DSA 2011
-
DaddyDaddy:
:goodpost: :udaman: :thankyou:Hi Blur Dad
I can really emphatise with you
Being a father of 2 GEP kids who had gone thru the GEP Programmes and DSA in the past couple of years, I feel that there's a lack of understanding of GEP programme and why DSA is a necessary & important path for GEP kids.
Let me put it this way.
I do not think my 2 kids who went through GEP programme necessarily any more intelligent nor any more deserving to go to the TOP IP schools than the kids from mainstream. The only difference is that for some reason ( which till today I also do not fully understand ) they were somehow selected for the GEP programme…
DSA to GEP kids is not and should never be an entitlement, but I would dare say that DSA to GEP kids is a very very important lifeline.
Why?
The GEP programme is like a Decathlon Training & Exposure Programme ( 10 events - long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110m, discus, pole vault, javelin, 1500m )
Whilst the PSLE is a Nationwide 400m race ...
So whilst the mainstream kids are prepared in a very focused manner for the 400m race ( PSLE ) from as early as P4 all the way to P6. The GEP kids are instead being focused on being ‘exposed’ to all the different Decathlon events.
I know my kids’ GEP teachers even constantly remind parents not to prepare their kids for PSLE but to support them and focus on allowing the kids to be exposed to as many things as possible, they assure us that they will start to seriously prepare our kids for PSLE from May/June of the PSLE year onwards... )
Imagine .. A GEP kid not getting a DSA to any of the IP schools that offer School Based Gifted Programme & knowing that only in August/September of PSLE year... they wld then hv to intensively prepare for the Nationwide 400m race ( PSLE ) in a short few months in P6 against a whole cohort of excellent athletes ( equally if not more intelligent & academically inclined students in mainstream )
There are many GEP kids ( I would venture, say 10%? of 500 = abt 50? ) without any CO/WL from any of the TOP IP schools after the DSA exercise.
It's also really not easy for them to really focus on preparing intensively for the PSLE ( when 90% of the classmates hv already gotten a DSA CO ). Put yrself in their shoes…. If I were them, I know I wld be really demoralised and find it difficult to ‘chiong’ when the other kids with DSA are not chionging to the same level. I know if I am a PSLE kid and I have a DSA CO, I wld not be chionging at the same level as I wld if I do not have a DSA CO, I am only human…. And I am an adult, what more a 12 yr old kid ??….
It's also not easy for them to compete against the mainstreamers in the PSLE ( A kid trained for decathlon having to compete in a nationwide 400m race with less than half a year of focused intensive training in the event against a whole bunch of just as able/more able kids who have been trained for the 400m race over 2-3 years )
Many of the GEP kids who find themselves in such a situation wld 'survive' at the end of the day ( get to a desired IP school via PSLE )
But there are also those who do not manage to do so... ( but whom I believe they wld be able to do so if only they had been as prepared and focused on the PSLE over P4-P6 like kids in the mainstream .. )
My heart really goes out to them ...
So that is why I personally feel that DSA is really an important lifeline for GEP kids…. It is not their entitlement… but a real important lifeline…
My own personal 2cts worth ... -
CSN:
Dear CSNDear Parents who are still waiting for NJC's letters
It means bad news if u have not received any letter by now. DH called NJC on Thursday and was told letters posted to successful ones on Wed and they will post unsuccessful ones only next week. It's bad news for DS as NJC is only remaining hope. So got to really \"chiong\" for PSLE. Given his very weak Chinese, slim chance to get to his dream school. Will try our best and commit the rest to God. God bless. A very worried mum.
Thank you so much for your post. I have prepared my DD on the possible rejection already.
