All About GEP

[iggy]

I don’t know if yesterday’s announcement on the indicative cut off point for various sec school programmes under the new PSLE AL scoring system will have any bearing on GEP decision. Need an average AL2 (85+) for each subject to get into IP.Given that the leverage from the strongest subject (eg Maths) to pull up weakest (eg MTL) will not be as big as before. Is it a fair assumption that our kids can cope with all 4 subjects with their giftedness?

[entei17]

grace2011\" post_id=\"2001728\" time=\"1604733580\" user_id=\"133486:

I saw got parents shared that some schools are easier GEP and some are tougher GEP? So which are easier/less stress and which are tougher?

From the grapevine and my observations from GEP inter-school activities, there are 3 general groups:

Nanyang, Nan Hua, Tao Nan and Rosyth;
Catholic High, RGPS, ACS;
Henry Park and St Hilda's;

All the GEP schools have a standard syllabus, coursework and projects, tightly controlled by the GE Branch. All GEP students take the same CA and SA examination papers, except for P5 and P6 MTL and HMTL papers, which are the respective school papers. The reason being not all the schools offer HMTL until P5 for the mainstream, and therefore no HMTL papers are available for their GEP students until P5, so all P4 students take the GEP MTL paper.

The difference in the toughness probably stems from the schools' delivery of the curriculum, their/parents' expectations and the competitiveness of the students (GEP and mainstream). Some also start competition training earlier than other schools.

If you want to compete, then there is that additional stress to work harder. If you want to chill, you are alright as long as you pay attention and complete the required work. Nowadays, schools are mindful of reducing stress and do not reveal peer examination results (not even average, high or low scores), and do not reveal who gets selected for what competitions, masterclasses and other external programs that pull out the real high ability students (ya, not gifted as there really aren't many gifted students in Singapore). Parents are generally helpful if you ask, but do not talk much unnecessary (to avoid stressing you).

Unless your child is self-motivated and meticulous, you are more likely needed to keep an eye on him/her for the 1st several months as they need an adaptation period. Stories about having to work till late at night, is more likely that assignments/projects were not done progressively and left till the last moments. Some projects last through several weeks and stages.

English is the 'crown jewel' of the GEP program. MTL/HMTL are no different from mainstream. Maths are tougher but not as tough as olympiad maths, while science requires deeper thinking and detailed answers.

Googled the following info which may be useful to get a general feel of the GEP, especially for P4 and P5.

Tao Nan
https://taonan.moe.edu.sg/qql/slot/u182/pdf/parents/downloads/school_circulars/curriculum_briefings/P4/2020%20P4%20GEP%20Parents%20Briefing.pdf

Catholic High
https://catholichigh.moe.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/P3_Parent_Briefing_Booklet_2017UPDATED-ON-10NOV_vetted.pdf

St Hilda's
https://www.shps.moe.edu.sg/qql/slot/u548/2020%20P4%20GEP%20Parents%20Briefing.pdf

Henry Park
http://www.henryparkpri.moe.edu.sg/qql/slot/u601/2016%20P4%20Parent%20briefing%20files/2016%20P4%20GEP%20General%20%20Briefing.pdf

GEP English P4 & P5
https://nanhuapri.moe.edu.sg/qql/slot/u732/Others/E-Notification/P4GEP/2017/MTP%202017%20P4%20%28GEP%29%20EL.pdf

https://nanhuapri.moe.edu.sg/qql/slot/u732/Others/E-Notification/P5%20GEP/MTP%202016%20P5%20%28GEP%29%20EL.pdf

GEP P4 Mathematics
https://henryparkpri.moe.edu.sg/qql/slot/u601/2016%20P4%20Parent%20briefing%20files/2016%20P4%20GEP%20Math%20Briefing.pdf

GEP P6 Science
https://nanhuapri.moe.edu.sg/qql/slot/u732/Others/E-Notification/P6%20GEP/2017/MTP%202017%20P6%20%28GEP%29%20SCI.pdf

IRS projects
https://www.moe.gov.sg/docs/default-source/document/education/programmes/gifted-education-programme/individualised-study-options/files/primary-and-secondary-schools-2016.pdf

IVP
https://nanhuapri.moe.edu.sg/qql/slot/u732/Others/E-Notification/P5%20TAG/MTP%202016%20P5%20%28TAG+GEP%29%20IvP.pdf

[entei17]

iggy\" post_id=\"2001738\" time=\"1604745025\" user_id=\"32682:

I don't know if yesterday's announcement on the indicative cut off point for various sec school programmes under the new PSLE AL scoring system will have any bearing on GEP decision. Need an average AL2 (85+) for each subject to get into IP.Given that the leverage from the strongest subject (eg Maths) to pull up weakest (eg MTL) will not be as big as before. Is it a fair assumption that our kids can cope with all 4 subjects with their giftedness?

You will still be selected for GEP even if you fail your Chinese in P3. Therefore, the standard in Chinese isn't much better than the mainstream. There will be more GEP students who will fail to make it to IP, simply because the other subjects cannot lift you up anymore.

