All About SAP Schools

[csc]

jedamum:

How do you actually place a tag on which primary school is 'Top', 'Neighbourhood' or 'Reputable'? 'Top' as in produce top students? 'Reputable' as in has several awards? 'Neighbourhood' as in situated near HDB neighbourhood?

There is a lot of misconception when one said that they chose a good neighbourhood school for their kids, but actually is the 'Top in that area' or 'More reputable in that area'.
Pei Hwa is situation beside HDB estate, so does that SAP school qualify as a neighbourhood school?
There are also parents who shifted to their preferred schools years before the P1 registration and then proclaimed that they registered in a school that is near to them - isn't that a red herring?

As long as awards are given, top students are listed, there is no stopping parents of going for what they deemed is the best - most parents nowadays won't usually blindly follow the crowd - those who did should be the minority, so to me, the report is just another report for reading pleasure.

The tags are definitely not given by me... I'm sure parents are in the know what the top schools and neighbourhood schools are.
Pei Hwa is definitely not a \"neighbourhood school' in the eyes of parents.

You are right, I happen to be in the minority who don't follow the crowd blindly... It's my belief that a \"reputable\" secondary school/JC/tertiary instituation is more important than a 'popular' primary school. Most employers don't even ask for the applicants' pri school.

Yes, I do want the best school - not the best in the whole of Singapore - but the best for my children's education and development.

[girlizz]

How about kids with parents who are foreigners (Malaysian per se). If they do PV, does that help bring them up to 2B priority level or they will remain at Level 3 of the list?


I'm new in the central area, do you know of any reputable schools in TPY/Newton/Novena/Bukit Timah area?

Thanks in advance.

csc:

[Moderator's note: Topics selected for http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/choose-most-suitable-primary-school-your-child.]

Hi parents,

Juz sharing my own experience since I've 'been there, done that.\"

I totally agree with the Straits Times article on last Sat that mentioned parents should seek to choose a GOOD OR BEST primary school for your child and not the TOP school.

That's what we did. We chose a good neighbourhood school a short distance from our home. It's slightly beyond 2 km so Daddy has to do PV which in this school, do PV - almost 100% can get in. I remember some of our friends questioned why we didn't PV at a more reputable school then. But distance was a major concern for us - we wanted our young children to have more sleep to have a better quality of life - so that's the decision.

Anyway, we had no regrets - our children love their school a lot -- and they were blessed to be placed in the top class so they got all the BEST teachers in the school. Lots of opportunities for leadership roles, competitions, cca involvement which I think would be more competitive in a more reputable school.

A few of my friends too spent considerable time and effort (like PV, join clan, change church membership) to get their children into TOP primary schools.. thinking their children would benefit from being in that school.
Actually, the opposite happened. Their children were demoralised as some could not cope with the high standards in such schools.

After PSLE, they were channelled into a normal neighbourhood secondary school .
If the pri school has affiliations, some might get into the affiliated sec school but the reality would surface again when they received their \"O\" level results - might end up in a lower-end JC again.

For us, we are more selective about secondary schools. The environment and peer group in a secondary school play a major role in shaping the identity and building confidence in our teenaged children. So we would rather spend more time preparing the children to get into reasonably reputable secondary schools.

However, we will still choose the reputable schools that are nearer to our home. Actually, it's better to stay in the West or Central cos there are more choices of reputable secondary schools/JCs/tertiary institutions to choose from. Just my opinion.

[allseasons]

\"kind\" of school it is (\"kind\" = SAP, affiliated, aided, neighbourhood, etc.), GEP.


Hi all,

Try to follow this thread, but as always.. I couldn't understand all the terms and acronyms. Can anyone enlighten me on these..? :?

Many thanks ya.. :oops:

[ChiefKiasu]

allseasons:

...Try to follow this thread, but as always.. I couldn't understand all the terms and acronyms. Can anyone enlighten me on these..? :? ...

Here's the starting point for your research: http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/kiasuparents-guide-primary-school-education. You should read the articles provided as links at the bottom of the article in the given sequence. It is a growing guide as it attempts to summarize and incorporate all the wisdom provided by parents in the forum.

[Zann]

csc:

[Moderator's note: Topics selected for http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/choose-most-suitable-primary-school-your-child.]


