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    "branded" sch vs neighbourhood sch

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    • S Offline
      SAHM_TAN
      last edited by

      jtoh:


      The problem is sometimes the kids know the topics beforehand because they were taught it in tuition centres. So the teacher assumes everyone knows and doesn't teach. And the poor kids who don't have tuition struggle to cope on their own when the teacher should have been teaching.
      Although it's no excuse for a teacher not to teach, but did we create this situation? My friend was in the branded school 30yrs ago, then tuition was not common, she recalled having lots of interesting lessons. But now the same branded school has students (past and present) saying the teachers do not teach.

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      • J Offline
        jtoh
        last edited by

        SAHM_TAN:
        jtoh:



        The problem is sometimes the kids know the topics beforehand because they were taught it in tuition centres. So the teacher assumes everyone knows and doesn't teach. And the poor kids who don't have tuition struggle to cope on their own when the teacher should have been teaching.

        Although it's no excuse for a teacher not to teach, but did we create this situation? My friend was in the branded school 30yrs ago, then tuition was not common, she recalled having lots of interesting lessons. But now the same branded school has students (past and present) saying the teachers do not teach.

        That's the problem when we have kiasu parents and kids. It's an upward cycle and kids who do not understand the lesson because the teacher didn't teach end up asking the parents for tuition.

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        • J Offline
          jtoh
          last edited by

          insider:
          My son is pleased with his O level results obtained in his neighbourhood sec school.


          Tonight over the dinner, he told me he will buy chocolate as gifts for his 'selected' teachers from Sec 1 to Sec 4, to thank them for keep encouraging him (despite he quite 'naughty' kind in school).

          He enjoyed himself thoroughly in his sec school life - great friends, sports and society, and quite a group of caring teachers (of course some bad ones too but those bad ones he said just yawn and forget about it).

          He definitely has more favourable memories as compared to his sister's 'elite' secondary school life with more snob friends and teachers...
          That's great. I have teacher friends who refuse to be posted to the branded schools because they feel that neighbourhood kids deserve good teachers more.

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          • janet88J Offline
            janet88
            last edited by

            I know of someone who was posted to a girls’school as a teacher…she couldn’t get used to the politics of the principal and her group of ‘pets’. The hours were long and meetings were so frequent. Another friend also faced the same problem, this time had to deal with demanding and snobbish parents as well. They both transferred to a neighbourhood school.

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            • Y Offline
              Yerdua
              last edited by

              Whether branded or neighborhood sch,

              they will have their fair share of good and bad teachers.

              If you have the chance to enroll in a branded sch,
              go ahead.

              For many others, including myself,
              even if we want to,
              we hve no chance, despite writing in to offer services etc…

              And in this case, we will then make the best out of
              the neighborhood sch our child is in… 😎

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              • K Offline
                kiasu2011
                last edited by

                IMO , branded school have more resources than neighbourhood school.they have more variety of cca , whereas neighbourhood school have limited choice of cca. nowadays, cca is important when your child go dsa or secondary . so parents also need check wat cca tat the school offer. Branded school or neighbourhood school, they only concentrate on the few class to score well for PSLE . so if your child do well in neighbourhood school ,the child will also have a lot opportunity to go inter school competition and enrichment course.

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                • A Offline
                  Angelight
                  last edited by

                  I'm currently in a dilemna whether to send my DD to an elite or neighborhood primary school. After reading the postings here, I think I may seriously consider the neighborhood school cos I believe an elite school has more snobbish kids than the neighborhood one, and I dont want my child to get influenced and become snobbish or brand conscious.


                  On the other hand, if I send her to a neighborhood school instead of an elite school, will she blame me in future for not giving her a chance at a top elite school?? Hiaz...headache! :slapshead:

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                  • S Offline
                    sleepy
                    last edited by

                    Angelight:
                    I'm currently in a dilemna whether to send my DD to an elite or neighborhood primary school. After reading the postings here, I think I may seriously consider the neighborhood school cos I believe an elite school has more snobbish kids than the neighborhood one, and I dont want my child to get influenced and become snobbish or brand conscious.
                    How about elite school in HDB estate?
                    Won't be snobbish la. Many students residing in that neighbourhood

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                    • F Offline
                      Faun
                      last edited by

                      Yerdua:
                      Whether branded or neighborhood sch,

                      they will have their fair share of good and bad teachers.
                      I can attest to that. My kids in elite schools, my ds had no Chinese homework at all at P5/P6 because the Chinese teacher was lazy. Complained to HOD but no use at all. The Chinese teacher killed his interest for Chinese for 2 years. Had to depend on private tutors. Things get better now he's in Sec. School as the Chinese teachers are 10Xbetter.

