQz-2kV-VoWl4IcUPsycbEdl5qVMkgpHgO_MUk_gMBiNzE


Someone shared this list of past 8 years’ cut off points and credits to Math Scientists’ Workshop.

[jedamum]

manorway\" post_id=\"1948883\" time=\"1574637269\" user_id=\"9303:

Asking for a friend. Please share your views.

Kid is in the NA/NT range. They did not want NT. But NA means only a few schools in the town they live in and they went open houses for schools in 3 nearest towns. But they want “nice” facilities and interesting ALP. Did not like some older looking schools or those with “sleepy” vibes. Don’t mind travelling for 60-90 min on bus one way.

All these are their words. They don’t know how to elaborate what “sleepy” or “nice” means.

I thought it is more important to look at subject combo and CCAs. But kid is really weak in all subjects. No strength or talent. Even if school has Leadership prog, ALP Science related, competitions etc... Low chance that kid will be selected.

My recommendation is to just pick a decent enough school nearby. Save travelling time as kid is weak academically. Any advice?

Manorway,
The way i would approach this is to list out the schools within 50min travel reach (this is my limit) that offers the NA/NT class. Then list the ALP of these schools. Then rank them according to how old/new the facilities or school compound is. Then choose. Can go to the sch website to learn more about their ALP.

I seen \"sleepy\" and upgraded sec sch before, so i know what she meant. I know of people who chose further schools (more than an hour travel) for bigger nicer compound and better programs though that kid was much older eg ITE age.

Some sch ALP are open to all streams. It is the sch niche programme that all students get to go through at least the basic tier training. (eg https://www.boonlaysec.moe.edu.sg/holistic-development/applied-learning-programme-alp/)

Perhaps because the kid is weak, subj combo and cca does not matter as they will take whichever comes along and try their best. In my generation, my parents never look at subj combi or cca. They look at distance and facilities too (not too old) .

As for travelling, it could be because sch hours are generally shorter for them, they don't mind spending it on travelling or having a nice student corner in sch to spend in than loitering in the mall.

[Swc]

rawsalmon\" post_id=\"1948899\" time=\"1574643851\" user_id=\"31470:

O_O_Dad\" post_id=\"1948895\" time=\"1574642465\" user_id=\"61178:

Hi, I hope more parents can see the danger of having their decisions dictated by PSLE scores. Hopefully my personal stories can help you to find a decision-making process that suits your family.

I know this article that has a shelf life of no more than 3 days (before 27 November the deadline), but I certainly hope it can go a long way to help more families. Happy reading and have some laughs.

https://livetill100.blog/2019/11/24/078-how-to-choose-schools-wisely/

Thank you for sharing ur story. Ours is very similar to your story, still finding consensus on RI and HCI. Boy wants his first and only choice, HCI. That is why we are still heafache over this and yet to submit online.

If your boy has set his heart on HCI, why the headache?

I was in the same dilemma as you last year except mine was between rgs and nygh. I wanted rgs as it was my alma mater and I had fond memories of my time there. But my daughter wanted nygh. I followed her wish in the end. Never regretted the decision. She is very happy there and is doing well as well. So I feel it is important to follow the wish of the child. They are going to be the ones spending their time there. If it is their choice, they will also be more motivated to make it work when things are not going well.

[floppy]

MerlionInGermany\" post_id=\"1948901\" time=\"1574644142\" user_id=\"2964:

kiasusis\" post_id=\"1948826\" time=\"1574607696\" user_id=\"182531:

Hi! Would appreciate valuable feedback and recommendations. My boy scored 216. We went to the open houses for both North Vista (COP 214) and Compassvale (214). They both seem okay to us, in terms of the subject combinations offered and also the CCA varieties, thus we cannot make a decision. Does anyone know more about these schools, in terms of culture, teachers, or any other things we may have missed out? Thanks.

North Vista has a strong hockey team if I recall correctly and maybe track and field also? You should check.

Compassvale has a new uniform which I find, is nicer than NV’s

I would totally go with the uniform. +1 for CVSS.

Both schools are really very similar. Makes very difference if you choose one or the other. Perhaps it’s down to the boy’s “feel”, which he prefers.

[Cars2]

rawsalmon\" post_id=\"1948899\" time=\"1574643851\" user_id=\"31470:

O_O_Dad\" post_id=\"1948895\" time=\"1574642465\" user_id=\"61178:

Hi, I hope more parents can see the danger of having their decisions dictated by PSLE scores. Hopefully my personal stories can help you to find a decision-making process that suits your family.

I know this article that has a shelf life of no more than 3 days (before 27 November the deadline), but I certainly hope it can go a long way to help more families. Happy reading and have some laughs.

https://livetill100.blog/2019/11/24/078-how-to-choose-schools-wisely/

Thank you for sharing ur story. Ours is very similar to your story, still finding consensus on RI and HCI. Boy wants his first and only choice, HCI. That is why we are still heafache over this and yet to submit online.

Why don’t let your child choose? If his mind is made up on HCI, then I’m sure he will be happy there. There’s no right or wrong choice.

My son (born in 2006) was grappling between RI and HCI last year. His best friends chose HCI, and he’s familiar with what HCI environment is like (being from NYPS). But he liked the diversity at RI better. He wanted a multicultural environment. Hence he was torn between following his friends to HCI (the GEP kids would be streamed into iSparks classes and generally continue to see each other at class), or going to a completely new environment. We left him to choose. He read up the content on their websites, spoke to his friends, and in the end he chose RI on his own accord. We would have preferred ACSI-IB, but he wasn’t even keen on an IB curriculum, so we just let him be.

Insofar he has been happy and well adapted. The curriculum at RI is stimulating, and the kids there really come from all walks of life, across all races. He made a new circle of friends, continues to keep in touch with those in HCI. Those at HCI are also adjusting well, and are happy with their choice.

RI has a strong emphasis on character and leadership development, and I have seen him matured tremendously in terms of confidence and character over the past year. Hope this helps.