Do allow me to share my experience with my two kids.


Both my wife and I decided that we will let nature and nurture take its course and so we agreed prior to the Primary 3 selections tests, there will be no hot-housing or extra coaching and no special GEP preparation or tuition classes for both of them.

And in the event that they are selected for the programme, we will let them decide(rather than us deciding) whether or not to join the GEP classes.

Both were offered the programme and both opted to join.

This was quite some years ago. They had been able to pursue their course of choice at NUS and one had graduated and the other next year.

IMHO, I believe that they are all the better having gone thru the GEP programme. They are not top students but they did reasonably well for PSLE, O and A levels.

If you have not "prepared" your kids for the selection tests, then I would encourage you to let your child decide if he/she should get selected whether to attend. They should be able to handle the rigours of the programme under these circumstances.

mum42:

My younger DS went for d 14 April SMOPS competition I felt even more strongly for d boys n sch when I saw how the boys put in every ounce of energy to run the events without any help fr their teachers( no HCI teachers r there , can see d trust d teachers n organizer has for d boys) . All logistic r done by them from load of buses reaching HCI , giving direction ,registration ,leading participants to exam class , refreshment for other sch teachers n parents, take charge of running the exam process to coordinating which sch buses to come in first to pick the participants.


So impressed by the boys n so thankful i was right in choosing d right sch , they have trained the boys so well not only academically but also leadership even there were some hiccup here n there.

This event is run by Aphelion consortium, think also NCC uniform group :udaman: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

dear mum42, I couldn't agree with you more; that's was also my very first impression when we went for the open-house some years back. The event was run completely by the students themselves. Fortunately, both of my sons were also impressed enough by the hands-on classes conducted that they decided to choose HCI over RI. Both had turned out very well and are pursuing their first-choice course at NUS.

even today, they go back to visit their teachers every now and then; teachers with whom they had become friends now.

friendship:

In Orlando is called Disney World with 5 parks not Disney Land. It is the biggest and the first to set up.

Disney World maybe is the biggest but it's not the first to be setup. The LA one at Anaheim is the very first one to be setup; opened on 18 July 1955. That's probably older than some of us here

FQW:

Jokes aside, I wish to emphasize that I've absolutely nothing against parents sending their kids for preparation classes, parents training their kids themselves, parents who don't prepare at all, parents who are not interested in GEP ..... etc.

I say, to each his own. And I agree totally with Trap's post that like love, GEP can't be forced.

I couldn't agree more.

We made a conscious effort not to send our 2 kids for GEP preparatory classes; neither did we prepare them in any way or form for the GEP selection tests. Basically we believed that they must make it on their own merits.

Both of them got into the GEP and they did exceedingly well. Today, they are pursuing their first-choice course in NUS.

IMO, the GEP selection tests is pretty accurate in the past. Nowadays, with so much hot-housing and preparatory courses, I am not too sure if the GEP selection tests is a true reflection of the ability of the students relative to their peers.

IMO, whether or not to "prepare" your child for the GEP selection tests is really a decision that has to be made by the parents; especially since this decision is going to have an impact on your child whether for better or for worse. And I will not begrudge those parents who decide to send their child for such preparatory tests, especially those who believe that being in the GEP means an opportunity for the HA students to excel.


However, we deliberately did not send our two kids for any GEP preparatory class since we wanted to see if they can get in on their own merits. If they could, then we believe that they should be able to cope with the rigours of the GEP. Both of my 2 kids got into the GEP and have done exceedingly well.

The challenge is whether parents will have enough faith in their kids for them to go and get into the GEP on their own strengths (vs additional preparations).

verykiasu2010:

BigDevil:

It's more than the Top 5.


If only the top 5, that's 13 x 5 = 65 students only.
But there are 4 HA classes, so about 160 students.

According to Mrs Lee, the school will select the top 160 students
and mix them up in the 4 classes. She said that over the 2 years,
the teachers would have observed who the children can't get along
with, and they will avoid putting those 2 children in the same class.
Other than that, they will also take boy-girl ratio into consideration
to ensure a good mix. So it's not simply 1-40 in first class, 41-80 in
second class and so on.

must say that they are very very accurate in streaming (from experience)

IMHO, streaming has never been and will never be an EXACT science. I would go so far to say that from experience, the powers that be would probably be 90-95% correct. There will be some they may miss out and there will be probably be a few they selected who may not be \"high achievers\".

From past experience, I know of a couple of \"dropouts\" from the GEP classes for example. But yes, generally the selection is pretty accurate.

andante:

Any idea when the result of project work be released ?

if I recalled correctly, it about 2 weeks after the A-Levels results; no too much publicity in the recents years compared to the initial few years when PW was introduced to the JCs.

ycpang:

For Waterpolo, they test on how well you can \"catch\" the ball with one hand, must be able to tread water for at least 10 minutes and swim two laps in any style.


My DS wasn't a strong swimmer before he joined Waterpolo. He could bearly finish one lap of 50m (he was too lazy to swim, merely wanted to have fun at pool). But he was a basketball player in Pri school so he can handle the ball very well. During the trial, he struggled to meet the requirement but he still made it.

After one year of trainings, he can swim a few km in one training session. Learnt to swim butterfly (I wish I could do that too). He is still a little slow in speed compare to his peers but we are extremly happy with his progress. We think it is good for NS preparartion and we don't want him to just mugging everyday.

It is a fun CCA with the ball games, friendly matches with other schools as well as National competitions. The team spirit is high and the bond is strong. Also can build up a nice body shape. LOL

May I add that the waterpolo coach/teachers-in-charge are also on the lookout for tall boys (height advantage)? BTW, Waterpolo is ranked amongst the top of 3 tiers of EP3.

chrisu:

May I know have all receive the 2011 JAE booklet? My son don't remember whether he got it. Thanks.

if you have misplaced your copy, you can always refer to the PDF copy at the MOE website at http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/jae/. The booklet is the second item on the right-hand-side of the page under \"Joint Admissions Exercise\".

I would probably be correct to say that if there is sufficient numbers for a bus, HCI will actually arrange for one to bring the students to MOELC, you pay the bus uncle as you board.


The only drawback with this arrangement is that you need to go to the carpark where the bus is by certain time or the bus wull leave without you.

Having said that, there is always the backup to take a bus from the busstop opp the school that will bring you very close to MOELC. This alternative is more time-consuming and you probably need to leave HCI even earlier.