Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)

[Kiasu Friend]

Hi Muffins (and other existing students at ACS (I) ),


My nephew is taking PSLE this year and he is a top student in his school (just a neighbourhood school). His parents want him to join RI or HCI and do A-levels. But he wants to do IB in ACS(I) after attending the talk at ACS(I).

His parents are scaring him saying home-work in ACS(I) is twice of what he will get in RI or HCI. Poor boy was depressed when I saw him last week. In fact because of this ‘rift’ in the family about choice of school, he has not applied for DSA to any school.

(1) Can you please clarify about ‘home-work-burden’ at ACS(I)?
(2) By what time you get to sleep on working days?
(3) Is the schedule (incl. CCA) exhausting in IB when compared to A-levels?

Thank you very much for sparing your time and thoughts.

If any parent whose son is studying in ACS (I) can provide info, it is most welcome. My nephew will be most grateful to all of you for ‘saving’ him.

[gleemom]

I have a son in ACS(I) IB prog. He stays back 4 times a week because of 3rd lang and CCAs, and sleeps about 10+. The prog has a lot of team-based and solo projects and presentations, somewhat like university. The boys must enjoy writing and presenting. The boys need to be independent - very little time to slack. But then I think the workload for any IP school will be fairly heavy, not just IB.

[Kiasu Friend]

gleemom:

I have a son in ACS(I) IB prog. He stays back 4 times a week because of 3rd lang and CCAs, and sleeps about 10+. The prog has a lot of team-based and solo projects and presentations, somewhat like university. The boys must enjoy writing and presenting. The boys need to be independent - very little time to slack. But then I think the workload for any IP school will be fairly heavy, not just IB.

Hi gleemom,

Thank you very much for your quick reply and useful insights. Just one question. I was told that 3rd language is 'optional' in IP Schools. Is it compulsory? Please clarify.

[breezy]

Kiasu Friend:

(1) Can you please clarify about 'home-work-burden' at ACS(I)?

(2) By what time you get to sleep on working days?
(3) Is the schedule (incl. CCA) exhausting in IB when compared to A-levels?

hi kiasu friend,

my son is doing IB Yr1 this yr in ACS(I). he was from a neighbourhood school and ACS(I) was the only school we went for DSA.

I guess gleemom has aptly put, that kids in any IP school will have their fair share of high homework load. At a high, they could be staggering homework for 3 to 4 subjects a day with 5 projects (group or solo) on hand. The good news is that, deadlines for these are spread out(especially for projects, the students would be informed well ahead of time)

my son normally likes to complete his homework on the day it was given and would normally complete his work by 10+pm (with short chill-out breaks in between). Of course, there are also \"tight\" days where he goes to bed close to 1am (due to staying back late for CCAs).

As he is on the RSP (regional studies programme) scholarship, he is required to stay back for malay and regional studies lessons twice a wk. Above that, approx 2 more days for CCAs.

Sometimes i wonder how the boys cope, as they all hv different CCA commitments, scheduling a common time for project discusssions is close to impossible... but somehow, they managed.

i find ACS(I) a great school for my son's overall development as emphasis is not put solely on academic excellence. The boys r quite a fun-loving and polite bunch. Their curriculum is often punctuated with interesting activities, field trips and projects to widen the boys' horizon. (eg. like life sciences symposium, IB symposium, charity cafe, drama nites etc.)

cheers!

[breezy]

Kiasu Friend:

Thank you very much for your quick reply and useful insights. Just one question. I was told that 3rd language is 'optional' in IP Schools. Is it compulsory? Please clarify.

hi kiasu friend,

3rd lang is not compulsory in ACS(I).

[gleemom]

Yes, 3rd language is optional - student choose during the S1 posting. Actually I heard that many IP students from ACS(I) and other schools drop 3rd language during the 1st year due to travelling time to language centres. ACS(I) Malay program is held in the school, so that helps the boys save time. Other 3rd languages are held in Ghim Moh language centre.

[Kiasu Friend]

breezy:

Kiasu Friend:

Thank you very much for your quick reply and useful insights. Just one question. I was told that 3rd language is 'optional' in IP Schools. Is it compulsory? Please clarify.

hi kiasu friend,

3rd lang is not compulsory in ACS(I).

Hi Breezy,

I am most grateful for your detailed reply. Your inputs will help not only my nephew but to his parents also in clearing their misconceptions about ACS(I). My nephew is very similar to the profile of your son. That is a very positive feature. Thanks again.

[Kiasu Friend]

gleemom:

Yes, 3rd language is optional - student choose during the S1 posting. Actually I heard that many IP students from ACS(I) and other schools drop 3rd language during the 1st year due to travelling time to language centres. ACS(I) Malay program is held in the school, so that helps the boys save time. Other 3rd languages are held in Ghim Moh language centre.

Thanks for clarifying about 3rd language. From the info about her son's schedule given by 'breezy', I could see that dropping the 3rd language is the right thing to do if the students want to do justice to their other subjects. I have learnt so much about ACS (I) in just a day. Thanks to both you and 'breezy'.

[mamatay]

Has anyone received calls from ACS on the DSA result cos their web states the call shold be from 3rd week July to 3rd week Aug.


Has anyone get the call yet?

[hoskins8h]

Kiasu Friend:

Hi Muffins (and other existing students at ACS (I) ),

His parents are scaring him saying home-work in ACS(I) is twice of what he will get in RI or HCI. Poor boy was depressed when I saw him last week. In fact because of this 'rift' in the family about choice of school, he has not applied for DSA to any school.

I find it rather hard to believe that RI/HCI has less homework than ACSI. I think all IP schools in general have heavy workloads. In my humble opinion (hope no one gets offended), the first 2 schools during my school days would best define the adjective of this website. In terms of recognition of qualification overseas, IB probably better than our GCE A. Our A levels is probably harder than the international GCE, which not many people seem to know. Only in the local context does the IB seem inferior because the high scores of ACSI make it seem to be an easier exam.