National Junior College (Junior High)

[Dnls_mum]

Mama Mania:

I chanced upon this and would like to share. I learnt a thing or two from this child ... The Sparknotes website \"the child\"mentioned is worth checking out.


\"a child wrote:

And I write again. I have posted a few times already, and I am not sure if anybody reads, and probably you are tired of me writing. But for those who have not yet had children go through secondary school, I hope I can offer a helpful opinion. I have only been here for two years, and I do not claim to be representative of the entire population. But these are my views.

To all those who have recently completed their PSLE, and the parents, congratulations! Those were months of hard work, work, and more work. Now there are times of rest, and freedom, all very well-deserved.

And last Friday was Children’s Day, the last Children’s Day that will be celebrated. There are no more Children’s Days in secondary school. What I have been writing must make secondary school sound like a prison in which young souls are imprisoned, where fires of passion are not lit but tamed. These are true, but only if you let them be true. Secondary school is different, it is the start of a new chapter, it is a period of constant change and rapid adaptations. When you enter secondary school, primary school and PSLE scores no longer matter. I have friends with nearly 30 marks difference in their PSLE - these now mean nothing. Instead, secondary school is diverse, dynamic, and it changes you.

Firstly, independence. I realize that many parents choose to continue to send their children for tuition, and I have heard horrors of pupils with 11 different tuition teachers. I am vehemently against this, because really it is not needed, and it destroys a lot of your schooling experience. Here, there will be a drastic increase in workload, and it is impossible to have so many tuition classes without your extracurriculars giving. It is impossible unless your live revolves around work and more work, in which case I would think it is rather synonymous with not living at all. This is because secondary school is different. A 4.0 GP is 80 at my school, 75 at others. We do not train perfection; but rather this tests your ability to grasp big concepts. To learn fast. To listen in class, and learn independently. If you have to learn things twice, once in school and once at tuition, that is a lot of time spent!

There will be times when things do not go well. In the first semester of Year 1, during one particular double block lesson my teacher went extraordinarily fast. We covered most of the digestive system, the enzymes - though we did revisit those later. But what made it really bad was that so many of my friends had apparently read ahead, they were asking questions that were rather in-depth and I understood nothing. I don’t usually take notes; rather I try to understand and learn it the first time. But this time I was taking notes frantically. Things do get better, though. Do not give up. Do not resort to tuition. I borrowed my friends notes, and I asked them to explain to me. I read up the textbook. I was fine. Studying really involves a lot of adaptation. And due to the PSLE, you will probably end up with friends as good or even better than you. So learn from them.

Thirdly, love learning. One of the most important things to succeed I can think of, yet often the most neglected also. If you love learning, you will be desperate to learn, you will read ahead. I have also always found that not only does interest correlate with understanding, but also that if you explore things more in-depth than required, you will have a better conceptual understanding. And it’s fun, interesting, and one of the things I love best about school is how we argue about certain topics in class, discuss them in-depth, and how many teachers are willing to teach more than required and guide us along. It’s really about widening the perspective and learning - the rest does come, rather naturally. Tuition and rote-learning is quite contrary to these objectives, and rather if you would like to get a head start on secondary school I would suggest for example, for literature to read texts. Any famous text will do, not necessarily the one to be studied in school. Then read the discussions, like Sparknotes, though there is no need to seriously study or take notes or memorize. Just enjoy it, and appreciate the depth and all the things you have missed in your analysis. Watch history channel, the news, read, read, and read. And learn. No need for tuition, or assessment books (which I have not touched for two years).

Fourth: Dare to explore. In these two years, the most important thing I have learnt is to explore. Secondary schools provide many opportunities, and it is up to you to take them. I have participated in many competitions, in things that I never thought I would do before. New things. I started doing community service, and I go every week to carry out programs and activities for underprivileged children. Their stories are so heartwarming, and they are such beautiful children - it has been such a rewarding experience, and I have learnt so much. In school, activities are also mostly entirely student-led. Events such as Reporting Day, Orientation, Founders’ Day, Teachers’ Day, Speech Day, etc. are all organized by students. Also clubs. This year I joined a newly founded club that was started at the suggestion of some pupils. It has really blossomed, and we have organized many successful activities, things that involve the whole school, and we have invited external organizations to grace our events. There are many instances of this happening, and I have learnt about what people can do. What we can do. And it is a lot. Nobody ever comes in fully prepared, because if you can foresee what you learn you have not really learnt. It is about growing up, empowerment, and dreams. And what you get out of these is really about how much you put in - and if you are going to study all day or go for tuition there will not be much you can do about these incredibly interesting things.