Hi parents,

Juz sharing my own experience since I've 'been there, done that.\"

I totally agree with the Straits Times article on last Sat that mentioned parents should seek to choose a GOOD OR BEST primary school for your child and not the TOP school..

I share the same view with you CSC. Less opportunity for the child in leadership role and CCA school team. I've heard of students in top popular primary score very well in academic and alway in top class but have never had a chance to take on leadershp role. When these students go for DSA application and were asked to fill-in what leadership role have they had in the past, they have nothing to fill-in. And definitely they had no chance for sport DSA since they have never been selected in the school team for any training.

[vividlaurel]

csc:

Hi parents,

Juz sharing my own experience since I've 'been there, done that.\"

I totally agree with the Straits Times article on last Sat that mentioned parents should seek to choose a GOOD OR BEST primary school for your child and not the TOP school.

Hi CSC,

I totally agree with you. I too believe that as long as you are in a reasonably good primary school, it is fine. But it is the secondary school/jc that is more important. So for my kids who are now in K2, I am choosing a neighbourhood school, its a new school, quite untested but I feel it is a good school. What I would like for them to be is the best here, so that they ace their PSLE and get a good, reputed school for the secondary education. That is when a good school will enhance their capabilities and help mould who they are. After that a good jc and uni will only enhance this.

I am glad that there are other parents around who think like me!

Vividlaurel

[sleepy]

csc:

That's what we did. We chose a good neighbourhood school a short distance from our home. It's slightly beyond 2 km so Daddy has to do PV which in this school, do PV - almost 100% can get in. I remember some of our friends questioned why we didn't PV at a more reputable school then. But distance was a major concern for us - we wanted our young children to have more sleep to have a better quality of life - so that's the decision.

err...outside 2km still consider a short distance? :?

My top criteria in choosing a school is it has to be within walking distance. 3 bus stops away considered far liao. I also PV in the school, within 1km very good chance mah, don't want to risk my convenience & beauty sleep. No way I can wake up at 5am to prepare breakfast!

Because the school is so near, my girl can go CCA in the morning, come home to bathe & eat lunch, then pop back to school again

MMM:

What would be your preference in this case?

Just 4 days into P1, a mum came to speak to me about this. They did PVwork and move closer to school to get their child in the SAP school. She has the sudden realisation recently that it's probably better for her child to be in a reputable affiliated school. So she said that probably they should try to groom their child to be top 10% of cohort and then do the transfer after SA1.

IF distance wasn't my top criteria, I would opt for affliation. Make sense mah, lower cut off point.

However, the school I chose has no affliation to secondary school because I prioritize distance (convenience) over affliation.
Hope I will not be kicking myself for my 'short term' view few years down the road.

[sleepy]

jedamum:

How do you actually place a tag on which primary school is 'Top', 'Neighbourhood' or 'Reputable'? 'Top' as in produce top students? 'Reputable' as in has several awards? 'Neighbourhood' as in situated near HDB neighbourhood?

maybe can use this as criteria?

Quote:
schools who have at least 1 student having a T-score of 275 or more points in PSLE

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/singapore-primary-schools-ranked-academic-excellence

If the school doesn't produce a student above 275 then we can classify it as neighbourhood school :idea:

[jedamum]

sleepy:

If the school doesn't produce a student above 275 then we can classify it as neighbourhood school :idea:

'a' is too little - then there will hardly be any neighbourhood schools left in SG . 3 and above then not consider neighbourhood schools ba. wink:
but even with that, people will hardly refer to CHIJ or St. Joseph's Institution Junior or Holy Innocent Pri as neighbourhood schools. :evil:

[girlizz]

jedamum:

sleepy:

If the school doesn't produce a student above 275 then we can classify it as neighbourhood school :idea:

'a' is too little - then there will hardly be any neighbourhood schools left in SG . 3 and above then not consider neighbourhood schools ba. wink:
but even with that, people will hardly refer to CHIJ or St. Joseph's Institution Junior or Holy Innocent Pri as neighbourhood schools. :evil:

SJIJ results has not been very impressive but I heard the P1 entry was no easy either. Why is that so? Any idea? :idea: