PSLE Discussions and Strategies
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@azura1 Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. My son scored AL18 (this was a couple of years back) and he’s actually happy and motivated in his school.
Perhaps you can share more about what you and your child are feeling, so we can also get others to pop in with insights. (Parents who have experience with secondary school transfers, do let us know if they also look at the PSLE results!)
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T thebottomsupblog pinned this topic on
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For PSLE parents of 2026 !
All the best for the year ahead
I went through PSLE with my kids in 2024 and 2025, so just sharing a few practical reflections:Attend open houses (around May) for popular schools like RI, SJI, etc.
It helps motivate kids and sets a clearer expectation of the aggregate needed to get in.If your child takes both Chinese and HCL, prioritise normal Chinese tuition unless you’re aiming for a SAP school.
I focused too much on HCL — my son’s HCL ended up stronger than his normal Chinese, which unfortunately pulled down his overall aggregate
Prelims are quite telling.
For my three kids, two scored the same as prelims and one improved by 3 points. Overall, prelim results were a fairly accurate reflection of PSLE outcomes. I also found it helpful to ask them how they felt they did after the papers.Results aren’t the end of the story.
Last year, my daughter was disappointed with her score of AL20, but she’s now thriving in her secondary school. Every child is gifted differently. As parents, our role is to help them build a healthy self-image and be their biggest cheerleaders
️Cheering all PSLE parents and kids on
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@MsHuppy Thanks for sharing!
During the PSLE year, my son had tutors who came to the home for CL2, Maths, and Science. If I could do it again, I would have made sure that all his tutors were suitably encouraging — I know that several times, he felt unappreciated because after sitting through a long tuition session, the tutor would give feedback in front of him that he was careless.
What did work well: I asked my friend’s daughter to be a mentor to him, come by and chat with him in Chinese, play games, and encourage him to converse without switching back to English. I paid her a small fee — those who’re on a tighter budget can consider doing something similar for the MTL.
My son and daughter went to different schools — during my daughter’s PSLE, it felt like the school was managing everything, and the teachers were regularly reporting to us what their gaps were, so much so that it felt stressful
But for my son, it felt like we couldn’t leave it entirely up to the school. Even if you have more than one child, each PSLE journey will be different! -
@thebottomsupblog This resonates with me much because I was so hopeful that my son would do well, but as I looked at his PSLE results, I was quite disappointed. He did all the revision and past years’ papers and excelled in them. SO why did he do worse? My son was pretty much upset as well though he did not show it. First thing I self-calmed myself and encouraged him that it was okay, results don’t define his character or future. I believe constant encouragement, support and discipline will shape him to a better person and accepting that if things don’t go the way we wanted, we should press on take it as part of growing up. Surely, God has plans for him. In the end, he got into his affiliated secondary school where his older sister is studying. Both of them had so much to share and conversations have been about the school, teachers and their friends now. It’s a blessing in disguise.
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@chick81 So happy to hear from another parent! Thanks for reading and sharing.
I think that Results Day can be more emotional than we expect! My son’s bestie scored around the same, and he came over to our home, so both boys could process together, and us parents too. We did have cake, but I think the overall mood was not super-celebratory haha. My son also put in a lot of hours, but ultimately, our original first-choice school was quite out of reach.
Anyway, fast forward and he’s now in Sec 3! He’s taking the subjects that he chose: pure Chem and Physics + A & E maths.
Sometimes we still get a bit careless with our words, like we might use phrases like “good school” to mean RI/RGS/MGS and so on. I try to correct myself immediately, especially if my son is around. I also say a lot of good things about his school (Christ Church), because I genuinely think he has grown in confidence in this school, and he seems to have friends that really care about him. Those are the things that we’ll remember most about our schooldays!
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So far, i have signed up the regular classes my son is attending (Science) from A Grader, which he enjoys since P3.
I am considering to sign up for English too, probably in Feb. I’m putting on hold, as his school has also started extra lessons this week. Please share with me if any tuition centre (Tampines/ Pasir Ris) that provides Foundation Math. Cheers -
Hi, my nephew with a score of 14 for 2025 PSLE got into Christ Church as well. I’m really glad to hear your positive comments about this school especially that your son has grown in confidence and found caring friends. That’s very encouraging to hear.
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@chick81
You are a very understanding mummy
Despite your own disappointment, you remained calm and encouraging, putting your son’s emotions first ️ That speaks volumes. In the end, what matters most is that our children enjoy the learning journey and grow in confidence and character. -
@HNS2015 Christ Church also has a 4+1 timetable, where Mon-Thurs is for academic lessons and Fri is for CCA! Not sure if any other secondary school in Singapore is doing this.
For all parents (even if non-PSLE), please pop in here to share about your child’s secondary school, especially if it’s not as well known.
It’s quite hard to find info/reviews for neighbourhood schools, but most kids will attend these lesser-known schools, and it helps to have reassurance.
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@thebottomsupblog
Wow, this is my first time hearing of a 4+1 timetable! Does that mean students don’t have lessons on Fridays and only go to school for CCA?
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