Pei Chun Public
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kin:
Thank you for your advice.Hi Callie,
You know, I entered also with that kind of thinking - DSA. IF and if your child is a star player, she probably be invited to the secondary sch -there is one in Bukit timah Rd that is excellent in VB and Academics, the other is near Macpherson, Another should be in AMK.
But as the other mummy said, it is really really tiring. And at the end of the day, the child is not coping well. So I would say, if you want your child to enter through DSA, that means you will push your child for both studies and CCA. Incase, she dont make it with studies, she can use CCA. DSA application starts early. A VB team consist of 5 players. From my understanding, My girl said that there is only ONE VB team in the class, the rest, are either the reserves(not sure how many). My girl can spend the entire VB training playing/ or even just doing drills. If competition draws near, the coach only focus on the team. If not, there will be 2 teams plus reserves. So, can be quite demoralising. The rest of the classmates are table tennis players. Currently, 4I is basketball class and 4H is volleyball class.
As much as I said, that is how it is run. There is no unfairness. The fittest survives. To me, now, is for my girl can get in to 5A, B or C ( my goal for my girl now.)So If your girl is really gd in her studies, she will naturally be streamed into 5A, as with the rest of the niche CCA players who are gd in studies. You can call up the head in charge of the CCA and talk to them. In any case, please dont let them know that you know so many details.I believe there is more or less changes to the schedules year after year. So better to check with them if you want a fuller picture.
I do understand where you are coming from. DSA is an important option but I agree we need to also consider other factors. The Head of PE has told me that my girl is not the top few students selected for volleyball. Apparently some of the \"more talented\" kids decided to drop out so they go down the list and my girl is next... so this does affect my decision process... Yes you hi-lighted an important fact which is how many of the kids will be selected into the school team. The chances will be very slim... considering that my girl might not belong to the highly talented group in volleyball.
I am hoping to speak to the teacher-in-charge of CO so that I can better evaluate this situation. My girl is enjoying herself in CO and the last I want is to rock the boat... -
Callie Tan:
we picked CO. Practises have started and my girl is enjoying the sessions with her close friends. Now that this volleyball thingy pops up, it is disruptive and we are caught in a dilemma. I can't possibly tell my girl to quit CO to switch to volleyball, which is also something she enjoys. So now how??
Hi Callie
Just to share some personal observations. My DD was from sports class. Some kids in her class took one sports CCA and one other CCA. Sports CCA training is usually 3 times a week, 4/5 times more intensive during competition AND some parents opt for private coaching (more for individual sports). In P3/4 no issue. In P5 level of schoolwork difficulty increases so many who took double CCA were forced to choose one. DSA route depends on child, mine won't use this because she wants to try out other CCAs in sec school without pressure of committing to the same sports.
During the sports class briefing, the Principal then made this observation - kids who are active will be active. It does not mean if more time is spent on a sport, studies will suffer. If the child does not attend training it does not mean he/she will use the time to study. My own observation with my child and her friends is this is true. However the sports class students are more playful and the teacher will be pressed to engage them to be serious. The hope for me is with sports training the values of sportsmanship and making smart use of time is reinforced. Feedback from school coaches is not automatic, you have to seek it out.
One last observation, the change from sports to academic class can be quite a culture shock for the playful child who realises the academic class students can be so studious. -
mummyv:
Appreciate your sharing. In fact, it will be really helpful if some parents can share their personal experiences with me so that I can know what to do. You have enlightened me on one point : that although my girl enjoys volleyball now but opting for the DSA route (if ever possible) might deprived her from choosing other CCAs in secondary school.Callie Tan:
we picked CO. Practises have started and my girl is enjoying the sessions with her close friends. Now that this volleyball thingy pops up, it is disruptive and we are caught in a dilemma. I can't possibly tell my girl to quit CO to switch to volleyball, which is also something she enjoys. So now how??
