Dunman High School (Junior High)

[Augmum]

gearhat:

Augmum:

Hi Gearhat,
Thanks so much for yr sharing.
PCME is likely my gal's subj combo for yr5 too.

Yes, seems that most yr5 pupils do not do well in the initial stage as read in some postings here by senior high's parents,
not limited to DHS alone, also evident in other Top IP schools and JCs.....

Gal's senior high told her that DHS econs dept is not as good as other IP/JCs....
What is yr view on this ? DHS 's econ teachers and their resources ?

Congrats to u for gettIng As for both yr Econs and GP.
Hmm.... Since u did not take up yr mum 's offer of engaging an Econs tutor,
can u share or give advice to yr juniors HOW and What are the effective ways to ace yr econs N GP ?

Well, I've heard that said too many times with regards to DHS econs dept. The truth is that I, and every other student only have been through 1 set of teachers and resources in school, so nobody can say with absolute certainty that one school is inferior compared to others. I think we are in no position to judge since we haven't gone through 2 or more for accurate comparison.

There's this trend that when the a-level batch does badly, say like only 20%+ As for econs, less students in the next yr 5 batch will take the subject. Last year, my batch did quite well (50%+ As) and all of a sudden the subject is popular again. It is quite silly if you think about it seriously.

At the end of the day, it really depends on each individual student. Remember that for every school and every subject there is a span of students from A+ to fail. Having a high percentage of As doesn't gurantee an A for everyone. Same as the other way round. If most people fail, it doesn't mean that you can't be the one that does well. It really depends on how you interpret and use the resources and I think the teachers get a bad rep when students don't understand because they don't take the time and effort to understand. I think we students should take some responsibility in our own learning as well.

Again, I can only speak for what I've been through, but that having been said, I am incredibly grateful to my econs tutor for all the time spent of consultations and I do think the teachers are a dedicated bunch.

If you want to judge our econs dept using statistics and results (as we singaporeans always do), then I would say they are doing very well indeed based on last year's a-levels.

Effective ways of study depends on individuals again. Like, some people can listen to music and study, while some need complete silence. Generally, for GP, language skills is important so reading will definitely help. I'm not a good reader and find it tough to read through an entire book or novel, so I went to look for other kinds of text. I found that reading plays were much easier for me so I went down that route and looked for plays to read in the library. Stuff like that, you know? Just find ways to make things easier for yourself. Also general knowledge is important for GP, so newspaper and news should be a staple (cliche lah, I know lol).

For econs I realised much of the problem was that there was way too little time to write all the stuff needed for the exam questions. It's not that you don't know the stuff but the time pressure makes it incredibly difficult to think of the right things to write AND write everything out in time. It's something like writing 1.5 page essay in 10mins including thinking time. So you just have to be familiar with the material and train writing speed.

And for everything, practice is always important. Stuff like writing for GP gets better with each practice. Teacher can also go through the extra essays that you wrote in your free time to point out your problems. So in short, practice, check what you're doing wrong, change and improve.

Thanks again for yr informative and assuring sharings......  

It's indeed tired and sick of hearing the same comments wrt to the econs dept,
Not only fr our fellow seniors, also fr parents of other IP schs whom i met....
Thus, am glad to hear the positive views fr u......

Yes..... last yr A level batch, stat shown 57% of As for econs, (an increase of ???)
and the P was extremely glad with the % increase in his speech.
also heard that much effort has been put in by the econs dept for last yr, 
kinda of compiling more notes for their students ??
I am not sure of how true it is, juz some hearsay.....
btw, were there new teachers being recruited specially for the econs dept when u were in yr 5/6 ?

Gearhat, do feel free to hang ard here ......
as i can see that there are many concerned parents with kids in Junior High (not limited to DHS),
looking forward to read yr informative postings.....

Hereby, wishing u Great success and accomplishments in yr overseas studies...... :rahrah:

[Augmum]

Interested:

Just like our caring sister Augmum :hugs:

Thank you Interested.....so sweet of you......cheers.... :celebrate:

Btw, are yr child in DHS ?

[Interested]

Augmum:

Interested:

Just like our caring sister Augmum :hugs:

Thank you Interested.....so sweet of you......cheers.... :celebrate:

Btw, are yr child in DHS ?

Yes! my dc is very happy with the culture and student there
The student there although competitive they are willing to share and those who did well for the subject will give some advise to the class on how they do well for that subject...(some tips)...
He's given alot of opportunity and managed to get into the CCA and leadership role that he wanted.. :imcool:

[Augmum]

Interested:

Augmum:

[quote=\"Interested\"]
Just like our caring sister Augmum :hugs:

Thank you Interested.....so sweet of you......cheers.... :celebrate:

Btw, are yr child in DHS ?

Yes! my dc is very happy with the culture and student there
The student there although competitive they are willing to share and those who did well for the subject will give some advise to the class on how they do well for that subject...(some tips)...
He's given alot of opportunity and managed to get into the CCA and leadership role that he wanted.. :imcool:[/quote]Oh....which yr is yr son in ?? Din see u ard here .....or did i miss yr postings ?
Happy for yr son for what he wants in DHS.......

