DSA 2023
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zac's mum\" post_id=\"2096833\" time=\"1675740130\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=2096833 time=1675740130 user_id=53606]
Chin up, zac's mum. You raised zac well.
U may not be aware but my child’s results were not good. They ended up with similar AL score and in same place now.
Just throwing out my observation in case anyone wanted a case study. I didnt mention anyone’s name. Not intended to boast either. What’s there to boast.[/quote]
Just a misunderstanding here, I believe. -
MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"2096846\" time=\"1675742912\" user_id=\"43981:
I know where you coming from. My girls are into running, and cycling too. Maybe it's in the blood, but I have no intention to get them deep into those. lol. In fact, I have not even started them with the intention for competition. Told the father not to let them go cycling too often since now they've got their own bikes.
Haha no competitive CCAs for her. She's just joining what are of her interest..but the bad mommy me, kept getting her dropping one by one. She was very unhappy at first but then she slowly understand. -
My take re DSA is simply this: It’s a means to an end. It gives children an avenue into schools which they may not necessarily qualify for, but for the DSA. While this is good, there are a couple of concerns which parents can sometimes neglect:
1. Getting into a particular school (presumably a good school) likely means a greater demand for academic proficiency. So, if your child qualifies via the DSA route but struggles academically, then this move is counter-productive. Your child may end up in a worse off position because the academic demands are too great. To be clear, schools do take this into account when they offer DSA spots to students, i.e. they look at the child’s academic performance to make sure that the child would not lag behind if accepted. This helps for those in the extreme range but for students who are close to the COP, that difference between academic capabilities vs. expectations can be tricky to navigate.
2. The passion & interest in the talent should be genuine. This is important because once accepted under DSA, the student is required to continue pursuing that talent throughout secondary school. If the student’s interest is genuine and his or her love for the talent/art/sport etc. is real, then this isn’t an issue. However, if it is not, then the DSA now becomes a burden and can negatively impact the child’s performance both academically as well as in that talent CCA.
3. Securing a DSA (i.e. accepting a CO) locks your child to the school. In most cases, this is the outcome which parents (and children) want. However, if your child ends up doing better (or worse) than expected or sometime after accepting the CO is eager to go to a different school (e.g. to follow their friends), then you’re stuck. The commitment at that point is already cast in stone so you have to fulfill the CO. So, it’s partly a gamble which can pay off but it can also backfire.
Ultimately, you should know your own child. To do this, engage them in an honest discussion about what they want. Secondary school is a wonderful chapter in their lives and it is important that they find themselves in a school which they feel comfortable and in which they can mature and excel. As parents, it is easy for us to make assumptions (oftentimes, we want to relive our lives through our children) which is not ideal so we need to be mindful.
In my opinion, DSA "homework" here is less about attending open houses and stalking KSP but more about getting to know our children better and finding an outcome which works in their best interest.
My 2c, as always. -
skii\" post_id=\"2096829\" time=\"1675738320\" user_id=\"82603:
I think it is just an honest opinion from Zac's mum. Actually I feel that if the candidate can make it (in exams), then it doesn't matter much to his performance (in the exams) even if the candidate continued to spend that few hours in the CCA leading up to the exams. Result might turn out better.
Good for your child...
But don't need to \"say\" his friends until like that also right?
If every opinion here got to be politically correct, then our own research becomes very difficult. Don't think she is putting down on those who saved the few hours and yet in the end got mediocre results. -
Just to share our DSA experience, from the year 2022 DSA.
We have nothing in mind for DSA before P6. DS has many interests, in fact too many but with no great achievement cause of lack of competition due to Covid. DS also has duo CCA in pri school. Come forward to P6, we were informed NSG came back, and they only have around 2 months for preparation. NSG was around the time when they have their SA1. I did struggle to decide if I should let him spend additional hours each week, skipping classes to attend competition. However DS was very determine to want to win. He knew that he has high chance to win medal and hence he was very focus during that period. But with exam in mind, he has no additional time to waste other than study and training. Without tuition, he has to schedule sessions with his school teachers to go thru those that he had missed. Turn out that his result maintained (He has been getting the same AL score since P5, and throughout P6, even received the same result in PSLE) and he also won medals for his school from the NSG event. He was shortlisted by RI & HCI partly due to his win from NSG. We only applied these 2 schools as these 2 are his target schools.
He is now in S1 and enjoying his school life. Regret? No. The NSG trainings and competition are really good memories for him. The process of DSA indeed very stressful but it become a good experience now.
Altho' eventually his PSLE result can also get him into the same school as we already expected. The benefits from entering the school via DSA? He gets to blend in earlier, he shared with me that a lot of his classmates are overwhelming with Sec school schedule etc, but as he started the training with the seniors right after PSLE (Yes, the coach called him to attend the regular weekly trainings right when he completed his HCL paper, even before we submit our confirm option). He has anticipated the same schedule much ahead, and it is actually good especially he was very free after PSLE. He built close rapport with seniors and the friends who join in the same DSA route.
The commitment for DSA? It is the same as those who join the same domain via CCA. He doesn't need to go thru the CCA trial sessions. Of course this DSA route only benefit to those who really enjoy the domain. You are really tied to the 4 yrs commitment. He did sign up for Merit CCA (2nd CCA) as well (yet to start), and with 3rd language, he is staying back in school daily and will reach home around 7 (Lucky that our house is walking distance to his school). Altho' he is very busy everyday, I can see that he really enjoy the school and the activities. He voluntary signing up additional training (inc weekend) other than the official schedule because he enjoys those activities. I would rather him to spend his time in school than doing unproductive tasks elsewhere. He has been managing his home works well as well, as with such a busy schedule, discipline and time management are very important. But of course he is still in the honeymoon period of S1. We shall see if he needs to do any prioritization later on.
