Networking Group - JCs General

[00skyblue00]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"2116999\" time=\"1692622896\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=2116999 time=1692622896 user_id=53606]
I would certainly welcome more discussions from parents on JCs. The problem on this forum is I can’t seem to find other parents of O level kids to discuss with on JC selection.

Maybe going to JC open houses will help? Are they usually held in January? Do parents usually attend? Or is it seen as uncool by the teens? No idea the protocol.[/quote]

Sure, i like that too. For now, i got to read abt different schools in another forum, reddit. U can find sharing by students themselves. Just bear in mind they are individuals experiences, may or may not be across the board.
Will get the kids to attend open houses with their friends. Dont think they like to go with parents now. But my own gathering info is to know what to expect, eg pre recorded lectures. Yes, this can save time to travel for lectures and recording allows replay. But this arrangement requires students to be disciplined and good time management, not something acquired by all students.

I gathered that some JCs are stronger in Arts stream than Sci and some are stronger in Sci. Good Econs tr seem to be across the board hard to come by... But maybe the subj itself requires strategic thinking skills which comes with maturity and work experience... Haha... Some jc GP tr are better.
4 JCs will be under reconstruction from 2024 onwards. Njc lecture roof seem to be still leaking.
What do you wish to know?

[zac's mum]

Oh, which 4 JCs?


This is what I have gathered/understood so far, pls point out if I’m mistaken:

- ACSI is the only JC which makes CCA compulsory (Years 5 and 6; min 1 CCA);
- the school hours for JC is usually from 8am to 4.30pm?
- one day per week is HBL day, so no physical commuting required (usually Wednesdays). Is this when the kids are expected to view the pre-recorded lectures that u talk about?

[phtthp]

RI is having an Open house, on 7 October ? Can go check it out the school teachers, if u are keen

[zac's mum]

Oh, and regarding NJC, saw one parent mentioned before that the JAE intake is usually quite large and gender-balanced (approx 50-50) compared to the Y1 intake (which is tiny and 75% girls?)

[zac's mum]

phtthp\" post_id=\"2117018\" time=\"1692656491\" user_id=\"35251:

RI is having an Open house, on 7 October ? Can go check it out the school teachers, if u are keen

Thanks dear…it seems that for RI Arts stream, compulsory to take either History or Geog.

Are there any JCs that permit more flexible combis?

[00skyblue00]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"2117017\" time=\"1692656417\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=2117017 time=1692656417 user_id=53606]
Oh, which 4 JCs?

This is what I have gathered/understood so far, pls point out if I’m mistaken:

- ACSI is the only JC which makes CCA compulsory (Years 5 and 6; min 1 CCA);
- the school hours for JC is usually from 8am to 4.30pm?
- one day per week is HBL day, so no physical commuting required (usually Wednesdays). Is this when the kids are expected to view the pre-recorded lectures that u talk about?[/quote]

Asr, TJ, YI and JP. The original timeline was delayed due to covid. Perm sites will commence use by 2027 or 2028.

I will be thankful if all lectures can be done on 1 HBL day per week. If hbl is on Wed, But there will be some tutorials on Mon, Tue, not sure how it will work. The jc i know has cca on hbl days in the afternoon. So some kids have to go back to sch.
School hours 8am to 430am is std timing for most JCs even before covid, before the use of pre recorded lectures. So there will be gap in between classes i presume now that there is no physical lecture.

We attended open house at Sp and Ngee Ann poly. Both are using pre recorded lectures as well. And were told they are not turning back anytime soon.

We have a few kids from different families so looking at wide range of schools.

[00skyblue00]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"2117019\" time=\"1692656620\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=2117019 time=1692656620 user_id=53606]
Oh, and regarding NJC, saw one parent mentioned before that the JAE intake is usually quite large and gender-balanced (approx 50-50) compared to the Y1 intake (which is tiny and 75% girls?)[/quote]

My understanding is the reverse applies for RV, DHS. Jae intake is smaller. Not sure how accurate but read somewhere that schs had short notice when told to absorb jae students back then, so resources were lacking then.

Heard previous rv P has left and new P took over. Wonder if there are significant changes due to that.

The impression given is nj has less drama and gossip. Hence mugger culture... According to their students...

[SG_KP1]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"2117020\" time=\"1692657346\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=2117020 time=1692657346 user_id=53606]
Thanks dear…it seems that for RI Arts stream, compulsory to take either History or Geog.

Are there any JCs that permit more flexible combis?[/quote]

Excluding the MT, 3rd Lang, and Art/Music related classes, I think the ones without History or Geo are usually English Lit (EL), English Language and Linguistics (ELL), and Econ. Looks like HCI and NJC both have as one of the standard combis. Not sure about others.

[zac's mum]

The traditional lecture system is such that it is held in a huge lecture theatre, with the lecturer droning on about his/her slides. No q&a session, no interaction with the audience. Hence i can see why almost all tertiary institutions (except maybe SMU??) have chosen to use pre-recorded lectures instead. I think many students welcome being able to watch in their own free time, and at 1.5-2x speed if they want, to save time. The only fun thing I recall about being physically present for lectures is sitting together as a class, sharing sweets, and whispering about the shuaige in front…the format just creates distractions imo.

[sharonkhoo]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"2116999\" time=\"1692622896\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=2116999 time=1692622896 user_id=53606]
I would certainly welcome more discussions from parents on JCs. The problem on this forum is I can’t seem to find other parents of O level kids to discuss with on JC selection.

Maybe going to JC open houses will help? Are they usually held in January? Do parents usually attend? Or is it seen as uncool by the teens? No idea the protocol.[/quote]

The lower no. of parents to discuss with is probably because many parents are no longer as closely involved in the decision when kids are this age. Not that there aren't any, but few.

I don't know when the open houses are, but most kids will not want their parents to go with them! Maybe parents can agree to go separately, or go together but tour separately? I think many 16yos would find it quite \"uncool\" to have a parent following them around - I went to all such events with my older girl, but that was because of her special needs. For my other girl, we talked ahead of time about the sort of questions she should ask etc, and I left her to it. She briefed me after she got back.

I would say that most 16yos will not want to feel that parents are trying to make the decisions, so it should be handled carefully to avoid resistance. My tack was to show interest, ask questions like \"Do you think you will like ...?\", \"Will you be able to cope well if...?\", \"Maybe ... would give more time/autonomy etc?\" to indicate what I thought was important and give her some things to think about. We would discuss what she found out, and I would weigh in with opinions, but I left the final decision to her. Parents also should try not to be too fixed on a particular choice, and insist on it. Often, there will be at least a couple of choices that are roughly equal, and I think we should be prepared allow that amount of flex. Think back to when you were that age - most of us would have instinctively resisted being told what to choose and what to do.

In her case, it wasn't the choice of JC, but we did this for all the many other choices (subject choice, CCA, etc) she had to make, and also when she decided which university to go to. Assuming that the teen is fairly sensible, knows his own interests and abilities, isn't the kind who automatically rejects anything the parents say, they are unlikely to choose something totally unsuitable.