Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)

[autolycus]

Blur Dad:

I understand there will be a GEP camp from 28th - 30th March. May I know what this camp is all about? Is it for GEP students only? Who in ACS(I) are GEP students? Base on class or GEP status from primary school? Who can attend this camp?


Hope someone can help.

Thank you

ACS(I) was one of the first secondary GEP centres and the last to carry an official GEP class. Currently it runs SBGEP (school-based GEP). The GEP camp has been a tradition for more than 20 years now, a short annual enrichment experience which teachers plan around a given theme. Each year's camp is meant to bring together the current ACS(I) GEP students from Year 1 to Year 4 for some time together, while also providing separate events for each year.

[autolycus]

SunBrazen:

My friend transferred out of this school. He said teachers and students were both very slack.

That's probably good for both your friend and the school, then.

[acsi.06623parent]

autolycus:

acsi.parent:

Any one taking up ACSI Symphony Band as UG CCA? This UG has highest year fees above 1K and needs 8+ hours of commitment.

I'd just like to note that this fee subsidizes the high cost of professional training and new instruments. There's also SYF next year.

Possible they invite professional trainers. Same is the case for sports CCAs as well. It would have been better if school conducted CCA talk addressing parents on different varied level of time and fee commitments required by different CCAs before making a choice based on student's ability to cope as this choice lasts 4-6 years.

[CSN]

Haha, when I asked my boy recently what is it that he likes about the school, he told me that he likes it because his general feeling is that a lot of the students (he did not say teachers) are slackers like him and he simply loves it! On a serious note, I am really getting worried :oops: as I was hoping he could be surrounded by the more diligent ones to have some positive influence so I cannot place too much hope in that? Are the ones in the \"O\" level track a lot more \"slack\" than the IB track? That seems to be what I hear from other parents. Autolycus, would appreciate your sharing given your initmate knowledge of the school and its ethos. Thanks.

[dwwww]

acsi.parent:

autolycus:

[quote=\"acsi.parent\"]Any one taking up ACSI Symphony Band as UG CCA? This UG has highest year fees above 1K and needs 8+ hours of commitment.

I'd just like to note that this fee subsidizes the high cost of professional training and new instruments. There's also SYF next year.

Possible they invite professional trainers. Same is the case for sports CCAs as well. It would have been better if school conducted CCA talk addressing parents on different varied level of time and fee commitments required by different CCAs before making a choice based on student's ability to cope as this choice lasts 4-6 years.[/quote]DS is taking up the Symphony Band cos he is in MEP so he has to choose a music related CCA and he wanted to join the band as this is the one that counts as two CCAs (UG and non-UG). Timing-wise, think it is not too much different if you are to take two CCA (especially sports, as i know that for badminton the training is 4 times a week currently), but the fee comes as a surprise so it would be good if it's made known upfront... however guess we would have made the same choice.

[autolycus]

CSN:

Haha, when I asked my boy recently what is it that he likes about the school, he told me that he likes it because his general feeling is that a lot of the students (he did not say teachers) are slackers like him and he simply loves it! On a serious note, I am really getting worried :oops: as I was hoping he could be surrounded by the more diligent ones to have some positive influence so I cannot place too much hope in that? Are the ones in the \"O\" level track a lot more \"slack\" than the IB track? That seems to be what I hear from other parents. Autolycus, would appreciate your sharing given your initmate knowledge of the school and its ethos. Thanks.

I suspect the ACSian culture is not overly given to hard work. That's not meant to be an euphemism for 'lazy', but it does mean that ACSians try to find intelligent ways toward achieving excellence. Grinding it out is the last resort (what the computing people call 'brute force methodology'). It's not that ACSians aren't diligent; given a task that is meaningful and to which they can contribute whole-heartedly, they will plunge whole-heartedly into it.

The problem is that some students don't see this intelligently. They see the 'low effort, high standard' outcome without seeing the 'thought very hard about how to reduce time and material expenditure' that came before the 'low effort, high standard'. So they slack and find themselves in trouble.

One way to think of it is that study is all about catching up on the process of digesting new learning, then constructing one's own knowledge-base. Do a summary of the week's work and link it to the previous week's work, every weekend. Keep proper files and re-read them, trimming and rewriting notes now and then so that they shrink in volume. By the time you need to revise for exams, you can slack at the 6-hours-per-day-for-five-days rate and emerge with flying colours. But that's because of the regular low-level work done.

The 'bad slack' culture can also arise from excessive machismo — the I'm-too-macho-to-study approach. It's infectious and dangerous, and that's why I end up with truly last-minute emergency cases all the time. Don't be afraid to reward consistent work which doesn't quite produce excellent results, or to punish lack of work. But whatever measures are taken, they must be seen to be fair.

If a student does very well without seemingly having done any work, then my approach is 'good lah, keep it up'. But I'm not effusive unless the product is outstanding or the effort is tremendous. After a while, you can calibrate your own approach. But whatever it is, show positive appreciation of positives and negative appreciation of negatives in fair measure.

I always think of Tharman Shanmugaratnam. His teachers said he could be slack too. But he knows when not to be slack.

[CSN]

Hi Autolycus, Many thanks for sharing and your advice. Was hoping I can take a more hands-off approach in sec sch but think will still have to remind and nudge a fair bit to ensure it does not deteriorate into a \"bad slack\". Once again, much appreciated. :thankyou:

[Blur Dad]

autolycus:

Blur Dad:

I understand there will be a GEP camp from 28th - 30th March. May I know what this camp is all about? Is it for GEP students only? Who in ACS(I) are GEP students? Base on class or GEP status from primary school? Who can attend this camp?


Hope someone can help.

Thank you

ACS(I) was one of the first secondary GEP centres and the last to carry an official GEP class. Currently it runs SBGEP (school-based GEP). The GEP camp has been a tradition for more than 20 years now, a short annual enrichment experience which teachers plan around a given theme. Each year's camp is meant to bring together the current ACS(I) GEP students from Year 1 to Year 4 for some time together, while also providing separate events for each year.

Hi autolycus

May I ask, you mentioned \"current ACS(I) GEP students from Year 1 to Year 4\", may I know those ACS(I) GEP students are those study in IP GEP class? Or those GEP students who still holding the GEP status from primary school?

[autolycus]

Blur Dad:

Hi autolycus


May I ask, you mentioned \"current ACS(I) GEP students from Year 1 to Year 4\", may I know those ACS(I) GEP students are those study in IP GEP class? Or those GEP students who still holding the GEP status from primary school?

GEP status doesn't continue over unless you're in a GEP or SBGEP class in secondary school. So it would be for those in any of the current GEP classes.

[Blur Dad]

autolycus:

Blur Dad:

Hi autolycus


May I ask, you mentioned \"current ACS(I) GEP students from Year 1 to Year 4\", may I know those ACS(I) GEP students are those study in IP GEP class? Or those GEP students who still holding the GEP status from primary school?

GEP status doesn't continue over unless you're in a GEP or SBGEP class in secondary school. So it would be for those in any of the current GEP classes.

Thank you for your reply.

May I know which class in year one is GEP class? Is it Class 1.12 and Class 1.13?

Am I right to say that all students in those 2 classes will attend the GEP camp and other students in Class 1.14 - Class 1.17 are not invited to attend the camp even they are GEP students in Primary school?