Candance\" post_id=\"1935890\" time=\"1568817930\" user_id=\"153047:

NikkiRGPS\" post_id=\"1798759\" time=\"1504269732\" user_id=\"155665:

[quote=\"Oldgal\"]Sota students and parents - appreciate your feedback on the iB program. I know the A levels can be very intensive towards year 5 to 6 and many attend tuition for their subjects. How about the IB? Does it mean that since the exams hold only 60 to 70% of the final score, it is not as detailed and intensive compared to A levels? Do most students go for tuition? How about SOTA - do the Teachers follow up closely on students and offer help or hold extra classes for the weaker ones? Thanks.

tuition?? tuition is unheard of in SOTA leh.

Hi im from sota and i have 4 tuitions so yes, many of my classmates have them too and it is not unheard of. I have siblings who are in the singaporean education system and we take the exact same subjects. I am able to do their exam papers as the standard is about the same. Sota is just a normal school with an added subject which is our art form. We don't do less than other schools academically. Due to our art forms, we usually end school daily around 7 to 9pm, depending on the day. Thus, we don't miss out or have a lower standard academically. (If there was, why did sota produce 2 president scholars so far??) The syllabus is the exact same from year 1 to 3 but is more IB based from year 4 to year 6. So yes many people on this forum say that sota is an arts school and the academics is easier but no, i have siblings to compare to and I can say that the standard is the exact same as \"top tier O level schools\". (my siblings are from these schools).[/quote]Thank you for your clarification on SOTA IB.
I gather that the students who take up dance have long hours at school. How do you then find time for tutions.
Is there a possibility of SOTA students pursuing careers other than Arts.
My daughter has been learning indian dance since 5 yrs. So we hope to DSA via Indian Dance, hence your response will be much appreciated.
When you take up dance in SOTA, what kind of dance forms are you being taught.

SM81\" post_id=\"2012292\" time=\"1610773277\" user_id=\"184060:

hpsbpt\" post_id=\"1956961\" time=\"1577981394\" user_id=\"6806:

Dear parents
I saw some questions from parents asking for DSA experience for those children not in the TOP academic tier of Tscore 24x plus. I am DSA 2019 parent. I believe I am one of you and my girl whose score is 21x -22x range (she does not want me to reveal the exact score😀) had a wonderful DSA journey last year. Finally she went into SOTA under dance. 😊 We are really Glad we took up DSA route. I will share my experience and I hope it will help some of you.

First step is being realistic. MOE DSA portal is made very comprehensive from
Last year. Look for your Child’s DSA area and identify schools possibly in the range of your child’s expected T score (add up all four subjects marks and multiply by 0.73, mostly the range will be +_ 10. Also look at other considerations like distance, any specific program like HMT etc to choose schools.

Second step - look for real good schools in TOP tier which has the talent area under DSA. I would like to give an example - I went to SCGS and NJC open house. SCGS Teachers told very directly that they look for children 80 percent above and those with ballet high grades. NJC - cut off last year was 259 no way I can expect my girl to get. But I knew a student the previous year with 22x got DSA confirm offer and went in. NJC principal was very clear in saying that DSA will purely be based on auditions and interview and not based on current marks. So we tried NJC as well. Point is, no harm in checking for schools in top academic tier as well, even though our child is not expected to score that high.

Preparation- from last 2 years we were building our daughter’s dance portfolio . Making her participate in competitions and performances. It really helped to shape her into a good Dancer, but the certs and achievements were of not much use for first round selection. Why because
- SOTA selection to talent academy only two things to upload - a 1 mnt dance video and her P5 EOY results. Nothing else. Kids were shortlisted to talent academy only based on these two.
- MOE DSA portal - max three schools/areas we can apply. Only 10 fields given to write achievements and trainings. So we really had to choose the best and write. Some schools like SCGs mentioned to give link in MOE DSA portal of their dance performance . We did not apply for SCGS, but I called up the schools and checked with them should we give a link of dance videos. And they said we can decide. We gave few links’s Though not sure whether that was a criteria for first round selection.

We submitted for SOTA and also three schools under dance - NJC, St Margaret’s and Mayflower sec. Mayflower was our fall back option as her expected T score matches somewhere their cut off.

