Are Our Children's Future Predicated on Good Primary Schools
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ChiefKiasu:
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.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.
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foreverj:
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.
wats SAPS?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. -
markfch:
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.
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.
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.
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Scary:
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.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.
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. -
Sorry Chief,
I can't help disagreeing to certain points of your posts:ChiefKiasu:
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.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.
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:
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.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.
ChiefKiasu:
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.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.
ChiefKiasu:
This, I fully agree. When a door closes, a window opens.Life does not end just because they did not get into that \"good school\" that we wanted so much to get them into.
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ChiefKiasu:
As usual ,the guru has spoken! :goodpost:
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. -
LKVM:
I will smack the kid 1st... \"Y u never study harder?\"...But there is also one thing we need to consider... watever our thoughts maybe we shouldnt be ruining our kids future as well... it shouldnt happen that many years later kids question u mom why didnt u try putting me in blah blah school when you had the chance?
I will say we as the parents should try putting them in good schools if we couldnt get in then atleast we can say we tried... :oops:
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ChiefKiasu:
My neighbour's son came from the nearby neighbourhood school - he was the top PSLE scorer of his year and went on to RI. Good? Yah, but his dad told us that his son commented his success was despite the school, not because of the school. And told us NEVER EVER to send our kids to that school.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.
FYI, the boy is very self starter. His parents don't send him to tuition, only to music classes when the boy insisted he wanted to learn. So this is really an exceptional case.
My thinking. It's fine and good to be the best in 'ordinary' school, but the effort that is needed to be the best despite of the mud that's clinging is herculean. I was from a neighbourhood primary school and was consistently amongst the top. it was only when I entered a so called elite sec school that I realised how much of a frog in well I really was. -
What makes a school hot / popular ?
In theory all schools are the same as they use the same curriculum sanctioned by MOE, and select from an approved list of text books
And the teachers and principals are all NIE certified, MOE approved and appointed.
So why some schools are perpetually more popular than others ?
1. History & prestige (someone VIP studied there), but where is Telok Kurau Eng School now ?
2. Tradition ?
3. Systems & processes ? Can’t they duplicate them in every other schools ? Money is no object to MOE isn’t it - if the PRIME project is any guide ?
4. Alumni network and contribution ?
5. Location ? What else ?
Having put my children through the system, I dare say it is a combination of all of the above, while I think Chief KS’s challenge to "think out of the box" to be the pioneer of an "unknown" school to have their names remembered in history remains an ideal and "dream like". We are all pragmatists and kiasu to the max.
Principals’ and teachers’ aptitude for the job also play a very important role. Some principals just don’t know how to manage / motivate to make things work. They try to be different and don’t want to be seen to copy what other schools are doing … but ended up with no credible result and meanwhile teachers are kept chasing the kpi (mindless drillings) instead of going down to the ground to help the kids …
Some teachers are just clueless how to tune the students.
With the right combination of a capable principal and motivated clued-in teachers, things progress very fast
Those very established primary schools are established not based on just the main academic track. They have a very comprehensive range of enrichment courses to supplement the core curriculum, and they have a huge range of approved vendors that have worked with them over the years to make the provision of enrichment courses very seamless. And their parent-teacher assn is very involved.
And their systems and processes are proven every year to deliver.
At PSLE, as it is a national placement exam, if we say grades are secondary and it is the education that matters, we are just deluding ourselves. With the introduction of IP through train by the top secondary schools, the competition has shifted from ‘O’ levels down to the PSLE. This is the new reality.
So, in my own opinion, the popular school will continue to be popular in the foreseeable future. -
It’s a vicious / virtuous cycle.
good schools attract good students so results continue to be good without much extra effort on the part of teachers.
not so good schools get students with parents who are likely to be less involved / concerned with their education, so they tend to do worse. the teachers there might be very dedicated, but with a lack of home support, there is only this much magic they can do.
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