Maybe I should share it here. Last week, an admission officer from Yale University visited RI and gave a talk to Y6 students. The officer said Yale gives out awards to graduating seniors each year. Four of these awards are for excellent academic achievements in the fields of humanity, social science, natural science and overall academic excellency. Last year, of the four recipients of the outstanding academic awards, three are students from Singapore, and all of the three are Rafflesians.


I was incredulous when my daughter told me so. Yale is a university that attracts most talented students from all over the world. How could a few students from a single institution of far away Singapore dominate the scene? I went ahead to search Yale's website and found out that it was true:

https://news.yale.edu/2018/05/20/yale-college-honors-outstanding-students

I was a bit awestruck thinking the significance of this piece of news. Nowadays, schools are very cautious in revealing A level or universities admission results. If it's not for this visiting admission officer, we would not have chance to know and appreciate the incredible intellectual prowess of these Rafflesians. And broadly speaking, this is a testimonial to the success of Singapore's education system.

Tin2:

I have read in some forums that RGS girls were assigned various subject assignments on the same day and asked to hand in by the following day. As such, girls end up with late nights to finish their assignments. Is this true? Parents with girls currently in RGS, are your girls given sufficient time to complete homework? Are your girls generally happy studying in RGS? What do your girls generally grouse about RGS, if any? Thank u!

Few of their assignments need to be handed in next day. If there are, those are usually simple practice that do not require large amount of time or efforts. Important assignments / projects are usually given ample time - at least a week - to finish. On top of that, the school sets limit on how many hours of homework a student is given in a week. The school also audits the quantity of homework for each class and share this information with parents during PTM.

My elder daughter graduated from RGS last year and is now a Year 5 student at RI. My younger daughter is still in RGS. Searching my memory I couldn't find any serious complain they have against the school. At home the Y5 frequently tells the Y3 to treasure her time at RGS, as students are well taken care of and the school is very much organized around the mission of nurturing young girls.

Macc0608:

Can any kind parent share how many classes of academic Dsa are there in this year Sec 1 classes? Do they group by subject? If yes, can have a gauge of the number taken in by each subject .. Thanks

I am a parent of Y3 student. Y1s are not grouped by DSA/non-DSA classes. Usually, there are 6 GEP classes and 6 non-GEP classes. However, this is not very strict. PSLE high scorers from main-stream primary schools will also be put into GEP classes. DSA and non-DSA students are mixed into each of the classes. Except the school, nobody can tell for sure how many academic DSA students there are for each year.

wcc:

Typically, do they have to skip a lot of lessons during tournament seasons?

National School Games are usually scheduled in afternoon or weekend. School lessons are all in the morning. For average team members, there are no much conflicts, at least this is the case for my two daughters who are members of two sports teams, one outdoor and one indoor.

wcc:

Is anyone able to advise the CCA hours and training commitment for sports CCA (assuming not entering via sports DSA)? TIA.

Peak season 3 sessions per week, off-peak season 2 sessions per week. 2-3 hours per session. 3 sessions per week during Jun and year end holidays. 2 weeks break for each holiday period.

Training will stop during major examination periods.

mother777:

I know GreenA.

As a parent we can only try to support our kids by whichever means possible. My feel is no harm in trying to appeal. Atleast we would have a satisfaction that we have done everything. After that, whatever the final posting result be - we will just honour that and move on

For RGS appeal, the form is available online or will it be online applicable?
I could not locate any appeal form on the RGS website as such.

Yes, there is no harm to try. Just do everything we can and be content with the outcome.

RGS appeal form should be available on 21st Dec 2016 through this page:
http://www.rgs.edu.sg/admissions/admission-to-rgs/rgs-post-psle-supplementary-intake-exercise-for-2017-secondary-one-appeal-for-school-transfer

mother777:

Thank you GreenA.

DD is 4 points below RGS cut-off (256) and COP based on last year was 260.
so kind of lost if she will get a place.

She was very upset looking at her PSLE result as she only score A for Chinese (which is a good grade from my view point as we are non-Chinese) while scoring A* for rest of the subject.

I may have to get ready to appeal on 21st after the posting is out.
Any suggestions on how to prepare for appeal?

I quite understand the anxiety. I've been through the same experience before. When appeal process is open, there is a comprehensive form to fill up. Then just hand in the form and supporting document and wait.

MOE had a directive last year that schools can only admit appeal students who meet COP. Because of that, the appeal success rate is very very low. For the case of RGS, I haven't heard any success case. Even a girl with T-score of 260 was turned down. I guess she fell short of COP by decimal point. However, this directive is not mentioned in this year's school announcement, so I am not sure if it is still in effect.

mother777:

what is the cohort size for sec 1 admission?

any idea roughly how many go thru DSA and how many then thru Sec 1 posting exercise?

Y1 2017 cohort size is 395. Usually the school reserve half of the vacancy for DSA. The exact figure is never published.
http://www.rgs.edu.sg/qql/slot/u1290/FAQs%20for%20AY2017%20PSLE%20Posting_Reporting%20Day.pdf

TravelMummy:

Hi, my dd has accepted a DSA offer into RGS sec 1. We are not going to be in town on reporting day so am going to have to rely on proxy to vote. Am just wondering if anyone can advise me more about

1) the Regional Studies Program - does it entail a lot of extra time commitment; are there any \"soft\" qualification criteria (apart fr MSP) not explicitly stated etc?

Almost anyone who apply will be accepted. However, the scholarship will not be granted automatically. Students need to take the MSP course and participate in RSP activities. The scholarship will only be granted by the end of Y1. The course is conducted in school, so students need not travel to language centres. Class is conducted in Friday afternoon. Work load for Y1 and Y2 is fairly reasonable. However, there are some dropouts at the end of Y2, when students take in new commitments such as leadership roles, RA or CCA goals. RSP activities are the fun part of the program. Students go for camp, visit, field trips. They have chances to mix with peers from other schools.

TravelMummy:

2) How does one go about opting for higher chinese? I looked up the forms for last year on the web - there were only forms for Chinese Special Prog which is diff fr HCL?

There should be a form or somewhere to tick for HCL. But I don't remember clearly.

TravelMummy:

3) Macbook - where do i find out abt the various models avail for retail at the school and the prices? Can we purchase these anytime after the reporting day?
Appreciate your advice, RGS mummies. Thanks!

In the reporting day package, there is an insert about school appointed supplier and their website. Parents are to browse the website to determine model and place order in early January. Collection and payment is in February.

zyberk:

Does anyone knows when and where will the 2017 Y3 class allocation announced?


Thanks!

Next year's Y3 class allocation will be announced near to the end of this year, around 30th Dec. Class allocation will be uploaded to inet. Students can check at inet->student portal -> Admin Info -> Time Table.