2017 PSLE Discussions and Strategies

[Rae4kids]

Must we fill up all 6 choices in the option form? And can the choices repeat?

[ELLYS]

I’d also like to ask experienced parents, is the allocation process controlled by MOE or the respective secondary schools? I heard the school principal say that if you’re coming from an affiliated primary school but do not place the affiliated secondary school as FIRST CHOICE, you will definitely not get a place in that school regardless how high your score is. Meaning to say for example if aggregate score was 260 and I choose another school as first choice, and place my affiliated secondary school which has a cut-off point of only 240 as second choice, if I don’t make it to my first choice school, I will also lose out to another candidate with lower score than me just because the other candidate put the affiliated school as first choice and I didn’t - is this true or is the school principal just trying to scare us into putting the school as first choice to boost the take-up rate? Is the allocation totally by merit or by order of preference of choice position? If my score is 260, will even my 6th choice take priority over another person’s first choice who has a score of a lower 250? Really appreciate any guidance!

[emoh]

ELLYS:

I'd also like to ask experienced parents, is the allocation process controlled by MOE or the respective secondary schools? I heard the school principal say that if you're coming from an affiliated primary school but do not place the affiliated secondary school as FIRST CHOICE, you will definitely not get a place in that school regardless how high your score is. Meaning to say for example if aggregate score was 260 and I choose another school as first choice, and place my affiliated secondary school which has a cut-off point of only 240 as second choice, if I don't make it to my first choice school, I will also lose out to another candidate with lower score than me just because the other candidate put the affiliated school as first choice and I didn't - is this true or is the school principal just trying to scare us into putting the school as first choice to boost the take-up rate? Is the allocation totally by merit or by order of preference of choice position? If my score is 260, will even my 6th choice take priority over another person's first choice who has a score of a lower 250? Really appreciate any guidance!

should be by MOE, but there is a case at ACS(Barker), they take in all their affiliated as first choice till 189 and could not take in any non affiliated student after that, so technically someone with 260 and choose ACS(Barker) as 1st choice non affiliate could not enter as all the places filled up by the affiliated boys already. Likewise if someone with 245 ACS Primary choose ACS(Barker) 2nd choice would also not get in if he was say trying Catholic High as first choice. This scenario would probably not happen in schools where they would have higher COP for their affiliated students.

[alng]

ELLYS:

I'd also like to ask experienced parents, is the allocation process controlled by MOE or the respective secondary schools? I heard the school principal say that if you're coming from an affiliated primary school but do not place the affiliated secondary school as FIRST CHOICE, you will definitely not get a place in that school regardless how high your score is. Meaning to say for example if aggregate score was 260 and I choose another school as first choice, and place my affiliated secondary school which has a cut-off point of only 240 as second choice, if I don't make it to my first choice school, I will also lose out to another candidate with lower score than me just because the other candidate put the affiliated school as first choice and I didn't - is this true or is the school principal just trying to scare us into putting the school as first choice to boost the take-up rate? Is the allocation totally by merit or by order of preference of choice position? If my score is 260, will even my 6th choice take priority over another person's first choice who has a score of a lower 250? Really appreciate any guidance!

The allocation process is controlled by MOE. If there is an affiliated primary school, then all the affiliated students that meet the affiliated cut off point will enter the affiliated sec school first before the remaining vacancies go to the others. If your child has 260 but does not choose the affiliated sec school as first choice, then your child will be classified as others and competing for the affiliated sec school with the others. The affiliated students with tscore lower than 260 will enter first. Some schools may not have any vacancy for others after taking in all the affiliated students.

[ELLYS]

Thank you Emoh and Alng for your replies!

[BonaFides]

floppy:

SpartanMum:

Hmmm...chances are parents already have a good idea what they and kids want esp those high flyers. However maybe there is that small group, maybe the more chill folks, who have not really thot much about school choices til now ?

There are also some, whose child out performed their expectations and they are now looking at choices where they hadn’t been considering.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s fair to ask for options and comments. However, when you are able to narrow down to 2 or 3 choices of schools within +-2 COP, it’s usually just an issue of whether the child fits into a particular school culture, bearing in mind that some schools are more than 50 years old. It’s unlikely their culture can be changed at all.

That is what we are experiencing now. Our child has outperformed our expectation and now we don't know whether we should stick with the school that we wished him to join or we should consider another school. Initially we want him to join either HCI or NUS High but NUS High is no longer in our shortlist. Now we're trying to get as much information as possible for RI (we already know about HCI) because we were never attended RI open house and has never been there before. So, we don't know their culture and what we can expect from the school.