                      As to snobbish kids in elite schools, at the end of the day, it is your family upbringing. If your kid is nice, the nice kids will flock around you, like birds of the same feathers.

                      As for enrichment, the elite (also privileged) schools has a way of arranging for expensive activities for the kids because they know the parents can pay. They make ego trips to UK for Violin Ensemble and I heard some also going to UK for Soccer Exposure. It's kind of like a CLUB for the rich. It's a world of it's own so you gotta know if you're comfi in that kind of place.

                      I strongly believe if you are good, you'll be alright anywhere as you'll rise to the top and the schools always invest on the cream of the crop. I reiterate that it is the family upbringing that is paramount to the success of the child and of course, my 'success' does not refer to solely the PSLE score.

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                      • C Offline
                        Chenonceau
                        last edited by

                        Angelight:
                        I'm currently in a dilemna whether to send my DD to an elite or neighborhood primary school. After reading the postings here, I think I may seriously consider the neighborhood school cos I believe an elite school has more snobbish kids than the neighborhood one, and I dont want my child to get influenced and become snobbish or brand conscious.


                        On the other hand, if I send her to a neighborhood school instead of an elite school, will she blame me in future for not giving her a chance at a top elite school?? Hiaz...headache! :slapshead:
                        Kids in elite schools may not necessarily be brand conscious. Many are very grounded because many have very wise mothers. My daughter has many friends but I have never noticed any brand consciousness. Girls from HDB can be friends with girls who live in a good class bungalow and have personal chauffeurs and in my daughter's school, it is rude to ask about another's parent or boast about them. THAT is the surest way to make yourself unpopular.

                        Amongst themselves they won't be snobbish so if you're in it, you won't feel it. It's only an external party who feels it. Many girls had a whale of a time in secondary school. There is no doubt that kids from top schools are arrogant but they are not like this with each other, and their snobbery is limited to INTELLECTUAL SNOBBERY, not material. Maybe arrogance is not the word.... These smart kids hang around each other daily in school. If one thinks and processes fast, the others do too. But when they meet slower students they tend to assume that these others can process just as fast, and when that does not happen, those from top schools are thrown off balance. They dunno how to hide their impatience and frustration and they allow their surprise to show. This is intellectual snobbery.

                        A BRANDED SECONDARY SCHOOL such as RI, HCI, RGS, NYGH is highly recommended so long as parents make a diligent effort to teach meekness. All it takes is to make sure your child can relate to people from all walks of life. If she can get in, don't allow some vague assertions of snobbery by anonymous posters to mess with the future of your child. Because, if you're IN it, you don't feel it.

                        I myself feel it as arrogance (INTELLECTUAL ARROGANCE) because I am not IN the school. The Daughter and I had a conversation where I told her not to assume (like evne the most humble of her friends) that her elders are wrong or stupid. She had just assumed that I was taking a certain very simplistic line of argumentation without hearing me out. I told her that if she assumed simplistic thinking on the part of her boss, she would be branded arrogant, and her career would go nowhere. Many bosses hail from NYGH/RGS/RI/HCI too... so what makes you think you young punk, that you know better? Listen first and don't assume stupidity on the part of the other because if that boss decides to demolish your arguments and take the discussion to a different level (beyond your own simplistic evaluation), you're gonna look very stupid.

                        A branded secondary school really offers many opportunities for growth and niche area development. And there is so much to do and excel in that it's A LOTTA fun

                        A BRANDED PRIMARY SCHOOL can be a lotta hot air if you choose those few who have poor teacher morale, and parents so rich that they dun need the school to teach. Arrogant parents are mean to teachers. Teachers are human. If you show them disrespect, they will become demoralized and they then do the absolute minimum. Poor quality school principals who get the position because of strong school board influence also damage teacher morale. When teachers suffer, students are badly taught. Such school principals might never have made it past MOE's mainstream leadership development mechanisms but in many branded schools, the school board has a say in Principal appointment.

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