SPERS-Sec - IP schools?

[Song22]

Hi Kingfisher

Congrats on your son’s posting! Wishing you and your family the best in the coming year, keep in touch.

[Kingfisher]

Song22:

Hi Kingfisher

Congrats on your son's posting! Wishing you and your family the best in the coming year, keep in touch.

Hi Song22
Thank you! Wishing you and your family a happy and fruitful 2013! Yes, keep in touch.

[Kingfisher]

slmkhoo:

Kingfisher:

Just to update that my son got posted to his first choice school - HCI. We have applied for LOA for 2013 and is approved. He will need to take placement tests on Eng, Chi and Math if he starts Sec 2 in 2014. Also, in the event that he can't cope in Sec 2, he will be transferred to the 'o' level stream in Sec 3. If we need to renew the LOA in 2014, it will be subjected to the principal's approval.

Congratulations! So the schools do allow LOA after acceptance through SPERS. I was uncertain about that which was one of the reasons we didn't try it. Why didn't you wait one more year to take SPERS if you aren't planning to be back till 2014?

Thanks! There was the possibility that we will be back in first quarter of 2013 but latest development is that we may stay for 1 more year.

[Kingfisher]

slmkhoo:

Kingfisher:

Thanks! There was the possibility that we will be back in first quarter of 2013 but latest development is that we may stay for 1 more year.

Are you planning to cover some of the Yr 1 work while overseas? I've been doing that to some extent this year (our LOA year). Can share experiences if you like.

Yes, would appreciate if you could share your experiences. Also, do you get any support from the school?TIA

[mystuff_corner]

Hi Kingfisher,


:congrats: Your son's S1 posting result also a good news to all RS.

I was surprise to hear that HCI accepts RS. My friend met up with HCI last summer, HCI told her that HCI didn't accept any RS through SPERS.

I guess your son is the 1st case. :celebrate: :rahrah:

I have faith in SPERS.

Song22,
I have purchased SuperStarTeacher's PSLE Math for my 6th Grade.This online lessons help us to caught up with SG math standard and how to be exam smart. You can give it a try if your son not in SG syllabus.

Thanks

[Song22]

mystuff_corner:

Hi Kingfisher,


:congrats: Your son's S1 posting result also a good news to all RS.

I was surprise to hear that HCI accepts RS. My friend met up with HCI last summer, HCI told her that HCI didn't accept any RS through SPERS.

I guess your son is the 1st case. :celebrate: :rahrah:

I have faith in SPERS.

Song22,
I have purchased SuperStarTeacher's PSLE Math for my 6th Grade.This online lessons help us to caught up with SG math standard and how to be exam smart. You can give it a try if your son not in SG syllabus.

Thanks

Thanks for sharing, I will check it out.

[Song22]

Kingfisher

Have you consider boarding option for a year or 1/2 a year? Anyone has boarding experience to share in Singapore for secondary school kids?

[Kingfisher]

Song22:

Kingfisher

Have you consider boarding option for a year or 1/2 a year? Anyone has boarding experience to share in Singapore for secondary school kids?

Actually, yes, hubby said put him in the boarding school if we do not return next year. On one hand I want him to start HCI asap so that he will not have a difficult time catching up, on the other hand I am reluctant to be away from him during his teenage years when he is experiencing a lot of changes both emotionally and physically. Dilemma. Need more info on HCI boarding school also.

[Kingfisher]

slmkhoo:

Kingfisher:

[quote=\"Song22\"]Kingfisher

Have you consider boarding option for a year or 1/2 a year? Anyone has boarding experience to share in Singapore for secondary school kids?

Actually, yes, hubby said put him in the boarding school if we do not return next year. On one hand I want him to start HCI asap so that he will not have a difficult time catching up, on the other hand I am reluctant to be away from him during his teenage years when he is experiencing a lot of changes both emotionally and physically. Dilemma. Need more info on HCI boarding school also.

Another thing to consider is how long your son has been away from Singapore. Don't discount the difficulty of returning to your 'home' country if you left it very young because it will be almost like a foreign country. I know a family who lived in China for several years (maybe 5 or so) and sent their son back to Singapore for Sec 2 onwards. He lived in a hostel but had a lot of issues adjusting and seemed to suffer a lot of stress. His older brothers had returned for NS and coped better, but they had left Singapore later and were older when they returned. I don't know the family all that well so I don't know many details, but I know the parents were very concerned and the mum flew back and forth a lot. I also suggested to my daughter that she return to Singapore without us at the beginning of Sec 2 instead of mid-year with us, but she has refused. We feel that coping with social and emotional issues will be more a challenge than academic, so I also prefer that we are with her during re-entry. But we felt that we should give her the option though we would have arranged for her to stay with relatives rather than in a hostel.[/quote]Thanks for sharing this. We haven't been away for very long and we go back every summer for at least a month and he also went back to his primary school for immersion for a week or two. I think he still hasnt lost the \"touch\" of living and studying in Sg if he goes back next year. Social aspects he should have no issues, it's the emotional aspect that I am worried. We are also not sure if the school will approve LOA for another year. That is why we may have to send him back first if we do not want him to miss the opportunity to study in an IP school. Need to carefully consider the pros and cons when the time comes and we have to make a decision.

[Shanghaied]

My post is not in response to any previous posts by parents. Just like to share some input.


My dd was a returnee in 2011 and she has gone through a 'baptism of fire' during the past two years - thankfully unscathed, perhaps even stronger. Unfortunately, for both years she was in the top quartile in her school which is an IP school (we have letter from MOE as proof), she was offered only Edusave bursary. You see, if your child does very well in PSLE he/she will be offered EESIP (I stand corrected on this), but in my dd's case she had to compete with other students - in her first year, no less - for this by sitting IPST. Naturally she did not do well, since she had only just returned from China after 8 years there. In fact, the school advised her to take remedial English together with the Chinese and Vietnamese scholars, and she had been doing this during those two years.

During the past two years we had to pay not less than S$300 per month for her education, on top of living expenses. No mean feat, by any measure, although I must say it was all well worth it.

My faith in the SPERS-SEC system was ultimately justified, but I suppose one should also take financial matters into consideration.