CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' Secondary

[phtthp]

doodbug\" post_id=\"2020511\" time=\"1618559630\" user_id=\"13281:

Sorry,

just curious - do all students take HCL or is there any criteria to continue with HCL in the upper sec years?

do All students take HCL ?

a) for IP : Yes, all take HCL


b) for O-level : depend

Those given MOE eligibility letter : Yes , go ahead to take Sec 1 (HCL)

Those without MOE eligibility letter :
No.

Sec 1, whole year do bu-hua (Standard CL)

@end of Sec 1 -
Re-assess, one more time

If year-end Sec 1 (bu-hua) results good +
If Sec 1 (overall) results also good, can write in to HOD, appeal to take off HCL starting Sec 2.


Next question -
Amongst Total 5 O-level classes, how many Sec 1 pupils, do bu-hua ?

Based on 2021 Sec 2 batch -

MAJORITY
of our O-level pupils are doing gao-hua (HCL),
because
they are given the MOE eligibility letter.

Whether students have previously entered by PSLE Tscore or by the Affliation route, as long as they posses this MOE letter, all start Sec 1 (HCL).


Out of five O-level classes,

in each class,
on average,
out of say, around 38 girls per class,

very few girls do bu-hua,
usually only single-digit.

Majority, still do gao-hua, amongst our O-level pupils.

[lee_yl]

phtthp\" post_id=\"2020994\" time=\"1619050807\" user_id=\"35251:

doodbug\" post_id=\"2020511\" time=\"1618559630\" user_id=\"13281:

Sorry,

just curious - do all students take HCL or is there any criteria to continue with HCL in the upper sec years?

do All students take HCL ?

a) for IP : Yes, all take HCL

For IP students (e.g. DSA) who don’t meet HCL eligibility criteria set by MOE, can they take HCL once they get into SAP Sec? That is, top 30% in psle with A* for Chinese or HCL Merit.

As students proceed to upper sec and are not coping well with HCL, there is no option to do normal Chinese?

[MerlionInGermany]

phtthp\" post_id=\"2020991\" time=\"1619048053\" user_id=\"35251:

doodbug\" post_id=\"2020797\" time=\"1618890777\" user_id=\"13281:

In my DS' school, you generally cannot take BSP with Triple Science.

doodbug\" post_id=\"2020827\" time=\"1618899826\" user_id=\"13281:

I don't think BSP is a heavily subscribed option at SCGS -
it certainly is interesting, but there are also other interesting pursuits like Art, Music, 3rd Language, or some will opt for Triple Science.

For comparison with SCGS Secondary,

for \"end-of-Sec 2\" students
1) who are keen in our CHIJ St Nicholas Girls (BSP) -
——
(Not), all participants / applicants interested, will get it.


And
2)for \"O-level\" students who are interested -
Once they are offered BSP & if they accept this BSP offer -
then, pupils must cross over into IP (Year 3 starting),
cannot still continue remain fixated inside O-level track any more.

1) BSP in SNGS is not by application.
2) I am not completely certain but I think the sequence is wrong — you dont get offered BSP and then accept and then switch to IP. You need to be offered to switch to IP first, before anything else can happen.

[MerlionInGermany]

lee_yl\" post_id=\"2020996\" time=\"1619051610\" user_id=\"17023:

1) For IP students (e.g. DSA) who don’t meet HCL eligibility criteria set by MOE, can they take HCL once they get into SAP Sec? That is, top 30% in psle with A* for Chinese or HCL Merit.

2) As students proceed to upper sec and are not coping well with HCL, there is no option to do normal Chinese?

1) Yes. IP = HCL.
2) Coping well or not is subjective, you only need a D7 to skip H1 CL. That is 45 marks? Unlikely that with the SAP culture surrounding you all day, and teachers looking after you, and you cannot score even 45. The school organises remedial classes for those who are weaker in HCL but I do not know how many marks you need to get, in order to get to join this class. So to answer the question, it is no.

[phtthp]

MerlionInGermany\" post_id=\"2021005:

1) BSP in SNGS is not by application.


2) I am not completely certain but I think the sequence is wrong — you dont get offered BSP and then accept and then switch to IP. You need to be offered to switch to IP first, before anything else can happen.

fyi


Guideline from St Nick Secondary -


\"
Concerning BSP Admission guidelines :-

O-level candidates who wish to offer the BSP will need to meet a certain minimum requirement in Higher Chinese

And

join the IP program, as the IP course structure is needed for students' BSP research projects. \"

As for crossing over from end-of-Sec2 OP into IP (Year 3), that will be another different set of criteria

[MerlionInGermany]

phtthp\" post_id=\"2021010\" time=\"1619060187\" user_id=\"35251:

MerlionInGermany\" post_id=\"2021005:

1) BSP in SNGS is not by application.
2) I am not completely certain but I think the sequence is wrong — you dont get offered BSP and then accept and then switch to IP. You need to be offered to switch to IP first, before anything else can happen.