Hi Callie
Just to share some personal observations. My DD was from sports class. Some kids in her class took one sports CCA and one other CCA. Sports CCA training is usually 3 times a week, 4/5 times more intensive during competition AND some parents opt for private coaching (more for individual sports). In P3/4 no issue. In P5 level of schoolwork difficulty increases so many who took double CCA were forced to choose one. DSA route depends on child, mine won't use this because she wants to try out other CCAs in sec school without pressure of committing to the same sports.
During the sports class briefing, the Principal then made this observation - kids who are active will be active. It does not mean if more time is spent on a sport, studies will suffer. If the child does not attend training it does not mean he/she will use the time to study. My own observation with my child and her friends is this is true. However the sports class students are more playful and the teacher will be pressed to engage them to be serious. The hope for me is with sports training the values of sportsmanship and making smart use of time is reinforced. Feedback from school coaches is not automatic, you have to seek it out.
One last observation, the change from sports to academic class can be quite a culture shock for the playful child who realises the academic class students can be so studious.
My daughter is ok with both volleyball and CO but we know that there's no way she can cope with both in time to come. We gotta choose one. If this is the case, it's really no point for her to struggle between the 2 at all, might as well decide now... -
The more I think, the more I am upset that the school is soooo lag in providing enough info for parents and the students to select a CCA… My girl attended P1 Marymount Convent for only 4 days and there were a lot of info on the school’s CCA, requirements, training schedule and achievements of the various CCA groups!! Whereas after 2 years in PCPS, i know nothing much about the school’s CCA!! I gotta find out from fellow parents…in this forum. Sad right?!
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Callie Tan:
The more I think, the more I am upset that the school is soooo lag in providing enough info for parents and the students to select Sad right?!
Callie don't be upset. Ignorance can be bliss and the best plans can be foiled. I hv given up on school comm. persistence is key in getting what I want to know. My suggestion is let your dd try whatever she wants. No need to choose now. Cross the bridge later. Childhood should b a time for new experiences not just studying but we as parents hv to ensure balance of cca w studies. Another thing about Dsa is plain luck unless dd is national level player. If sec school has enuf internal talent then no Dsa will b taken in. I know of a child who Dsa even without interview and selection trial just becos got shortage. Also if co cca participates in syf then it will b more than once a week -
mummyv:
Thanks for your advise... Yes sometimes its really difficult to plan so far ahead. My girl told me CO might send the students to China for performance in time to come if they play well and she's excited. Maybe I should just let her continue with CO and enjoy herself....Callie Tan:
The more I think, the more I am upset that the school is soooo lag in providing enough info for parents and the students to select Sad right?!
Callie don't be upset. Ignorance can be bliss and the best plans can be foiled. I hv given up on school comm. persistence is key in getting what I want to know. My suggestion is let your dd try whatever she wants. No need to choose now. Cross the bridge later. Childhood should b a time for new experiences not just studying but we as parents hv to ensure balance of cca w studies. Another thing about Dsa is plain luck unless dd is national level player. If sec school has enuf internal talent then no Dsa will b taken in. I know of a child who Dsa even without interview and selection trial just becos got shortage. Also if co cca participates in syf then it will b more than once a week -
mummyv:
Thanks for your advise... Yes sometimes its really difficult to plan so far ahead. My girl told me CO might send the students to China for performance in time to come if they play well and she's excited. Maybe I should just let her continue with CO and enjoy herself....Callie Tan:
The more I think, the more I am upset that the school is soooo lag in providing enough info for parents and the students to select Sad right?!
Callie don't be upset. Ignorance can be bliss and the best plans can be foiled. I hv given up on school comm. persistence is key in getting what I want to know. My suggestion is let your dd try whatever she wants. No need to choose now. Cross the bridge later. Childhood should b a time for new experiences not just studying but we as parents hv to ensure balance of cca w studies. Another thing about Dsa is plain luck unless dd is national level player. If sec school has enuf internal talent then no Dsa will b taken in. I know of a child who Dsa even without interview and selection trial just becos got shortage. Also if co cca participates in syf then it will b more than once a week -
mummyv:
Thanks for your advise... Yes sometimes its really difficult to plan so far ahead. My girl told me CO might send the students to China for performance in time to come if they play well and she's excited. Maybe I should just let her continue with CO and enjoy herself....Callie Tan:
The more I think, the more I am upset that the school is soooo lag in providing enough info for parents and the students to select Sad right?!
