North Vista Primary

[Mammoth]

Wan:

20 questions, 16 in English & 4 in Chinese (or other MT). He told me he drew a rabbit for the question on art. I think to make sure same class same standard bah. Either to sieve out outstanding students to chiong PSLE or weaker students (in various subject) to give extra lesson. My view. See if there is any changes to the class lo

Hi, my son is in P2 this year and going P3 next year. From my experience when he entered the school 2 yrs back, the initial class grouping is just for the parents' orientation. After the kids went thru' the \"test\" questions, they will be streamed according to their abilities into various classes which parents will be notified later.

Have checked with the teachers on this issue, it seems like there is a school policy for them not to reveal which class is the best. In my son's P1, I have observed though that out of the 9 classes of P1-1 to P1-9, the higher number is the better class. And my son has followed the same class in P2 but will be re-allocated to another class in P3 next year.

[Mammoth]

Hi jollybeans,


The class size is typically 20+ students.

To clear some doubts that other parents might have on netbooks,

Netbook purchase expected during mid-P2. Not compulsory but expect lots of pressure to buy it from the school management. And you must buy from school, cannot use own netbook as school claims that they need to install MOE software and there is Intellectual property rights issues.

Anyway, it adds up to around 800-900+ because they actually source it from an unknown brand vendor which provides a rugged version and you need to buy insurance for it. Costs is broken down into netbook, operating system, insurance. To this day I’m still puzzled why OS is not included as an overall price as per current practice for all netbooks u find in shops. The rugged version provides limited protection for accidental damage but don’t expect wonders. Buying from school also provides an after sales service with the vendor but the repair costs are very expensive in my own opinion compared to a new netbook u can buy outside. The insurance coverage is not ideal, basically parents need to pay 100+sgd before insurance kicks in.

From the demo given to parents, this version with all the pre-install Windows premium + MOE software is used in classrooms to link all netbooks together so that teachers are able to teach and project student’s products directly to projector screen for after action review.

Personally, I did not buy the netbook. From what I gathered, netbook usage within the lessons differs from classes to classes (depend on teacher). I have found that my son’s class did not make use of it often, perhaps 1 or 2 times a week and those who did not purchase simply are allocated by teachers to share with those who did.

Another thing about the schools teaching system of adapting the Learning Organisation that our government pushed for in recent years. Basically, during the parents to teacher meetings, they will ask you to commit on a Learning Contract for your kid to setup learning goals and what to achieve in the coming half year or so. Personally, I have found it to be useless since the kid is not mature enough to really understand and commit to the goals. My five-cents worth, though.

[Mammoth]

luddite:

Books delivered to home, 2 books are unavailable, to collect fr bookshop when they restock.

Anyone heard anything about the PSLE grades?

Source from a hearsay by a P6 parent, top scorer for this year 240pts (a china student). A few others got 200+, majority ranges from 150 to 200.

Anyway, do not pin too high hopes on PSLE results. Information from the school says that to disregard PSLE results for this year even before it is out. And same for the coming 1 or 2 years.

Why? Because it's a new school and the PSLE batches are all transferred students from other schools when the school first came into operation. So they are \"not\"to be held fully responsible for their results, good or bad, if it happens to be so.

[jollybeans]

hhhmmmmm


if the school say the PSLE batches are all transferred students, which they’re not responsible, are they referring to those P5 and P6 transfers students ? there again will there be people who transfer at such a high level ? i seriously dont know. Are these students those who are not academically inclined ?

I know of a few new schools which started with just a few classes of P1 and P2.
Does this school starts with transfer students from other schools ? Which is quite funny, in my opinion.

To disregard PSLE results for the next 2 years - meaning the year 2012 and 2013, I believe. Doesn’t affect my son.

-----------------------------------

Does anyone knows the teaching attitudes and methods of the teachers ? Are they effective and caring and has the students been able to understand what the teachers are teaching ? Are the students happy learning in the school ?

Generally how are the learning/ teaching atmosphere in the school ?

I do hope that it’s a positive and encouraging one !

Appreciate parents sharing their experience with me. And any do’s and dont’s for the student and even myself pertaining to this school.

Thank you.

[jollybeans]

hie mammoth


which class is your son going into for next year P3 ?

Thanks !

[luddite]

if that is the results they are producing, it doesn’t inspire confidence. it is a wake up call. Ultimately whichever method they adopt must deliver results and it must not be change for the sake of change. expect more pressure upon the school staffs.

[verykiasu2010]

Mammoth:

luddite:

Books delivered to home, 2 books are unavailable, to collect fr bookshop when they restock.

Anyone heard anything about the PSLE grades?

