I graduated from HCJC two years ago - was in Hwa Chong for 6 years and I'm glad to say that if there's one thing I'm proud of it's to be from this school. Don't worry about your son, he'll turn out just fine

ER:

ycpang:

For those who haven't got the access to EMB, below is the Project Day message;



Re: Projects Competition 2012 - website is up
From: Mr Su Kim Whatt Steven 09-01-12    
To: All Students
Dear students,

The 28th Projects Competition 2012 website is up.
You may wish to take some time to ready through the information on the site.
From this year, I have added a calendar of working schedule so that Mentors and Students have advance notice of what's coming up.

There are some changes that have been made to the project work format.
I will use one of the IS (Independent Studies) periods to brief each level about the changes.
I will inform you in due time.

Meantime, it is never too early to start working on the following:
- read up on the Category requirements
- form your project group (of not more than 4 members)
- decide on what you would like to do for project work
- decide on a category
- talk to your prospective teacher-mentor early (so that when project registration is opened, your mentor will accept your group)

Further information will be posted on the EMB from time to time.

Here is the link to the Project Website:
http://hsprojectsday2012.wiki.hci.edu.sg/

Thanks for this. What is EMB and what is the link to EMB?

Hi,

The EMB stands for the Electronic Message Board.It's the main way the school disseminates information to it's students.

Here's the link: http://smb.chs.edu.sg/smb/hs_student/

It's strongly recommended that your son check it at least once every two days.

MFQUEK:

ycpang, yes the link works. Thanks!!

Can we run thru the abbreviations? Please correct mistakes and fill in blanks!
FT teacher contact time -> Form Teacher ??
IH -> Integrated Humanities ( correct to say this will include Hist, Geog and Lit ?)
CF -> Chinese as First Language ??
MA -> Math
LSS -> Lower Secondary Science
MU -> Music
ELL -> ?????
QMCT -> ?????
IS -> Infocomm Studies ( is this right ? )
AEP -> Art Elective Pgm
MSP -> Malay Special Pgm
EF - English for PRC ( or is it Foreigner ) Scholars?????
PRP -> ???????

Any other abbreviations ?

hi,

PRP is personal reading program I think. No idea what QMCT is..IS is infocomm studies, you're right. ELL is English Language and Literature or just literature..

ProteX:

sunflowermom:

May I know does LEP has any relationship to the Bicultural Programme in Year 3. As in like those in LEP have higher chance to get into bicultural?


Today our DS will know their class.

Btw, there is NO SCHOOL tomorrow!

I think that LEP would probably boost their Chinese standard hence, they will have a higher chance of admitting in BSP. Just my 2 cents.

Hi yup, LEP does boost their Chinese standard and you need an A1 to have priority getting into BSP (although if i recall correctly the bottom line was an A2).

However, entry into the various special programs in Secondary 3 is based on your son's overall score: his MSG (Mean Subject Grade). So if your son gets for e.g. 6 A1s and 3 A2s, his MSG will be 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 divided by 9, which is around 1.1-1.2.

1.0 is a perfect score (all A1s). Entry to the special programs is usually capped at 1.57 or lower.

Btw, saw something about a BICEP in Secondary 1? Not too sure what that is. Will be glad if someone lets me know..can catch up ^^

joe0599:

sama:

Hi yijing, any idea how HCI assign the student to the respective consortium? It seems most of the parents here with DS in Ortus.


My DS told me couple of his friends thru sports DSA allocated to Aphelion but most parents here with DS in Ortus.

my DS is very interested to join Track and field after the orientation but I did hear from some parents that they will be trained at least six times per week during competition season. Wonder if he can cope with his work. He is a mainstreamer but was allocated to iSparks due to his DSA via BICEP. Worry he needs to cope with the GEP environment and his demandingCCA at the same time.

Hope you could share your experience.

Sama

What is BICEP? something to do with bicultural?

Hi,

Allocation into the various consortia is random..mostly. The few variations that I had in my year were:

- Sports DSA in Proed
- Most Malaysian scholars in aphelion
- GEP in iSpark

But the rest is purely random.

All CCAs have near-everyday training once it nears competition period, so actually it's physically and mentally draining no matter what CCA you pick. All HCI boys will have trouble coping with the work at the beginning (me included) but if HCI has taught us one thing..it's how to adapt. Sama sama for the GEP/mainstream thing..

My class back then was able to adapt within a few months. Sharing notes, helping each other when we needed it..so we could cope when competition period came. I do hope his class will have the same attitude ^^ So don't worry!

joe0599:

yijing1512:

[quote=\"joe0599\"]Anyone know their DS S1 class posting already? Mine is posted to Orthus...wonder is it good or any interesting programmes?

Hello!

