Neighbourhood or Elite Primary School

[Qpik]

I think it is all up to the kids ba.

 

I tried to enrol my first child into a Elite school but didn't managed to get in. Thus i put her in a neighbourhood school.

 

Now i feel happy that she is in neighbourhood school and not Elite school cos her results not very good and she's not hardworking. I cannot imagine what happen if she is in Elite school, may be she will fail all the way? whahahahaahahhaha.

 

Now the govt let school principals has full play on running the schools. I've checked with my friend who is also in primary one this year, CHIJ now only started to learn 2 figure addition. But my 2nd child who is in a neighbourhood school, alreadly learnt 2 figure addition and now learning 2 figure substraction liao. Thus, it all depends.

 

Aiyah, even amongst all the IJ, they might not cover syallabus in order. They cld jump abt.

 

Like my ger in P5, her enrichment classmate fm Ai Tong also don't cover in order for Science.

 

Bottomline, so long as Sch covered all during the sch yr shd be fine.

 

[Sabian]

 

Doesn't work that way... else that'd be an easy solution.

 

It's just a natural law, that when you increase the intake or population, the quality will drop for sure. Even the teaching quality would decline with teachers being occupied with larger classes and more varying ability among the students, if that was the case.

 

I will agree to the quality issue for school branches.

 

But if you are telling me increasing the seats from 210 to 360 is going to be an insurmountable problem when it comes to quality, I have to disagree.

 

There are a few popular schools that have been offering 360 seats for the last 20 years.

[Nzy]

 

I will agree to the quality issue for school branches.

 

But if you are telling me increasing the seats from 210 to 360 is going to be an insurmountable problem when it comes to quality, I have to disagree.

 

There are a few popular schools that have been offering 360 seats for the last 20 years.

 

Depends on the schools facilities also. Some schools already use up all their classrooms so can't add more seats or else no classrooms for the students.

[Darryn]

 

I will agree to the quality issue for school branches.

 

But if you are telling me increasing the seats from 210 to 360 is going to be an insurmountable problem when it comes to quality, I have to disagree.

 

There are a few popular schools that have been offering 360 seats for the last 20 years.

My kid's school offers 400 at P1

[Lala81]

 

Depends on individual child la. When I was in Primary school, I didn't study much because I was from a neighborhood school and scoring 80-90 for each test was easy and sure get to be the top few in class. So I was complacent and don't study hard. Because I felt like I was really clever and when I scored 250 for PSLE, I was already very happy because that was like top 10 in school.

 

But then I went on to a better secondary school and realised I wasn't very clever after all. The tests were all very hard and I always fail if I didn't study and PSLE score of 250 was the bottom end of the cohort. It caused me to realise that I have to study hard if I want to be an average student in this school. Thinking back, I felt that if I had this kind of pressure in Primary school, I might have studied a lot harder and gotten much better results for PSLE.

 

However, this also depends on individual students because I also had some secondary school friends who also came from neighborhood primary school and they couldn't take the pressure so just resigned to always being last in class and end up getting lazier and lazier. It just happened that I did not want to disappoint my parents because in Primary school they were already so used to seeing me come back with good results so I had the motivation to study hard when I realised that being in a better school, the tests are harder and the students are more competitive.

 

Shook u up from jing di zi wa.

 

I also top dog in neighbourhood school. Top 2-3 of cohort every year p1-6.

Even the girls also just not smarter, just more careful than me in mathematics lol. Higher chinese also a bit better than me.

 

Go to sec school, can get top half of the class in an average class already arm chio liao.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Lala81

[Nzy]

 

Shook u up from jing di zi wa.

 

I also top dog in neighbourhood school. Top 2-3 of cohort every year p1-6.

Even the girls also just not smarter, just more careful than me in mathematics lol. Higher chinese also a bit better than me.

 

Go to sec school, can get top half of the class in an average class already arm chio liao.

 

Ya lo. Can imagine how much better my results would have been if I had been "challenged" to study as hard as I did in secondary school.

[Lala81]

Ya lo. Can imagine how much better my results would have been if I had been "challenged" to study as hard as I did in secondary school.

 

Hmm PSLE used to be a fairly straightforward exam so i don't think ur grades would have improved much.

 

What it did was to set my approach to studying for the rest of my life.

I know i not smart enough to last minute study for exams, i know i was not diligent enough to be very disciplined and study 7-8 hrs a day at the last 2 months period.

So i always make sure i do some work throughout the entire year so to compensate for my shortcomings.

[Sabian]

My kid's school offers 400 at P1

 

Whoa. What school is that?

 

Max I know of is Nanyang at 390.

[Darryn]

 

Whoa. What school is that?

 

Max I know of is Nanyang at 390.

Mee toh...

 

faint lor...

[Acemundo]

One should ask why parents insist on going to so-called elite schools even if daily travel is 1 hour ? Why some schools under registered by a large margin ?

 

actually when I was watching news segment yesterday, even a neighbourhood school like Canberra need to ballot.....whilst it is true branded schools still attracts applicants in hordes, I think lesser branded ones are also establishing some sort of cult following....

 

this goes to show certain types of mentality are very prevalent in Singapore

 

1) branding adopter

2) crowd follower

3) don't like be the odd few out

[Sosaria]

 

actually when I was watching news segment yesterday, even a neighbourhood school like Canberra need to ballot.....whilst it is true branded schools still attracts applicants in hordes, I think lesser branded ones are also establishing some sort of cult following....

