Maris Stella High School

[skyjuice]

Anyone has boys in Maris Stella to share about the school? My son will join the sec 1 class next yr there. It seems so happening. 1st week already has 3D2N Orientation and Discovery Camp. But i guess this is the best way to get to know one another. Thanks!

[MintLeaf]

skyjuice:

Anyone has boys in Maris Stella to share about the school? My son will join the sec 1 class next yr there. It seems so happening. 1st week already has 3D2N Orientation and Discovery Camp. But i guess this is the best way to get to know one another. Thanks!

I wrote something in the 2009 COP forum topic. Believe it was on the 23 Dec. Yes, it seems they have camps every year. I'm not a camp fan, but the kids seem to survive quite well. Generally secondary school is a big change for kids. There will be a number of team projects and initially the kids are not sensitive to deadlines. Depending on the teachers, the kids may be awarded zero for not handing up work on time. You can help your kid by checking Studywiz regularly. But some assignments are not posted on Studywiz although more than 80% are.


Make sure you can log on to both Studywiz and Admin Portal. Academic performance is posted on Admin Portal. Some kids neglect to vet their Admin Portal access choosing to use parent's account instead. Not a good idea as some info (especially at sec 2) are only accessible with student account.

The school has this system of teaching Geography, History, Home Economics and D & T for only half a year. So if he is studying Geography for first half, he can forget about Geography in second half of year. Many kids do struggle with Literature so take note. If your child is weak at Chinese, make sure he look out for the exam list with 造句，完成句子，etc to memorise. Sec 1 Design & Technology has a section on isometric drawing
which may be challenging for some kids.

[poohandtigger]

Heard that it is compulsory to buy laptop in Sec1. is it true? how to prevent mis-use such as playing computer games?

[CJS]

The students have to buy a Macbook and it comes with a parental lock system. However, it is no use. The students are so smart. They load in Microsoft OS which will bypass the parental lock system and play internet games.


The only foolproof way to prevent them from computer games is to guard the laptop physically. Very "Leh-jeh".

[skyjuice]

MintLeaf:

I wrote something in the 2009 COP forum topic. Believe it was on the 23 Dec. Yes, it seems they have camps every year. I'm not a camp fan, but the kids seem to survive quite well. Generally secondary school is a big change for kids. There will be a number of team projects and initially the kids are not sensitive to deadlines. Depending on the teachers, the kids may be awarded zero for not handing up work on time. You can help your kid by checking Studywiz regularly. But some assignments are not posted on Studywiz although more than 80% are.


Make sure you can log on to both Studywiz and Admin Portal. Academic performance is posted on Admin Portal. Some kids neglect to vet their Admin Portal access choosing to use parent's account instead. Not a good idea as some info (especially at sec 2) are only accessible with student account.

The school has this system of teaching Geography, History, Home Economics and D & T for only half a year. So if he is studying Geography for first half, he can forget about Geography in second half of year. Many kids do struggle with Literature so take note. If your child is weak at Chinese, make sure he look out for the exam list with 造句，完成句子，etc to memorise. Sec 1 Design & Technology has a section on isometric drawing
which may be challenging for some kids.

Thanks, MintLeaf. Tat's very helpful. My son is very weak in Chinese. Do you know why the booklist doesn't come with Ch textbook? Any advice on CCA? My son is thinking of joining Infocomm cos he likes robotics and web design work. How many CCA are they required to join? Thanks in advance.

[CJS]

The CL textbooks are stored in the Macbook, hence no textbooks. The students are required to join only one CCA.

[skyjuice]

claire:

Hi everyone,

Does anyone care to share more about Maris Stella High School if your child is currently in this school ?
My son is waiting for his PSLE results and is keen to go into this school but there has been no open house so far (unless we had missed it ? ) .
Thank you. :lol:
Claire

Hi Claire, did you son manage to get into Maris Stella?

[skyjuice]

I just realized the books I bought from MS bookshop didn’t come with the CDROM as mentioned in the book list. Does anyone know why is this so? A friend told me in another school, the bookstore stamped on their booklist for the students to collect the CDRom in Jan. But no stamp for me. Perhaps it will be installed in the macbook? What gives??