Concerning BSP Admission guidelines :-
A) O-level candidates who wish to offer the BSP will need to meet a certain minimum requirement in Higher Chinese
And
B) join the IP program, as the IP course structure is needed for students' BSP research projects. \"

C) As for crossing over from end-of-Sec2 OP into IP (Year 3), that will be another different set of criteria

1) and A) No conflict here. It is not by application. You meet a set of criteria and then you get offered the programme, which you can accept or decline.

2) and A) and B) and C) No conflict here. You meet a set of criteria for OP to IP first, and then you meet a set of criteria for BSP, then you get offered to switch to IP and to join BSP, which you can accept or decline. I cannot imagine it is meeting BSP criteria first then IP criteria because IP criteria is higher than BSP criteria. What A) and B) is saying is simply that BSP is for IP so one cannot be in BSP OP. Or in your words,

phtthp\" post_id=\"2020991\" time=\"1619048053\" user_id=\"35251:

cannot still continue remain fixated inside O-level track any more.

But as I said in 2) bold, I am not completely certain if it is BSP-IP or IP-BSP, so if it concerns any of you, you should really check and not just look at ksp.

[phtthp]

.

[doodbug]

I am not sure if SCGS conducts remedial/supplementary classes for students who are weak in HCL. All I know is that all remedial/supplementary classes are compulsory, if you have been identified to attend for any subject. As to which subjects and what the cut off is for such classes, I am not sure. For my DD (also applies to my DS), her weakest subject by far is HCL (I think her grades are anything from B3 to C5 but I don’t track regularly - I guess I have zero expectations for my kids’ HCL cos they didn’t even do it in primary school) and she has not been called for any remedial/supplementary.

[lee_yl]

MerlionInGermany\" post_id=\"2021008\" time=\"1619060056\" user_id=\"2964:

lee_yl\" post_id=\"2020996\" time=\"1619051610\" user_id=\"17023:

1) For IP students (e.g. DSA) who don’t meet HCL eligibility criteria set by MOE, can they take HCL once they get into SAP Sec? That is, top 30% in psle with A* for Chinese or HCL Merit.

2) As students proceed to upper sec and are not coping well with HCL, there is no option to do normal Chinese?

1) Yes. IP = HCL.
2) Coping well or not is subjective, you only need a D7 to skip H1 CL. That is 45 marks? Unlikely that with the SAP culture surrounding you all day, and teachers looking after you, and you cannot score even 45. The school organises remedial classes for those who are weaker in HCL but I do not know how many marks you need to get, in order to get to join this class. So to answer the question, it is no.

Some years back, I have a friend whose DD was from St Nic IP, although in a SAP environment, she still required a private tutor cos she wasn’t coping well with HCL.

In SCGS, even before one hits 45marks, probably already “forced to drop” to normal Chinese. There is always a handful who will opt out of HCL so that the overall % can hit minimum of 65% (for sec 4) in order to be promoted.

[MerlionInGermany]

lee_yl\" post_id=\"2021032\" time=\"1619071974\" user_id=\"17023:

MerlionInGermany\" post_id=\"2021008\" time=\"1619060056\" user_id=\"2964:

[quote=lee_yl post_id=2020996 time=1619051610 user_id=17023]As students proceed to upper sec and are not coping well with HCL, there is no option to do normal Chinese?

Coping well or not is subjective, you only need a D7 to skip H1 CL. That is 45 marks? Unlikely that with the SAP culture surrounding you all day, and teachers looking after you, and you cannot score even 45. The school organises remedial classes for those who are weaker in HCL but I do not know how many marks you need to get, in order to get to join this class. So to answer the question, it is no.

Some years back, I have a friend whose DD was from St Nic IP, although in a SAP environment, she still required a private tutor cos she wasn’t coping well with HCL.

In SCGS, even before one hits 45marks, probably already “forced to drop” to normal Chinese. There is always a handful who will opt out of HCL so that the overall % can hit minimum of 65% (for sec 4) in order to be promoted.[/quote]So was the SN girl forced to drop HCL? Did the school not identify her for remedial? Or was she opting for a private tutor because her grades were not meeting her own expectations and not because she was scoring below D7?

But yes, I get what you say about being in SAP and yet still not coping well but what I meant was, being in SAP and teachers looking after you (and calling you out for remedial) and still not hitting min D7. Is an unlikely scenario. But yes, I will say unlikely but not impossible, so there could be outliers like maybe your friend’s kid.

And if in SC you are forced to drop HCL before you even go below 45 is because they want to make sure you get min 65% to promote? So HCL is included in the 65% promotion criteria to EJC? Then I guess here is why it is different. HCL is not a compulsory subject to be included in the promotion criteria to EJC, You can use EL or HCL, or both if you like.

My friend’s child in another school was not forced to drop to HCL (even though grades were D7 region), eventually scored a D7 and is now exempted from H1 CL in the JC. Lucky kid was not in SC.

Edited to add
Actually it is strange that in SCGS they let b4 HCL people (60%) do bsp out of interest but yet force you to drop HCL (at some point) in order to help you ensure you get avg 65% to promote. Oh well, I guess the school knows best where the balance is.