CHIJ Toa Payoh Secondary

[momof4]

Re the P. Yes, and the students also notice. The previous P was very good, kind and caring. She would stop to talk to any student she sees. But too bad she’s no longer here. These days, principals change every 5 years, so just hope for a good one when your dd enters the school.

[janet88]

momof4:

Re the P. Yes, and the students also notice. The previous P was very good, kind and caring. She would stop to talk to any student she sees. But too bad she's no longer here. These days, principals change every 5 years, so just hope for a good one when your dd enters the school.

The P in the primary school is nice...in fact the current principal in IJ primary Mrs Tan takes the effort to reply emails in a warm way. I would love to have my daughter in her school. But the P in the secondary school still giving me the tremors whenever I think of it.

[momof4]

Glad to know that Mrs Tan is nice. my dd3 will be entering the school in 2 yrs. Which P are you referring to in sec? There have been a few changes. The current P has been around since 06, so there should be a change soon, for better or for worse.

[Quintessential Mum]

janet_lee88:

I was transferred to CHIJ Kellock only at P5 & moved to CHIJ TP (wonderful feeling being the first batch of P6 students). In the primary school, discipline was strict and there was a feeling of some disciplinary mistress breathing down the neck at all times.

Could it be there is no disciplinary mistress in the secondary school ?? If they can pull one over from the primary school, I'm sure the belts will stay at the waist and there is no such thing as smoking or dyed hair.

I think that in order for discipline to be enforced, you need the buy in of the P and the rest of the staff. I dont think that one can rely on the disciplinary mistress solely - it is an uphill battle that she faces on a daily basis and a thankless job to boot!

I really really hope the affiliation stays, or else former girls like us won't find any added incentive to send our daughters back to the school.

I am sure that it will! The school actually tried to get on the IP program and the MOE came to test the girls one or two years ago fyi. They may succeed sometime in the future though

[Quintessential Mum]

janet_lee88:

Quintessential Mum:

Hi Janet_lee88 Don't worry, primary school is alright. Try to do well and move on to CHIJ St Nicks Secondary and do IP.

I will be investing more time and effort on my daughter...and hope she does well to get into a better secondary school...wonderful if she can make it to CHIJ St Nicholas. That would be great. Appreciate all the wonderful advice you have given. Thanks:)

You are most welcome! I pray that the situation improves in the Sec school too. It has a long standing reputation since Victoria Street.

[Quintessential Mum]

momof4:

Quintessential Mum,

The teachers did talk to her. In P3 she actually befriended my dd and was seen as best friends. When they were put into the same class again in sec1, she stuck on to my dd. My dd is the tolerant type and will just ignore her negative side. At that age she wasn't violent but just very vocal. It's in her character, nothing much the school could do.

It is heartening to know that your DD has such positive qualities and it must be thru your efforts and nurturing. She is lucky to have a concern and loving mum lke yourself. :celebrate:

[janet88]

Just wondering…how did the girls become so rebellious and undergo a total transformation when they go to the secondary side…esp if the girls in the primary school are well-behaved and face strict discipline.

Could these girls in the secondary school come from other primary schools ? What’s the cut-off point to enter IJ Secondary ?

After reading all the posts, I am convinced that the primary school is definitely ok in the sense that the principal is warm, discipline is strict but I would need to work with my girl so that she can join St Nicholas Sec (hopefully).

[momof4]

Quintessential Mum:

It is heartening to know that your DD has such positive qualities and it must be thru your efforts and nurturing. She is lucky to have a concern and loving mum lke yourself. :celebrate:

Thank you for your compliments. But at this age, we parents can only show our care, concern and support. Nothing much we can do.

[Quintessential Mum]

momof4:

Quintessential Mum:

Good to hear from you! I agree about the quality as there are one or two real gems - teachers there. But many good ones have left already. Sadly, the not so good ones are still around! I encouraged my DD to continue with a mission school because of the character building and religious aspects as i firmly believe that they are very important. However, i believe that the Secondary school falls short in this area and should seek to improve instead of burying its head in the sand.

I agree with you on the school's non-committed stance. I was like you 2 years ago, when dd1 was in Sec 2. Feeling so helpless, seeing my dd struggling, teachers with don't care attitude, And the P doing don't know what. There was hardly any teaching in class. I remember crying and having sleepless nights then. But things changed when she went to Sec3. She got the best form teacher who is also able to motivate her students to excel. My dd is very lucky in this case, some other classes are not so fortunate. As for dd2, oh, the teachers now are much much better than dd1's sec1teachers. Luckily they have all left.

As for discipline, I agree that this school is not as strict as the primary school. A lot of depends on the form teacher. The fierce ones will scold but the bochap ones will just pretend to not see. But my experience with the students have been good. My dd and friends are very mature and sensible. I asked her about the highlighting, tongue stud, nose stud, etc, she said she has seen a couple with highlight, but the rest she's not seen. So I can't comment on that. But for the wearing of uniform, belt at wrong place etc, I think this has been around for decades. It's like a fashion statement. Some still do it, but I find there are less now compared to before? Maybe the notorious ones are the ones making their presence felt and the guai ones are busy studying in school or at home.

Thanks for sharing your experience! Just to let you know that we are not affected by all the negative stuff at the school as we know what is right and what is wrong and i have encouraged independent learning from a young age.

The thing that gets my goat is that the school has lost its focus in terms of discipline, values etc and the P and staff are not doing their best. As a result a large portion of the student population are affected. I agree that the quality of the students in terms of academic is average but that is fine as long as they teach the students to strive and do the best that they can within their capabilities - that is the attitude that should be inculcated in the young people! So even if they decide to be a doctor, secretary, housewife, they will carry these values wherever they go and do the best job possible!

[Quintessential Mum]

janet_lee88:

momof4:

[quote=\"Quintessential Mum\"]
Good to hear from you! I agree about the quality as there are one or two real gems - teachers there. But many good ones have left already. Sadly, the not so good ones are still around! I encouraged my DD to continue with a mission school because of the character building and religious aspects as i firmly believe that they are very important. However, i believe that the Secondary school falls short in this area and should seek to improve instead of burying its head in the sand.

I agree with you on the school's non-committed stance.

As for discipline, I agree that this school is not as strict as the primary school. A lot of depends on the form teacher. The fierce ones will scold but the bochap ones will just pretend to not see. But my experience with the students have been good. My dd and friends are very mature and sensible. I asked her about the highlighting, tongue stud, nose stud, etc, she said she has seen a couple with highlight, but the rest she's not seen. So I can't comment on that. But for the wearing of uniform, belt at wrong place etc, I think this has been around for decades. It's like a fashion statement. Some still do it, but I find there are less now compared to before? Maybe the notorious ones are the ones making their presence felt and the guai ones are busy studying in school or at home.

Of course this school cannot be compared to schools like cedar or st nicks, cos the quality of students differ greatly. This is one area we parents have to take into account when choosing school for our kids.

But we all came out well.

I remember teachers like Miss Dorothy Schooling (sec side). As for primary school teachers, there is Miss Gladys and Miss Collars (coincidentally she is one of the writers of Maths textbook which my son is using).
The old batch of girls like us turned out well...well at least well enough to send our daughters back to CHIJ Toa Payoh. I have a strong feeling for IJ TP although I'm staying nearer to CHIJ at Chestnut Dr.[/quote]Yup the good old days!