Callie don't be upset. Ignorance can be bliss and the best plans can be foiled. I hv given up on school comm. persistence is key in getting what I want to know. My suggestion is let your dd try whatever she wants. No need to choose now. Cross the bridge later. Childhood should b a time for new experiences not just studying but we as parents hv to ensure balance of cca w studies. Another thing about Dsa is plain luck unless dd is national level player. If sec school has enuf internal talent then no Dsa will b taken in. I know of a child who Dsa even without interview and selection trial just becos got shortage. Also if co cca participates in syf then it will b more than once a week -
Dear Kin, 999Happygolucky and Mummyv,
Thank you for all the information and sharing !
I am really fearful at the amount of time spent on VB training. My thoughts are that using VB or any sports as DSA may not be suitable for everyone. Firstly, it means the child needs to continue to do the sports in sec school. Even if the child gets into a top Secondary School, i believe he will struggle if his academic is not very good. He may end up not doing well enough to get any scholarships or even a place in the universities , etc ? … wouldnt that be a big sacrifice?
I also feel that the school needs to do everything to maintain is brandname. So it depends on the pupils in sports class to continue to maintain the position in sports while for academic, it has the "A" class pupils to do that. So eventually, if the child’s results drop, the poor child and parents suffer. For the school, it’s pretty ok cos it still as the other group of pupils to excel academically. I tend to think that schools are run like companies these days, end day, they also need to maintain their KPIs and ranking, right ?
I thought that last time, PCPS has sports class only in P5 and P6 (I could be wrong). Making the poor 8-year old child decides isnt really fair. I have been hinting to my son not to go sports class. He is already not very happy. He may end up resenting me for life for not letting him go sports class.
According to the PN, pupils who opt for sports class cannot back out in p3 and P4.
It appears that only a few can make it to the school team while the rest in the VB class could be reserves. So if the child is not good enough to be in school team, he might not be able to get DSA. Then the poor kid is dangling halfway… academic results suffer and sports not good enough?
From the posts, it appears that 5A is for the students who top academically. So sports pupil who are good academically go to 5A and not continue join a sports class?
So far, my son’s results has been pretty ok. He has 2 piano lessons weekly (1 group and 1 indiv), he enjoys his art class at NAFA and also has swimming. If he were to go to sports class, it means i have to cut down on these activities. I kind of feel that it is a big sacrifice. More importantly, the poor young kid will be so tired to be able to do much work. He might end up being sleep-deprived?
For PCPS, streaming into P3 is based on results in P2 or P1 and P2 ? Some schools deny this and said that the streaming is random, just to allow the pupils to meet and work with different pupils. I remember asking Mr Lee the principal at orientation and he said it is random. I dont believe that is true. The best class for P5 and P6 is "A" class but for P3 and p4, it is not necessarily the "A"?
I wonder how the teachers going to manage the sports class if the academic level pupils are different. In one of my PV assignments 3 or 4 yrs ago, I got to come into contact with the different classes in P5, . The profile of the pupils were so different. About 75% of the pupils in the top class (cant recall what alphabet the class was) were prefects. They grasped what you said very quickly, complete the task accurately and quickly. Whereas for some classes, the pupils could hardly comprehend what you were trying to tell them. I am not trying to steorotype the pupils, just sharing that it will be a big challenge for the teacher to teach the pupils if they are at different aptitude levels. The poor children in the sports class already have very little time for school work and when they have make-up lessons, they may find that they cannot catch up ?
Sorry if I sounded very negative. Actually, I am more worried and as a KS parent, perhaps I am thinking too far ahead ? ha ha… -
Any good tutors to recommend for PSLE student?
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