But it is of course no longer important now, as I have to get her ready for PSLE, everything depends on PSLE results now. I understand your worries about Chinese, my eldest daughter also has a problem with Chinese and her overall score for PSLE was pulled down by this subject although she got 3Astars for the other 3 subjects and could not go her dream school too. Best wishes for your DS in PSLE. -
firefly38:
:goodpost: :udaman: :thankyou:DaddyDaddy:
Hi Blur Dad
I can really emphatise with you
Being a father of 2 GEP kids who had gone thru the GEP Programmes and DSA in the past couple of years, I feel that there's a lack of understanding of GEP programme and why DSA is a necessary & important path for GEP kids.
Let me put it this way.
I do not think my 2 kids who went through GEP programme necessarily any more intelligent nor any more deserving to go to the TOP IP schools than the kids from mainstream. The only difference is that for some reason ( which till today I also do not fully understand ) they were somehow selected for the GEP programme…
DSA to GEP kids is not and should never be an entitlement, but I would dare say that DSA to GEP kids is a very very important lifeline.
Why?
The GEP programme is like a Decathlon Training & Exposure Programme ( 10 events - long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110m, discus, pole vault, javelin, 1500m )
Whilst the PSLE is a Nationwide 400m race ...
So whilst the mainstream kids are prepared in a very focused manner for the 400m race ( PSLE ) from as early as P4 all the way to P6. The GEP kids are instead being focused on being ‘exposed’ to all the different Decathlon events.
I know my kids’ GEP teachers even constantly remind parents not to prepare their kids for PSLE but to support them and focus on allowing the kids to be exposed to as many things as possible, they assure us that they will start to seriously prepare our kids for PSLE from May/June of the PSLE year onwards... )
Imagine .. A GEP kid not getting a DSA to any of the IP schools that offer School Based Gifted Programme & knowing that only in August/September of PSLE year... they wld then hv to intensively prepare for the Nationwide 400m race ( PSLE ) in a short few months in P6 against a whole cohort of excellent athletes ( equally if not more intelligent & academically inclined students in mainstream )
There are many GEP kids ( I would venture, say 10%? of 500 = abt 50? ) without any CO/WL from any of the TOP IP schools after the DSA exercise.
It's also really not easy for them to really focus on preparing intensively for the PSLE ( when 90% of the classmates hv already gotten a DSA CO ). Put yrself in their shoes…. If I were them, I know I wld be really demoralised and find it difficult to ‘chiong’ when the other kids with DSA are not chionging to the same level. I know if I am a PSLE kid and I have a DSA CO, I wld not be chionging at the same level as I wld if I do not have a DSA CO, I am only human…. And I am an adult, what more a 12 yr old kid ??….
It's also not easy for them to compete against the mainstreamers in the PSLE ( A kid trained for decathlon having to compete in a nationwide 400m race with less than half a year of focused intensive training in the event against a whole bunch of just as able/more able kids who have been trained for the 400m race over 2-3 years )
Many of the GEP kids who find themselves in such a situation wld 'survive' at the end of the day ( get to a desired IP school via PSLE )
But there are also those who do not manage to do so... ( but whom I believe they wld be able to do so if only they had been as prepared and focused on the PSLE over P4-P6 like kids in the mainstream .. )
My heart really goes out to them ...
So that is why I personally feel that DSA is really an important lifeline for GEP kids…. It is not their entitlement… but a real important lifeline…
My own personal 2cts worth ...
Hi, I understand that all parents are concerned for their kids. However, when looking at the DSA selection exercise in the perspective of a mainstream school kid, it is very disheartening as the GEPers and the mainstream students are fighting to get into the DSA in the same selection exercise and the GEPers have a known but undeclared priority over the mainstreamers. Since the two groups of students are not selected using same yardstick, schools should just set aside the actual number of vacancies available to mainstreamers applying under academic, after deciding how many vacancies go to GEPers. In this way, mainstreamers and GEPers do not compete in the same \"battleground\". -
cindylauper:
:goodpost: :udaman: :thankyou:firefly38:
[quote=\"DaddyDaddy\"]Hi Blur Dad
I can really emphatise with you
Being a father of 2 GEP kids who had gone thru the GEP Programmes and DSA in the past couple of years, I feel that there's a lack of understanding of GEP programme and why DSA is a necessary & important path for GEP kids.
