Hwa Chong Institution (High School)

[wonderm]

PiggyLalala:

wonderm:

[quote=\"yukilei\"]Btw, what is AEP & LEP?

AEP - Art Elective Program
LEP - Lang Elective Program (this is essentially Chinese, see promo video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3xcj19rtDo)

Thanks for the video. Are they yr 1 or year 2 students?
Who can opt for this Lang Elective Program. I guess it is not easy to be selected into this program.[/quote]Although I recognize some of the boys in the video, I don't know when it was taken, could be when they were in Sec 2 or 3? My DS didn't opt for it. I don't think it is hard to be chosen. Once you do LEP, it will be counted towards MSG. So those not strong in Chinese don't really want to choose it.

[yukilei]

wonderm:

Although I recognize some of the boys in the video, I don't know when it was taken, could be when they were in Sec 2 or 3? My DS didn't opt for it. I don't think it is hard to be chosen. Once you do LEP, it will be counted towards MSG. So those not strong in Chinese don't really want to choose it.

Wonderm, what did your DS opt for?

Both LEP & 3rd Language are related to language. & language is always not an easy subject to master. If the school were to change the calculation of the Academic MSG to 2 Languages + 3 Core Subjects + 1 Additional Subject (InfoComm Studies/Third Language/LEP/AEP), maybe many boys will still stick to InfoComm Studies as I think boys are more interested to IT rather than languages.

[wonderm]

yukilei:

wonderm:

Although I recognize some of the boys in the video, I don't know when it was taken, could be when they were in Sec 2 or 3? My DS didn't opt for it. I don't think it is hard to be chosen. Once you do LEP, it will be counted towards MSG. So those not strong in Chinese don't really want to choose it.

Wonderm, what did your DS opt for?

Both LEP & 3rd Language are related to language. & language is always not an easy subject to master. If the school were to change the calculation of the Academic MSG to 2 Languages + 3 Core Subjects + 1 Additional Subject (InfoComm Studies/Third Language/LEP/AEP), maybe many boys will still stick to InfoComm Studies as I think boys are more interested to IT rather than languages.

InfoComm Studies is a compulsory subject for Lower Sec. But LEP and AEP and Third Lang are optional subjects. My boys only do the compulsory subjects, didn't choose any optional subjects.

[yukilei]

wonderm:

yukilei:

[quote=\"wonderm\"]
Although I recognize some of the boys in the video, I don't know when it was taken, could be when they were in Sec 2 or 3? My DS didn't opt for it. I don't think it is hard to be chosen. Once you do LEP, it will be counted towards MSG. So those not strong in Chinese don't really want to choose it.

Wonderm, what did your DS opt for?

Both LEP & 3rd Language are related to language. & language is always not an easy subject to master. If the school were to change the calculation of the Academic MSG to 2 Languages + 3 Core Subjects + 1 Additional Subject (InfoComm Studies/Third Language/LEP/AEP), maybe many boys will still stick to InfoComm Studies as I think boys are more interested to IT rather than languages.

InfoComm Studies is a compulsory subject for Lower Sec. But LEP and AEP and Third Lang are optional subjects. My boys only do the compulsory subjects, didn't choose any optional subjects.[/quote]Thank you wonderm!!! Not sure if my thought is right, I would prefer my DS to stick to only compulsory subj at least in Lower sec. At least, he can have more time to cope with sec life.

[PiggyLalala]

wonderm:

PiggyLalala:

[quote=\"wonderm\"]

Good question. They did it in a few ways in the past:
1. students take separate Hist and Geo papers, marks are added to reflect term results 50%+50%
2. students take one paper which includes sections on Hist and Geog
3. students take Hist paper only in one term, and Geog paper only in next term.

It is hard to say which way they will do next year, for your DS' level. So need to wait and see.

Thank you. May I know if there is only one paper for the integrated humanities, can I assume that the questions on Hist and Geo are placed in 2 different sections, ie, section A - History and section B - Geog. That is to say, students just need to use the history knowledge to answer the questions in section A and geog knowledge in section B respectively.

The term 'Integrated Humanities' sounds very intimidating and demanding to me. I hope it will not be a interdisciplinary exam where the pupils are expected to use and apply both history and geog knowledge to answer the same question.

Both ways are possible. They change the syllabus and assessment methods from year to year, so need to look out for briefing. Don't need to worry, they will learn the ways to handle the questions in class.[/quote]Thank you very much, wonderm, for answering my questions on the integrated humanites.

May I ask you a few other questions again.
1. What is the average HCL grade of the pupils in year 1 and 2?
2. What is the average academic msg of the pupils in year 1 and 2?
3. What is considered to be a good academic msg for the year 1 and year 2 pupils?
4. What about Year 3? The pupils will have to choose between history and geo, so there will be no more integrated humanities?
5. Am i right to say most pupils will do 8/9 subjects in year 3?

Sorry for asking so many questions. I am keen to put my ds in HCI if his result permits.

Also, do you have any idea when the MRT station outside HCI be ready?

Thank you once again.

[wonderm]

yukilei:

wonderm:

InfoComm Studies is a compulsory subject for Lower Sec. But LEP and AEP and Third Lang are optional subjects. My boys only do the compulsory subjects, didn't choose any optional subjects.

Thank you wonderm!!! Not sure if my thought is right, I would prefer my DS to stick to only compulsory subj at least in Lower sec. At least, he can have more time to cope with sec life.

