Are Our Children's Future Predicated on Good Primary Schools

[foreverj]

ChiefKiasu:

Why not think out of the box? Send our kids to the more ordinary school, help them to excel there and get their names permanently on the school plaques in the school's hall, challenge them to bring pride and glory to the school by doing better than kids in the supposedly better schools, and be seen as the ones that really made the difference in the schools. Our kids can then be the pioneers that brought their schools to the top. Imagine the pride that THEIR children will have when they become students of those schools. Just imagine.

It is our children that made the schools, and not the other way around. A good school is one with educators that can inspire our children to challenge their limits, and not one that is completely focused on getting their charges to score all As for academic exams.

Our children's path are to be charted and walked by themselves, not by us, and definitely not by the school of choice. Teach our kids to want to chart their own paths to their dreams using their own natural born skills and talents. Life does not end just because they did not get into that \"good school\" that we wanted so much to get them into.

hi Chief, applaud the excellent post indeed! but for an ordinary school, it takes more than just one or two great students to make it stand out from all the other normal schools, even with the benefit of time. part of the reason why certain schools r well known now (eg. NYPS, RGPS etc etc) are becos they have a long history (been around for very long time and r one of the first schools established!) or a result of MOE's decision to convert them into one of the few schools with GEP system - this naturally filters/attracts the smarter students to these schools and hence produce more outstanding results when compared to the other schools.

i myself am a product of a neighbourhood school. to me, i had an excellent foundation thanks to good teachers, particularly my pri 6 teacher who is exceptionally dedicated. to this day, i stil remember the things they taught me. where is my pri school now? its stil faithfully serving the needs of educating the young in our old neighbourhood - is it famous now? not really, its stil an ordinary neighbourhood sch but that does not mean it had not produced batches of successful, well-adjusted citizens who contributed much to our society tdy!

my previous post is more of a joke la, frankly i myself m not gg to try for those branded schools - cos i m too lazy. gg for a sch where i have church affiliation and is more well-rounded curriculum and programme. but the post is also applicable, considering that most of us kiasuparents wld like (at the very least) for our kids to get into a \"good\" school. if any tom dick or harry school also can, then none of us will be here visiting this site

of course, i hope my dd wil get to go on that \"wall of fame\" in her pri sch next time!

[foreverj]

sleepy:

foreverj:

thats y we got to be far-sighted. should send our kids to the so-called good schools so that our grandchildren guaranteed a place next time. lol

can pass down like a family heirloom

hehe, maybe more precious and in fact more priceless (since even money can't buy a place in the school)! :lol:

[foreverj]

markfch:

Let me looked at my crystal ball. Blurry blurry at first. Ok, saw it already. It says that 40 yrs down the road, NYPS & RGS will still be tops. Wait wait, I see something else . I also see that SAPS will rise up and challenge both schs. So parents of kids in these schs made the correct choice.

wats SAPS?

[janet88]

Agree, this is VERY precious since since it's something money CANNOT buy. Just pray hard that there isn't a new Education minister who comes onboard and change the rules.


A good school should have educators who groom the students to their best, have correct morals and not just scoring As. As parents, we can register our children in schools we deem GOOD, but it's up to the kids to live their own dreams.

[Funz]

My sis and I were saying, in future when our kids find their life partners, one of the considerations will be which Pr sch did your potential spouse go to.

[Jennifer]

ChiefKiasu:

Why not think out of the box? Send our kids to the more ordinary school, help them to excel there and get their names permanently on the school plaques in the school's hall, challenge them to bring pride and glory to the school by doing better than kids in the supposedly better schools, and be seen as the ones that really made the difference in the schools. Our kids can then be the pioneers that brought their schools to the top. Imagine the pride that THEIR children will have when they become students of those schools. Just imagine.

Well said. In fact, today's ST ran an article on a Pioneer JC student (first in the JC) to be offerred PSC scholarship. He made a decision to be a somebody.

