All the best to parents of PSLE candidates

[Wind30]

8 hours ago, firefly20 said:

A screw up in PSLE still can get into SCGS 😱, I think your gal will have no problem getting that >= 260.

Well, keep us posted on the good news. 

Or worse lah... 

we believe she could have gotten a Dsa to st nic easily thru academic but we took a big risk not to... only time will tell whether it’s a right decision...

Not sure if we over estimated her ability... 

[Wind30]

My daughter brought home a like 100pages booklet about selecting secondary schools.

I just realised last year Boon Lay Secondary accepted a student with 268 T-score....

sigh... I think whoever accepted that DSA to boon lay secondary must be seriously regretting...

 

[firefly20]

On 10/16/2020 at 8:22 PM, Wind30 said:

My daughter brought home a like 100pages booklet about selecting secondary schools.

I just realised last year Boon Lay Secondary accepted a student with 268 T-score....

sigh... I think whoever accepted that DSA to boon lay secondary must be seriously regretting...

 

Actually that booklet does not include T-score of anyone who DSA the school, meaning that student actually chose BLSS after getting his PSLE result.

There are people like that, where distance is an overbearing priority over everything else. I've a friend like that too. Her kid scored 260 and went to the nearest school near her home (not even IP) even though she could have chosen top schools like RGS during her year.

There are many reasons why someone chose not to 'maximize' one's T-score and select the school with the highest COP - distance, expensive school fees of independent schools, want to be with friends, intimidated by school's reputation (this is really sad), dislike the culture of the school, psychology need to always be ahead of competition (within the school) etc.

Edited October 19, 2020 by firefly20

[Chongster]

Anyone has good English tutor to recommend for P5 next year, either individual or class is ok?  
 

is learning lab good choice for English tuition?

thanks in advance.  

[Mason016]

5 hours ago, Chongster said:

Anyone has good English tutor to recommend for P5 next year, either individual or class is ok?  
 

is learning lab good choice for English tuition?

thanks in advance.  

I’d think you would have better luck at kiasuparents. That forum has answers for all that is good and well bad about our education system.  

[Wind30]

My kid attend write connection writing enrichment classes. 

[firefly20]

On 10/29/2020 at 8:08 AM, Chongster said:

Anyone has good English tutor to recommend for P5 next year, either individual or class is ok?  
 

is learning lab good choice for English tuition?

thanks in advance.  

It's a matter of match. TLL is pitched at a high level.

If one is a high A student aiming for an A*, then TLL is good, very good indeed.

But if one is a B student aiming for an A, then I feel that there're other centres that are pitched at a more appropriate level.

[Sosaria]

On 10/16/2020 at 8:22 PM, Wind30 said:

My daughter brought home a like 100pages booklet about selecting secondary schools.

I just realised last year Boon Lay Secondary accepted a student with 268 T-score....

sigh... I think whoever accepted that DSA to boon lay secondary must be seriously regretting...

 

Some people may prefer to be big fish in small pond. 

Seems no interest here to consider opting for NUS high sch? Environment and curriculum is suitably challenging for GEP kids or those excelling beyond their level in math/sci.

[firefly20]

On 10/31/2020 at 2:04 PM, Sosaria said:

Some people may prefer to be big fish in small pond. 

Seems no interest here to consider opting for NUS high sch? Environment and curriculum is suitably challenging for GEP kids or those excelling beyond their level in math/sci.

NUSH is a specialised school in the same vein as SOTA and SSS. For these types of school, it has to be a calling.

Just bcoz someone is excellent in sports, doesn't mean that he should go Sports sch. Likewise, not every kid who is talented in the Sciences would want to specialise at such a young age.

I know of kids who rejected offers from top sch to enroll in NUSH, but these kids are matured enough to know what they want at a very young age.

[Wind30]

25 Nov. Results day!!

[Tohto]

5 minutes ago, Wind30 said:

25 Nov. Results day!!

Father more kang cheong than daughter 🤗

[Weez911]

Son just received his report book for P5. He received 2 Excellence in Academic Awards - 1 for being 2nd in P5 level and 1 for being best in English in P5 (GPGT). What's his option for DSA and how to go about DSA application please?  He is also a prefect and has good conduct (GPGT). I have googled and found some guidance, but just want to know more from parents who went through it successfully (what's his chance given his actual results, leadership, conduct, etc)

Wife prefers the top schools only.

