Looking for better 2nd & 3rd tier Secondary Schools

[JRLam]

kaka:

I like to share that my Ds is in SST and he enjoys going to the school a lot. Admission is through DSA, heard that the PSLE mean score was about 240. If your kid like Science and Technology, this is a school to consider. You can find out more about the school in their open house this saturday.

Hi Kaka,

Can you share what he did in his DSA for SST? Has he been a high-achiever in his Science in Upper Pri? What were his scores, roughly? What do they learn or focus in SST that are different from the normal ones?

And what do you think he has or he did that help him to stand out from his peers to be accepted by SST?

Thanks alot for your sharing

[teh_oh]

JRLam:

kaka:

I like to share that my Ds is in SST and he enjoys going to the school a lot. Admission is through DSA, heard that the PSLE mean score was about 240. If your kid like Science and Technology, this is a school to consider. You can find out more about the school in their open house this saturday.

Hi Kaka,

Can you share what he did in his DSA for SST? Has he been a high-achiever in his Science in Upper Pri? What were his scores, roughly? What do they learn or focus in SST that are different from the normal ones?

And what do you think he has or he did that help him to stand out from his peers to be accepted by SST?

Thanks alot for your sharing

Hi Kaka,
How different are the curriculum to 'mainstream' schools? Any DSA via CCA options?
Thanks in advance.

[pixiedust]

Hi Kaka, thanks for dropping into this thread to share with us. Really appreciate it ! SST is so new so any information would help us greatly.


To the rest - I will amend the first post with information as they come in and expand the areas/COPs accordingly.

It would help us greatly if the accompanying factor of good or not good can be mentioned. Good is subjective and we may have different yardsticks or criterias. Example. Good - a lot of homework and worksheets, Good - Teachers are caring, Good - the pupils are encouraged to be independent etc

[kaka]

JRLam:

Hi Kaka,

Can you share what he did in his DSA for SST? Has he been a high-achiever in his Science in Upper Pri? What were his scores, roughly? What do they learn or focus in SST that are different from the normal ones?

And what do you think he has or he did that help him to stand out from his peers to be accepted by SST?

Thanks alot for your sharing

Hi JRLam,
My DS did not prepare for the selection test as we took it as an activity rather than a test. We also did not know how to prepare. He found the test difficult especially the English paper as he is weak in the language. We were pleasantly surprise when he was selected to go for the 2nd round of test, which was a practical problem solving scenerio. He enjoyed the problem solving approach a lot and could not stop talking about it for the next few days.

His science was around the 75-85 range. Academically, he was an average student. However, from young, he liked to read encyclopaedia and road directories rather than story books. His science knowledge is thus broad but not that useful for PSLE. Thus I am grateful for the system that allow children to pursue their area of interest.

In this half a year, he enjoyed the school a lot as teaching is not about textbook and drilling. The teachers do not use textbook (except for CL), everything is done through the Mac Pro that every students will need to buy (be prepared to fork out about $2.9K). His favorite subject is ADMT (Arts, Design, Science and Technology) which is a subject unique to SST students.

[kaka]

teh_oh:

Hi Kaka,
How different are the curriculum to 'mainstream' schools? Any DSA via CCA options?
Thanks in advance.

The subject combinations for lower Sec are: Eng, Chin, Maths, Sci, Integrated humanities (Geo/his) and ADMT. The only different from mainstream is ADMT (there is no home econs, arts etc). There is also time for I&E (Innovation and Entrepreneurship). At the upper Sec, there were more applied Science subjects (eg Media studies, Biotechology) to choose from compare to mainstream school.

The class size is small at 20-25, the teachers have more time to support the children. The unique approach to learning is using the \"Learning Device\" ie Mac Pro.

From my understanding, there is no DSA via CCA option, everyone has to sit through the selection test.

Hope this helps.

[Pen88n]

kaka:

teh_oh:

Hi Kaka,
How different are the curriculum to 'mainstream' schools? Any DSA via CCA options?
Thanks in advance.