Let me put it this way.
I do not think my 2 kids who went through GEP programme necessarily any more intelligent nor any more deserving to go to the TOP IP schools than the kids from mainstream. The only difference is that for some reason ( which till today I also do not fully understand ) they were somehow selected for the GEP programme…
DSA to GEP kids is not and should never be an entitlement, but I would
dare say that DSA to GEP kids is a very very important lifeline.
Cannot agree more ! In the 1st place, they are already running from a different starting point .
Why?
The GEP programme is like a Decathlon Training & Exposure Programme ( 10 events - long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110m, discus, pole vault, javelin, 1500m )
Whilst the PSLE is a Nationwide 400m race ...
So whilst the mainstream kids are prepared in a very focused manner for the 400m race ( PSLE ) from as early as P4 all the way to P6. The GEP kids are instead being focused on being ‘exposed’ to all the different Decathlon events.
I know my kids’ GEP teachers even constantly remind parents not to prepare their kids for PSLE but to support them and focus on allowing the kids to be exposed to as many things as possible, they assure us that they will start to seriously prepare our kids for PSLE from May/June of the PSLE year onwards... )
Imagine .. A GEP kid not getting a DSA to any of the IP schools that offer School Based Gifted Programme & knowing that only in August/September of PSLE year... they wld then hv to intensively prepare for the Nationwide 400m race ( PSLE ) in a short few months in P6 against a whole cohort of excellent athletes ( equally if not more intelligent & academically inclined students in mainstream )
There are many GEP kids ( I would venture, say 10%? of 500 = abt 50? ) without any CO/WL from any of the TOP IP schools after the DSA exercise.
It's also really not easy for them to really focus on preparing intensively for the PSLE ( when 90% of the classmates hv already gotten a DSA CO ). Put yrself in their shoes…. If I were them, I know I wld be really demoralised and find it difficult to ‘chiong’ when the other kids with DSA are not chionging to the same level. I know if I am a PSLE kid and I have a DSA CO, I wld not be chionging at the same level as I wld if I do not have a DSA CO, I am only human…. And I am an adult, what more a 12 yr old kid ??….
It's also not easy for them to compete against the mainstreamers in the PSLE ( A kid trained for decathlon having to compete in a nationwide 400m race with less than half a year of focused intensive training in the event against a whole bunch of just as able/more able kids who have been trained for the 400m race over 2-3 years )
Many of the GEP kids who find themselves in such a situation wld 'survive' at the end of the day ( get to a desired IP school via PSLE )
But there are also those who do not manage to do so... ( but whom I believe they wld be able to do so if only they had been as prepared and focused on the PSLE over P4-P6 like kids in the mainstream .. )
My heart really goes out to them ...
So that is why I personally feel that DSA is really an important lifeline for GEP kids…. It is not their entitlement… but a real important lifeline…
My own personal 2cts worth ...
Hi, I understand that all parents are concerned for their kids. However, when looking at the DSA selection exercise in the perspective of a mainstream school kid, it is very disheartening as the GEPers and the mainstream students are fighting to get into the DSA in the same selection exercise and the GEPers have a known but undeclared priority over the mainstreamers. Since the two groups of students are not selected using same yardstick, schools should just set aside the actual number of vacancies available to mainstreamers applying under academic, after deciding how many vacancies go to GEPers. In this way, mainstreamers and GEPers do not compete in the same \"battleground\".[/quote] -
cindylauper:
It is true that all parents are concerned for their own kids. The mainstreamers viewed that they are competing in a unfair battleground with the GEPers during the DSA. But the GEPers are also competing in a unfair battleground with the mainstream during PSLE. One has to understand that the real PSLE preparation for the GEPers starts in P6, end of term 2. Gepers are not genius in all subjects, they also need time to prepare for exam especially for their weaker subjects. The stress that the child went through is tremendous, first the P6SA1, then the DSA and interviews, follow by the outcomes of the DSA, and finally the PSLE. If the so called 'prority' is not given to the GEPers during DSA, many parents will think twice before putting their child in the GEP because of the stress, uncertainity and the unfair battleground during the PSLE. JMHO.
