Dunman High School (Junior High)

[vivwil]

That is good news for your dd’s friend. Not sure after taking 255+2 will they still have space for 254+2??? Put our fingers cross and hope to hear from the school. Thanks for sharing.

[tacit]

Vivwil, I hope you’ll get good news too.

[vivwil]

Hi, Tacit Thanks so much!

[pinky88]

Thank you very much angmum for sharing the details. Really appreciate that.

[tacit]

...Any questions about DHS, just ask.

[pinky88]

tacit:

...Any questions about DHS, just ask.

You're a student from DHS? If yes, pls. share with me why you chose to study in DHS, how's the school workload (stress level), the environment, the students & teachers. Which yr are you in?

[pinky88]

Augmum:

and also forget to add.......

on 1 st day, reporting time at 7.30 a.m, with school uniform and need to put on a tie on every Mondays.

Where do the students report to on the 1st day of orientation?

[tacit]

pinky88:

You're a student from DHS? If yes, pls. share with me why you chose to study in DHS, how's the school workload (stress level), the environment, the students & teachers. Which yr are you in?

I'll try to answer your questions:

I'm not really a current student, I've left DHS. I was there for three years though, so I do believe I've been there long enough (and recent enough) to have something substantial to say about DHS.

Why I chose to study in DHS: Actually, I wasn't the one who chose the school. My mother wanted to apply because of the IP program. She liked that the students didn't have to take the O levels.

Workload/stress: There definitely is a difference in workload/stress level in an IP school as compared to an O-level school. There are a lot of projects, and these take up time in the weekends. CCAs take up a lot of time too. Basically, students have a lot less free time than before. However, I should add that DHS students don't have as heavy a workload as other IP school students.

Environment: Dunman High is very Chinese, and I fully mean this. The school is strongly influenced by Confucius and his teachings. Also, studying is encouraged and expected. Everyone studies pretty hard, and students actually want to do well.

Teachers:
I've met many good teachers who are dedicated, accessible and helpful. I've met teachers who are not.

Students:
The first thing I have to say about DHS students is that they are really neat in appearance. The second thing about DHS students is that academics is a priority to them. Other than that, students will be students, whichever school they come from. We're immature, we make mistakes, we learn, we grow, and we're all different.

EDIT: Upon rereading this, I realize that my answers sound pretty negative. I really should add that Dunman High is a good school, and that I don't regret attending DHS.

[poohandtigger]

Hi tacit, thanks for sharing. Do you go to another school after 3 yrs in DHS? If so, do you mind to share the reasons? Do you think it would be difficult for someone who is not so interested or strong in the chinese language to survive there?

[tacit]

poohandtigger:

Hi tacit, thanks for sharing. Do you go to another school after 3 yrs in DHS? If so, do you mind to share the reasons? Do you think it would be difficult for someone who is not so interested or strong in the chinese language to survive there?

Yes, I transferred to another (vastly different) school. I have to emphasize that my transfer doesn't mean that DHS isn't good enough, or anything like that, because DHS really is a good school.

I don't want to go into my long story, but one of the reasons would be that I just wanted a change from the Chinese environment and culture.

It's definitely not difficult to survive the Chinese environment. Many students don't enjoy Chinese, or aren't good at it, but they adapt very well, and their Chinese improves a lot.