Choosing and Evaluating Primary Schools

[24hr-mum]

i see. my girl is from stnic. and a parent told me for stnic, they dont look at the HCL score, that’s why quite a lot drop HCL at p5 unless they wan to go eg NY Girls whc does look at HCL


HCL bonus is it 3 points or 2 points? or depends on the type of score?

psle score or psle t-score is it the same thing?

[24hr-mum]

just to gather some views:


i had been targeting Cath Hi pri for my boy, and so we live within 1km of the sch. reason being its a catholic sch, sap sch, top sch.

but i m now having 2nd thots becos its very diff to get in, this year reg only hv 9 seats for 2b n 2c. wonder if history will repeat itself. also, got so many pple here living within 1km. must always balloting even if live within 1km, at both phases. chances of gettg in slim. also, my boy is just average, may stress him like mad if eg cant even finish sch classwk in sch and got to bring hm classwk plus hmwk. he has short attn span. even in childcare he cant finish his wk at times.

so i thinkg of MSH which is also cath sch, sap sch. but academically not so strong. also, will be a bit far from my #1 who studies in amk. cos to get into MSH we are thinkg of shiftg to avoid balloting.

i m now also thinkg of anderson pri cos i think its the top sch in amk besides sng. plus that area near my #1 sch. but not sure abt anderson academic standing, plus it is not related to anderson sec. and wont higher chinese at p1.

my friend says better to go for schs with affiliation esp if the child not so bright, due to the lower COP for affiliated students.

by the way is there a compilation of pri sch # psle passes and top scorer or average score?

[BigDevil]

24hr-mum:

my friend says better to go for schs with affiliation esp if the child not so bright, due to the lower COP for affiliated students.

If the child is not so bright and needed the lowered COP to get into the affiliated sec school, then he will be competing against bright students from non-affiliated schools who got in with their high scores. This not-so-bright child will always end up at the bottom of the class.

So is this a good thing for the child? Especially for his confidence and self-esteem?

[24hr-mum]

even so, i thot if can get into the affiliated sch whc usually is a top or quite ok sch, can at least benefit from the hopefully better teachers or better system of education or the study culture or whatever that makes that sch is better one compared to some really neighborhood sch wif much lower COP?

[24hr-mum]

one more thing to add, at least the child get to be in the same sch as his or her academically stronger classmates who graduate like him or her from the affiliated pri sch, as i think the child generally likes to stay in the same (full) sch?

[janet88]

24hr-mum:

even so, i thot if can get into the affiliated sch whc usually is a top or quite ok sch, can at least benefit from the hopefully better teachers or better system of education or the study culture or whatever that makes that sch is better one compared to some really neighborhood sch wif much lower COP?

To me, if I'm able to transfer my son to school with affiliation, I can definitely benefit from lower stress at PSLE...at least he doesn't have to compete for a place at P6. I would like him to be in a all boys' school but given that he is a Dragon baby (2000), very hard to get a place.
No need to be a top school, quite ok is good enough as long as there is affiliated sec.

[24hr-mum]

ya i agree. if got affiliated jc or IP, even better.

less stress at O level
at least get somewhere

[janet88]

24hr-mum:

ya i agree. if got affiliated jc or IP, even better.

less stress at O level
at least get somewhere

It's so stressful having to compete with other kids from schools for a place in secondary school. With lower COP in those pri school with affiliation, why not ? If my son has a place in school with affiliation now, I will transfer him there even if it's the last class. My stress is definitely lowered.

The more crucial stage is P6...kids at only 12...not that mature but not that young either. By Sec 2 or 3, he/she should be able to think far and work hard to get into JC.

[24hr-mum]

this i agree.

so it isnt really true that PSLE levels the playing field.
eg if u are rich, get a landed near NY pri within 1km.
NY pri is affiliated to HCI and there u go, from pri sch jump to A levels.

[janet88]

24hr-mum:

this i agree.

so it isnt really true that PSLE levels the playing field.
eg if u are rich, get a landed near NY pri within 1km.
NY pri is affiliated to HCI and there u go, from pri sch jump to A levels.

Nanyang pri is not affiliated to HCI.

Someone in ST forum yesterday mentioned there is no fairness in primary school admission. It's true lah...since parents from schools still in operation get to join alumni or else younger siblings get to enjoy guaranteed entry under Phase 1. Those with 'better finances' will buy units near school of choice. This leads to one problem - balloting within 1km.