[markfch]

foreverj:

markfch:

Let me looked at my crystal ball. Blurry blurry at first. Ok, saw it already. It says that 40 yrs down the road, NYPS & RGS will still be tops. Wait wait, I see something else . I also see that SAPS will rise up and challenge both schs. So parents of kids in these schs made the correct choice.

wats SAPS?

St Anthony's pri sch. Btw, my colleague told me that last time St Andrews is same std as RI. I asked him rugby is it? He knocked my head :heresmyfish: and say don't try to by funny. It's academic.

[foreverj]

markfch:

St Anthony's pri sch. Btw, my colleague told me that last time St Andrews is same std as RI. I asked him rugby is it? He knocked my head :heresmyfish: and say don't try to by funny. It's academic.

really, when har? likely becos last time not many schools around la, and those who can afford to go to school wil have certain std.

but then, not surprising that St Andrews last time not bad since they produce the likes of Chief if dun recall wrongly, he was from st andrews. but dunno is it junior or secondary school.

[jedamum]

Scary:

Of course not offended. We are here to share our opinions.


Just that for my area, it's not a joke to walk 15 mins up and down slope carrying school bags, especially during rainy days!! Furthermore, one side of the road has no pavement to walk and the area is only 2 lanes for vehicles, 1 for each direction. If Ah Ma or Ah Gong brings, I think will need at least 30 mins.

if the school that is 15min up and down the slope is a popular/top school, i think parents will have no complains with that extra bit of walking or even commuting by bus. every time i see children from SAPS alighting at blocks near LPS, and see students from LPS taking buses that go to Gombak, i think about how MOE's stress on proximity is just not going to be taken seriously.
my ds2's preschool is just <500m away from my place and yet i have to walk 20min under the hot sun and over a bridge with no shelter (ie no lightning protection), walking on roads at times due to MRT construction works, so you can imagine the thunderstorm last week when i told ds1 how scared i were before i left on foot to fetch ds2. however, the quality of the school makes proximity secondary.

[jedamum]

Sorry Chief,

I can't help disagreeing to certain points of your posts:

ChiefKiasu:

Why not think out of the box? Send our kids to the more ordinary school, help them to excel there and get their names permanently on the school plaques in the school's hall, challenge them to bring pride and glory to the school by doing better than kids in the supposedly better schools, and be seen as the ones that really made the difference in the schools. Our kids can then be the pioneers that brought their schools to the top. Imagine the pride that THEIR children will have when they become students of those schools. Just imagine.

It is our children that made the schools, and not the other way around.

To start with, is your kids in one of the more ordinary school? surely those schs that made it to the Top Schs' Exam Papers are less than ordinary. my child is in a school which acquaintances often mistook to be Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary even after i repeated the name twice and sometimes thrice.
it is too idealistic to try to get one's kid name onto the school's plaque; at the end of the day, it is what matters on the cert that the child holds onto, of which sch's name is one of such. when the crunch come for our children to register their kids in P1, surely it boils down to priority issues (unless the ordinary school becomes popular schs la!); additionally, having to live under the label of 'child of a top scholar', is surely something i dont want my grandchildren to go thru (ie assuming my sons are top scholars ).

ChiefKiasu:

A good school is one with educators that can inspire our children to challenge their limits, and not one that is completely focused on getting their charges to score all As for academic exams.

coincidentally, it is precisely these good schs that has a high demand, a reason why some of these schools are so popular despite an average PSLE performance.

ChiefKiasu:

Our children's path are to be charted and walked by themselves, not by us, and definitely not by the school of choice. Teach our kids to want to chart their own paths to their dreams using their own natural born skills and talents.

Our role as parents is to provide that opportunity for a chance of a lifetime to kickstart the schooling years in a school that offers a more rounded and enriching curriculum. Until our kids can be independent to chart their own paths, we have to at least try to make options available for them to choose.

ChiefKiasu:

Life does not end just because they did not get into that \"good school\" that we wanted so much to get them into.

This, I fully agree. When a door closes, a window opens.