[Geylang] Primary Schools

[MMM]

Hi dizzyguy,


You can refer to my encounter with MBS in the earlier response to netchat. I've a P1 and P2 there and I am very happy with the school especially the teachers. Being a SAP school, there are bound to be certain level of academic std as personally I found MBS chinese exam paper more challenging especially when I let the kids do the papers of other top schools. Eg. for chinese strokes, iso asking how many strokes are there in a character, they will highlight a particular stroke and ask what is the stroke sequence. To me this is more difficult unless the child knows the stroke sequence perfectly. I find this very challenging for the kids.

Typically for P1, they've streaming for chinese classes after SA1 results. Those stronger in the language will go to 1 class and the class size is such that those good ones will probably go to a bigger class size (eg. my girl had 30+ to 40 for her chinese class) while those weaker ones will have smaller class size so that the teachers can give them more attn. Undeniably the scope of things that they learn will be diff eg. the spelling list for those better ones will be more difficult.

Eg. My P1 son scored band 1 results for his SA1 chinese but it's getting more difficult now as the kids are required to write more characters rather than simply recognising/ hypy and his character writing sucks. During meet the teacher session, my son's teacher commented to me that we must encourage him to write neatly,etc... and then I told her that I bought those chinese characters books to let him practise during school hols. She told me that don't overdo it as don't kill his interest in the chinese language. It is more important for the kids to like the language and enjoy chinese learning. This is good as it shows that the teachers are keen to make chinese learning fun for them.

Also, they used to have written expression (compo) for P1 during SA1. But this year, they moved it to SA2. I applaud the teachers' decision in that except for some kids who are probably very well prepared for P1, I personally found it quite challenging for most kids to write mini compo comprising of 8 sentences that are perfect in terms of grammar and spelling.... To me, term 1 and 2 is more for the kids to adapt to primary school life and system. I had a talk with the P1 mgr (who happens to teach my son) on the written expression and it was a conscious effort by the school to re-evaluate what the kids are required to do. Note that for P1 SA2, they will also start the chinese compo test during SA2.

Observed that you went in under 2A2, are you ex-student ?

For chinese lessons, my kids are in Molin and I found it good for them so far. I believe there are some other popular ones such as Tien Hsia, Berries, Jiang,etc.... I also sent the kids to Hua for chinese speech & drama as this is taught by a ex-MBS teacher and came highly recommended by my daughter's CL teacher in terms of effectiveness. The purpose was to help them to speak proper mandarin (helps in oral exam) and also eventually make them less shy of public speaking.

I am so happy that there are more MBS parents in kiasuparents now that we can share about the school and experience. Sorry for the long posting...

[MMM]

Just want to add that in terms of kids' experience with the school. My kids enjoy school and learning in the school. They love MBS and I know they feel proud of the school through their actions. I told them that MBS is ranked 11 based on academic excellence on kiasuparents. They are always asking why not even better, etc.. I told them the students need to have very good results inorder to make the school proud of them. So if they want to push the school's score up, they need to work hard. (btw... I don't think my kids are that calibre :lol: ).


They also enjoy the CCA. Eg. my P1 is doing wushu while my P2 joins school band and basketball. Typically they also enjoy shopping at the bookshop which is run by popular book shop now and have their favorite stalls at the tuckshop.

[dizzyguy]

Dear MMM


Yes, I am an Ex-Student of 1984.

Are you working ? Seems you have alot of spare time writing reviews. By the way, you seems to know so much ? Or is it me who knew the least.

Anyway, the following educational institution is in my pipeline,
a) Lorna Whinston@Parkway
b) MRC Learning Centre@Katong

Those Mandated are Kinderland and Growen.

My children just came from HK and that’s the reason why I am putting some effort to lay some foundations for them.

[dizzyguy]

Dear ChiefKiasu


What would be the most likely scenario why those two place were withdrawn ?

They were predicting a higher chance of securing a place in Phase 2B in another school thus withdrawing from MBS ?

The rule says you cannot register with more than two schools in the same phase right ?

[MMM]

dizzyguy:

Dear MMM


Yes, I am an Ex-Student of 1984.

Are you working ? Seems you have alot of spare time writing reviews. By the way, you seems to know so much ? Or is it me who knew the least.

Anyway, the following educational institution is in my pipeline,
a) Lorna Whinston@Parkway
b) MRC Learning Centre@Katong

Those Mandated are Kinderland and Growen.

My children just came from HK and that's the reason why I am putting some effort to lay some foundations for them.

Hi dizzyguy, I've PM you. You can check your inbox.

[dizzyguy]

Alright !!!

[ChiefKiasu]

dizzyguy:

Dear ChiefKiasu


What would be the most likely scenario why those two place were withdrawn ?

They were predicting a higher chance of securing a place in Phase 2B in another school thus withdrawing from MBS ?

The rule says you cannot register with more than two schools in the same phase right ?

Yes to all your questions. But if I know for sure, I would be sitting in the Bahamas right now sipping Tequila and predicting this Saturday's 4D results to support my lifestyle.

[netchat]

MMM:

Hi Netchat,


Back to my question on SBF. I called and they told me that they only accept membership from temple. Is there any way to join???? I've a friend who is keen on MBS and I was hoping to find lobang for her but she is not that holy.

for tat i am not sure.. cos i dun even know how i become a member... as is all arrange by my parent since young before i start knowing anything...

as for puttin my son in MBS is mainly oso becos is near to my work place.. btw, i sell honda car..

back to your question again, guess your fren gona visit temple more and get them to refer ur fren to join SBF..

anyway, i am impress by your long detail posting.. but it seem so scary wit so many activities in sch and so much to learn.. i din let my son prepare well enough for P1 na.. anyway to ling shi pao fou jiao..

thx

[MMM]

Hi netchat,


Thanks for your feedback.

So we got a new resource to ask about honda cars For that I will probably PM you. It's good for you to get to know dizzyguy too since you guys are both P1 parents next year.

In terms of preparation, I think diff parents have diff expectations but on the other hand, there is still time. When I met up with the P1 mgr this year (my son's teacher), her 1st question to me was, are you happy with his results? I told her I was considering where he had progress from. Apparently his class has the \"cleverer/ more well prepared kids\" so despite that his scores are ok, he still ended up 15/ 30 in class.... My friend who is HOD in one of the pri school told me that in the initial stage, it's how prepared the kids are that set the difference. But over time, it is those with good family support that will continue to do well.

Personally, I feel that a checklist at this point would be :
1) Ability to read/ recognise words. Knowledge of phonics is helpful.
2) hanyu pinyin (HYPY) knowledge. I am not saying that chinese characters are not important, it is. But particularly in term 1, the focus is on hypy and then in term 2, they move more to chinese characters but still focus on hypy.

In Q4 last yr, my son did a intensive hypy lesson at Molin and I felt that it helped him tremendously for P1. You just need to do some evaluation.

[dizzyguy]

Good Morning MMM.


I will call up MOLIN later to enquire about courses.