Yes....the pupils do form some study grps, exchanging of notes and advices.....
Sometimes, they even have some kinda of \"分工合作 type of deals\"..,, :rotflmao: :evil:

[mamajoy]

gearhat:

Snow Crystal:

[quote=\"gearhat\"]
Hi mamajoy

I did not have any tuition despite even my mother asking if I wanted any when I was failing econs hahaha. It was just a personal preference as I felt I would prefer the time to look through my problems on my own. And also if I had any problems I could always consult my teachers so I didn't see the need to engage a private tutor. Turned out well though, I got A for both

I'll being studying Engineering in London soon. School haven't start yet.

And to reply Snow Crystal about teachers, culture and how I cope:
I guess teachers in the school change over time (and more frequently now it seems, which I don't really like but anyway...) so I think my teachers especially JH ones may not be teaching in DHS anymore by now. However, I must say that there are quite a few long serving teachers who are really dedicated and well-loved by students. Total respect to them.

I really like the culture in DHS, which many people will describe as 'family-like'.

Gearhat- thanks for your inspiring posts. We parents tend to panic when our kids do not do well. You are really sensible to decide to study on your own for subjects you don't do well and lift them to As! Marvellous. All the best to your studies in UK! I am sure with your resilience, you will do extremely well in your chosen course.

Haha, thank you very much! But seriously though, don't panic! (and complain less also) Stay calm and find out the root of the problem. It's the only way to truly solve the problem.

I hope your kids do well in school as well As with all the other students and especially those who are trying to get into DHS.[/quote]Hi gearhat

Thanks so much for all the very inspiring sharings. Really helps us to understand how to do well in senior high. One more question, did you have to buy assessment books (apart from whatever material was given by school) to practise or study for the various subjects? I understand DHS does give quite a bit of worksheet, papers etc. Are those sufficient for A level preparation or do the students have to purchase additional assessment books, material etc to do well? THanks in advance.

[gearhat]

mamajoy:

Hi gearhat

Thanks so much for all the very inspiring sharings. Really helps us to understand how to do well in senior high. One more question, did you have to buy assessment books (apart from whatever material was given by school) to practise or study for the various subjects? I understand DHS does give quite a bit of worksheet, papers etc. Are those sufficient for A level preparation or do the students have to purchase additional assessment books, material etc to do well? THanks in advance.

No need for extra assessments at all. Most content subjects will require students to buy 10 yr series and may use that in class. Other than 10 yr series school will also print past yr school papers and other jc papers. Not all are compulsory but you must pay for those. That should be more than enough already. Before each exam (say, CTs) school will print 2-3 dhs past yr paper. After the exam you will have access to other JCs' CTs paper for that year (normally 5-8 will be made available for printing). Come prelims you get another round of everything and you still have 10yr series. That's like 32 sets of full paper for ONE subject. Cannot finish one, so you don't have to worry

I think I only completed around 70% of the papers I had by the end of a-levels, and I didn't buy any extra assessments.

[Interested]

Augmum:

Interested:

[quote=\"AugmumJust like our caring sister Augmum :hugs:

Thank you Interested.....so sweet of you......cheers.... :celebrate:

Btw, are yr child in DHS ?

Yes! my dc is very happy with the culture and student there
The student there although competitive they are willing to share and those who did well for the subject will give some advise to the class on how they do well for that subject...(some tips)...
He's given alot of opportunity and managed to get into the CCA and leadership role that he wanted.. :imcool:[/quote]
Oh....which yr is yr son in ?? Din see u ard here .....or did i miss yr postings ?
Happy for yr son for what he wants in DHS.......

Yes....the pupils do form some study grps, exchanging of notes and advices.....
Sometimes, they even have some kinda of \"分工合作 type of deals\"..,, :rotflmao: :evil:[/quote]

He's in yr1 and settling well in the school.
Ha..I'm more active posting last year to find out more on secondary school.
Hope our DC continue to enjoy their years in DHS :rahrah:

[mamajoy]

gearhat:

mamajoy:

Hi gearhat

Thanks so much for all the very inspiring sharings. Really helps us to understand how to do well in senior high. One more question, did you have to buy assessment books (apart from whatever material was given by school) to practise or study for the various subjects? I understand DHS does give quite a bit of worksheet, papers etc. Are those sufficient for A level preparation or do the students have to purchase additional assessment books, material etc to do well? THanks in advance.

No need for extra assessments at all. Most content subjects will require students to buy 10 yr series and may use that in class. Other than 10 yr series school will also print past yr school papers and other jc papers. Not all are compulsory but you must pay for those. That should be more than enough already. Before each exam (say, CTs) school will print 2-3 dhs past yr paper. After the exam you will have access to other JCs' CTs paper for that year (normally 5-8 will be made available for printing). Come prelims you get another round of everything and you still have 10yr series. That's like 32 sets of full paper for ONE subject. Cannot finish one, so you don't have to worry

I think I only completed around 70% of the papers I had by the end of a-levels, and I didn't buy any extra assessments.

Thank you Gearhat for sharing. Really appreciate it

[Augmum]

Interested:

He's in yr1 and settling well in the school.

Oic....he is in yr 1.
Nice to hear that he is settling well in the sch.

Interested:

Hope our DC continue to enjoy their years in DHS :rahrah:

Yes, i believe they will have an awesome learning and fun journey in DHS.....cheers.... :celebrate:

[AWSP]

Is MEP offered to Yr 1 students at DHS if the students joins DHS through S1 posting exercise?

for those offered DHS under MEP, will they be put in the same class irrespective of their PSLE score?

Thank u in advance for answering the above.