Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)

[autolycus]

Ong Teck Chin got rid of the usual academic societies long ago as a matter of policy, so the sciences etc are now represented by competition teams. Enrichment in the sciences was then folded into curriculum, which is why the ACS(I) lower sec science curriculum is so unusual.


ACS(I) might seem to be overly competitive, but the point is that a student should find his own time for interests, and if he's really interested in something, he can sign up for the appropriate enrichment programme (EP is during curriculum time in Y1 and Y2) or become competitive. There are still non-competitive (well, not so competitive) CCAs, if you look around.

There is also another route to a third language. If the student meets pre-U lang requirements (normally by passing Higher MT by Year 4), then he can do another second language or third language in his IBDP years, at Y5/6 under Group 2. Clarification: this is a replacement for the MT language, so it's not over and above two language subjects.

[ngbrdad]

Saw on the ACSI website that fencing is listed as special interest group and not sports CCA.

So is it just for fun or they take part in competition too ?

[autolycus]

ngbrdad:

Saw on the ACSI website that fencing is listed as special interest group and not sports CCA.

So is it just for fun or they take part in competition too ?

The problem there is that they haven't found a teacher specifically competent enough to take charge of this sport, and nobody has pushed for official recognition. The whole story is complicated, with much disgruntlement.

However, they do take part in competitions. The lack of formal recognition doesn't help, though.

[ngbrdad]

Will there be a special school holiday declared this year for the excellent IB results ?

It was done in previous years right ?

[ngbrdad]

Any update of the school’s 2011 O level results ?

[autolycus]

Every school has a budget of days they can use as extra holidays. Most years at ACS(I), it's one day for exam results, one day for sports results, and one other day or so. As for the O-level results, I gave up tracking them long ago. The details were... well, if a school running O-levels is not obviously accountable for the O-level results, things may become a little lower in priority, no?


You can look at the 2009 exam results released in Jan 2010 http://www.acs.sch.edu.sg/acs_indep/news.php?id=141. Read between the lines. In the past, Math results were normally at the 90%++ distinction level. You can draw some conclusions.

[sandunes]

autolycus:

There is also another route to a third language. If the student meets pre-U lang requirements (normally by passing Higher MT by Year 4), then he can do another second language or third language in his IBDP years, at Y5/6 under Group 2. Clarification: this is a replacement for the MT language, so it's not over and above two language subjects.

For a child who is exempted from MT at primary level, can he choose a foreign language as his MT at Y1? Is approval done by the sch or MOE?

[autolycus]

sandunes:

autolycus:

There is also another route to a third language. If the student meets pre-U lang requirements (normally by passing Higher MT by Year 4), then he can do another second language or third language in his IBDP years, at Y5/6 under Group 2. Clarification: this is a replacement for the MT language, so it's not over and above two language subjects.

For a child who is exempted from MT at primary level, can he choose a foreign language as his MT at Y1? Is approval done by the sch or MOE?

That's a different issue from the one you quoted. Simply put, though, MOE approves MT Language exemption, and the school can allow the student to study a second language or other language. If the student wants to use the MOELC for this, then MOE must allow it.

Don't forget that MT stands for 'mother tongue'. You can't choose just any language to be your MT! However, you can choose any other language (in theory) to be your second language, third language, foreign language, whatever.

[sandunes]

autolycus:

sandunes:

[quote=\"autolycus\"]There is also another route to a third language. If the student meets pre-U lang requirements (normally by passing Higher MT by Year 4), then he can do another second language or third language in his IBDP years, at Y5/6 under Group 2. Clarification: this is a replacement for the MT language, so it's not over and above two language subjects.

For a child who is exempted from MT at primary level, can he choose a foreign language as his MT at Y1? Is approval done by the sch or MOE?

That's a different issue from the one you quoted. Simply put, though, MOE approves MT Language exemption, and the school can allow the student to study a second language or other language. If the student wants to use the MOELC for this, then MOE must allow it.

Don't forget that MT stands for 'mother tongue'. You can't choose just any
language to be your MT! However, you can choose any other language
(in theory) to be your second language, third language, foreign language,
whatever.[/quote]I get your point thank you very much!

So does ACS(I) has in-house foreign language classes (leading to O levels and IB) if not taking under MOELC? I think NUSHigh has Japanese which students need to pay if they wish to take it within school grounds. Wondering if it's common for sec schs.

[autolycus]

sandunes:

So does ACS(I) has in-house foreign language classes (leading to O levels and IB) if not taking under MOELC? I think NUSHigh has Japanese which students need to pay if they wish to take it within school grounds. Wondering if it's common for sec schs.

ACS(I), last I knew, offered German, French and Spanish in-house for IB Diploma (i.e. Years 5-6). Occasionally, it has other offerings (e.g. introductory courses at Years 1-2 as part of the enrichment programme, which at one time included basic Japanese, taught by a New Zealander!). Staff resources in non-international programmes (i.e. those mainly targeting the SG-Cambridge GCE O/A levels) tend to be scarce for such subjects.