Edited November 19, 2020 by Weez911

[Mason016]

Well DSA sports route is definitely out.
 

DSA academic route is no joke. The boys in white and girls in blue who enter by this route have are like savants eg take triple humanities type, or real prize winning paintings, published poetry etc. Go via PSLE lah, your boy’s grades look very good, potential 265 liao.

He can go campaign for prefect if he wants to when he gets in. 
 

[Confusedboi]

Is your son thinking of going to SJI after PSLE? It may not be a top school but it’s still pretty good for well rounded not too elitist environment with wide student mix at least in my time (2000-2003). Since your son is at ST mikes (current SJi junior) he will have affiliation bonus  as well.

[Weez911]

1 hour ago, Mason016 said:

Well DSA sports route is definitely out.

DSA academic route is no joke. The boys in white and girls in blue who enter by this route have are like savants eg take triple humanities type, or real prize winning paintings, published poetry etc. Go via PSLE lah, your boy’s grades look very good, potential 265 liao.

He can go campaign for prefect if he wants to when he gets in. 

Thanks. He is under the new scoring scheme, AL. No more T score liao, but I think the popular schools will still be as difficult as ever.

1 hour ago, Confusedboi said:

Is your son thinking of going to SJI after PSLE? It may not be a top school but it’s still pretty good for well rounded not too elitist environment with wide student mix at least in my time (2000-2003). Since your son is at ST mikes (current SJi junior) he will have affiliation bonus  as well.

He has not decided where to go, I think he will never make up his mind. His mother decides for him though, and he wants him at a top school.

[firefly20]

On 11/18/2020 at 2:56 PM, Tohto said:

Father more kang cheong than daughter 🤗

Usually it's the mother. Father more bochap.

[firefly20]

On 11/19/2020 at 4:16 PM, Weez911 said:

Son just received his report book for P5. He received 2 Excellence in Academic Awards - 1 for being 2nd in P5 level and 1 for being best in English in P5 (GPGT). What's his option for DSA and how to go about DSA application please?  He is also a prefect and has good conduct (GPGT). I have googled and found some guidance, but just want to know more from parents who went through it successfully (what's his chance given his actual results, leadership, conduct, etc)

Wife prefers the top schools only.

 

Those are some excellent grades. Congrats! If he can maintain this standard next yr, my guestimate is that he's look at low 27x under the current T-score. So agree with the other poster that he can just focus on PSLE. But the beauty of DSA is that it offers a safety net in case of unforeseen circumstances during PSLE (e.g. fall sick, write out of pt for compo, can't finish paper). This actually happened to my friend's kid (PSLE outcome > 20 pt below expected score, so it's no joking matter).

I heard that nowadays almost everyone will get to sit for round 1 of the DSA selection test so no harm trying for 1 or 2 top schools. I feel that DSA participation is also a good way for the kid to get to know more about the potential school's culture.

One of the top schools stated in their website their DSA criterion as 'demonstrate interest and talent beyond the abilities of children in your age group.' The usual way to demonstrate this thru competitions but I understand that that's not the only way. Your son certainly demonstrated his all roundedness as beyond that of his peers.

Good luck!

[Weez911]

2 hours ago, firefly20 said:

Those are some excellent grades. Congrats! If he can maintain this standard next yr, my guestimate is that he's look at low 27x under the current T-score. So agree with the other poster that he can just focus on PSLE. But the beauty of DSA is that it offers a safety net in case of unforeseen circumstances during PSLE (e.g. fall sick, write out of pt for compo, can't finish paper). This actually happened to my friend's kid (PSLE outcome > 20 pt below expected score, so it's no joking matter).

I heard that nowadays almost everyone will get to sit for round 1 of the DSA selection test so no harm trying for 1 or 2 top schools. I feel that DSA participation is also a good way for the kid to get to know more about the potential school's culture.

One of the top schools stated in their website their DSA criterion as 'demonstrate interest and talent beyond the abilities of children in your age group.' The usual way to demonstrate this thru competitions but I understand that that's not the only way. Your son certainly demonstrated his all roundedness as beyond that of his peers.

Good luck!

On my behalf of my son, thank you very much for your kind words. 🙇‍♂️

Thanks for taking the time to reply also. We will follow your recommendation to try for 1 to 2 schools. Agree it is better to secure via DSA given the unpredictability of the actual performance during the exams.

Appreciate your input. 🙏