Cedar Girls Secondary School

[Crester]

Hi yoyoyozxc,

I kn u are busy with the coming O Level, if hv time , pls answer my queries:

-For Sec 1-2( EXPRESS STREAM ), upper sec Sci syllabus are taught to lower sec students right?
Notes given by Sci teachers sufficient or u hv to do yr own indepth learn’g by referring to Upper Sci Textbook by publisher namely Marshall etc ?? Otherwise, can’t solve Sci ques in w/sheet.

-In lower Sec, Tons of Maths revision papers given by teachers , are they gone through thoroughly in class or depend’g on time factor , not all w/sheets gone through ? Answers posted Online for self-check?

-holidays h/wk given, are they mark by teachers at all? I kn in lots of premier sch, holidays h/wk are given but not marked as teachers just want their students to do n that’s all.

-how’s the discipline in Cedar? Is there daily uniform check in morn’g?
Students defying teachers in class?
Pranks play?

Thank you.

[yoyoyozxc]

Crester:

Hi yoyoyozxc,

I kn u are busy with the coming O Level, if hv time , pls answer my queries:

-For Sec 1-2( EXPRESS STREAM ), upper sec Sci syllabus are taught to lower sec students right?
Notes given by Sci teachers sufficient or u hv to do yr own indepth learn'g by referring to Upper Sci Textbook by publisher namely Marshall etc ?? Otherwise, can't solve Sci ques in w/sheet.

-In lower Sec, Tons of Maths revision papers given by teachers , are they gone through thoroughly in class or depend'g on time factor , not all w/sheets gone through ? Answers posted Online for self-check?

-holidays h/wk given, are they mark by teachers at all? I kn in lots of premier sch, holidays h/wk are given but not marked as teachers just want their students to do n that's all.

-how's the discipline in Cedar? Is there daily uniform check in morn'g?
Students defying teachers in class?
Pranks play?

Thank you.

Hello! I would be glad to help my school in anyway possible!
Since the syllabus for the upcoming sec 1s will be different from my cohort's, I am not absolutely sure on what methods of teaching the school will use because they will be using laptop on a daily basis as a learning tool in class.

When I was in lower sec, I learnt very minimal upper sec science. My cohort did not have to buy upp sec tb because our teachers had provided very well-prepared notes that are even better than the textbooks! However, we do use the tbs in upper sec. The upper sec topics taught in lower sec will hardly be revised in upper sec because there's almost no time for that. The topics that are brought down to lower sec would be the easier topics so it'll be easier for the students to understand.

In lower sec and sec 3, every paper would be gone thru one by one! So no worries however in sec 4 it's a different thing altogether. We're doing papers after papers so we don't have the luxury to go thru every single one of them. Since we're sec 4, we're mature enough to seek consultation sessions from our teachers or ask our peers for help so that isn't a problem for us.

The teachers do mark holiday papers. The only holiday paper which my teacher didn't mark is the sec 2 nov dec holiday chem paper because the paper is meant to be a revision and the chem topics learnt in lower sec are only the fundamentals because the core topics will be taught in upper sec. So it didn't have any negative impact on my academics. Only English,chem,math,mt papers are given because the results of the subject combination for the sec 2s wouldn't be out until dec.

There is a daily uniform check done by prefects in charge of every class and there is a booking system where students who have improper attire would have their names taken down. Actions will be taken against them.

Im glad to say There's no defiance in cedar, at least not that I know of! I feel that this is what makes cedar different from other schools. It is the discipline of Cedarians that makes the school a wonderful environment to study and to do our best. It's hard to find any 'typical ahlians' in cedar because they're almost non-existent.
For pranks, it only happens on April fools day!!haha. Cedarians look forward to April fools every year because that is the only time of the year we can play pranks on teacher and not get into any trouble!

I hope these info will be of help to you!

[yoyoyozxc]

Oh and I just had jc talks today and also earlier this year in may. Today, my school invited professionals to talk about their careers. Accountancy, medicine, psychology. Tomorrow there will be architecture, public relations, journalism, deejay, hospitality and tourism, social work, law and a career exhibition in the school hall. Career exhibitions are Open to students from all level every year but the jc and career talks are only available for sec 4s. We had hci, ri, aj, tj, acsi, acjc, nj, saj, nyj, sjc,mj,vj talks.

[Crester]

yoyoyozxc:

Oh and I just had jc talks today and also earlier this year in may. Today, my school invited professionals to talk about their careers. Accountancy, medicine, psychology. Tomorrow there will be architecture, public relations, journalism, deejay, hospitality and tourism, social work, law and a career exhibition in the school hall. Career exhibitions are Open to students from all level every year but the jc and career talks are only available for sec 4s. We had hci, ri, aj, tj, acsi, acjc, nj, saj, nyj, sjc,mj,vj talks.

Thanks for yr valuable feedbacks.
May I kn if next wk, Sec 1 having EOY exam for 5 days?
For Sec 1-2 Sci exam, how many papers are there or just 1 single paper?
Tks.

[zeemimi]

Crester:

Thanks for yr valuable feedbacks.
May I kn if next wk, Sec 1 having EOY exam for 5 days?
For Sec 1-2 Sci exam, how many papers are there or just 1 single paper?
Tks.

