Catholic High School

[ShalomMissy]

Average Joe\" post_id=\"1994844\" time=\"1600001970\" user_id=\"29645:[quote=\"Average Joe\" post_id=1994844 time=1600001970 user_id=29645]
Hi all!

Thanks for all the generous sharing on CHS. I’m excited to share that my DS has been offered DSA IP entry to play for the concert band.

Does anyone have any insights to share on the band as a CCA? What are the most sought after CCAs in CHS? 😅

Alternatively, we can try to come in via PSLE route but need not be bound to the CCA.

Many thanks![/quote]

I went for the open house last year and watched CHS band performance ... 👍

[Average Joe]

Hi all, does anyone have any sense as to how many boys drop out of IP or retained each year, from the cohort?

[disneymum]

Hi i am glad to share that my son has also gotten into IP via dsa sports (floorball).

[ShalomMissy]

disneymum\" post_id=\"1995129\" time=\"1600159884\" user_id=\"6581:

Hi i am glad to share that my son has also gotten into IP via dsa sports (floorball).

Congratulations! See you in CHS next year

[Option]

I am not familiar with school choices. My DS is going for P6 PSLE and we are considering CHS for him.

But it didn’t seem like something straightforward which we could decide right off the bat (?), hence I am trying to pick your brains. It’s ok that at the end of the day, you may even conclude there is no easy option or we are too ‘picky’ :-).
It is ok that you point out facts which are different from our understanding.

First, we asked for his inclination/(s).
(a) He prefers a school with handphone policies that do not encourage usage. He is not handphone illiterate, but only uses it about two to three times a month. So there are options because there are already schools posting their restrictions online on handphone usage, presumably to be clear to parties coming forward for school applications.
(a) He prefers a SAP school. This is based on 2 assumptions. He likes Chinese and thinks that the Chinese standards between a SAP school and a non-SAP one are quite different. He is not referring to whatever that is in the Chinese syllabus, just the general Chinese standards. For non-SAP schools, minus the students who don’t take Chinese. But I qualify that I am not trying to open up a discussion on SAP vs non SAP.
If his assumptions are correct, it means that an initial choice like VS will not fit the bill. I will explain why we raise an example like VS later.

So assuming he gets to CHS, the next question is IP or OP. To what we know, the IP has reduced humanities coverage. He is more a science than humanities person. So in an OP, does it mean he has to cover three full humanities, at least in the first two years ? If possible, can a third language replace one of the humanities even at lower secondary levels (there are other issues with third languages but will be treated separately) ?
So perhaps, partly due to our limited understanding, we gave considerations to IP. In IP, it seems that he is supposed to follow through to EJC. We are not pro/ anti-VJC and pro/ anti-EJC (we know there are ugly threads elsewhere). The problem is the distances from our home to EJC and VJC are quite different (VJC is clearly nearer) but it seem that the IP locks him to EJC ? VS IP leads to VJC. We stay outside 2km for primary school and as part of independence training, DS has been going to school on his own since end P3. We are not prepared to stretch the distance boundary.

So why did MOE allow such lock-ins between secondary schools and JCs ?
If the idea is mainly to facilitate the secondary school’s IP developments by sharing with the JC in advance, why can’t such sharing by secondary schools be done for a few JCs, and must use a single JC lock-in system ? It seemed that this doesn’t just apply to EJC but all other affiliated JCs as well ?

By now, you can see that though my post is in the CHS section, it’s not straightforward to leave other secondary schools/ JCs out of the picture. Your inputs are appreciated.

[MerlionInGermany]

Option\" post_id=\"1995862\" time=\"1600742333\" user_id=\"185249:

The problem is the distances from our home to EJC and VJC are quite different (VJC is clearly nearer) but it seem that the IP locks him to EJC ? VS IP leads to VJC. We stay outside 2km for primary school and as part of independence training, DS has been going to school on his own since end P3. We are not prepared to stretch the distance boundary.

I would like to point out that CHS and EJC are 3 bus stops apart. So if you feel it is “within your distance boundary” for him to get to CHS from home, then it is prob not that much of a stretch to get to EJC from home. Depending on the start point, EJC could be 3 stops nearer or 3 stops further. Plus, he would be 17 by then.

[MerlionInGermany]

Option\" post_id=\"1995862\" time=\"1600742333\" user_id=\"185249:

So assuming he gets to CHS, the next question is IP or OP. To what we know, the IP has reduced humanities coverage. He is more a science than humanities person. So in an OP, does it mean he has to cover three full humanities, at least in the first two years ? If possible, can a third language replace one of the humanities even at lower secondary levels (there are other issues with third languages but will be treated separately) ?

I see from their sec 1 booklist that they have E Lit, Geo and History for both IP and O level. Are these the “three full humanities” you are referring to? From what you know, which IP school has reduced humanities?

For 3rd lang to replace one of the humanities at lower sec, unlikely.

[deardear07]

Everything else aside, I think most schs use WhatsApp as communications nowadays. Between classmates, class groupchats with n without teachers, CCA, projects… easily 3-5 groupchats. Can’t run away from this form of communication. I haven’t heard of a sch that disallows hp usage in this sense. Many friends even shared that teachers use various forms of online learning to supplement textbooks… like online quizzes-kahoot? Or make them download certain apps to use for classroom info sharing…

of course, using hp in class when teachers didn’t request or allow is still against the rules. In any sch.

[Option]

MerlionInGermany,

Yes, we are aware of the 3 bus stop difference. We have timed the distances physically, not through Google researches. It’s not a matter of age but distance. CHS was not considered according to distance as first screening criteria because if so, we would have eliminated it. But that does not mean that we wouldn’t be relooking at distance beyond a certain point. If there is a nearer location, what is the additional and productive value of having the child on the road ? Still wondering what MOE’s rationale for lock-in systems may be even for less favourable distances, or it’s not supposed to communicate to public (?)
It’s great that you have text books to refer to. From what we understand, the assignments/ WAs for various subjects are not given the same coverage for IP/ OP classes. It applies to CHS.
So the same text books can be used but the coverage is not the same. Was told that MOE is ‘stricter’ on coverage for OP too. Are you aware of these ? Thanks for your inputs on third language.

[MerlionInGermany]

deardear07\" post_id=\"1995870\" time=\"1600744746\" user_id=\"1429:

Everything else aside, I think most schs use WhatsApp as communications nowadays. Between classmates, class groupchats with n without teachers, CCA, projects.. easily 3-5 groupchats. Can’t run away from this form of communication. I haven’t heard of a sch that disallows hp usage in this sense. Many friends even shared that teachers use various forms of online learning to supplement textbooks.. like online quizzes-kahoot? Or make them download certain apps to use for classroom info sharing..
of course, using hp in class when teachers didn’t request or allow is still against the rules. In any sch.

And it is rare to find a teenager using the handphone only 2 to 3 times in a month. This is less than once a week. I think mine uses the handphone 2 to 3 hours a day, not continuously, but I suspect if I were to add up all the minutes spent on the phone, it should be about 2 to 3 hours, not that I support it or am proud of it, just stating an observation. I asked my child, what if you dont have a handphone, how will the teacher communicate with you after school hours? Was told the one kid who doesnt have a handphone, added the parent’s handphone in the chat.