That's my thinking too. If they can make it and have the interest, they can go for more advanced streams in Upper Sec. But my impression for those choosing third lang, LEP or AEP are that these boys are very interested in these areas/subjects. In that case, they should take up from Sec 1 because I don't think they can wait and start doing these subjects in Sec 3.

[wonderm]

PiggyLalala:

May I ask you a few other questions again.
1. What is the average HCL grade of the pupils in year 1 and 2?
No idea, we are not given such information.

2. What is the average academic msg of the pupils in year 1 and 2?
Not very sure, my impression the average msg is about 2. But it really varies from year to year.

3. What is considered to be a good academic msg for the year 1 and year 2 pupils?
haha...considered good or not - if you ask me, <2.0 is good, <1.5 is very good. 1.0 is excellent I am sure you understand there is no \"official\" answer to this, this is just my opinion.

4. What about Year 3? The pupils will have to choose between history and geo, so there will be no more integrated humanities?
Year 3 is quite complex because of streaming. The situation is very different depending on which stream your DS goes to. The school may also change or modify the program by the time it's your DS' turn.

5. Am i right to say most pupils will do 8/9 subjects in year 3?
Yes. Workload is much heavier from Sec 3, but hard to count the subjects, it depends on the chosen stream. Certain subjects have double weightage. Certain subjects are combined when shown in report book.

Sorry for asking so many questions. I am keen to put my ds in HCI if his result permits.

No worries, I will share what I know. Hope your DS does well in PSLE and enters his dream school.

Also, do you have any idea when the MRT station outside HCI be ready?
2015? Not very sure though.

Thank you once again.

[PiggyLalala]

wonderm:

PiggyLalala:

May I ask you a few other questions again.
1. What is the average HCL grade of the pupils in year 1 and 2?
No idea, we are not given such information.

2. What is the average academic msg of the pupils in year 1 and 2?
Not very sure, my impression the average msg is about 2. But it really varies from year to year.

3. What is considered to be a good academic msg for the year 1 and year 2 pupils?
haha...considered good or not - if you ask me, <2.0 is good, <1.5 is very good. 1.0 is excellent I am sure you understand there is no \"official\" answer to this, this is just my opinion.

4. What about Year 3? The pupils will have to choose between history and geo, so there will be no more integrated humanities?
Year 3 is quite complex because of streaming. The situation is very different depending on which stream your DS goes to. The school may also change or modify the program by the time it's your DS' turn.

5. Am i right to say most pupils will do 8/9 subjects in year 3?
Yes. Workload is much heavier from Sec 3, but hard to count the subjects, it depends on the chosen stream. Certain subjects have double weightage. Certain subjects are combined when shown in report book.

Sorry for asking so many questions. I am keen to put my ds in HCI if his result permits.

No worries, I will share what I know. Hope your DS does well in PSLE and enters his dream school.

Also, do you have any idea when the MRT station outside HCI be ready?
2015? Not very sure though.

Thank you once again.

:thankyou: for yr generous sharings.

[AtoZ]

Hi, I am also interested to buy secondhand textbooks for my DS who is in Y2 next year. Please PM me if any parent wants to sell. The books I am looking for are:


1. Discovering Mathematics 2A Textbook (Chow Wai Keung/Star Publishing)
2. Discovering Mathematics 2B Textbook ( same as above)
3. Earth Our Home 2 Textbook (Yee Sze Onn/Marshall Cavendish)
4. GCSE Modern World History (Ben Walsh/John Murray)
5. Conversational Malay Elementary 1 (Marshall Cavendish)

[randomhwachongian]

As a Hwa Chong student myself, I would like to give my comments on third language classes. I study Japanese at Newton MOE Language Centre (MOELC).


Third language classes this year were conducted on Thursdays, from 3.30pm to 6.45pm. There are two different MOELCs available - Newton and Bishan. By default, HCI students are placed in Newton - if you prefer Bishan you'll have to apply for a centre transfer.

Transport is provided to the MOELCs by the school, so no worries about transportation there. However, no transport is provided from the centres, so you'll have to figure out how to go home from there.

Other than physical lessons in the MOELC, students are expected to access the MOELC Portal (http://moelc.moe.edu.sg) for online lessons. The recommended time given by MOELC is 45min of online work, but it really depends on the teacher's demands.

Many MOELC teachers are Singaporeans (at least for Japanese), while some are Japanese themselves. There are tests and examinations throughout the year, and they all bear a percentage of the total score. There are also compositions to be written from Term 2 onwards. (I've heard from friends that it applies to French and German as well)

The books are a bit expensive, as they are imported from Taiwan (I think). For Sec 1 I remember it cost around $200 in total.

If you do not change the timing and day of your third language lessons (you can, by applying for a transfer), your class should have mostly HCI students. However, there might be students from other schools. My Japanese class had some MGS students, and it started with around 40 students, but by the end of the year, only around 20 were left. (Many quit by the 3rd term - either lost interest, or found it too stressful) Do note that HCI lets you opt towards the end of the year whether to include the third language grade in the MSG, which many do not (they don't want to risk it, I guess.) The only problem is, they ask you whether to opt in or out before you get your end-of-year exam results! So it's a gamble to take.

I would say the lessons are interesting, and I've learnt some basic Japanese from the third language lessons. Just my opinion here, hope you all find it useful!

日本語の授業は楽しくておもしろいですよ。