Also, does anyone know anything about Maris Stella’s CCA points system? Seems we’ve to select CCA strategically taking into consideration the child’s interest plus points that can accumulate… Any input on ODAC and Infocomm or sports?

Thanks!

[MintLeaf]

skyjuice:

Thanks, MintLeaf. Tat's very helpful. My son is very weak in Chinese. Do you know why the booklist doesn't come with Ch textbook? Any advice on CCA? My son is thinking of joining Infocomm cos he likes robotics and web design work. How many CCA are they required to join? Thanks in advance.

Hi Skyjuice,
My son was given the eBooks sometime in the term, but some books such as Chinese and Literature were missing. For Literature, it could be due to copyright issue. As for Chinese, I am not sure why. The teacher gave a Word document for Chinese Book A during the first semester. But I did not see Book B for the second semester. They use the same Express textbooks that you can buy from Popular book store. I bought them on my own accord. The teacher does not teach every lesson in the textbook. I have listed the first 10 lessons for you below, so that you can check out the textbooks at Popular.

1\t您贵姓
2\t学好本领
3\t久别了的阳光
4\t挥一片春意
5\t给予是快乐的
6\t你给我拉车
7\t神农尝百草
8\t放心的地方
9\t这是怎么一回事
10\t新加坡河－我们的母亲

The HOD for Chinese was a contributing member for this text. Hence it's highly likely that they will be using the same textbook. By the way, my son is not doing HMT. If yours is, he will definitely be using different text.

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the CCA. It's so complicated nowadays with the LEAPS system. I am not sure what the Infocomm CCA does. I only remembered one of my son's friends joined the Artificial Intelligence related CCA and quit because he felt he was not learning anything. He became a Scout in Sec 2.

A couple of CCA I thought could be interesting are Archery and Air Rifle. I have the impression that my friend's son bought his own bow for Archery and a good one may cost quite a fair bit. Your child can also volunteer to be a student councilor. If I knew about this earlier and the possibility of contributing to Leadership CCA points, I would have asked my son to volunteer.

[skyjuice]

MintLeaf:

Hi Skyjuice,
My son was given the eBooks sometime in the term, but some books such as Chinese and Literature were missing. For Literature, it could be due to copyright issue. As for Chinese, I am not sure why. The teacher gave a Word document for Chinese Book A during the first semester. But I did not see Book B for the second semester. They use the same Express textbooks that you can buy from Popular book store. I bought them on my own accord. The teacher does not teach every lesson in the textbook. I have listed the first 10 lessons for you below, so that you can check out the textbooks at Popular.

1\t您贵姓
2\t学好本领
3\t久别了的阳光
4\t挥一片春意
5\t给予是快乐的
6\t你给我拉车
7\t神农尝百草
8\t放心的地方
9\t这是怎么一回事
10\t新加坡河－我们的母亲

The HOD for Chinese was a contributing member for this text. Hence it's highly likely that they will be using the same textbook. By the way, my son is not doing HMT. If yours is, he will definitely be using different text.

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the CCA. It's so complicated nowadays with the LEAPS system. I am not sure what the Infocomm CCA does. I only remembered one of my son's friends joined the Artificial Intelligence related CCA and quit because he felt he was not learning anything. He became a Scout in Sec 2.

A couple of CCA I thought could be interesting are Archery and Air Rifle. I have the impression that my friend's son bought his own bow for Archery and a good one may cost quite a fair bit. Your child can also volunteer to be a student councilor. If I knew about this earlier and the possibility of contributing to Leadership CCA points, I would have asked my son to volunteer.

Thanks, Mintleaf, for such valuable info. My son is doing normal Chinese. I've bot the Chinese text for easier revision as he's rather weak in the subject.

Yes, you're right about the CCA being complicated. But I guess bottomline, it has to be something the kid enjoys. We'll soon find out what appeals to him at the CCA open house. Thanks again for your kind advice.