Secondary Schools - West

[xhxie]

my ranking of the schools you mention:


1. Commonwealth Sec
2. Fu Hua Sec
3. Clementi Town Sec
4. Gan Eng Seng
5. Jurong Secondary
6. Queensway Sec

[Philosophical_Anarchist]

Based on what I know, the MOE has a ranking system for schools.


Bukit Panjang Govt High is a Band 1 school. I think Commonwealth is also a Band 1 school. Fuhua Sec is a Band 4 school and Clementi Town is a Band 5 school.

I’m not sure about the rest but I can comment about Fuhua and CTSS.

Fuhua isn’t a good school. I have three Fuhua students (2 Sec Four and 1 Sec One) and from I’ve gathered, your kid is better off not going there. One of my students is a China national and he wanted to take Chinese Lit as a subject. Unfortunately, the principal refused to allow him to take it, her reasons being that he’ll bring down the school’s ranking if he failed the subject. As a result, my boy’s entry into JC is now totally dependent on his combined humanities grade.

Fuhua also has a very unorthodox system of teaching English. They believe in exposing the new students immediately to O-levels questions instead of taking a gradual approach. So, most students usually end up failing their Sec 1 English exams.

I did relief teaching at CTSS for a while and I would say that it is a relatively decent school. Their strength lies in their English department as their distinction rate for English is 60%.

I hope that the above information has been of use.

[sunshinemum2]

Philosophical_Anarchist:

I'm not sure about the rest but I can comment about Fuhua and CTSS.

Fuhua isn't a good school. I have three Fuhua students (2 Sec Four and 1 Sec One) and from I've gathered, your kid is better off not going there. One of my students is a China national and he wanted to take Chinese Lit as a subject. Unfortunately, the principal refused to allow him to take it, her reasons being that he'll bring down the school's ranking if he failed the subject. As a result, my boy's entry into JC is now totally dependent on his combined humanities grade.

Fuhua also has a very unorthodox system of teaching English. They believe in exposing the new students immediately to O-levels questions instead of taking a gradual approach. So, most students usually end up failing their Sec 1 English exams.

I did relief teaching at CTSS for a while and I would say that it is a relatively decent school. Their strength lies in their English department as their distinction rate for English is 60%.

I hope that the above information has been of use.

Thank you very much, Philosophical_Anarchist.

It is indeed a very useful and much appreciated piece of info, i will definitely take this into consideration when choosing school for my son.

I wonder if there's any view/feedback/comment on the other schools mentioned above.

[caroline3sg]

Philosophical_Anarchist


I also stay in the west and have been researching for sec sch. Thank you for your comments.

[tweet]

My DD is in CTSS. CTSS has common test every monday. Different subject each wk while some schs finish in a week.My DD finds that she can grasp the subject better in this way.

AS for CCA, same like any other sec schools, the student will get to choose what he/she is interested in.

DD having O level Pure Geog in half an hr time

Regards
Tweet

[csc]

Swiss Cottage in Butok Gombak is a good neighbourhood school too. My nephew who scored 240 in the last PSLE was posted there and obtained 5th in the whole express cohort this year. I also understand that the school has a headstart programme for the current sec 3 students who are taking "O" levels next year. The students have to report to school these 3 weeks even though the school has officially closed for other levels.


Kranji Secondary is another good school. I heard from a girlfriend whose daughter is there that the teachers are dedicated and hardworking. It also has a headstart programme for those taking ‘o’ levels next year .

[jas3angels]

i hope my dd can get into swiss cottage. reason firstly, is one of the good school around bukit batok. secondly, it is also near our place, save the time on travelling. thirdly, my younger dd and ds primary school is just next to it, she can help to fetch them if me and my husband cannot make it. heehee


hmm…if she cannot get it, how about bukit batok sec sch? any comment? her form teacher said bbsc also not bad.

[HoneyMong]

Thanks tweet, xhxie, & philosophical_anarchist.


I just gathered from a school teacher that Fairfield - she don’t really recommend. She didn’t elaborate, just mentioned that the points bet affiliated & non affiliated too wide.
She said Gan Eng Sen can try. But I hv seen some students from tis school like not very happy. Is this important point to note?
My son met a fellow scout from CTSS. The friend is happy-go-lucky type, but really can’t rely on tis to make a choice? He is now studying at JC. I think the JC is Anderson if recall correctly.

[sunshinemum2]

[quote]Swiss Cottage in Butok Gombak is a good neighbourhood school too. My nephew who scored 240 in the last PSLE was posted there and obtained 5th in the whole express cohort this year. I also understand that the school has a headstart programme for the current sec 3 students who are taking \"O\" levels next year. The students have to report to school these 3 weeks even though the school has officially closed for other levels.


Kranji Secondary is another good school. I heard from a girlfriend whose daughter is there that the teachers are dedicated and hardworking. It also has a headstart programme for those taking 'o' levels next year .[/quote]Will also consider them.
[quote]My DD is in CTSS. CTSS has common test every monday. Different subject each wk while some schs finish in a week.My DD finds that she can grasp the subject better in this way. [/quote]CTSS sounds good.

Thank u all for the info.

BTW, does anyone has child in Commonwealth Sec? It is the nearest to my home and would like consider it, but would like to hear from anyone with views on it.

[caroline3sg]

got a brochure on commonwealth sec. It offers:

1) Pure Science & A Maths for all express students,
2) through train for NA students (don’t know what this is about coz didn’t attend the talk)
3) 1 of 7 sch to offer economics