Hi mathtuition88, further to what Sembgal asks, I realize many students who do very well in Maths are from MO class. Is it from the MO class that trained them to be so good in Maths or they are already good in Maths that’s why in MO class?


In many schools, selection were done in P2 so "late developers" will miss the opportunity to get selected to join school MO. Not everyone can afford to send their children to expensive private MO lessons.

lee_yl:

shinpai:

I can't be sure if Round 1 is really within P3 syllabus. DD went for a Prep class last year and she was being exposed to MO kind of questions.

Thanks for your candid sharing.

Round 1 is based on P3 syllabus and someone who puts in consistent effort and knows his P3 work very well should be able to handle it. Don't think prep class is really needed to cross round 1.

So to cross round 2, does prep class work?

Hi, I am not sure if it helps for Round 2. I did not sign her up for the selection class because that time, it was so close to SA2. When I wanted to, the classes were already full. DD was put on wait list but did not get a slot.

To add on, I admit at that time when I signed her up, I really hope she could clear Round 1 and be top 10% in the cohort. I think I was really too naive and too crazy to have this kind of thoughts because to think of it, it really means nothing now…

Hi, the intention of prep class is not to trained her to be gifted. It is only a 3 days lesson where students are exposed to what will be tested. I do not think any child can be trained to be gifted in 3 days. From the class, she picked up a lot of new vocabularies that she (or even myself) have never seen before. It helps in her English. She also learnt how to manage her time and how to make better choices for MCQ which is also useful for her other exams, not just for the screening.


I think many parents will never agree or admit that they sent their kids to such classes. When my DD attended last year, there were so many classes running concurrently at the same time and all classes are full. The classes were mostly filled with students from the well known schools.

I can't be sure if Round 1 is really within P3 syllabus. DD went for a Prep class last year and she was being exposed to MO kind of questions. Accordingly to her, a few of such similar questions were tested so Sembgal is right that for Maths, MO students will have an edge. Most of the students who cleared Round 1 from DD's class were students in MO.


Next, we can't conclude that students who cleared Round 1 are better or smarter students than those who did not. I remember DD said only 50% of the answers, she was quite confident she got them right and the rest were her guessing because some questions, there were 2 very close answers. We did not expect her to get through Round 1.

She was purely lucky last year and maybe, the prep class helps a bit as somehow, students were thought how to evaluate and place the best bet when it comes to uncertainty in a particular question. Teacher also reminded them that they should move on to the next question and not spend too much time cracking their brain on a single question when got stuck. A 8 to 9 year old needs a lot of reminder on that. It is easier said that done. Some questions in later pages are easier than those in earlier pages. It does not flow in sequence by level of difficulty.

Anyway, now in P4, no one cares who cleared Round 1 and who did not. Among the top few students in her class, a handful did not clear either. It does not mean anything now.

For students who get into GEP, it's the beginning of a new, exciting journey. For those who did not, they will still be able to excel in their studies or in other areas.

:celebrate:

Oh, I did not know Pei Chun is a no brand school. I thought it is almost same standard as Ai Tong. Anyway, hope that the new P will continue to produce good results.

Hi, my DD is not in the EL class (thinking to switch her over next year) but my niece is. However, she is in the standard class for the past 3 years. If my DD switch over, she will also be in the standard class. Only 2 students from my niece’s class are offered HA class for next year. LL standard class for EL is already very high standard in my opinion.


LL does not disclose the specific selection criteria (very secretive) but what I can confirm is it is through their own internal tests and not school results. Many students do very well in school test and furthermore, different schools, different standard… hard to compare. Some schools set easier papers so it is easier for the students to get higher mark as compare to the handful that enjoy setting killer papers.

For GEP students, they will automatically be assigned to HA classes. CW refers to creative writing. Heard from my niece that the 2 students in his class can write very well as teacher always shared / read out part of their compo. Similar to LP where my DD is taking EL there, management does not disclose how a student is assigned to the higher ability GIE class. However, teacher will tell the students if they do well and show improvement, they will be able to join a better class. Just a general statement and no criteria shared.

nms1:

My husband is keen to sign our son (P3 this year) up for maths tuition at Learning Lab. We managed to get a slot on Saturday afternoon but it's immediately after his Chinese tuition and means that he basically loses his whole Saturday afternoon.


I am reluctant as we have to commit for a whole term ($1300+) with no option to pull out if he doesn't like it and no option for a trial. I'm also not a true 'kiasu' parent; he is doing OK in maths but doesn't really enjoy it so I feel that it is a bit of overkill.

Anyone have any comments on what the classes are like? What is the format? Is it more individual or participative? What are the teachers like? Do they always teach ahead of the syllabus? The T&Cs make it sound like a mortal sin to miss a class!

Hi, the biggest problem is the staff turnover rate for Math and Science teachers is super high. Go to glassdoor.com to read up and you will know why. Secondly, there are also many young teachers who are not MOE trained. They do not have prior teaching experience from Primary Schools so some of these teachers have issues delivering the lessons well. Do remember to ask for experienced ex-school teachers only, otherwise $1300 down the drain and worse still, it is wasting the child's precious time of 1hr45min.

I would say almost all students at learning lab are average ability and above. However, no one can really tell if they are naturally already smart or benefitted from the tuition. Most students in my DD's class get 85 marks and above in their SAs and they are from top schools where exam papers are not at all easy.

For Eng, there are a few niche classes meant for HA students but most are mixed ability. HA students are identified through regular class work, test and CW.

For Math, there is no segregation of classes by ability but the worksheets that the students get to do can be different. Depending on the student's understanding of a topic, teacher may give an easier or more challenging worksheet. Their easier worksheet is not exactly that easy as the standard is still higher than school. The pace is faster than my DD's school, 1 unit ahead. If you miss a class, you can very easily join a replacement class with a valid reason. There are so many different timings and slots to choose from.

For Science, segregation is by school clusters, not results. Schools that teach in the same sequence by topics are grouped together. During registration, you will be told which is the correct menu for your child's school. In total, there are 8 or 9 different menus. Each menu has at least 5 different timings to choose from.

I am not sure about the Chinese Lab as for CL, I think we have other better choices. Cheaper and more established ones.

The High Ability classes at LP and LL are not for GEP students only. There are also HA MS students in those classes. Most of them are able to write exceptionally well without the help from teachers. Not judging by the length of writing, 4.5 to 6 pages is a norm, in 40min. I heard there are only 2 to 3 such classes and not many parents are aware that these centers do segregate the students. However I find the standard in the regular classes in already much higher than the school standard.

floppy:

shinpai:

Not sure what are the criterias that Ps are assigned to the schools. However one thing very clear MOE will never post a P from a \"no brand\" school to NYPS :siam:

Sounds like the stuff that urban legend is made of.

Considering that NYPS has only 4 principals till date (with the current one dating to Dr Ng Eng Hen's time as Education Minister), the \"one thing\" isn't so clear when there's not much data to draw or infer on.

Do not need historic data. One can simply draw a conclusion from the posting list. Why not post some 无名小学 feather weight P over there then??? Hahahahahaaaa... :evil: