pokemon:

Dreammom,


tks for your clarification. My neighbr is aware that the nrichment cls are being banded with the normal lesson, its just that she find it redundant since her son is having pte tuition. She claim their school teachers v free ya. Another thing is HCL which provides the chinese nrichmt is being owned by ex-chs teacher, she feel abit....unethical. She also feel being in the elite sch, canteen food also more ex. Overall kinda of not an ideal sch for her, only the distance is a plus point since she staying next block to the sch.

I do understand where she is coming from...but from some of the boys whose not attending pte tuition, like my DS, we do not feel it that way & do not mind paying a little more like less than $10 a mth. Anyway i dun see this $$ as paying for tution instead we think its for the enhancement in terms of resources to enrich their lesson. As for the Chn enrichment, there r alot of pte centers & tutors out there which also claimed that they r formally from elite schs too, hence it dun comes as a surprise for me. Nowsaday parents do voice their opinions & views openly so if the lesson r not conduct properly, the sch will have to address the complains & act on it...anyway its optional. As for canteen food...my aunt is mending a stall in Roseyth Pri...trust me $$ is not a lot difference.
I would advice yr neighbour to think seriously if CHS is the right sch for his DS, the sch culture & practise will not change & she will face more problem later in trying to adapt & accept. If she is not comfortable with the sch then her DS will also be affected and shared the same views too.
This is not good for her DS.
Not to mentioned that the school fee for PR is going to be adjusted soon.

pokemon:

my PR indonesian neighbr has a p1 son in cat hi, she was complaining having to pay $300, i assumed is payment for a term for his son eng and chinese supplementary cls to be conducted during sch hours and by outside enrichment centres. She felt trapped since its held during sch hours, she cant opt out. Furthermore she still hv to pay for her son current pte tuition fees. Of course dun mention abt the $100 yrly co-payment for the cca, she din let her son tk up any. She feels school juz keep talkg about $. Cn any parents share about their views, she is quite helpless and lost.



she is nt sure if singaporean students can pay thru edusave or have more subsidy. Any idea how much does a singaporean kid pay for it. Im quite surprised after hearing from her. Izit all p1 kids have to sign up or the whole sch cohort?

The total is $300. Singaporean will pay $100 in cash and $200 will be funded by edusave. Programmes will be band together with the lesson conducted in class.
Yr neighbour may have got the wrong msg that this $$ collected is for additional enrichment class like tuition.
There is additional enrichment class like the Hanyu pingyin and is conducted by a 3rd party...this is optional and is conduct outside school hours.
Anyway, schools can tap on edsave funds to provides students with enrichment programmes or to purchase additional resources. Hence I believe all schools will also tap on this fund & not only CHS.
As for CCA, its fair for everyone to contribute so that the sch can engage professional instructors to train our boys. In SG, schools r all fighting for awards...just see all those banners display outside every sch. P1 boys are not require to take up CCA but if yr neighbour felt the pinch of paying then she should let her son partcipate.
I felt there's really no cause of being helpless & lost as all sch in SG is the same & wat u do expected from a SAP sch anyway...other than its bcos she's a PR hence she did not enjoy the privileges & subsidies as us.
I would advice yr neighbour to address her questions & doubts to the sch.

phankao:

dreammom:

many thks for yr advice yes...i hve the same tot as u of wanting my ds to enrol a cca early...not only he hve a head start & also spending more time in school than playing at home. my ds is learning golf at wkend but i cant say he is very gd now. Is golf a good cca in CHS? will ds require to sit for an entry test by the tcher? will taking up cca now takes up alot time & affect their study?

For golf, i think your child must hv experience at it already. I have a suspicion that they don't take begininers, but since your child already is playing golf, he could be accepted. I remember seeing the golf cca form, asking for child's handicap and such.

ic. many thks! I will chk out more info and may let him start the cca next yr when he is in P2.

phankao:

It's true. Generally CCA is not necessary in Cath High. Altho' by p3/p4, they do start pressurising you to take up at least 1 cca, and if you don't, they will put you in some performing group. That's what I hear from my p5 son for this year - as in, that's what happened to his classmates.


The teachers may do screening at end of p1 or in p2, or even p3, and they may give you a recommendation letter to join cca, but if you don't, well .... I'm not sure they can *force* you, right?

