2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[Peony]

Chenonceau:

DS' English Teacher gave out 2 English compos in the past month and a half. Yesterday was DS' English exam and today, I found out that Teacher had not returned the 2 compos. What's the use of giving out compos to do if you don't return them in time for the exam? TWO some more.

:whut:

This is as bad as teachers who actually return a compo paper but without giving clear direction on how to improve it. DD once had a teacher who's idea of teaching compo was to share the examples of better ones without giving constructive feedback on the individual's work. And who taught the ones who did well? Certainly not that particular teacher.

[janet88]

Hi Peony,

I have to be cool this time…10% for CA1 was important then.
Don’t want to burn myself over this CA. Still have SA1.
Since the Eng paper was tough, I can expect Math today to be equally tough. But taking it easy makes a lot of difference.

[Peony]

janet_lee88:

Hi Peony,

I have to be cool this time...10% for CA1 was important then.
Don't want to burn myself over this CA. Still have SA1.
Since the Eng paper was tough, I can expect Math today to be equally tough. But taking it easy makes a lot of difference.

It's tough when you get thru a rough day at work and fetch a forlorn-looking child.

I still need to learn. The more down she is, the more I need to :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

[Chenonceau]

Peony:

janet_lee88:

Hi Peony,

I have to be cool this time...10% for CA1 was important then.
Don't want to burn myself over this CA. Still have SA1.
Since the Eng paper was tough, I can expect Math today to be equally tough. But taking it easy makes a lot of difference.

It's tough when you get thru a rough day at work and fetch a forlorn-looking child.

I still need to learn. The more down she is, the more I need to :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

Peony... you are so brave a Mommy to have to fight your own battles and help her to fight hers.

The hardest part is for me to smile brightly at him and keep the panic out of my voice. This is part of the reason I don't assign him any work DURING the exam period. If I have to coach him right through exams, I don't think I can hide my anxiety so well. This way, whilst he is playing through the exam period, I am doing my own thing and we don't talk much about exams.

[janet88]

Hi Mummies,

Acting cool to keep anxiety is a torture…but then CA1 is not an accurate test of PSLE. Standard is way above…and totally demoralizing.

As I walked my son to school this morn, I reminded him to do what he can…skip the question if he is still stuck at it after 2 min…don’t give up the whole forest for a tree.

[Zekezachzoom]

My DS school set killer papers for this p6 ca1. I think is to serve as a wake up call for the kids ( or rather for the parents :)) the compo paper came back yesterday and his score was his lowest ever (25/40). Though English is not his strength, but he normally pulls in around 30 for his compo. He is pretty strong in math and science but he told me that he was spending 1/2hr for a math sum and hardly have time to check through the paper. HMT was a killer paper too. Sigh... I pray hard that he will not be too devastated when papers are marked and returned!

[janet88]

Zekezachzoom:

My DS school set killer papers for this p6 ca1. I think is to serve as a wake up call for the kids ( or rather for the parents :)) the compo paper came back yesterday and his score was his lowest ever (25/40). Though English is not his strength, but he normally pulls in around 30 for his compo. He is pretty strong in math and science but he told me that he was spending 1/2hr for a math sum and hardly have time to check through the paper. HMT was a killer paper too. Sigh... I pray hard that he will not be too devastated when papers are marked and returned!

Yeah...first Eng paper was already a killer. Dare not imagine the rest.
It is more of a wake-up call to parents. It's really pointless to be upset over this CA1...there is another SA1 to come and that will be another killer.

[fifiyeo]

janet_lee88:

Zekezachzoom:

My DS school set killer papers for this p6 ca1. I think is to serve as a wake up call for the kids ( or rather for the parents :)) the compo paper came back yesterday and his score was his lowest ever (25/40). Though English is not his strength, but he normally pulls in around 30 for his compo. He is pretty strong in math and science but he told me that he was spending 1/2hr for a math sum and hardly have time to check through the paper. HMT was a killer paper too. Sigh... I pray hard that he will not be too devastated when papers are marked and returned!

Yeah...first Eng paper was already a killer. Dare not imagine the rest.
It is more of a wake-up call to parents. It's really pointless to be upset over this CA1...there is another SA1 to come and that will be another killer.

Usually the schools will try to scare the hell out of us. So CA1 is usually not easy....maybe even killers. Agree with Janet that it is pointless getting upset. Not everything is in our hands.

Counting down...CL tomorrow.

[psle2011mum]

Easy papers have their downsides too - in 2009 the Math CA1 paper for DD1 was set at an \"easy\" [actually to me it was \"sane\"] standard and 90% of the cohort did 85 and above - parents then worried that their kids would turn overly confident. SA1 was set harder and burst a few egos, but the mother of all papers came at the PSLE - 2009 PSLE Math had the kids in tears and parents running to the press. So, easy or hard and all the variants in between, you could say that from both my experiences, CA1 is not a predictor of anything at the PSLE.


Perhaps it would be more helpful to analyse CA1 results not by their absolute marks but by (a) how your DC has grown in this experience - effort, maturity, understanding, perserverance, diligence, patience - these he/she will take with him/her for the rest of their lives (b) how much he/she is translating into the exam papers from what you have been reinforcing at home.

Compo papers are never returned for keeps - not even brought home for parents to sight but that did not stop me from making an appointment to see the teachers for a review of the paper. My aim - to ensure that DD was translating the strategies I had reinforced at home at the exams. A little troublesome but the teachers always obliged - bless them - and I always had a chance to chat with them about DD's work then as the appointments were typically after school hours when they were less rushed.

When the CA1 results are out, no matter what they may be, the journey is not yet at an end. DD liked this quote especially as she returned to the grindstone after CA1....

Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

[janet88]

psle2011mum:

Perhaps it would be more helpful to analyse CA1 results not by their absolute marks but by (a) how your DC has grown in this experience - effort, maturity, understanding, perserverance, diligence, patience - these he/she will take with him/her for the rest of their lives (b) how much he/she is translating into the exam papers from what you have been reinforcing at home.


When the CA1 results are out, no matter what they may be, the journey is not yet at an end. DD liked this quote especially as she returned to the grindstone after CA1....

Hi psle2011mum,
Whether the CA1 papers are set easy or hard, the journey has just started. Like I have been reminding my son, now is the time to start exercising his maturity (if he hasn't), tolerance, building stamina, diligence and perserverance all the way to Oct 2.
PSLE dates are released.

Thanks for your little tips and advice. They are definitely wise words from you. Now, I am going to sweat it out by doing some housework. :rotflmao: