MP echoes calls for PSLE to be scrapped

[StudentsAreKiasuToo]

So the MP is telling me that I should take PSLE and the younger generation would have to take PSLE. PSLE caused me great stress and anxiety and they wanted to destroy PSLE....Its not fair at all.How about the older generation?Do they need to go for another straming test and go to another school? :faint: :?: :? :stompfeet: :stupid: :mad: :rant:

[janet88]

PM said you have to take PSLE, because it will not be scrapped.

My son is also taking PSLE this year. I am accompanying him when he is revising.
PSLE has been around for donkey years, but last time the stakes weren’t so high lah…can tikam tikam those MCQ questions and also no such thing as anxiety and stress then. This month, yours truly here has taken Panadol everyday for tension headaches.

This morn, my boy told me he felt weak, had headache and body ache when he woke up. I hit PANIC button asking my husband, 'How ? Will he collapse? Will he vomit?

[Coolkidsrock2]

janet_lee88:

PM said you have to take PSLE, because it will not be scrapped.

My son is also taking PSLE this year. I am accompanying him when he is revising.
PSLE has been around for donkey years, but last time the stakes weren't so high lah...can tikam tikam those MCQ questions and also no such thing as anxiety and stress then. This month, yours truly here has taken Panadol everyday for tension headaches.

This morn, my boy told me he felt weak, had headache and body ache when he woke up. I hit PANIC button asking my husband, 'How ? Will he collapse? Will he vomit?

Am really sorry to know that both yourself and son are unwell. Take care and hope you will get well soon. :hugs:

Am most humbled by the extent of what parents on this website are doing for their children. :udawoman: :udaman:

Based on your posting, I think I know which school your boy is attending. I have nieces and nephews in the same school, amongst whom one is doing PSLE 2012. I know the amount of homework she is given and thus far, from what I know, there are good and bad teachers in the school. I guess it is a luck of the draw, depending on which teacher is allocated. And I am really sorryabout your bad encounters.

For myself, DD was running rings round the teachers since p2. She had not been handing up work for 15 weeks and I was not informed at all. I had to proactively arrange for a meeting with the teacher to find out what was happening in school. She was also involved in a spat with the teacher as well as a fight with another child. Since then, DD had not been doing homework and even till now, I know she had not been doing everything though she is sitting for PSLE. I used to be so stressed that I had to see a cardiologist cos I get heart palpitations at each exam. I had since learnt to be kinder to myself. 200 0r 270, it is her path. The best teacher will not help if she does not want to learn. Thankfully, we were allocated teachers with better chemistry with her this year and things fall into place. Chen's book on motivation was also a great help and would have been better if it had been available earlier.

Except for that year, the teachers in the school had been wonderful and most dedicated. There are a lot of kids in the school where tution are unaffordable and the school had put in efforts to implement \"differentiated\" supplementary classes for the entire cohort. It also had mentoring programs in place so that the stronger students can help the weaker students. I like this program a lot for what it teaches in terms of character building.

Where time permits, I also spend time talking with the vice-principals and teachers to discuss improvements in platform, curriculum, rationale of school decisions, etc and work around it.

I know my encounter with good teachers is not isolated. My friends have encountered them as well. Am posting this not to be oppositional or to be interpreted negatively but merely to give the good teachers in the system their due credit.

Sincerely wishing yourself and son a speedy recovery.

[Coolkidsrock2]

janet_lee88:

PM said you have to take PSLE, because it will not be scrapped.

My son is also taking PSLE this year. I am accompanying him when he is revising.
PSLE has been around for donkey years, but last time the stakes weren't so high lah...can tikam tikam those MCQ questions and also no such thing as anxiety and stress then. This month, yours truly here has taken Panadol everyday for tension headaches.

This morn, my boy told me he felt weak, had headache and body ache when he woke up. I hit PANIC button asking my husband, 'How ? Will he collapse? Will he vomit?

Am really sorry to know that both yourself and son are unwell. Take care and hope you will get well soon. :hugs:

Am most humbled by the extent of what parents on this website are doing for their children. :udawoman: :udaman:

Based on your posting, I think I know which school your boy is attending. I have nieces and nephews in the same school, amongst whom one is doing PSLE 2012. I know the amount of homework she is given and thus far, from what I know, there are good and bad teachers in the school. I guess it is a luck of the draw, depending on which teacher is allocated. And I am really sorryabout your bad encounters.