My boys only joined ccas at end of p1 bc they wanted to. And in the end I let them bc, my opinion is that, if they are not in school in the afternoon for cca, they would likely be at home playing computers & watching TV or fighting with each other. :shock: So, better that they be in school, lah! At least the CCA is a fruitful occupation of their time.

And for performing arts, it's good to start early, bc well, firstly, they need to learn how to play the instrument. So by the time they can finally perform with the whole orchestra, it might be several months to even a year later - depending on the child. And then after they can play at an elementary level, we want them to advance and become reasonably good at it by the time they are \"seniors\" (in p3/p4/p5) and not still play at a basic level hopefully, and these all takes time to develop, not overnight. And if we are \"ks parents\", then of course, if there is good CCA record, it benefits the child on his portfolio. :lol:

The same does not apply for Dance or sports, I think. These, they can sometimes train to perform/compete in a few months. Of course, again, this depends on the aptitude of the child - which the teachers \"talent spot\" for.

many thks for yr advice yes...i hve the same tot as u of wanting my ds to enrol a cca early...not only he hve a head start & also spending more time in school than playing at home. my ds is learning golf at wkend but i cant say he is very gd now. Is golf a good cca in CHS? will ds require to sit for an entry test by the tcher? will taking up cca now takes up alot time & affect their study?

phankao:

Dunno how to answer you, but you should approach the teacher to ask. If he is good, they should want, shouldn't they? So easy to find talent, ah?

We r told during the P1 orientation that all boys do not need to take up any CCA unless our boy is good & skill in a particular sports then we inform the Tcher. U mentioned that the boys will need to choose a CCA at the end of P1...do tcher do screening first before accepting the candidate? or we can just choose which ever the boys like and based on vacancy? Would appreciate yr advice. many thks!

Blessedmum:

dreammom:

hi Blessedmum...aye i agreed! 3 days for the buddy system is too short. It will be good if they can extend the buddy system to a week. By the way, i've done some researched on the 1st day and for you info, the food is around $0.60 to $1.50 in average. Give yr boy coins and in $1.00, $0.50 & $0.10 as it will allow the boys to count & buy faster.

Hi dreammom, tks for the info...very useful. But my ds don't really know how to count $$ still...faint...

Haizzz...my ds is lazy to count. He just look for food that cost $1.00 and then paid with the gold coin...thats iT! No need to count, no change required! Called it smart or simply lazy. :roll:

phankao:

Hah, my p5 boy said his buddy ate so very slowly, taking 30mins (there's 1hour recess for the 1st 3 days). Then the little boy discovered cereals(which my p5 boy would nv take), and then finished his food v quickly. So my boy told him that if he wanted more time to play, he should buy cereal every day for recess. HAHAH!!!

Hahaha..that's a very good advice actually! Wat a clever boy u hve My DS eat fish nuggets from the malay stall everyday after hearing this...think i will just let him be...at least he eat.

vodkacat:

dreammom:

Nice to meet u too! My boy is in P1 Patience. If u coming tomorrow...we can catch up at the parents & staff corner...c u! :lol:

Is yr boy taking school bus too?

nope...his grandma will be fetching him back home from next week onwards.

vodkacat:

oic....no wonder my son said he saw alot of parents during recess time lol my son is in P1 faithfulness n how abt yours? anyway nice to meet u here at least we can exchange info here ......

Nice to meet u too! My boy is in P1 Patience. If u coming tomorrow...we can catch up at the parents & staff corner...c u! :lol:

vodkacat:

hi finally someone agree with mi abt the food rate hahas....yesterday my son buddy was eating the japanese rice with some meat n veges(green peas) so i asked his buddy how much is yr food n he told mi $2.80 n i find tat it is ex...(almost to food court rate lol) so u r gg to school tomoro? i never go today cos for wht i knw oni the 1st 2 days u can b tere or i got the wrong info hahas

The side gates will all be closed once the lesson starts but the main gate is still open and u can go in. I went around 11am today and there r some mommies sitting around the canteen. Just don't disturb the boys during their lessons and stay out of sight yet be around...i guess that's okay. Yes I will be there tml but will only be at the parents & staff corner to watch over & ensure DS is okay. Yr DS is in which class?