Lastly, be nice to your friends. You will spend a lot of time in school, and these are the people who will be with you, work with you, have fun with you. Secondary school is a fun time. And even when we work, we compile notes together by splitting the work, and we even share notes in a batch document. We study together. During demanding projects or assessments or generally frustrating times, we go through it together. We still strive to do our best, but there is little competition. Most of my friends and I just want to do well together. And secondary school will mean a lot less if not for my friends, their smiles, their encouragements.

This is not a whole picture, it is mainly some things that just occurred to me. And again, this is not representative of anybody. I’m just writing this because these have been very important in my secondary school experience, but many I think do not appreciate these, and I thought I ought to share \"

:goodpost: how true! Thanks for sharing!

[jtoh]

The original post by 'a child,' quoted above, can be found here: http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=24263&p=872859#p872859

[lebookworm]

Some promotion here! As you all know, the NJC October School Tours are coming up! It will be happening this Saturday, 13th of October and do register for it! Main highlights of the event would be the Q&A session, where parents can ask questions to the principal, vice principals, deans and heads of departments as well as others there. Also, there will be displays of our curriculum, as well as that of our history so do come! The tour will be 1.5h long, so be prepared. However, it is very informative about your child's future in NJC.


I would also like to ask a favour from the parents who are looking to send their children to NJC. What are you looking for when you come for the tour? Are you more interested in the facilities? Or the curriculum? Or whether IP is better for your child? I would be very grateful if you can give me answers so that I can better design my tour(I'm a tour guide for parents who show up late or didn't register) to suit the parents' needs.

Thank you and I hope to see you at the October School Tours this Saturday!

[Jennifer]

lebookworm:

I would be very grateful if you can give me answers so that I can better design my tour(I'm a tour guide for parents who show up late or didn't register) to suit the parents' needs.


Thank you and I hope to see you at the October School Tours this Saturday!

:rahrah: NJC is fortunate to have you

[spicy]

lebookworm:

Some promotion here! As you all know, the NJC October School Tours are coming up! It will be happening this Saturday, 13th of October and do register for it! Main highlights of the event would be the Q&A session, where parents can ask questions to the principal, vice principals, deans and heads of departments as well as others there. Also, there will be displays of our curriculum, as well as that of our history so do come! The tour will be 1.5h long, so be prepared. However, it is very informative about your child's future in NJC.


I would also like to ask a favour from the parents who are looking to send their children to NJC. What are you looking for when you come for the tour? Are you more interested in the facilities? Or the curriculum? Or whether IP is better for your child? I would be very grateful if you can give me answers so that I can better design my tour(I'm a tour guide for parents who show up late or didn't register) to suit the parents' needs.

Thank you and I hope to see you at the October School Tours this Saturday!

Thanks so much for the info

I didn't know about it so haven't registered for it but I'm really keen to go ... guess i'll be one of those in your \"didn't register\" group

[moonee]

jtoh:

The original post by 'a child,' quoted above, can be found here: http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=24263&p=872859#p872859

Thanks Jtoh, just showed this to my dd. I was wondering where this was extracted frm, wondering what sch this child came frm.

[PiggyLalala]

moonee:

jtoh:

The original post by 'a child,' quoted above, can be found here: http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=24263&p=872859#p872859

Thanks Jtoh, just showed this to my dd. I was wondering where this was extracted frm, wondering what sch this child came frm.

Think she is sec 2 this year, rgs

[jtoh]

PiggyLalala:

moonee:

[quote=\"jtoh\"]The original post by 'a child,' quoted above, can be found here: http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=24263&p=872859#p872859

Thanks Jtoh, just showed this to my dd. I was wondering where this was extracted frm, wondering what sch this child came frm.

Think she is sec 2 this year, rgs[/quote]Yes, Sec 2 RGS this year. She has posted quite a few insightful and mature posts.

[Dr.050025K]

Do anyone know the credit values for GS,Music,Maths,Sci,IH etc for JH1 2012 in the final computation of GPA. Is there any value for A+,B+,C+ or just the credit values for ABC.

Is NJC basing credits on 4.0 scale or 4.2 scale?Any help will be much appreciated.
:?

[phankao]

Dr.K:

Do anyone know the credit values for GS,Music,Maths,Sci,IH etc for JH1 2012 in the final computation of GPA. Is there any value for A+,B+,C+ or just the credit values for ABC.

Is NJC basing credits on 4.0 scale or 4.2 scale?Any help will be much appreciated.
:?

4.3 I think.

The credit values are in the JH booklet - you can check on JH website on NJC's website.