Hong Wen

[hquek]

hi nissin,


Dunno how to reply you. I do have my concerns also. But I feel that if us parents are there for our kids - keep them reading, keep them learning; I shouldn’t be too worried about the school standard. The school is made up of kids and it’s the kids who determine how well the school does.

I do not know that much about the teachers, honestly have no clue. But then this kind of thing is hard to say. Some teachers are feted in the papers for teacher of the year - but how many of those will actually coach our kids if they end up in these schools.

I gather from the HW PSG head that he’s very keen on garnering parental support for the school (he’s probably looking at this post sometime); and I think it’s not wrong. When parents pay close attention to their kids, and help out actively in the school, I’m sure standards will rise. And a lot will depend on the areas we are concentrating on - be it moral fibre of the kids or something more academic.

I know of a child, in a lousy neighbourhood school (not HW), who aced his psles with a score above 270. He did this on his own - no tuition at all; I’m not sure if the parents were able to help him in his work. If our kids are really that fantastic, they will be the ones to make HW proud and make them shine. FYI, I saw from HW site that a President’s scholar was an ex-pupil.

In all, it’s up to the parent to make the choice if to send the child to a particular school. For me, once my choice is made, I told myself not to wonder about school being good/bad - every school has it’s pros and cons; but I want to look ahead and let my kid have a fun learning journey for the next 6 years.

[nissin]

hi hquek,

guess u r rite. Parents play a bigger role. Hope my decision is right.

[hquek]

nissin:

hi hquek,

guess u r rite. Parents play a bigger role. Hope my decision is right.

Sorry, is your kid going in there next year?

[SAHM_TAN]

Hi,


Here's my take about schools. There are advantages about going to good/branded schools. The exposure and challenges to the students will definitely be different. However, parents who have kids in those schools usually send them to tuition/enrichment. As in anything the more you practice, the better you understand and you will do better. The teacher will find that the class is quick to understand and the teacher will move on faster and teach more things to engage the class. But such schools does not guarantee all will obtain excellent results or passes in all subjects. There are still top classes vs average classes in such schools. There are only a handful of such schools, does that mean the rest of the school going population are doomed to do badly or be greatly disadvantaged? I think not. I know that no matter which school I managed to get my kids into, I will have to support them to ensure that they \"succeed\". If u have the time, try reading Outliners by Malcolm Galdwell, The author present interesting findings about why people succeed. It is an easy read and very engaging. I have also struggled initially between a branded school and HW. In the end, for my own reasons, I went with HW. I have no control that my kids will meet passionate teachers but I have full control in trying to ensure that they have passion for learning. Sorry for such a long post

[nissin]

Sorry, is your kid going in there next year?[/quote]


nope.will reg only next yr. He’s in K1 now.

[nissin]

SAHM_TAN:

Hi,


Here's my take about schools. There are advantages about going to good/branded schools. The exposure and challenges to the students will definitely be different. However, parents who have kids in those schools usually send them to tuition/enrichment. As in anything the more you practice, the better you understand and you will do better. The teacher will find that the class is quick to understand and the teacher will move on faster and teach more things to engage the class. But such schools does not guarantee all will obtain excellent results or passes in all subjects. There are still top classes vs average classes in such schools. There are only a handful of such schools, does that mean the rest of the school going population are doomed to do badly or be greatly disadvantaged? I think not. I know that no matter which school I managed to get my kids into, I will have to support them to ensure that they \"succeed\". If u have the time, try reading Outliners by Malcolm Galdwell, The author present interesting findings about why people succeed. It is an easy read and very engaging. I have also struggled initially between a branded school and HW. In the end, for my own reasons, I went with HW. I have no control that my kids will meet passionate teachers but I have full control in trying to ensure that they have passion for learning. Sorry for such a long post

at least I m assured that there are still many concerned parents ard in HW..m afraid of too many \"bo chap\" parents out there, thus \"bo chap\" sch system.

[SAHM_TAN]

I think majority of parents are very pro-active nowadays

[simsl_sg]

in today’s pv, i met a senior chinese teacher, been with HW for 40yrs, he is 70 yrs old. He was sharing with me that how chinese school focus more on respect for parents, filial piety, close relations with siblings. Not saying that english school or other neighbourhood schools don’t teach such things but ‘chinese thinking’ way focus more, as seen in books, painting, poem, etc.


And having seen so many batches of students across different generations, he feel that nowadays parents should still love their kids but not pamper. Though unavoidable as grandparents or maids take care of kids. But as parents, we should still pay attention on their upbringing to develop into a better person. HW has strong emphasis on the child’s confidence and courage (such as public speaking and solo performance).

He brought out an example of one student who was very upset when he scored 95 for a test (1st in class). The student said that his mom will scold him for not getting 100 marks. And this boy’s mom was his ex student who was only an average student back in the 1980s. Parents should not ask for perfection without caring for the child’s emotion.

[SAHM_TAN]

Thanks for sharing

[hquek]

SAHM_TAN:

Hi,


Here's my take about schools. There are advantages about going to good/branded schools. The exposure and challenges to the students will definitely be different. However, parents who have kids in those schools usually send them to tuition/enrichment. As in anything the more you practice, the better you understand and you will do better. The teacher will find that the class is quick to understand and the teacher will move on faster and teach more things to engage the class. But such schools does not guarantee all will obtain excellent results or passes in all subjects. There are still top classes vs average classes in such schools. There are only a handful of such schools, does that mean the rest of the school going population are doomed to do badly or be greatly disadvantaged? I think not. I know that no matter which school I managed to get my kids into, I will have to support them to ensure that they \"succeed\". If u have the time, try reading Outliners by Malcolm Galdwell, The author present interesting findings about why people succeed. It is an easy read and very engaging. I have also struggled initially between a branded school and HW. In the end, for my own reasons, I went with HW. I have no control that my kids will meet passionate teachers but I have full control in trying to ensure that they have passion for learning. Sorry for such a long post

:goodpost: Good points SAHM_Tan. A friend whose sister is a teacher once told me that it's better to go neighbourhood schools becos they focus on teaching the kids. According to her, some branded schools take it as a given that the kids would have enrichment classes already and thus do not work on building the child's foundation - pity the poor kid who didn't get to attend such classes (though I would think they are in the minority now).

Thanks for sharing!