Source from a hearsay by a P6 parent, top scorer for this year 240pts (a china student). A few others got 200+, majority ranges from 150 to 200.

Anyway, do not pin too high hopes on PSLE results. Information from the school says that to disregard PSLE results for this year even before it is out. And same for the coming 1 or 2 years.

Why? Because it's a new school and the PSLE batches are all transferred students from other schools when the school first came into operation. So they are \"not\"to be held fully responsible for their results, good or bad, if it happens to be so.

that sounds pretty irresponsible as a school because parents would expect the school to do their best even up to a few weeks / months before PSLE.

so if that is the case they will only care for those they enrolled from P1 onward ? and wasting tax payer's money for the 5 years of operating the school because the students did not start Pri 1 with the school ?

given the usual tenure of a principal appointment is 5 years, then the next principal will come in and say \"not my responsibility\" because those students were in before me ?

how irresponsible could a school / principal be ?

I hope that is not true

[jedamum]

verykiasu2010:

Mammoth:

[quote=\"luddite\"]Books delivered to home, 2 books are unavailable, to collect fr bookshop when they restock.

Anyone heard anything about the PSLE grades?

Source from a hearsay by a P6 parent, top scorer for this year 240pts (a china student). A few others got 200+, majority ranges from 150 to 200.

Anyway, do not pin too high hopes on PSLE results. Information from the school says that to disregard PSLE results for this year even before it is out. And same for the coming 1 or 2 years.

Why? Because it's a new school and the PSLE batches are all transferred students from other schools when the school first came into operation. So they are \"not\"to be held fully responsible for their results, good or bad, if it happens to be so.

that sounds pretty irresponsible as a school because parents would expect the school to do their best even up to a few weeks / months before PSLE.

so if that is the case they will only care for those they enrolled from P1 onward ? and wasting tax payer's money for the 5 years of operating the school because the students did not start Pri 1 with the school ?

given the usual tenure of a principal appointment is 5 years, then the next principal will come in and say \"not my responsibility\" because those students were in before me ?

how irresponsible could a school / principal be ?

I hope that is not true[/quote]the words quoted in red may be hearsay/own intepretation only. i don't think sch will want to make such insensitive remarks (or rather they want parents to look at non-academic benefits maybe?). i did come across a neighbourhood sch with only highest scorer for that year to be 238. for small/new neighbourhood schs it is just luck that determines if they have the calibre of students to bring glory to the school. MHO.

[verykiasu2010]

yes yes, that is why I said I hope it is not true

[Mammoth]

Hi jollybeans,


For the transfer students, yes. Just checked with my wife to confirm. This year's PSLE only has 1 class of transferred students. Next year think around 2-3 classes. The circumstances leading to their transfer to this school is anybody's guess.

Those students that really started from P1 with the school will take their PSLE in 2 years time. Cross your fingers then.

As for the learning environment, the sitting arrangement differs from traditional schools of lining up tables and chairs in rows and columns where each child sits alone. They actually sit together in a round table which promotes interaction between them. Good for disciplined kids but pretty bad for those who are not, in my opinion.

Teachers are based on your luck, as usual. My experience with his P1 form teacher was ok, responsible and responsive. Will call up if my son never turn up for school due to sickness and set up an email link for parents. P2 was a nightmare. No calls and even when the MC was brought to school, the teacher didn't even bother to take it.

For the teaching methods, I was initially glad that my son has some childhood to enjoy since there isn't much homework to do. But as time goes by, this became a worry as the scores seems to be dropping. Currently looking for good home tuition to cover what the school is lacking. Personally, I still feel that certain subjects need constant practice in order to be good at it. Well, old-fashion thinking. Spoke to the teachers during the meet the parents session but they were unable to help as this is the school's policy to give less homework. My opinion is the school concentrates too much on IT usage and new teaching methods without actually delivering the results that I have expected. Oh by the way, guess this answers to luddite query also. At the end of the day, no system fits every child as each is unique. That is when parents intervene to provide additional coverage beyond what schools provide.

For the netbook, it connects to the school network. The school forbids playing of games in school, though educational types are allowed. So, there are some websites that are blocked by default, i.e. Facebook. However, some ingenious students of our age have since found various other websites to feed their gaming habits in \"dark\" corners of the school :). It was precisely this reason that I have resisted buying the netbook for my son. The netbook is supposed to last till P6 (provided it is still working after 4 years of handling by a kid) and afterwhich they will erase all the MOE software inside before returning to you.

I guess there is too much written about the principal so u can refer to those comments. I tend to agree to those negative ones without elaborating more on what my wife and myself have observed personally. The basic rule is dont bother to complain to him unless you want to bring it higher beyond school level to MOE or police (if really that serious).