Similarly, please PM me if you have any questions about CGS!

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Hi, I have been reading this thread and would like to give some of my inputs as well.


I have a daughter who graduated from CGS last year and I would say that the environment is excellent. The teachers are great, friends are great and the study environment is conductive. It is true that the school would definitely push their students to go beyond their abilities and achieve great results by the time they go for their O's.

Some parents may worry that their daughters would not cope with the rigorous school life but I would say that it is part and parcel of what teenagers should experience before stepping out into the society. My daughter often complained to me about how tired she was and how stressful she was in her class. She was in the best class in Sec 3/ 4, and her results were not up to expectations at first, especially with new PRC scholars joining her class (around 10). But with the help of her teachers and peers she managed to pick up slowly and performed well during the O levels.
My daughter appealed into the school with a COP of 241+2 and was considered one of the lowest in her cohort but parents should not worry about all these because help would be given to your daughter and in the school, I believe, every one is given an equal opportunity to excel; the choice is up to the students if they want to or not.

So let's start from the very start -- Sec 1.

By late January, students will receive their tablet PCs. It used to be Fujitsu all along, but for the newest batch of Sec 1s, I heard that they have changed the partnership to Samsung, featuring new Slate PCs (something like iPad).

They will take up the normal lessons such as Home Ec, D&T, music, art, and computer lessons (what they term LSCEP). Lessons usually end at around 1 or 2, depending on your daughter's timetables but on Tuesday, the whole school is dismissed at 2pm, after their afternoon assembly.

At around late May, a leadership selection camp would be conducted by the different student organisations to select potential student leaders from the Sec 1 cohort. Students who are interested can just sign up for the 2-day camp. Shortlisted students would usually go thru the 1st round of interview, and selected students from there would be put on probation in the different leadership organisations, before they become full- fledged student leaders in early Sec 2.

For lessons like Math and Science, softcopy notes would be provided on their school's portal and students can choose to print it out or just use the softcopy version on their PCs to take down notes. My daughter used to be very enthusiastic in bringing her PC to school everyday but by Sec2, she found it very troublesome to bring it back and forth so she printed out her notes in hardcopy version from then on.
I have to say that students have to be very independent in her learning as most teachers would not print out notes for them but would upload them instead (I suppose this is what they mean by FutureSchool). So students have to be alert in preparing their notes beforehand.

On the last week of Term 1, students usually stay at home for e-learning week and have classes with their teachers via some online platform.

In Sec 2, streaming starts and there are more tests and graded assignments given to them. By the end of Sec 2, students can choose their desired subject combination and submit it online and the results would be made known to them online in around November.

In CGS, from what I know, has these different subject combination:
1. Triple Sci + Double Math + Double Humans + Eng + MT [2 to 3 classes]
2. Triple Sci + Double Math + Single Humans + Eng + MT [3 to 4 classes]
3. Double Sci +Double Math + Double Humans + Eng + MT [3 classes]

Just a note, Amath is compulsory in the school and the school does not offer Pure History from what I know. Combined science classes have also been removed from 2011 onwards so only pure sciences are offered in the school now.

On the last week of the 1st term, all students are given a choice to go overseas for CIP. They can choose to go to Bintan, Cambodia, China, India, Thailand, Sarawak or choose to stay in Singapore due to special reasons (competitions etc). The trip would be subsidized heavily by the Edusave fund. It is a one- week long trip and students might have to plan for what they intend to do over there.

In Sec 3, PRC and other ASEAN scholars (around 30 in total) would take up some spots in the top 3 classes with Triple Sci\\ Double Humans combination so I would say that it is quite competitive in those classes.

Having tests or graded assignments every week is considered a 'norm' from Sec 3 onwards, as cited from my daughter. But during this time, extra lessons/ remedial/ consulatation slots are also opened up for students who need extra help, so not to worry for them. Lessons usually end at 3 in Sec 3.

On the last week of the 1st term, all students have to attend the OBS course at Ubin, and my daughter said that it was a wonderful experience during that 5 days (although $500++ have to be deducted from the Edusave acc to go for this trip)

In the 2nd semester, students start having their year-end examinations in the hall to get them accustomed to O-level style exams and the exam rules have been pretty strict since Sec 1 (verifying IDs, transparent pencil case, emptying of pockets etc) but I guess it's good to start all these exam habits since young.

During Sec 4, the \"big O's year\", it felt like life going at a bullet- train speed, for me and my daughter. In Term 1, there would be common tests every Tuesday afternoon and on the last week of Term 1, students come to school only for CTs and can go home after that.

After CTs comes the timed trials, which is also on every Tuesday, but this would not be reflected on the result slip.

In Terms 3 & 4, students have mocked exam starting from the 1st week, which stretches all the way to their Prelims. Night study sessions are also conducted every Friday night for students to stay back and study in the library, where there are teachers available for consultations.
Students would take their Prelims and have their graduating ceremony, before going for a 2-week long self- study period where they do not have to go to school. They would then have their graduation night a few days after O levels and go back to school in the next Jan to receive their results.

I see that some parents are asking about character and leadership development in their girls, but I would say that CGS provides a very well- rounded development for their teenage years.
There would be a lot of post- exam activities arranged for them after midyears/ endyears/ prelim such as science workshop/ financial literacy workshop etc. I particularly liked what the school arrange for Sec 4s, which include Adam Khoo Workshop, Career Seminar, JC talks, Stress & emotional management programme etc. I find that it has helped my daughter a lot as she was much clearer of her goals after those workshop and was working towards them.
As I have mentioned, in the school, most students would be given a leadership role, be it student Councillor, house leader, peer leader or even subject reps. Student leaders from the main leadership organisations were also given many opportunities to sharpen their leadership skills thru external courses etc.

I have never regretted sending my daughter to CGS despite all the burning of midnight oil and stress she has to go through, because I believe that she has definitely become a much stronger person with good character, and I would say most credits definitely go to the school and its environment.
Like most parents, we were contemplating if we should send her to NH or CGS as her appeal was accepted by both schools but we chose the latter instead because of its rich history and good reputation/ improving results all these years.

I hope this long post answers the queries of most parents but just one last sentence to end off this post -- make a good decision when it comes to choosing secondary schools because the teenage years of a child is very important; a conducive environment would groom them to become a better person, and likewise a wrong choice made may leave them not-so-good memories.

Adios!