For myself, DD was running rings round the teachers since p2. She had not been handing up work for 15 weeks and I was not informed at all. I had to proactively arrange for a meeting with the teacher to find out what was happening in school. She was also involved in a spat with the teacher as well as a fight with another child. Since then, DD had not been doing homework and even till now, I know she had not been doing everything though she is sitting for PSLE. I used to be so stressed that I had to see a cardiologist cos I get heart palpitations at each exam. I had since learnt to be kinder to myself. 200 0r 270, it is her path. The best teacher will not help if she does not want to learn. Thankfully, we were allocated teachers with better chemistry with her this year and things fall into place. Chen's book on motivation was also a great help and would have been better if it had been available earlier.

Except for that year, the teachers in the school had been wonderful and most dedicated. There are a lot of kids in the school where tution are unaffordable and the school had put in efforts to implement \"differentiated\" supplementary classes for the entire cohort. It also had mentoring programs in place so that the stronger students can help the weaker students. I like this program a lot for what it teaches in terms of character building.

Where time permits, I also spend time talking with the vice-principals and teachers to discuss improvements in platform, curriculum, rationale of school decisions, etc and work around it.

I know my encounter with good teachers is not isolated. My friends have encountered them as well. Am posting this not to be oppositional or to be interpreted negatively but merely to give the good teachers in the system their due credit.

Sincerely wishing yourself and son a speedy recovery.

[Flowermonaster]

janet_lee88:

I made a daring decision to keep him at home to revise.
When he went to school yesterday for PSLE English, a teacher made a snide remark to him, \"oh you are here today\" :mad:
.

Hi Janet, I will be :mad: too if any teacher made this type of remark to a kid! Why is that the T so bitchy? Not fit to be a teacher leh...... :slapshead:

[verykiasumummy]

Flowermonaster:

janet_lee88:

I made a daring decision to keep him at home to revise.
When he went to school yesterday for PSLE English, a teacher made a snide remark to him, \"oh you are here today\" :mad:
.

Hi Janet, I will be :mad: too if any teacher made this type of remark to a kid! Why is that the T so bitchy? Not fit to be a teacher leh...... :slapshead:

i cant stand that teacher of your ds... she must be getting on your nerves, janet...

poor u... :stompfeet: :stompfeet: :stompfeet:

[Chenonceau]

janet_lee88:

PM said you have to take PSLE, because it will not be scrapped.

My son is also taking PSLE this year. I am accompanying him when he is revising.
PSLE has been around for donkey years, but last time the stakes weren't so high lah...can tikam tikam those MCQ questions and also no such thing as anxiety and stress then. This month, yours truly here has taken Panadol everyday for tension headaches.

This morn, my boy told me he felt weak, had headache and body ache when he woke up. I hit PANIC button asking my husband, 'How ? Will he collapse? Will he vomit?

Janet, I salute you for your persistence and tenacity in speaking up on an issue that affects so many of us. :salute:

Coolkidsrock2:

For myself, DD was running rings round the teachers since p2. She had not been handing up work for 15 weeks and I was not informed at all. I had to proactively arrange for a meeting with the teacher to find out what was happening in school. She was also involved in a spat with the teacher as well as a fight with another child. Since then, DD had not been doing homework and even till now, I know she had not been doing everything though she is sitting for PSLE. I used to be so stressed that I had to see a cardiologist cos I get heart palpitations at each exam. I had since learnt to be kinder to myself. 200 0r 270, it is her path. The best teacher will not help if she does not want to learn. Thankfully, we were allocated teachers with better chemistry with her this year and things fall into place. Chen's book on motivation was also a great help and would have been better if it had been available earlier.

Thanks for the kind comments on the book. It feels good to know that it did help shine love into your family. Yes... it really feels good.

Coolkidsrock2:

Except for that year, the teachers in the school had been wonderful and most dedicated. There are a lot of kids in the school where tution are unaffordable and the school had put in efforts to implement \"differentiated\" supplementary classes for the entire cohort. It also had mentoring programs in place so that the stronger students can help the weaker students. I like this program a lot for what it teaches in terms of character building.

In my son's school, the weaker ones are given special attention to bring them up to a basic level. Those in good classes are not given much stretch. This means that to compete with students from Nanyang, Tao Nan etc... at the PSLE, one has to put in extra effort outside of school be very certain that one will go to a somewhat uninteresting secondary school. And we all know that AT PRESENT, not all schools are good in secondary.