 

this goes to show certain types of mentality are very prevalent in Singapore

 

1) branding adopter

2) crowd follower

3) don't like be the odd few out

 

I think it's due to insufficient school 'space' in that area.

 

In neighbourhoods, it is very likely that both parents have to work, thus the kids have to go nearby schools for greater convenience in travelling, etc. So everyone just selects the one that's closest and most convenient to go to, resulting in need for balloting. Another reason could be influx of foreigners in the neighbourhood. With no alumni connection, they will just plump for the nearest school.

[Sabian]

 

actually when I was watching news segment yesterday, even a neighbourhood school like Canberra need to ballot.....whilst it is true branded schools still attracts applicants in hordes, I think lesser branded ones are also establishing some sort of cult following....

 

this goes to show certain types of mentality are very prevalent in Singapore

 

1) branding adopter

2) crowd follower

3) don't like be the odd few out

 

You have to consider a few things before concluding that a school is indeed popular.

 

Its total intake.

Seats taken up at the end of 2A2.

Any oversubscription during phases 2B and 2C.

 

Some schools have a smaller usual intake (eg: 200) so a higher percentage is taken up by the end of phase 2A2, leading to the need for balloting for 2B and C.

 

SCGS only takes in 200 and MGS 210.

 

For Canberra, it has a good rep in the area. My first flat was in the area, my neighbours with P1 age kids had good things to say about it.

Mee toh...

 

faint lor...

 

MOE computer says 300 leh.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Sabian

[Acemundo]

 

I think it's due to insufficient school 'space' in that area.

 

In neighbourhoods, it is very likely that both parents have to work, thus the kids have to go nearby schools for greater convenience in travelling, etc. So everyone just selects the one that's closest and most convenient to go to, resulting in need for balloting. Another reason could be influx of foreigners in the neighbourhood. With no alumni connection, they will just plump for the nearest school.

 

I think it is a valid observation that there are, possible shortage of schools in the north. yep I do wonder if there are other schools in that area that have excess spaces. and considering sabian did say it is one of the few with better track record in that area, I wonder is it because parents then flock to this school as first choice when there are vacancies with other schools in that region.

[Acemundo]

 

You have to consider a few things before concluding that a school is indeed popular.

 

Its total intake.

Seats taken up at the end of 2A2.

Any oversubscription during phases 2B and 2C.

 

Some schools have a smaller usual intake (eg: 200) so a higher percentage is taken up by the end of phase 2A2, leading to the need for balloting for 2B and C.

 

SCGS only takes in 200 and MGS 210.

 

For Canberra, it has a good rep in the area. My first flat was in the area, my neighbours with P1 age kids had good things to say about it.

 

MOE computer says 300 leh.

 

 

brother, you got very good points hehe.......I did hear for example nanyang is one of the easier (amongst the branded schools) to get in because they have bigger intake.

 

anyhow, looking at Singapore consumer behaviour and choices in general, I still believe that there's likely some effect of "following-the-crowd" or chasing for those with better track records in this instance of Canberra primary. can't believe all the applicants are staying so near to Canberra primary and not to other primary school.

[Darryn]

 

I think it is a valid observation that there are, possible shortage of schools in the north. yep I do wonder if there are other schools in that area that have excess spaces. and considering sabian did say it is one of the few with better track record in that area, I wonder is it because parents then flock to this school as first choice when there are vacancies with other schools in that region.

Last time (10 years ago) when I was working with a service provider doing enrichment and IT programmes for schools it was well known within the company that the Principal of Canberra was working very hard and doing a great job - also that he was quite progressive and innovative

 

 

MOE computer says 300 leh.

 

Dunno - I was speaking to one of the parent helpers - I understand they were "encouraged" to take 10 classes of P1....only 30 per class doesn't sound quite right - ETA - I could well be mistaken though :-(

 

Edited July 23, 2014 by Darryn

[Acemundo]

Last time (10 years ago) when I was working with a service provider doing enrichment and IT programmes for schools it was well known within the company that the Principal of Canberra was working very hard and doing a great job - also that he was quite progressive and innovative

 

I have no doubt that a good principal makes the school produce better results.

 

I generally think most people do prefer to select something with better track record even if it means more effort to travel further. I wouldn't deny I am one such person as well . I will not select the most reputed one but one with reasonable reputation and reasonable effort to get in and day to day commute.

[Darryn]

I have no doubt that a good principal makes the school produce better results.

 

I generally think most people do prefer to select something with better track record even if it means more effort to travel further. I wouldn't deny I am one such person as well . I will not select the most reputed one but one with reasonable reputation and reasonable effort to get in and day to day commute.

it was the commute that was the prime factor for us - looked at the closest school first, liked it so no more needed to be said

[Acemundo]

In believe in the North, schools are more scarce, compared to other parts of the island.

 

 

 

to satisfy my curiosity and observation, I went to do a nearby school query. what I found within the 1km vicinity are:

 

1) northoaks primary

2) wellington primary

3) sembawang primary

4) endeavour primary

 

and 2km vicinity is:

 

5) greenwood primary

 

 

i think it is safe to say parents generally still aim for the one with the best track record even if they are plentiful supplies of p1 spaces within the same vicinity.