Secondary School CCA

[wangwei8]

rubydoll:

I was adviced from my brother who came from a top shool and now doing his overseas studies to choose only one cca and strict with itt.

Academic results are also more important.so choose a sports cca .

Tks Rubydoll, probably I will ask my son to take the performance art(chinese orchestra), since the CCA got quite good reputation.

[MMM]

I only encouraged my kids to choose 1 CCA and they are in the school band. The reason why we stick to this is because the kids can only join band at P1/ P2. Subsequent to that, band is not really open to the other kids. The school has a very good band and we believed with that kind of exposure they are getting, we can potentially think about DSA or maybe appealing for secondary school will come in handy given that "talent".


Recently, my P3 has interest to take on badminton as well. This is our family sports. We play it almost every weekend. I thought it might be good if he can join the CCA and acquire some right skills from the coach. But not sure if they will offer him. As looking at it, he can only join this year. Come next year, badminton will clash with band. Band to us, is the priority.

I find it difficult to use sports CCA for DSA, etc… as you probably need to be at the national level??? the question is how many can be there? So to me, performaning arts has better opportunities.

But we are still learning about the processes. So any experienced parents who have been through it, pls share your outlook.

[wangwei8]

[quote=\"MMM\"]

Hi MMM, first of all, my son is now in sec 1 . One thing you are right, base on sports CCA is difficult to get DSA, since your standard must be national level (like top 8 ). My son was badminton school team player in primary school, but compare with those top badminton player, still very very big gap.

[ctct61t]

Chinese orchestra got a lot of chances to perform oversea, this will be a very good chance for children to open their mind.

[hquek]

Not sure if there is any diff between last and now, I had friends who didn’t do well academically; but they were from Band and they appealed successfully to get into top schools - seems like that time nobody wanted to join band.

[INNOVATE]

Just have one cca that interest your kid and that he’s likely to represent his/her school. Be it sports or performing arts, at upper secondary level, must be able to win honours and prefably in leadership positions.


At jc level, appeal cases are based primarily on cca-ability to contribute as a representative of the college. It’s not base on 0-level score.


Similar to conduct, cca is an important consideration for appeal cases in unis.

[wangwei8]

INNOVATE:

Just have one cca that interest your kid and that he's likely to represent his/her school. Be it sports or performing arts, at upper secondary level, must be able to win honours and prefably in leadership positions.


At jc level, appeal cases are based primarily on cca-ability to contribute as a representative of the college. It's not base on 0-level score.


Similar to conduct, cca is an important consideration for appeal cases in unis.

Hi message body, take chinese orchestra for example, if it wins honour, does it mean every player win honour? Vs badminton, probably only 1 or 2 player can win honour.

[sleepy]

MMM:

I only encouraged my kids to choose 1 CCA and they are in the school band. The reason why we stick to this is because the kids can only join band at P1/ P2. Subsequent to that, band is not really open to the other kids. The school has a very good band and we believed with that kind of exposure they are getting, we can potentially think about DSA or maybe appealing for secondary school will come in handy given that \"talent\".

But we are still learning about the processes. So any experienced parents who have been through it, pls share your outlook.

I noticed band needs to spend long hours practicing. Besides child's individual instrument, need to practice in group too. Must stay back in school at least twice a week, sometimes even more? Perhaps I'm a little myopia because I felt that it's actually taking precious time away from studying and might affect academic results.

And the vicious cycle continues. If school results affected as a result of CCA, child has no choice but to rely on CCA for DSA. But confirm need to continue with band CCA in sec sch since this is what got him or her through school gate. Even if he or she is ovewhelmed by sec sch workload but couldn't drop that CCA. Kind of stuck forever?

Better to spend more time studying and pick a CCA that is less time consuming. And perhaps hire a private teacher to teach that particular band instrument if child is really interested. With that kind of time commitment required from band CCA, channel part of it to pass ABRSM exams instead, at least get a cert. My shortsighted opinion la :lol:

Parents who been through DSA, what do you think?

[INNOVATE]

wangwei8



Team events including bands, the points are awarded to all school representatives. For bands, must get at least gold in SYF-achievement pt is 4. Must be disciplined as this cca requires constant practice.

High ability students should be able to cope with it. As for selection of ccas, Sleepy has a valid point regarding the excercise of wisdom in this instance. Other performing arts such as dramas may be a better alternative depending on your kids’ aptitude and schools’ track record.


For uniform groups, must achieve the rank of staff sergeant and holding the appointment of CSM.

Chief amongst all is to be a head or vice head of prefectorial board. This is the highest level of attainment in particular at jc level.

Heading the student council or at least a secretary speaks volume of a student’s leadership qualities. It reflects very well on a student’s holistic education.

[MMM]

sleepy:

MMM:

I only encouraged my kids to choose 1 CCA and they are in the school band. The reason why we stick to this is because the kids can only join band at P1/ P2. Subsequent to that, band is not really open to the other kids. The school has a very good band and we believed with that kind of exposure they are getting, we can potentially think about DSA or maybe appealing for secondary school will come in handy given that \"talent\".

But we are still learning about the processes. So any experienced parents who have been through it, pls share your outlook.

I noticed band needs to spend long hours practicing. Besides child's individual instrument, need to practice in group too. Must stay back in school at least twice a week, sometimes even more? Perhaps I'm a little myopia because I felt that it's actually taking precious time away from studying and might affect academic results.

And the vicious cycle continues. If school results affected as a result of CCA, child has no choice but to rely on CCA for DSA. But confirm need to continue with band CCA in sec sch since this is what got him or her through school gate. Even if he or she is ovewhelmed by sec sch workload but couldn't drop that CCA. Kind of stuck forever?

Better to spend more time studying and pick a CCA that is less time consuming. And perhaps hire a private teacher to teach that particular band instrument if child is really interested. With that kind of time commitment required from band CCA, channel part of it to pass ABRSM exams instead, at least get a cert. My shortsighted opinion la :lol:

Parents who been through DSA, what do you think?

Hi Sleepy,

Yes, band in our case is twice a week and so far we find it manageable but that is also that the kids are P3 and P4 only and the timing are like total 6.5 hours a week. Nearer to exam, they usually stop the CCA.

To me, kids cannot possibly be studying all the time when they are free. Rather than let them idle at home when we are at work, I think attending CCA will be beneficial. But I did hear that if you join a school due to DSA, you need to continue the band and it's time consuming. But in the event where a child is really interested eg. my Sec 4 niece who is passionate about band and she only joined in Sec 1. I suppose spending time in a CCA there are passionate about is better than hanging out with friends at some shopping mall especially during teenage years, they will become more rebellious.

That is like a safety net for us and good that they enjoy band too and take pride in it. I've a nephew who went through PSLE last year. Not good academically and no \"talent\" except good in playing computer games. So I observed that this becomes a challenge in his sec school selection. He does not have anything to offer.

On the other hand, we saw another child also PSLE last year. He had some music background in some instrument. Results average and scored around 230+. He missed his ideal school by a couple of points. When he approach the school with his results and music background, they accepted his appeal almost immediately.

So I feel that between 2 children with average academic performance, one with some talent acquired through CCA and the other without, the one without will be at a losing end.

While we try to build the child academically to ensure that they will turn out at least average, the window for joining some of these performing arts CCA is limited. Eg. it's difficult to join the band CCA from P3 or P4 onwards if you weren't there since P1/P2. This is especially so in our case.