DSA 2012

[MMM]

phankao:

The schools can tell from the school's standard too, I guess. And usually the position or statistics given. Average/highest/lowest marks for class/level.

The issue is that such level highest, average information is not widely available. Eg. some teachers published, some don't even internally. They even do away with level ranking as they don't want the kids at the back to feel demotivated....But as parents, we thought that allows us to see where our kids stand. So i really wonder how they measure externally with the lack of transparency in such information.

[phankao]

MMM:

phankao:

The schools can tell from the school's standard too, I guess. And usually the position or statistics given. Average/highest/lowest marks for class/level.

The issue is that such level highest, average information is not widely available. Eg. some teachers published, some don't even internally. They even do away with level ranking as they don't want the kids at the back to feel demotivated....But as parents, we thought that allows us to see where our kids stand. So i really wonder how they measure externally with the lack of transparency in such information.

I had the same concern last time too, but from what other parents have shared, those schools who put those criteria of 80% average tend to simply follow it by face-value, I'm afraid!!! For DSA at least.

[whitety]

phankao:

whitety:

The criteria for dsa for performing arts states that the child has to score 80 marks and above for all subjects. What will happen if the kids did not score above 80 marks for all subjects ? will the dsa application be automatically rejected as the students did not meet the min. criteria or will they still stand a chance of being called for audition ?


Thanks!

That depends on the schools. I think only the top schools ask for that average 80marks? I think schools like DHS adhere quite strictly to it. Not sure about RVHS.

Thank you phankao!

With the kids spending so much time preparing for syf (even full day on weekends and even skip classes), the poor kids have no time for revision and yet got to achieve such high score for all subjects. How did your kids manage to perform well? I try not to stress dd by letting her concentrate on syf first but after syf, dd only has abt 1 mth to prepare for SA1. How???

[4lessStress]

[quote]As for DSA sports students all being in the same class, this varies from school to school. Some spread them out, some (like RI) group them all in the same class. The reason being they want to work around their competition schedules and to give them more attention knowing that they sometimes have to miss classes bec of training or competitions. I don't think the schools would focus any less academically on these students though. Maybe parents whose kids have children in DSA sports can comment.[/quote]
Just a correction to the above, DSA sports students in RI are not automatically grouped into the 2 sports class. If the student qualifies entry into RI by merit, he will join the normal class based on his PSLE aggregate scores. There are some boys who excel in both sports and study. These are the rare ones.

[phankao]

whitety:

With the kids spending so much time preparing for syf (even full day on weekends and even skip classes), the poor kids have no time for revision and yet got to achieve such high score for all subjects. How did your kids manage to perform well? I try not to stress dd by letting her concentrate on syf first but after syf, dd only has abt 1 mth to prepare for SA1. How???

I fully understand how syf years are. I never said my kids performed well. haha. My younger son got into a fairly good sec school by DSA not by his score, and not bc he got 80% average either. Actually he had that from P4 and below, but that dropped to like below 70% in p5 and never revived. LOL. The school he applied for dsa doesn't have a criteria for academic average.

[janicelhl]

What are the school in the east region offer DSA ?

[MMM]

phankao:

I fully understand how syf years are. I never said my kids performed well. haha. My younger son got into a fairly good sec school by DSA not by his score, and not bc he got 80% average either. Actually he had that from P4 and below, but that dropped to like below 70% in p5 and never revived. LOL. The school he applied for dsa doesn't have a criteria for academic average.

You revived my hope

I am hoping to put my P4 ds to Maris Stella for band. So that he can continue his passion for band.

For my P5 dd, must strategise.....

But just to add, for DSA, I would also prefer to choose a school around their std academically. I heard of some kids who got into a school via dsa but later on, struggled academically.

[phankao]

MMM:

phankao:

I fully understand how syf years are. I never said my kids performed well. haha. My younger son got into a fairly good sec school by DSA not by his score, and not bc he got 80% average either. Actually he had that from P4 and below, but that dropped to like below 70% in p5 and never revived. LOL. The school he applied for dsa doesn't have a criteria for academic average.

You revived my hope

I am hoping to put my P4 ds to Maris Stella for band. So that he can continue his passion for band.

For my P5 dd, must strategise.....

But just to add, for DSA, I would also prefer to choose a school around their std academically. I heard of some kids who got into a school via dsa but later on, struggled academically.

My boy missed affiliated COP by several points, so v thankful for DSA. The good thing I notice for him is that, the teachers seem to keep quite close tabs on his performance bc he is in via DSA. Just like how the Sports boys have a special class and they have dedicated teachers that closely monitor how they are doing academically. I don't know how it is in other similar O-level schools.

If your child is section leader or other position holder in the band, it would give him/her an extra edge in the DSA application. Grading certificates are useful too.

[underthesea]

whitety:

With the kids spending so much time preparing for syf (even full day on weekends and even skip classes), the poor kids have no time for revision and yet got to achieve such high score for all subjects. How did your kids manage to perform well? I try not to stress dd by letting her concentrate on syf first but after syf, dd only has abt 1 mth to prepare for SA1. How???

My dd has only 1 week to prepare for SA1 as Chinese Orchestra is at the end of April!! I also don't know who to get her to do revision.

[ks2011]

Dunman High and Victoria school IP