It makes sense only if you spend the extra time saved from the GEP to work on your MTL. If your MTL cannot be saved, yet your English, Maths or Science is exceptionally above your peers, then GEP could horn your talents in these areas to help you on securing a DSA, thereby rescuing you from a weak MTL. But the recent trend seems to be that, unless you are truly exceptional, the GEP badge may work against you in DSA applications as schools now want diversity for DSA (i.e. mainstream students).

[iggy]

entei17\" post_id=\"2001759\" time=\"1604754114\" user_id=\"162440:

iggy\" post_id=\"2001738\" time=\"1604745025\" user_id=\"32682:

I don't know if yesterday's announcement on the indicative cut off point for various sec school programmes under the new PSLE AL scoring system will have any bearing on GEP decision. Need an average AL2 (85+) for each subject to get into IP.Given that the leverage from the strongest subject (eg Maths) to pull up weakest (eg MTL) will not be as big as before. Is it a fair assumption that our kids can cope with all 4 subjects with their giftedness?

You will still be selected for GEP even if you fail your Chinese in P3. Therefore, the standard in Chinese isn't much better than the mainstream. There will be more GEP students who will fail to make it to IP, simply because the other subjects cannot lift you up anymore.

It makes sense only if you spend the extra time saved from the GEP to work on your MTL. If your MTL cannot be saved, yet your English, Maths or Science is exceptionally above your peers, then GEP could horn your talents in these areas to help you on securing a DSA, thereby rescuing you from a weak MTL. But the recent trend seems to be that, unless you are truly exceptional, the GEP badge may work against you in DSA applications as schools now want diversity for DSA (i.e. mainstream students).

You are right and we should probably evaluate GEP on its own merit and de-coupled it from PSLE.

[skii]

Dear Entei17,


Thanks for your very informative post.

Quick question:
You have grouped the 9 gep center into 3 groups.

Is the grouping based on the schools personal relation with each other
Or
level of competitiveness
Or
what’s your matrix for the grouping?

[entei17]

skii\" post_id=\"2001814\" time=\"1604800746\" user_id=\"82603:

Dear Entai17,

Thanks for your very informative post.

Quick question:
You have grouped the 9 gep center into 3 groups.

Is the grouping based on the schools personal relation with each other
Or
level of competitiveness
Or
what’s your matrix for the grouping?

I grouped them in order of my sense of competitiveness, their external competition achievements, Chinese standard, school culture, workload and teacher-student ratio.

Maybe I do a little reordering into these groups from my sense of tougher to easier, although the difference between neighboring groups may not be markedly different, while more evident between the top and bottom groups:

Nanyang, Nan Hua
Tao Nan, Rosyth, Catholic High, RGPS and ACS;
Henry Park and St Hilda's

Henry Park and St Hilda's are the only GEP schools with 1 class of GEP (varies 18-27 students but in mixed form classes with mainstream), therefore they have the lowest student-teacher ratio, and students therefore get more attention. With a smaller GEP cohort, it is a less competitive environment, and their mainstream cohort is also less competitive.

All the rest of the GEP schools have 40-50+ GEP students. Nanyang and Nan Hua are at the other end of the spectrum, while the rest are in between.

[skii]

Thanks for the very insightful comments

(And replying on a Sunday )

Appreciated.

entei17\" post_id=\"2001850\" time=\"1604813972\" user_id=\"162440:

skii\" post_id=\"2001814\" time=\"1604800746\" user_id=\"82603:

Dear Entai17,

Thanks for your very informative post.

Quick question:
You have grouped the 9 gep center into 3 groups.

Is the grouping based on the schools personal relation with each other
Or
level of competitiveness
Or
what’s your matrix for the grouping?

I grouped them in order of my sense of competitiveness, their external competition achievements, Chinese standard, school culture, workload and teacher-student ratio.

Maybe I do a little reordering into these groups from my sense of tougher to easier, although the difference between neighboring groups may not be markedly different, while more evident between the top and bottom groups:

Nanyang, Nan Hua
Tao Nan, Rosyth, Catholic High, RGPS and ACS;
Henry Park and St Hilda's

Henry Park and St Hilda's are the only GEP schools with 1 class of GEP (varies 18-27 students but in mixed form classes with mainstream), therefore they have the lowest student-teacher ratio, and students therefore get more attention. With a smaller GEP cohort, it is a less competitive environment, and their mainstream cohort is also less competitive.

All the rest of the GEP schools have 40-50+ GEP students. Nanyang and Nan Hua are at the other end of the spectrum, while the rest are in between.

[ichigo15]

Indeed very helpful. Thank you… entei17

[waiyean]

Is it common for child already in a GEP school during P1-P3 to change to another GEP school in P4? And if we don’t select the original school as first choice, are we still guaranteed a place in it in case we don’t get our first choice?

[wind1_19]

Not common. Most students will opt to remain in same school because of familiar environment. I think they will still allocate based on your preference and the proximity. You will surely have a slot at the end of the day.