Top Primary school?

[ChiefKiasu]

kiasukiasi:

in my opinion, I do not believe in ranking primary schools as these are totally nonsense...

Actually, based on your arguments, it could be more important to have the primary school ranking so that you can AVOID the \"good\" schools, in case you accidentally choose one that is so pressurizing

Or you can choose one that is good in sports or character development.

Without such ranking, how do we know which school is good for what other than by hearsay?

[kiasukiasi]

Let’s put it this way…


If all schools are equal in standards & teachings etc, parents will not have to go thru the stressful registration process to get into the top schools. Imagine that: no more volunteer, no need to donate, etc… How nice…

Good schools or top schools is all in our mindset… Neighbourhood schools can also produce top students…

The reason why MOE had forego the ranking systems is because they realise that principals nowadays is forgetting the importance of education. Principals are more concerned about the school’s reputation than the child’s progress…Education is not about academic…

this is just my own opinion as I pity my son who is in P1 now in one of the so called good school in the east…

[ChiefKiasu]

kiasukiasi:

Let's put it this way...


If all schools are equal in standards & teachings etc, parents will not have to go thru the stressful registration process to get into the top schools. Imagine that: no more volunteer, no need to donate, etc.. How nice...

Good schools or top schools is all in our mindset.. Neighbourhood schools can also produce top students..

The reason why MOE had forego the ranking systems is because they realise that principals nowadays is forgetting the importance of education. Principals are more concerned about the school's reputation than the child's progress...Education is not about academic..

this is just my own opinion as I pity my son who is in P1 now in one of the so called good school in the east..

Yup... you are absolutely right about what we want as parents... that all schools are equal in standards and procedures, etc. But in practice, just as everyone is not born equal, schools are also not equal, even if they are all teaching the same curriculum. Simple reason - teachers are all different. And teachers are the most critical element in a primary school. I was lucky to have a great P1 teacher during my time - she made an ENORMOUS difference in how I turned out - from being last the kindergarten K2 to first boy in P1. Not because I was particularly smart, but she somehow encouraged me to want to be better than what I was. Things would have been very different if it was a different teacher.

Most teachers are human too - they want recognition just like the next guy. And the easiest way to achieve recognition is to go teach at the \"good\" schools with the \"best\" students to maximize their chance of training potential top scoring students in the nation. These schools also tend to be well supported by MoE, which means that teachers will get better training aids, facilities, welfare, etc. So it's easy to see why the \"good\" schools tend to have the best trained and supported teachers, which means that children will have the best chance of getting educated by such teachers. Of course, we can argue that we want teachers that sincerely want to help the poorer students excel, and not those that only want to teach good students - but let's face it... such dedicated teachers like my P1 teacher are few and hard to find.

And the other reason why parents want to send their children to good schools is the hope that their children will benefit from the interaction with other good children. Of course, this could backfire by giving the children lots of stress through the heated competition, but it probably the \"safer\" approach in the grand scheme of things.

The fact is, ranking or not, principals will always be focused on pass statistics and school reputation, because those are their KPIs. And even if the info is not public, the principals are well appraised of their school's performance by the MoE in relation to the rest.

MoE took down the ranking system primarily because parents were trying all kinds of ways to get into the top schools, leaving the other schools empty and looking for students. They needed to balance out the distribution of students. Secondary schools continue to be ranked, although they made enhancements to rank in other terms beside academic excellence, such as character development and physical and aesthetics.

[kk88]

Hi,


would like to check whether is phase 2A(2) sufficient to get my son into ACS (P)?

Thanks

[mintcc]

hmm thats an early phase. I guess no one can predict any thing. Can't find the past statistics for ACS but if we benchmark a school of similar popularity RGPS, all applicants in that phase were admitted in the pass year:


http://schools.moe.edu.sg/rgps/faqs3.html

2006 Phase 2A (2) Applicants 50 Admitted 50
2007 Phase 2A (2) Applicants 47 Admitted 47

Usuablly its applicants in 2C that have problem bah?

[kk88]

mincy:

hmm thats an early phase. I gues no one can predict any thing. Can't find the past statistics for ACS but if we benchmark a school of similar popularity RGPS, all applicants in that phase were admitted in the pass year:


http://schools.moe.edu.sg/rgps/faqs3.html

2006 Phase 2A (2) Applicants 50 Admitted 50
2007 Phase 2A (2) Applicants 47 Admitted 47

Usuablly its applicants in 2C that have problem bah?

Thanks

[jedamum]

mincy:

hmm thats an early phase. I guess no one can predict any thing. Can't find the past statistics for ACS but if we benchmark a school of similar popularity RGPS, all applicants in that phase were admitted in the pass year:


http://schools.moe.edu.sg/rgps/faqs3.html

2006 Phase 2A (2) Applicants 50 Admitted 50
2007 Phase 2A (2) Applicants 47 Admitted 47

Usuablly its applicants in 2C that have problem bah?

ya..usually phase 2C is where most balloting starts, although phase 2B (volunteers) may sometimes have balloting too.

[ChiefKiasu]

As always, the annual ritual of flustered parents trying to make up lost time in going for the "best" primary school has begun. IMO, while the school and its staff is an important criteria for the success of students, all schools offer the same minimum opportunities for students to succeed. In other words, even if your child goes to the most "ulu" school, he/she will still be given enough learning to do well in the exams.


It all boils down to parents themselves. Parents of children in the better schools know that their children are expected to "perform", and so they will push their children to excel and support them through all kinds of tuition and enrichment courses, just so that their children will at least make the grade. So this feeds into a self-fulfilling cycle where the good schools can only get better and better. Of course, it doesn’t help when the government designates specific schools to be "gifted", which automatically sets the bar for the students in the school to be so much higher than the national average.

So, perhaps parents should stop worrying about what is the best school they can send their child, and start focusing on how to give their children the "extra-edge" for them to excel regardless of what primary school their children ends up in.

What do you all think?

[May]

That is very true. I guess we tend to equate good schools with \"the cutting edge\". Now that I am deciding on a primary school for my son, that is when the stress comes in. I guess we want a good start for our child, and the environment of the school, hopefully that it would challenge him. I can't help but worry now. Last year, we have decided on the school to attend. But now we have a change of plans because of location. Hence felt stuck with limited options as didn't become a PV. Just hope we could get lucky now. :? :?

[ChiefKiasu]

May:

... I can't help but worry now. Last year, we have decided on the school to attend. But now we have a change of plans because of location. Hence felt stuck with limited options as didn't become a PV. Just hope we could get lucky now. :? :?

Yes... and believe me, this is only the start of the many worries. You have just graduated from the \"honeymoon\" years where your young child can do no wrong and you are amazed at every little new thing the child learns.

From now on, your amazement at your child's intelligence will be changed to expectations of what he/she can accomplish. For perhaps the first time in your child's life, he/she is going to be compared and competing with other children. This is how the real worrying begins - you will find that trying to get your child into a good school is a picnic compared to this! So the point is - it's not the end of the world if you can't get your child into that \"dream school\" you have in mind.

As for the stress of primary school, it's sad, but that's how life is in a meritocracy. What we must do is to keep reminding our children that we love them NO MATTER WHAT, and that they are always special in our hearts regardless of how well they do academically.