The subject combinations for lower Sec are: Eng, Chin, Maths, Sci, Integrated humanities (Geo/his) and ADMT. The only different from mainstream is ADMT (there is no home econs, arts etc). There is also time for I&E (Innovation and Entrepreneurship). At the upper Sec, there were more applied Science subjects (eg Media studies, Biotechology) to choose from compare to mainstream school.

The class size is small at 20-25, the teachers have more time to support the children. The unique approach to learning is using the \"Learning Device\" ie Mac Pro.

From my understanding, there is no DSA via CCA option, everyone has to sit through the selection test.

Hope this helps.

Hi Kaka,

You mentioned that for SST upper secondary, there are more applied Science subjects than mainstream secondary schools. Does SST still have to take \"O\" Level? If yes, how do these additional Science subjects fit into the \"O\" Level curriculum? Sorry to ask so many questions, just wondering how this is managed compared with mainstream secondary schools. Thanks

[kaka]

Pen88n:

Hi Kaka,

You mentioned that for SST upper secondary, there are more applied Science subjects than mainstream secondary schools. Does SST still have to take \"O\" Level? If yes, how do these additional Science subjects fit into the \"O\" Level curriculum? Sorry to ask so many questions, just wondering how this is managed compared with mainstream secondary schools. Thanks

Yes, SST students still have to take \"O\" level. Besides compulsory subjects of Eng, Chin, E Maths, A Maths, the students can take other pure science subjects and applied science subjects combinations.
More answers can be found on: http://www.sst.edu.sg/template02.dwt.php?page=9

I would like to suggest that we discuss questions on SST in the SST thread so that parents can share about other schools.

[Pen88n]

kaka:

Pen88n:

Hi Kaka,

You mentioned that for SST upper secondary, there are more applied Science subjects than mainstream secondary schools. Does SST still have to take \"O\" Level? If yes, how do these additional Science subjects fit into the \"O\" Level curriculum? Sorry to ask so many questions, just wondering how this is managed compared with mainstream secondary schools. Thanks

Yes, SST students still have to take \"O\" level. Besides compulsory subjects of Eng, Chin, E Maths, A Maths, the students can take other pure science subjects and applied science subjects combinations.
More answers can be found on: http://www.sst.edu.sg/template02.dwt.php?page=9

I would like to suggest that we discuss questions on SST in the SST thread so that parents can share about other schools.

Thank you, Kaka. This link is indeed very useful for parents / kids wanting to understand SST admission, curriculum, etc. Really appreciate your help.

[underthesea]

How about Ang Mo Kio Sec?

[chl72]

kaka:

JRLam:

Hi Kaka,

Can you share what he did in his DSA for SST? Has he been a high-achiever in his Science in Upper Pri? What were his scores, roughly? What do they learn or focus in SST that are different from the normal ones?

And what do you think he has or he did that help him to stand out from his peers to be accepted by SST?

Thanks alot for your sharing

Hi JRLam,
My DS did not prepare for the selection test as we took it as an activity rather than a test. We also did not know how to prepare. He found the test difficult especially the English paper as he is weak in the language. We were pleasantly surprise when he was selected to go for the 2nd round of test, which was a practical problem solving scenerio. He enjoyed the problem solving approach a lot and could not stop talking about it for the next few days.

His science was around the 75-85 range. Academically, he was an average student. However, from young, he liked to read encyclopaedia and road directories rather than story books. His science knowledge is thus broad but not that useful for PSLE. Thus I am grateful for the system that allow children to pursue their area of interest.

In this half a year, he enjoyed the school a lot as teaching is not about textbook and drilling. The teachers do not use textbook (except for CL), everything is done through the Mac Pro that every students will need to buy (be prepared to fork out about $2.9K). His favorite subject is ADMT (Arts, Design, Science and Technology) which is a subject unique to SST students.

Hi kaka,
My boy will be taking the selection test on 25 June. Like your boy, he prefers road directories, highway codes, science books etc rather than story books. :lol: Just curious, other than English, what is the other paper tested on? Math and science? Can share some of the types of questions that are in the test? Just kaisu a bit lah... :oops:

Thanks for sharing!