autolycus:

clayman:

Hi,


Hope Autolycus can share some pros and cons of the Humanities Scholarship Programme.

My son is in two minds about applying for it as that would mean not being able to take Maths at HL which he is keen to do. Also he heard from some of the seniors that the HSP class is \"detached\" from the rest of the cohort and that there is this perceived elitism about them.

Would appreciate your insights Autolycus if you're around. Thanks in advance and Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hi clayman,

The HSP is designed to be competitive with other Humanities programmes in centres doing the A-levels etc. The prototype for this was the venerable Promsho scholarships (then only at Oxbridge) which in 1983 became the Humanities Award. Such programmes require intensive contact with highly-educated teachers who can cover a wide range of perspectives while providing depth and launch points for further development.

It's certainly an elite programme or intended to be one. This is what all highly-selective programmes will be perceived as. That's not an issue, really. If you want a selective high-end programme it will always look elitist and it probably will be, since it's designed to produce an elite.

However, the most important questions to ask are 1) what were the curriculum design considerations (philosophy, objectives), 2) how was the delivery system planned (pedagogy, assessment), 3) does implementation match design (monitoring, evaluation, quality control) 4) what are the concrete student outcomes (results vs expectations, results vs benchmarks)? When you talk to a teacher, dean/director, deputy principal or Mr Hodge about this, you should be able to get solid answers for each point.

The HSP is reading intensive (or ought to be). In my personal opinion, candidates for the HSP (if I were in charge of selection) should be fluent multiculturalists capable of either constructing answers to a wide range of questions about humanity, or of asking questions that will give them the material to do so.

On the other hand, Math HL is much easier.

Hi Autolycus,

As always, it is great to hear from you with your nuggets of information. Many thanks and much appreciated.

From the looks of it, the programme itself seems more rigorous than the actual IBDP curriculum. Will the entire cohort be given a talk on this or just those who are interested? Will the parents also be invited?

Thanks once again.

Hi,


Hope Autolycus can share some pros and cons of the Humanities Scholarship Programme.

My son is in two minds about applying for it as that would mean not being able to take Maths at HL which he is keen to do. Also he heard from some of the seniors that the HSP class is "detached" from the rest of the cohort and that there is this perceived elitism about them.

Would appreciate your insights Autolycus if you’re around. Thanks in advance and Happy Valentine’s Day!!

In the blink of an eye, term 1 is coming to a close.


Time to take stock and re-energize during the short break. Happy holidays to all the Yr 1 boys!

Something from 2009 when ACSI got into the Guinness World Record Books for the largest group doing the Bollywood Dance. Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQptWQ6nk1Q&feature=share

LOLMum:

parents,


if your kid(s) are using the zebra crossing between the school and chancery lane car park, please tell your kids to look at the security guard's hand signal first before crossing the road.

dont cross the road blindly just because the security guard is standing there.

many a times, the security guard raised his hands to tell the kids not to cross but the kids just continued to cross (and cars were moving off) just because they saw him standing there (but he wasnt even in the middle of the road).

dont understand why my request for a lollipop sign was rejected.

This was something I highlighted to Richard Lim last year and I'm not surprised nothing is done. Those guards are not properly briefed. They should stand in the middle of the road when the kids are crossing, not on the pavement waving them. I don't understand why some parents need to drive at such a fast speed when coming down Barker Road, knowing full well there are kids crossing the road. I also wrote to the LTA before to request for speed humps before the zebra crossing, but no reply. I guess, everyone is waiting for an accident to happen before taking action. Sorry to say, but sometimes I'm very disappointed with the P for his inaction and nonchalent attitude.

autolycus:

The only way to get value-added product without merely jacking up the labour input is to do work effectively (meets goals) and efficiently (output to input ratio is good). In this age, the question should not be the simplistic, \"How much work is the student doing?\" but \"How successful is he overall, and also in relation to the amount of work he is doing?\"


Fortunately, ACS has always believed in this philosophy.

I'm a believer too.....thanks autolycus, as always, for the gems.

ngbrdad:

My son has not done any studying at home so far since entering secondary school.

However if the term 1 class test results are an accurate indicator on how well he is doing, I don't need to worry.
Well at least until I see his Chinese results.
He is really enjoying life, making his P5 brother envious.

Mine is also doing very minimal work.

Things are very different at the school on a hill I hear.

Anyone knows when the UYOs CCA is starting for the Yr 1s? I heard they received their assigned UYOs last Friday but not told when it’s starting.

Just in case your boys forgot, which I don’t think they will.


Monday 30th January 2012 is a school holiday in view of the excellent IB results.

Does anyone happen to know who is in charge of the administration of the Year 1 CCAs?


Thanks.