Hi, I understand that all parents are concerned for their kids. However, when looking at the DSA selection exercise in the perspective of a mainstream school kid, it is very disheartening as the GEPers and the mainstream students are fighting to get into the DSA in the same selection exercise and the GEPers have a known but undeclared priority over the mainstreamers. Since the two groups of students are not selected using same yardstick, schools should just set aside the actual number of vacancies available to mainstreamers applying under academic, after deciding how many vacancies go to GEPers. In this way, mainstreamers and GEPers do not compete in the same \"battleground\".DaddyDaddy:
Hi Blur Dad
I can really emphatise with you
Being a father of 2 GEP kids who had gone thru the GEP Programmes and DSA in the past couple of years, I feel that there's a lack of understanding of GEP programme and why DSA is a necessary & important path for GEP kids.
Let me put it this way.
I do not think my 2 kids who went through GEP programme necessarily any more intelligent nor any more deserving to go to the TOP IP schools than the kids from mainstream. The only difference is that for some reason ( which till today I also do not fully understand ) they were somehow selected for the GEP programme…
DSA to GEP kids is not and should never be an entitlement, but I would dare say that DSA to GEP kids is a very very important lifeline.
Why?
The GEP programme is like a Decathlon Training & Exposure Programme ( 10 events - long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110m, discus, pole vault, javelin, 1500m )
Whilst the PSLE is a Nationwide 400m race ...
So whilst the mainstream kids are prepared in a very focused manner for the 400m race ( PSLE ) from as early as P4 all the way to P6. The GEP kids are instead being focused on being ‘exposed’ to all the different Decathlon events.
I know my kids’ GEP teachers even constantly remind parents not to prepare their kids for PSLE but to support them and focus on allowing the kids to be exposed to as many things as possible, they assure us that they will start to seriously prepare our kids for PSLE from May/June of the PSLE year onwards... )
Imagine .. A GEP kid not getting a DSA to any of the IP schools that offer School Based Gifted Programme & knowing that only in August/September of PSLE year... they wld then hv to intensively prepare for the Nationwide 400m race ( PSLE ) in a short few months in P6 against a whole cohort of excellent athletes ( equally if not more intelligent & academically inclined students in mainstream )
There are many GEP kids ( I would venture, say 10%? of 500 = abt 50? ) without any CO/WL from any of the TOP IP schools after the DSA exercise.
It's also really not easy for them to really focus on preparing intensively for the PSLE ( when 90% of the classmates hv already gotten a DSA CO ). Put yrself in their shoes…. If I were them, I know I wld be really demoralised and find it difficult to ‘chiong’ when the other kids with DSA are not chionging to the same level. I know if I am a PSLE kid and I have a DSA CO, I wld not be chionging at the same level as I wld if I do not have a DSA CO, I am only human…. And I am an adult, what more a 12 yr old kid ??….
It's also not easy for them to compete against the mainstreamers in the PSLE ( A kid trained for decathlon having to compete in a nationwide 400m race with less than half a year of focused intensive training in the event against a whole bunch of just as able/more able kids who have been trained for the 400m race over 2-3 years )
Many of the GEP kids who find themselves in such a situation wld 'survive' at the end of the day ( get to a desired IP school via PSLE )
But there are also those who do not manage to do so... ( but whom I believe they wld be able to do so if only they had been as prepared and focused on the PSLE over P4-P6 like kids in the mainstream .. )
My heart really goes out to them ...