I can understand that in view of scarce resources, schools must choose where to focus best effort. Kids in the top 2 classes have access to tuition so my son's school had made a smart and kind decision to focus on the weaker ones. We just had to manage... and we did.

I didn't blame the school as much as I blamed the Awards and Banding system that disincentivised schools from sharing best resources... thus encouraging duplication of effort... thus leading to more work for teachers... thus leading to lesser quality in every school. I found it ridiculous that Teachers had to write almost all the resources they teach with. You write and I write and she writes. So much wastage. With more sharing of resources (of course, it isn't a 100% fix... but it'll help some), hopefully quality of teaching will go up.

Coolkidsrock2:

Where time permits, I also spend time talking with the vice-principals and teachers to discuss improvements in platform, curriculum, rationale of school decisions, etc and work around it.

Kudos to you!! It's nice that you do this. It's far more than what most parents would do or have time for. I've never done this myself. Are you very active in the Parent Support Group?

When I began to believe that MOE was deaf, the only way I could help was to write the book to calm parents down and allow parental love to shine through to their kids. In too many families, the flow of love was constipated... blocked by fear and worry. Writing the book wasn't something I planned to do... that's why it took so long to write the book. I never knew of the need for such a book until I had to help my son through his PSLE. Else, I would have written it earlier, and used stories about DD instead of DS.

But writing the book did lead to a change in my life's course that I don't regret especially when Daddies drive up to my gate, ring the door bell and say \"Thank you. Your book and your coaching changed my wife.\" I am trying to take things slowly... no longer the young and energetic person I used to be. This is a nice way to feel useful for the 2nd half of my life I guess.

Sorry the book was not written earlier. I didn't know there was a need.

Coolkidsrock2:

I know my encounter with good teachers is not isolated. My friends have encountered them as well. Am posting this not to be oppositional or to be interpreted negatively but merely to give the good teachers in the system their due credit.

We had a marvellous P3 & P4 teacher. Marvellous is an understatement for her. Unfortunately, in P5 and P6, the best teachers went down to the lower classes and my son's class had an indifferent CL teacher (who didn't have resources to teach with)... a cringeworthy English teacher (who can't spell)... a Math teacher who assigned homework mostly from the useless workbook (and didn't answer questions). It was tough to survive without tuition in such circumstances.

Anyhow... all that is over... and personally, I just wanna wait and give MOE a chance and some time to sort stuff out. I'm happy they've acknowledged that THEY too contribute to the tuition issue. This said, I am also grateful to Janet for continuing to speak up.

Janet... :udawoman:

[janet88]

Hi Parents,

I am sorry for the outburst.
I just couldn’t take it anymore.
My son did have his share of ‘ok’ teachers last year.

When my son told me that remark, the volcano in me almost erupted. I controlled myself and asked son how he replied, ‘it’s PSLE today. Of course I have to be here.’
What is the problem with these so-called teachers? Don’t they have least bit of humanity and kindness towards a child taking PSLE? Shut up if there is nothing nice to say.

[Chenonceau]

janet_lee88:

Hi Parents,

I am sorry for the outburst.
I just couldn't take it anymore.
My son did have his share of 'ok' teachers last year.

When my son told me that remark, the volcano in me almost erupted. I controlled myself and asked son how he replied, 'it's PSLE today. Of course I have to be here.'
What is the problem with these so-called teachers? Don't they have least bit of humanity and kindness towards a child taking PSLE? Shut up if there is nothing nice to say.

:snuggles:

[Ontheballmother]

Just my cents of thot - all parent want their kids to do well. The standard become competitive is cos each school is setting their exam more and more difficult and exam board is following the trend too. Parent has no choice but to send their kids for multiple tuition cos they want their kids to do well. If not, it seems the end. Firstly, MOE can start by having all school incl Nanyang, Tao Nang, etc, have the same exam papers for all levels. Principal and teachers KPI can be determined from how each level and overall school perform. Their bonus and how gd they are will be determined by perf of the exam for all level. This way, educators will work harder and not asking the kids to go for tuition. Moe can also send online survey to parent to gather feedback on how the school in terms of educ. Feedback shd carry some weight too. It takes two hands to clap, educator and parent, work together and not now, only parent. Just my view.