Just curious Crester, you have DD coming to Cedar? Or you are just doing a comparison between SNGS and Cedar?

[anneshirleygilbert]

Hi, my daughter has just finished her PSLE. Cedar is her dream school. We hope she can make it for the IP. Just curious, do you do Literature for Sec 1? If so, what books do you use for the whole year?

[octoberbaby]

My dd said that most of her IP class girls will transfer to RGS in year 3.

The reason not convenient to say in public forum.
I guess being new to IP programme, there are many things to catch compare to sch who had 8 years of proven results.

[anneshirleygilbert]

October baby,


I’ve just pmed you. Hope to receive reply.

Sincerely,
Anne

[octoberbaby]

Give this school sometime to make adjustment. Maybe the girls will change mind at the end of Y2.

The ‘real’ reason also not sure what the girls experience in the school. They compare with their ex-classmates who are in RGS when they met during Teachers’ Day.
If result permits, most probably will transfer.

[Bestmark]

livewith_vanilla:

As a pupil in a Secondary Two class, I can tell you that even though I'm not in IP, the amount of stress here is no joke.

Honestly, after reading the junior's post about the things they do, I'm shocked. But after I think about it, I'm not.
This opinion is going to be for the express stream.
Even though we learn things meant for secondary school education, it is not going to be easy. The maths and science we learn, sometimes it overwhelms me. We have integrated syllabus. At sec one, we buy sec one and sec two books. At sec two, we buy sec three and sec four books, and use sec two books.
For science, our performance task was on digestion. We were given a problem situation, and told to diagnose the patient's illness. However, not all information was given, so the diagnosis can be anything. There is more than one diagnosis.
It may sound okay. But honestly, we weren't taught the topic beforehand. We were left like this, and we had to finish this performance task that was for maths and science. The math part had to do with quadratic equations, which at that time we were taught the term before. It was all very messy and stressful for us. Even my tuition teacher says time to time that my school is crazy.
Throughout this year, my class have had many complains. Complains that we brought up to the teacher, to the principal even. Like how our timetable was ridiculously long. Tuesdays and Fridays we end at 3.15 pm. On Fridays, most have CCAs until 6. Yes we have the weekend, but I would really love to let myself rest during the weekends. But I can't, the amount of homework, catching up on revision etc . It's crazy.
My maths teacher is a really good teacher, but he's really fast. Too fast. Things like graphs, i never understood clearly until i cleared it up with my tuition thing. My science teacher is so unbelievably soft, sit further than the second row, you have to strain your ears to listen. We told him that he was too soft, but nothing really changed. I guessed it didn't really matter after a while, we all developed sensitive hearing to hear him.
In Cedar, textbooks are sometimes just there for show. We have no textbooks for English, and our textbooks for maths is used only for the questions in them. We have our own notes. For history, the workbook isn't even touched. For Science, we do touch our textbook, but we are very much more dependent on the notes they give, because the textbook is insufficient. Work like EMS (Electromagnetic Spectrum) and Light and Lenses, we depend on notes, worksheets and our own research and understanding.
I guess, for Cedar, the only thing that I really, really love is my CCA. The friends I make in my CCA are real and true, they don't pretend and I really love them alot. They pulled me up when I fell, helped me through everything and supported me when I'm at my lowest. In Cedar, my friends and I all joked that with the amount of pressure we face now, and the way that we are so used to it we no longer care that much even if we stay up pass midnight to finish everything, we will have no problem managing life later on. Cedar taught us to be self-sufficient, not be dependent on others to spoonfeed us with answers.Cedar taught us how to cope with negative stress, positive stress, and shaped us into determined,strong,open-minded characters that are successful at study and play at the same time.
I guess, it's a love-hate relationship for me with Cedar. I don't like the system, but at the same time, I acknowledge that this system is what makes me have an opinion, stand up for myself, know what I want, how to cope with different people, different things, how to face stress, and more importantly, how to study hard, play hard and appreciate the things we've been given.
This system at Cedar gives one an enormous amount of stress, yet I feel that it is this stress that we learn to cope, accept and get used to that allowed Cedarians to be so successful in everything we put our hearts to doing. When I look at my seniors, my classmates, I feel that the amount of resilience we have is commendable, to be able to live with the pressure of excellence coming from our school, teachers and parents, and from ourselves.
To all potential sec ones, yes this school may seem very scary, very stressful. I once doubted my choice of school, wanted to transfer out, even doubting if I'll be able to survive, to love this school as my school. When I came into this school, i was looking for an all-rounded education. And after a turbulent year and a half, i can't exactly love this school, but this school has definitely gave me an all-rounded education.
Whether or not you are in IP or express, you WILL face stress. You WILL feel like you're gonna die, gonna give up on everything. But if you give up, then you WILL fail. But if you don't give up, persevere on, then you WILL reap the benefits. Do everything with an open mind, with appreciation, gratitude, and you will be able to see for yourself, beneath that entire strive for excellence facade, is a huge valuable store for you to open, explore and benefit.
Goodluck.
*No offence meant to the school, to anyone. This is my honest opinion.

Hi Live with vanilla

Do you mind to recommend your math's tutor to me as my dd is currently in sec 1 and she is having big problem with her Math.She is totally lost during every maths lesson. Really appreciate if you could pm me.
Thanks