[DaddyL]

BonaFides:

Dear Parents

Kindly share your thoughts about pros & cons of RI & HCI. My DS has 276 and now we don’t know whether he goes RI or HCI.
If you know the cultural differences between these two schools, also kindly share with us.

Unable to provide comparison but can share about HCI (I.e. Son will be in Sec 3 next year). Culture wise I would say it focus on getting the kids to be independent in term of their learning journey and encourage self discovery thru project works, independent study on subjects outside of high school curriculum, community work, and Chinese morality. (I.e. student is to bid and given dedicated time for independent study on any subjects that interest them, student has to clock minimum community service hour annually, etc)

The belief system is you cannot prepare the road for the child but need to prepare the child for the road. There is a good out reach program where about 30+% of the student will be put into special IP program to focus on research work in Math/Science, language, or humanities. These students will have a chance to work with professional institutions (DSA) and participate in international student forum. Also it is a must for these student to spend several weeks in China as an exchange program. The China exchange program is also extended to some student in the normal IP program as well. (I.e. One of the side intention for having special IP program is to integrate the iSpark consortium (i.e. Very small group of GEPer and student who score 270+ in PSLE) back to the main stream education by grouping them with students who had faired well academically during Sec 2 into the same curriculum. Having say that it doesn't mean normal IP is of lower standard as it is also about student making their own choice. Student who did well enough to qualify for special program might choose not to go for it due to other interest or commitment.

School does go to a great extend to make sure student are able to cope. Historically about 10% of student who did not meet the minimum msg in Sec 2, will be allocated to structure IP curriculum which is a more guided teaching to prepare student for success in O level. Historically about half of the structure IP student will move back to normal IP and progress to Hwa Chong JC directly, while the remaining will have to sit for GCE O level exam and be posted to JC based on their O level result. The famous comparison is that back in 2015, only one out of the ten RI students who have to take the O level track qualified for JC while HCI has 100% track record in preparing student for O level and accepted into JC under the structure IP approach.

My sense is that HCI students in general know they are from an elite school (academically wise), but most of them don't feel or demonstrate self entitlement. In my opinion its balance approach that focus on self awareness, diversity acceptance, and sense of belonging is a key contributor to this general perception of HCI students.

Hope that helps.

[minmin27]

Hi Parents, appreciate it if I can get sharings - pros & cons for Dunman High & NJC?

[cutepandabear]

DaddyL:

BonaFides:

Dear Parents

Kindly share your thoughts about pros & cons of RI & HCI. My DS has 276 and now we don’t know whether he goes RI or HCI.
If you know the cultural differences between these two schools, also kindly share with us.

Unable to provide comparison but can share about HCI (I.e. Son will be in Sec 3 next year). Culture wise I would say it focus on getting the kids to be independent in term of their learning journey and encourage self discovery thru project works, independent study on subjects outside of high school curriculum, community work, and Chinese morality. (I.e. student is to bid and given dedicated time for independent study on any subjects that interest them, student has to clock minimum community service hour annually, etc)

The belief system is you cannot prepare the road for the child but need to prepare the child for the road. There is a good out reach program where about 30+% of the student will be put into special IP program to focus on research work in Math/Science, language, or humanities. These students will have a chance to work with professional institutions (DSA) and participate in international student forum. Also it is a must for these student to spend several weeks in China as an exchange program. The China exchange program is also extended to some student in the normal IP program as well. (I.e. One of the side intention for having special IP program is to integrate the iSpark consortium (i.e. Very small group of GEPer and student who score 270+ in PSLE) back to the main stream education by grouping them with students who had faired well academically during Sec 2 into the same curriculum. Having say that it doesn't mean normal IP is of lower standard as it is also about student making their own choice. Student who did well enough to qualify for special program might choose not to go for it due to other interest or commitment.

School does go to a great extend to make sure student are able to cope. Historically about 10% of student who did not meet the minimum msg in Sec 2, will be allocated to structure IP curriculum which is a more guided teaching to prepare student for success in O level. Historically about half of the structure IP student will move back to normal IP and progress to Hwa Chong JC directly, while the remaining will have to sit for GCE O level exam and be posted to JC based on their O level result. The famous comparison is that back in 2015, only one out of the ten RI students who have to take the O level track qualified for JC while HCI has 100% track record in preparing student for O level and accepted into JC under the structure IP approach.

My sense is that HCI students in general know they are from an elite school (academically wise), but most of them don't feel or demonstrate self entitlement. In my opinion its balance approach that focus on self awareness, diversity acceptance, and sense of belonging is a key contributor to this general perception of HCI students.

Hope that helps.

This was a very helpful insight into HCI. I benefited from reading (though you were answering someone else's question). Thanks very much.

[gbsl99]

Hi Parents,


Does anyone know where to find historical information about % of students score above 250?

Thanks