Victoria School sent rejection email on Monday evening via MOE.

St Patrick’s sent acceptance email this morning via “Postman.gov.sg”

FYI: Sports School's abbreviation is SSP (I think that's because SSS is more commonly known as St Stephen's School at the National Games)


For most sports, I can only assume that Sports School usually does it's \"talent spotting\" at national events, so inter-school games, as well as during the Trials Invitations (which could be given to potential P6 students during the national championship - that's how it was for my son).

Another route is to contact the school directly. In fact it is quite common for parents to enquire to the General Managers of each Sporting Academy. http://www.sportsschool.edu.sg/GeneralPageDetails.aspx?id=71

Finally, you could always bring your child down for the Open House, where there usually is a trials as well. But I only suggest doing that when she is in P6. I think this year's open house is not finalised yet... but keep checking the Sports School Website every other week to see if it's there.

Overall, I think exam results is not as important (unless she is doing badly in one particular subject). During one of the interviews, the person from the academics grilled my son about his borderline 2nd language...and indicated that he needed to buck up. Fortunately he improved to a B in the PSLE. If you were wondering, the cut off point for getting into IB should be a 230 PSLE score

phtthp:

dlye:

Added with the Principal's talk which was unimpressive.... it just became a no-go for him.

what did RI Principal say at the Open house to parents seated inside the auditorium, that made the talk un-impressive ?

As an old boy who was present during the period when Eugene Wijeysingha was the Principal/Headmaster, you expect every subsequent head of the school to be sufficiently eloquent.

Even the deputy principal (who was my literature teacher and Discipline Master back in the day) and an existing PE teacher (who taught me during my years there) both acknowledged us as my family walked out, with a sort of quiet understanding...

If you have heard the Principal of the Singapore Sports School speak... this is the complete opposite...

But I kept that to myself... and it was my DS who acknowledged the lack of oratorical presence that would have kept us seated until the very end.

My younger kids actually left 10 mins before we did to eat the snacks they had prepared...

As we have already accepted a place at SSP… we were only considering HCI and RI for DSA-Sports (if we were to "break" our contractual obligations with SSP)


The HCI environment, layout… feel for the place is almost resort like when compared to RI (and SSP), and the kids seemed to feel quite happy. But going to RI, my DS was very impressed with the sheer amount of things, facilities, CCAs, labs,… just a lot of places to "hang out". The fact that in was from RI never figured into the equation much, but with several of my teachers still in the school, there is a personal history and attachment to the place.

Despite all that, the school is overwhelmingly distracting in the same way as it was impressive. So much to immerse in and lose focus on his sporting aspirations. And the fact that the running track (DS is a track and field athlete) isn’t actually in RI (it’s at the RJC end), the caged up pool and hostel areas (compared to SSP); my DS started to feel less enthusiastic about it. Added with the Principal’s talk which was unimpressive… it just became a no-go for him.

As I type this with my DS looking over my shoulder… it is his decision to stick with his personal goals that he feels SSP can help him attain.

Just came from the RI Open House.


My family found RI to be more suited to our expectations of a good school (compared to HCI which we visited last week on a DSA Sports Invitation) with loads of facilities and options for merit CCA… boys seemed really settled/down to earth…

…but honestly, our family felt that the principal wasn’t what we expected for a school of this "pedigree"…

Our DS has decided that he is not going to apply for DSA at RI.

Late November, Early December may have icy roads, which in my opinion is worse than snow covered roads.


Back in 2013, we've done a partial self drive with 6 adult (2 seniors) and 4 kids (10, 8, 6 and 16 month old)... we used 2 cars (Mazda 5 and Subaru Legacy Wagon) and it was OK. Most cars in Hokkaido are 4WD (except some hybrids), and come with snow tyres in winter.

But we stayed clear of long drives (over 4 hours).
I always suggest planning stops to break up any further distances. Fortunately there are always some small cities/towns all over the place.

Use Google Maps to plan the routes and than divide by 50km/h as that is the most common speed for safe winter driving. Above 60km/h and it might get slippery... but the 4WD and snow tyres do their job well and as long as one avoids sudden turns of the steering wheel and braking, you can make necessary corrections while sliding in the snow with confidence.

(Back in 2011, we did an Otaru-Hakodate drive and although we started before 9am (after checking out and light breakfast), and with a quick 30min lunch stop (Mos Burger), a few quick stops for road side photos... we arrived at 4+ a little after sunset.

But it was a little hazardous, with low visibility in more than half the journey... and the locals do drive at 70-80 kmh... but the car I drove back then (Toyota Allison 1.8) performed very well.. and we went on to drive for several more days (albeit shorter distances) and I do believe I found my snow driving legs back in that first long drive :).

You just need to measure accurately - the most important are the ski boot length. Just measure and add 0.5cm. We actually booked in October, and then I re-measured in November and sent them the changes (in foot length) ; and eveything fit very well when we arrived in December.


And they have this 40-50% discount around October, so don’t book too early - bus schedules are usually out in October, so they are only active from end October.

To explain how "cheap" it cab be, the last time we went, we paid 11000JPY for the White Liner Bus: 4 adults 4 kids for 1 way from Chitose to Hilton.

And for skis, we paid less than 20000JPY for 2 adults, 3 kids, ski set for 3 days (approx 4000 per person). That is actually cheaper than a single day’s rental at Niseko Village.

Date Updates for HCI DSA


May 23 - Open House & DSA Applications Opens - Online
June 04 - DSA Application Closes
June 08-12 Sports Trials (for those interested)
July 11 - DSA I Tests
Aug 01 - DSA II Tests

End Aug/Early September - Confirmed Offers / Waitlists

If going to snow covered places, best to get winter boots with insulation. But in the end we bought all our current shoes either via Amazon or in Japan. More options and much cheaper!


Our present Winter shoes are from Adidas (Climawarm series) for between S$70-120 when on sale at ABC Mart.

zoomglobal:

dlye:

[quote=\"zoomglobal\"]Does RI invite top boys from primary school for school tour?

We received the invitation, but it was because our son performed well in the Nationals - qualified 1st in an event.

Thanks. When did u receive? How abt invitation to high academic students? I mean those w are non sports route[/quote]Sorry, not so sure.
For sports, it was during the National Competitions.

I think most people would just turn up for the open house - with or without an invitation. It is after all, an open house.