for my dd’s year, the application was open during the last week of dec. she had to change classes on the 2nd day of sch but it was not really disruptive since the sch was still conducting orientation programmes and there were no formal lessons yet. lessons end at 3pm for mon, tue and thu, 130pm on wed and fri. ccas are conducted every afternoon after sch and on sat as well. for sec 1s (term 1), they have to go back on sat mornings for house activities and peer support sessions.

hi sleeping beauty, my dd is doing mep in rgs.

1) you will be briefed about the criteria duing talks conducted on reporting day and orientation. there should be an audition and interview. not so sure about the minimum standards cos my dd got in thru mep dsa and was excused from the auditions. but i think should be grade 5 theory and grade 6 practical.
2) you have to collect application forms for the programmes you are interested (mep/sap…) during reporting day. more details will be printed on the forms. intake should be less than 30 for mep. not sure for sap.
3) yes they are examinable.
4)during sec 1 brefing, the teacher in charge of mep highly discouraged mep students from taking 3rd lang but many still went on to take 3rd lang. anyway, from this year onwards, 3rd lang is reduced to just once a week. so should be no problem there unless cca takes up many days.
5) no one dropped out of mep in the first 2 years for my dd’s cohort. in fact one new student joined in sec 2.
6) mep and sap lessons for lower sec are conducted in sch during curriculum time. students take mep/ sap while the rest of their classmates take general aethetics classes. for mep upper sec, they stay back on wed afternoons for lessons. sap for upper sec should be conducted on one of the afternoons too. maybe fri? cos sch ends earlier on weds and fris.
7)there are 2 classes for mep/ sap. but of cos not the entire class take mep/sap.
sec 1s will not know their classes on reporting day. the programmes would be on admin matters, briefings on the different programmes like mep/ sap etc…, what to expect during orientation…

you can try busy bees learning centre. there’s no seperate writing class for sec sch but it is covered in their regular classes.

from my experience, nafa focus a lot on techniques in the earlier years. this explains why the teachers are strict since a good foundation is important. musicianship will naturally develop over the years. it’s not that difficult there, parents need to play a supportive role and not give their kids stress. the teachers will definately push their students but it is still possible for the kids to enjoy learning.