All About GEP

[CheLee]

So to even aim for the top 25% in the gep will be so impossible!


Nonetheless, I am happy that she achieved something on her own this year. I have to admit I care about the psle score (please don’t roll your eyes at me). Cos my ultimate wish is for her to do decently well, get into a good school and work towards her goals.

Yet when this opportunity comes along, I thought I should support her since she is determined to try. Can only keep my finger crossed

[hquek]

winnieng78:

Is it because he has leadership position and cca?


May I know does this mean that the gep kids have their own edu cert competition? I mean right now they will get edu cert if they are in 25% of the cohort.

Going forward, if they don’t take school exam, how to measure them against the cohort?

not sure if this question was directed to me, and no, I stopped getting such certs after he got into GEP; he wasn't in any leadership position. Figure they are measured against the gep cohort - or maybe against the GEP cohorts in their school only.

In a way, GEP definitely was a humbling experience. you will see all sorts of dragons and phoenixes.

[goosiegoose]

Pls don’t roll eyes at me too. Heh! Is getting into an affiliated gep centre an important consideration?

[hquek]

goosiegoose:

Pls don't roll eyes at me too. Heh! Is getting into an affiliated gep centre an important consideration?

To some, yes ba. I hear some pp will definitely aim for those wif affiliation - just in case.

[lee_yl]

Desmo:

Thanks for sharing all your thoughts, analysis of the GEP..


Before the GEP briefing, we were 50-50 on letting our DS into the GEP (he of course is stubborn about staying on in his current school)

After the GEP briefing, we decided to let our DS stay in the mainstream school and not entering the GEP program.

Reason are several :
1) There are not many successful GEP cases showcased (apart from interviews of ex GEP students who are now in the profession of prosecutor and another one as director in trade ministry)
I can only assume they are still trying to collate enough successful cases to boost the GEP statistics

2) Q&A. Very interesting views brought up by existing GEP parents who voiced their grievances that their GEP kids are not 'assured' of a ticket to DSA/IP (despite spending lots of time in their studies). GEP kids also are not 'guaranteed' a place in the post-GEP Secondary school.
GEP panel replied by saying and stressing to the parents that GEP kids do not have privilege. They still have to compete with other mainstream kids on the path to DSA.

3) GEP Kids are only switched to mainstream curriculum after P6 term 2. (of course the GEP panel stressed that GEP program is 'enriched upon the mainstream curriculum') They believed the GEP kids should have ample time to 'adjust' themselves and be ready to sit for the PSLE.
I wonder why then the need to 'switch' if all along the GEP program is 'enriched' formula based on the mainstream syllabus.

4) Emotional state of the kid. This takes understanding of your own child when taking the decision to take the plunge into GEP pool for the next 2 years. For me, I understand my son is still not 'emotionally stable' in handling friendship ties, bonds. If I were to push him into the GEP pool, if he does not cope well and unable to handle the stress, falling grades, loss of friendship, I'm sure he'll be very miserable.

5) Perhaps the GEP panel should come up with the statistic of PSLE score for GEP kids. Afterall, at the end of the day, it's the PSLE score that will ensure a ticket to good secondary schools.

Hence, considering the above points, we've decided to let our DS to be a happy-go-lucky 9 year old kid enjoying and learning what a typical 9 year old kid learn in the mainstream, and not cramping him with skills/knowledge that are at least 2 years beyond him.
Maybe he can cope/maybe he cannot cope. But we'll worry about that when he is ready to learn these knowledge in secondary school.

For now, my DS is so happy that we respect his decision to stay on in his current school. He cannot wait to break the news to his friends/teachers

I recall watching that video too during NUSH briefing 2 years ago and I guess it was just meant to be a short introduction and reused over the years. Don’t read too deeply into it.

Some pros I can think of is the small class size, which my DD2 thinks it helps. Tailored programme means DD2 finds it engaging. For Science, the children get to do a lot more experiments which my girl finds interesting and she told me she hopes this can be extended to the MS as well as previously, Sc in MS was taught mainly using whiteboard and marker. They have a lot of activities, although non-PSLE related but it does open up her horizon. Well, govt doesn’t owe you a living, cannot expect they to guarantee every gepper a place in top IP school. One has to work hard for a place. I know some taxpayers whose children are in MS are not happy with GEP as they think MOE spends more on a gepper than a MS child. Guess I can’t ask for more already.

Why do you need to wait for the teachers to start preparing them for PSLE at mid of P6? If you are worried, can’t you let your kid do past year papers on your own during Nov/Dec holidays?

MOE has stopped naming the top PSLE scorers and giving out statistics because of reactions from kiasu parents. I vividly recall that of the top 10 scorers for PSLE, at least 5 came from GEP.

DD1 is in P6 MS and she has a classmate who gave up GEP and stayed back in MS. So far, DD1 think this classmate is still as happy. Well, I suppose successful or not has more to do with how hungry and ambitious a child is, be it in the GEP or mainstream.

[fable]

jtoh:

To add on to my earlier reply, what is the end goal of a primary school education? If it is a high PSLE score that you're looking for, then mainstream education might better prepare a child for it.


I find that the end goal of GEP isn't the student's PSLE score. It's the process of learning, the journey, the exploration into out-of-syllabus work, the freedom to express and question, to conduct independent research... Most definitely a lot of this isn't immediately relevant to PSLE, but it is interesting and helps train the mind and will prepare them for secondary school. Which is why a lot of GEP students find lower secondary relatively smooth sailing.