In short, to drop your CCA or not? I believe P6 should not be just study, CCA is equally important as those are like their \"play time\" if they are enjoying the CCA. How to strike balance within NSG training and exam? So long you are focusing only on these 2, you will definitely gain more benefits. The kids get to learn time management, self discipline and really focus and to do prioritization. As to go thru DSA journey or not, this is really a personal choice, need to know if your kid enjoy the domain and he/she has a target school. The P6 journey is really interesting, it should not be just study. Enjoy their last primary school journey with them. :hugs: -
lakaik\" post_id=\"2096919\" time=\"1675823347\" user_id=\"137619:
Sound like your DS has the capacities to begin with.
Just to share our DSA experience, from the year 2022 DSA.
We have nothing in mind for DSA before P6. DS has many interests, in fact too many but with no great achievement cause of lack of competition due to Covid. He also has duo CCA in pri school. Come forward to P6, we were informed NSG came back, and they only have 2 months for preparation. NSG was around the time when they have their SA1. I did struggle to decide if I should let him spend additional hours each week, skipping classes to attend competition. DS was very determine to want to win. He knew that he has high chance to win medal and hence he was very focus during that period. But with exam in mind, he has no additional time to spend to do other than study and training. Without tuition, he has to schedule sessions with his teachers to go thru those that he had missed. Turn up his result maintained (He has been getting the same AL score since P5, and throughout P6, even the same for his PSLE result) and he also won medals for his school from the NSG event. He was shortlisted by RI & HCI partly due to his win from NSG. We only applied these 2 schools as these 2 are his target schools.
He is now in S1, and very much enjoy the school. Regret? No. The NSG training and competition are really good memories for him. The process of DSA indeed very stressful but it become a good experience now.
Altho' eventually his PSLE result can also get him in the same school as we already expected. The benefit from entering the school via DSA? He gets to blend in earlier, he shared with me that a lot of his classmates are overwhelming with Sec school schedule etc, but as he started his training with the seniors right after PSLE (Yes, the coach called him to attend the regular weekly training right when he completed his HCL paper, even before we submit our confirm option). He has anticipated the same schedule much ahead, and it is actually good especially he was very free after PSLE. He built close rapport with seniors and the friends who join in the same DSA route.
The commitment for DSA? It is the same as those who join the same domain via CCA. He doesn't need to go thru the CCA trial sessions. Of course this DSA route only benefit to those who really enjoy the domain. You are really tied to the 4 yrs commitment. He did sign up for Merit CCA (2nd CCA) as well (yet to start), and with 3rd language, he is very much staying back in school daily and will reach home around 7 (Lucky that our house is walking distance to his school). Altho' he is very busy everyday, I can see that he really enjoy the school and the activities. He voluntary signing up additional training (inc weekend) other than the official schedule because he enjoys those activities. I would rather him to spend his time in school than doing unproductive tasks elsewhere. He has been managing his home works well as well, as with such a busy schedule, discipline and time management are very important. But of course he is still in the honeymoon period of S1. We shall see if he needs to do any prioritization later on.
In short, to drop your CCA or not? I believe P6 should not be just study, CCA is equally important as those are like their \"play time\" if they are enjoying the CCA. How to strike balance within NSG training and exam? So long you are focusing only on these 2, you will definitely gain more benefits out of these. The kids get to learn time management, self discipline and really focus and to prioritize. As to go thru DSA journey or not, it is really a personal choice, need to ask yourself if your kid enjoy the domain and he/she has a target school. The P6 journey is really interesting, it should not be just study. Enjoy their last primary school journey with them. :hugs: -
We may roughly know the child’s capabilities. If the child can do it, just let the child do it. Some children may not know their limitations, that is when the adults may need to interfere.
I can’t wait for dd to go to secondary…and I would like to take a break from tuition. Looking at the fee, madness to me haiz. -
MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"2096930\" time=\"1675826958\" user_id=\"43981:
PSLE is but 1 phase.
We may roughly know the child's capabilities. If the child can do it, just let the child do it. Some children may not know their limitations, that is when the adults may need to interfere.
I can't wait for dd to go to secondary..and I would like to take a break from tuition. Looking at the fee, madness to me haiz. -
Would like to seek advice.
Child P5 End year was AL9, but combined overall is AL10.
Vice captain in his sports CCA.
Participated in science and maths olympiad with participation award only. Have received edusave award for Eagles in P5 only and P2-P5 receive edusave academics and scholarship.
He wants to try RI, Victoria IP and NUSH.
Would it be advisable to DSA through leadership with vice captain or sports cca? -
MotherHere\" post_id=\"2096978\" time=\"1675868627\" user_id=\"198562:
How is the sport’s achievement? If top 3, then seems like a better chance to try using the sports for RI/VS. For NUSH, Olympian achievements are very important to get the door in so perhaps can try for better achievements here during P6.
Would like to seek advice.
Child P5 End year was AL9, but combined overall is AL10.
Vice captain in his sports CCA.
Participated in science and maths olympiad with participation award only. Have received edusave award for Eagles in P5 only and P2-P5 receive edusave academics and scholarship.
He wants to try RI, Victoria IP and NUSH.
Would it be advisable to DSA through leadership with vice captain or sports cca?
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