So that is why I personally feel that DSA is really an important lifeline for GEP kids…. It is not their entitlement… but a real important lifeline…
My own personal 2cts worth ... -
cindylauper:
Actually, most schools do set aside a quota for the different domains - GEP, Academic, Sports, Aesthetics etc. If you speak to the Sports teachers, they'll tell you exactly how many places are available for that year's Sports intake, and how many spots are alloted to which sport. Many IP schools (those with SBGE usually) also have a quota for GEP students and a separate quota for academic domain. And they don't necessarily fill up all the spots. If the students don't meet the mark, they aren't accepted. So GEP and mainstreamers don't exactly compete against each other in these schools. The mainstreamers compete against other mainstreamers in the academic domain. For eg there might only be a handful of places awarded to those in the English domain. So if there are students better than you, you won't be offered a DSA.[
Hi, I understand that all parents are concerned for their kids. However, when looking at the DSA selection exercise in the perspective of a mainstream school kid, it is very disheartening as the GEPers and the mainstream students are fighting to get into the DSA in the same selection exercise and the GEPers have a known but undeclared priority over the mainstreamers. Since the two groups of students are not selected using same yardstick, schools should just set aside the actual number of vacancies available to mainstreamers applying under academic, after deciding how many vacancies go to GEPers. In this way, mainstreamers and GEPers do not compete in the same \"battleground\".
There are some schools who don't distinguish between applying under GEP domain and Academic domain. NJC and NUSH for eg. These ones, yes, there's direct competition. -
PiggyLalala:
两头不到岸 is exactly what the fear is. Every year there are still so many P3 parents want to send their kids for GEP preparation course.
It is true that all parents are concerned for their own kids. The mainstreamers viewed that they are competing in a unfair battleground with the GEPers during the DSA. But the GEPers are also competing in a unfair battleground with the mainstream during PSLE. One has to understand that the real PSLE preparation for the GEPers starts in P6, end of term 2. Gepers are not genius in all subjects, they also need time to prepare for exam especially for their weaker subjects. The stress that the child went through is tremendous, first the P6SA1, then the DSA and interviews, follow by the outcomes of the DSA, and finally the PSLE. If the so called 'prority' is not given to the GEPers during DSA, many parents will think twice before putting their child in the GEP because of the stress, uncertainity and the unfair battleground during the PSLE. JMHO.cindylauper:
Hi, I understand that all parents are concerned for their kids. However, when looking at the DSA selection exercise in the perspective of a mainstream school kid, it is very disheartening as the GEPers and the mainstream students are fighting to get into the DSA in the same selection exercise and the GEPers have a known but undeclared priority over the mainstreamers. Since the two groups of students are not selected using same yardstick, schools should just set aside the actual number of vacancies available to mainstreamers applying under academic, after deciding how many vacancies go to GEPers. In this way, mainstreamers and GEPers do not compete in the same \"battleground\".
-
You always have a choice to put in the kid into GEP. "Fair" or "unfair" –> u are given a choice. Life itself is unfair, but it is dependent on you to make the best out of it.
-
Zann:
In the Hope of Getting the Official Approval of Being Gifted ....
两头不到岸 is exactly what the fear is. Every year there are still so many P3 parents want to send their kids for GEP preparation course. -
Publica:
We do not have a good feeling with NJC too. From feedbacks here and personal experience, COs are usually mailed out before the rejection letters. Just to add, son's classmate received CO from NJC on Friday.
Oh dear I hope you are wrong.ngbrdad:
[quote=\"CSN\"]Dear Parents who are still waiting for NJC's letters
It means bad news if u have not received any letter by now. DH called NJC on Thursday and was told letters posted to successful ones on Wed and they will post unsuccessful ones only next week. It's bad news for DS as NJC is only remaining hope. So got to really \"chiong\" for PSLE. Given his very weak Chinese, slim chance to get to his dream school. Will try our best and commit the rest to God. God bless. A very worried mum.
So far only one person reported receiving the NJC letter here.
So maybe there is postal delay.
All the best to parents waiting for NJC letter![/quote]
Dear Publica,
Congrats to your son on the SST CO and good luck for the NJC wait. :xedfingers:
VL
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login