:goodpost:

There were times during the last 3 years when I felt that too much was expected of my son. Not academically, per se, he loved everything he studied there, but handling the filing. I was happy to hear the teachers and GEB folk say to leave it to the kids to learn, and I did just that, until I realised that his files were missing half his papers and the bits and bobs that were filed were not completed - e.g. submitted and marked but corrections not done. His classmates didn't seem to have the same trouble - I don't know if it was because they were more organised, or because their parents were. He slowly worked out a system with some help from me, and while he will never win an award for his filing, he's proud of how far he has come.

It occurs to me that this reflects the GE journey. There will be things your kid is good at, and things that he/she's not so good at. In a cohort of gifted, there are likely to be a good number who are better than he at various things. This journey is about how he learns and grows, not how much better or worse he does compared to his classmates. In the last 3 years, he has had the opportunity to attend challenging programmes, learn things I never had the patience to teach him, face times when he did badly in subjects he thought he was good at, be near the bottom at subjects he thought he was quite bad at, and also be best in his class in some things. And learn to make his way in a new class of very bright, very opinionated, sometimes kind, sometimes cruel kids. Thats what education is about, isn't it? To challenge, inspire, face difficulties and learn what you're made of, learn to get up and try again, try harder. Figure how what kind of person you are, and what kind of person you want to be.

As for the PSLE, its not that GE kids don't follow syllabus at all. Essentially they learn the same concepts. But extended - either wider or deeper than the PSLE syllabus. When the GEB people say they work on PSLE curriculum after Term 2, its means that (by and large) they stop the extended curriculum, and teach the kids how to answer the questions for the PSLE. In my son's school they did a billion (only slightly exaggerated) mock papers so they would have an idea of the kinds of questions asked in PSLE and how to answer them. So the difference is that in a mainstream school, the focus in the whole upper primary period is on the PSLE and teaching the kids a specific syllabus towards that goal.

[Cloud Cloud]

goosiegoose:

Pls don't roll eyes at me too. Heh! Is getting into an affiliated gep centre an important consideration?

One of the considerations...but the child may not like the school. DD was not interested in one of the top girls school because Chinese is her weakest subject.

[zac's mum]

I hope you don’t mind…can somebody confirm my understanding? Which are the GEP centres with affiliated secondary school?


ACSP - for boys
CHS - for boys
HPPS - none
Nan Hua - yes? to Nan Hua High School?
Nanyang - for girls only, to NYGH
RGPS - none
Rosyth - none
St Hilda’s - yes? To St Hilda’s Secondary?
TNS - none

[goosiegoose]

I am torn between acs and ny. Nygh was my alma mater so I have lotsa feelings for ny but there is no safety net for DS!

[CheLee]

Good post!!! Argh really help me to understand a lot more about what to expect!!

fable:

jtoh:

To add on to my earlier reply, what is the end goal of a primary school education? If it is a high PSLE score that you're looking for, then mainstream education might better prepare a child for it.

I find that the end goal of GEP isn't the student's PSLE score. It's the process of learning, the journey, the exploration into out-of-syllabus work, the freedom to express and question, to conduct independent research... Most definitely a lot of this isn't immediately relevant to PSLE, but it is interesting and helps train the mind and will prepare them for secondary school. Which is why a lot of GEP students find lower secondary relatively smooth sailing.

:goodpost:

There were times during the last 3 years when I felt that too much was expected of my son. Not academically, per se, he loved everything he studied there, but handling the filing. I was happy to hear the teachers and GEB folk say to leave it to the kids to learn, and I did just that, until I realised that his files were missing half his papers and the bits and bobs that were filed were not completed - e.g. submitted and marked but corrections not done. His classmates didn't seem to have the same trouble - I don't know if it was because they were more organised, or because their parents were. He slowly worked out a system with some help from me, and while he will never win an award for his filing, he's proud of how far he has come.

It occurs to me that this reflects the GE journey. There will be things your kid is good at, and things that he/she's not so good at. In a cohort of gifted, there are likely to be a good number who are better than he at various things. This journey is about how he learns and grows, not how much better or worse he does compared to his classmates. In the last 3 years, he has had the opportunity to attend challenging programmes, learn things I never had the patience to teach him, face times when he did badly in subjects he thought he was good at, be near the bottom at subjects he thought he was quite bad at, and also be best in his class in some things. And learn to make his way in a new class of very bright, very opinionated, sometimes kind, sometimes cruel kids. Thats what education is about, isn't it? To challenge, inspire, face difficulties and learn what you're made of, learn to get up and try again, try harder. Figure how what kind of person you are, and what kind of person you want to be.

As for the PSLE, its not that GE kids don't follow syllabus at all. Essentially they learn the same concepts. But extended - either wider or deeper than the PSLE syllabus. When the GEB people say they work on PSLE curriculum after Term 2, its means that (by and large) they stop the extended curriculum, and teach the kids how to answer the questions for the PSLE. In my son's school they did a billion (only slightly exaggerated) mock papers so they would have an idea of the kinds of questions asked in PSLE and how to answer them. So the difference is that in a mainstream school, the focus in the whole upper primary period is on the PSLE and teaching the kids a specific syllabus towards that goal.