I was from Ortus personally. Ortus, Aphelion and Proed are all around the same - iSpark is for the GEP students (I think all parents should know that by now).

Each consortium has it's fair share of \"events\" - but your son will most likely only be involved if he joins the class committee or the consortium council, which I highly encourage. Ortus was in charge of some Math Olympiads and a Cedar Girls exchange program when I was there

Thanks, Yijing1512.

Do they need to go through campaigning to get elected to the consortium council? How about class committee?

The involvement in Math Olympiad/Cedar exchange program is by whole consortium or class or a few?

I read the Ortus webpage and know that they have some foreign school exchange program, are those for more senior students? Is it selected by teacher or anyone can go?

I guess there are also inter-consortium competitions, right?[/quote]Hi,

I was part of Ortus Council in 2007-2008, so things might have changed since then. Anyway, for council you first get nominated by a teacher/teachers. Campaigning wise hardly, you don't have to raise banners and whatnot, but for my year we just had to give a speech to persuade people to vote you in. This happens in Secondary 2 or 3.

The teacher/class will vote on the class committee, so no campaigning there! This happens in Secondary 1.

Most of the programs are meant for Secondary 2 students and above. I can't recall what programs are open to the lower Secondary students, but they are few and far between. Foreign exchange programs (like the Beijing campus you might have read in ST) are mainly for Year 3s and above. In fact, for Sec 1s and 2s..I suggest they focus on their academics.

Inter-consortium competitions are not worth noting. They tend to revolve around sports and certain academic subjects e.g. the humanities. I hate speaking ill about my school, but if there's one thing that needs improving...that's it.

jhjkksdad:

yijing1512:

No problem, glad to help. And congratulations on your son getting into HCI, must have did extremely well in his PSLE!


If anybody else has questions on CCAs, curriculum, etc. I'll be glad to help!

Hi,

Is a student allowed to quit the CCA after he joins? Say after a year or so?

My son is very much into table tennis now, but I am not sure if his interests will sustain more than a year.

Hi, as has already been said, if your son has a good reason to do so, he'll be allowed to quit and join another CCA.

That being said, quitting and joining another CCA is not recommended at all because adapting to a new environment after a year or so is difficult at best. There are no guidelines as to when a person must quit a CCA by though.

joe0599:

Anyone know their DS S1 class posting already? Mine is posted to Orthus...wonder is it good or any interesting programmes?

Hello!

I was from Ortus personally. Ortus, Aphelion and Proed are all around the same - iSpark is for the GEP students (I think all parents should know that by now).

Each consortium has it's fair share of \"events\" - but your son will most likely only be involved if he joins the class committee or the consortium council, which I highly encourage. Ortus was in charge of some Math Olympiads and a Cedar Girls exchange program when I was there

Chandelier:

yijing1512:

No problem, glad to help. And congratulations on your son getting into HCI, must have did extremely well in his PSLE!


If anybody else has questions on CCAs, curriculum, etc. I'll be glad to help!

Hi yijing1512, :thankyou: so much for sharing with us on your experience in HCI, really appreciated! :salute: Do u know if it is compulsory to do e 西游记 for all sec 1 pupils or is it meant for those who opt for LEP? Will it be tested? I personally find that e 西游记 is too CHEEM for sec 1... :nailbite:

Hello!

If I recall correctly, we did study some parts of Xi You Ji and I think it was slightly simplified as well. But definitely not the whole book! I agree with you when you say it's too cheem! Sec 1 focuses mostly on composition structure and the basics, etc. For chinese vocab you're mostly on your own

Then again, this was a long time ago so don't take all my words as fact /:

I wasn't part of LEP myself so I can't give a very reliable opinion on that, but it's highly probable that it is part of their curriculum.

Some of my friends are of the opinion that LEP wasn't very fulfilling, so if your son wants to opt for it, take a look at the possible benefits/costs!

Jeannie12:

yijing1512, thank you for your sharing. I have a question on Robotics CCA. Is it a popular one and if so what is the selection criteria ?

Hi Jeannie12 and hci_2011 ,

In response to both your questions, both robotics and EC3 are not what you would call 'popular' CCAs. They have a membership of around 10 or less, and they require a specialized mindset (i.e. high interest in what you're doing and willingness to stick with it for four years at least) and skill set.

For the benefit of everybody, some popular CCAs include:

-Track and Field
-Water Polo
-Judo
-Basketball
-All musical groups, though choir has the smallest membership
- Canoeing
- Scouts, NPCC, NCC
- Badminton
- Softball

If your son's desired CCA isn't listed here, don't worry, it doesn't mean his CCA is bad. Anyway, I'm listing this off the top of my head..this was so many years ago.

Haha hope this helps!