All schools short listed her. She attended SOTA Talent academy. st marg and Mayflower had only one round of dance perf and interview together . nJC - after dance audition, she was selected to second round for interview. My girl enjoyed all auditions and interviews. She got CO from St Marg (cut off 24x) and waiting list from SOtA. She gave SOtA as her first choice in DSA confirmation and we were very happy to recve the letter on results day that she is posted to SOTA (WL converted to confirmed)

We would hv been really happy with St Margaret’s as well because it is a great school and we were sure that with her T score she can’t get in to schools like that.
Also, Our family is really thankful to MOE for the DSA route, as it helped my lil Dancer girl to get into her dream school SOTA.


So my point is -
If you or your child think that you are talented in some area, start your research now. Find schools, find some seniors who DSAd to that school and understand more about their T score, how they went in etc, and chances of getting through. T score is just a one time score and I am sure many talented children should utilise DSA to get into their dream school - that’s what DSA is meant for. For those children who can score good, always PSLE route is better.

Thank you
Hope this helps. If not relevant, pls ignore 😊
I will be Glad to answer any specific questions if you PM. (Sorry, Not very regular in forum)

Pls note- a) my girl did not attend any DSA coaching. B) She is mainly trained under Indian classical dance and lil bit of jazz, not Ballet, but still she could apply to SOTA/Mayflower under international /modern dance category. All Schools are open and helpful for many such variations. Just call them and find out.

Thank you so much for taking the efforts to share your experience with us. This is very helpful to me who are hoping to follow the DSA route.
Could you share what's it like at the auditions at NJC and Sr Margaret. This will help my daughter prepare accordingly.
Did your daughter have to to go fully dressed in Indian dance attire for the auditions. Was she asked any questions during the auditions.
Thank you very much
Best wishes to your daughter.

hpsbpt\" post_id=\"1956961\" time=\"1577981394\" user_id=\"6806:

Dear parents
I saw some questions from parents asking for DSA experience for those children not in the TOP academic tier of Tscore 24x plus. I am DSA 2019 parent. I believe I am one of you and my girl whose score is 21x -22x range (she does not want me to reveal the exact score😀) had a wonderful DSA journey last year. Finally she went into SOTA under dance. 😊 We are really Glad we took up DSA route. I will share my experience and I hope it will help some of you.

First step is being realistic. MOE DSA portal is made very comprehensive from
Last year. Look for your Child’s DSA area and identify schools possibly in the range of your child’s expected T score (add up all four subjects marks and multiply by 0.73, mostly the range will be +_ 10. Also look at other considerations like distance, any specific program like HMT etc to choose schools.

Second step - look for real good schools in TOP tier which has the talent area under DSA. I would like to give an example - I went to SCGS and NJC open house. SCGS Teachers told very directly that they look for children 80 percent above and those with ballet high grades. NJC - cut off last year was 259 no way I can expect my girl to get. But I knew a student the previous year with 22x got DSA confirm offer and went in. NJC principal was very clear in saying that DSA will purely be based on auditions and interview and not based on current marks. So we tried NJC as well. Point is, no harm in checking for schools in top academic tier as well, even though our child is not expected to score that high.

Preparation- from last 2 years we were building our daughter’s dance portfolio . Making her participate in competitions and performances. It really helped to shape her into a good Dancer, but the certs and achievements were of not much use for first round selection. Why because
- SOTA selection to talent academy only two things to upload - a 1 mnt dance video and her P5 EOY results. Nothing else. Kids were shortlisted to talent academy only based on these two.
- MOE DSA portal - max three schools/areas we can apply. Only 10 fields given to write achievements and trainings. So we really had to choose the best and write. Some schools like SCGs mentioned to give link in MOE DSA portal of their dance performance . We did not apply for SCGS, but I called up the schools and checked with them should we give a link of dance videos. And they said we can decide. We gave few links’s Though not sure whether that was a criteria for first round selection.

We submitted for SOTA and also three schools under dance - NJC, St Margaret’s and Mayflower sec. Mayflower was our fall back option as her expected T score matches somewhere their cut off.

All schools short listed her. She attended SOTA Talent academy. st marg and Mayflower had only one round of dance perf and interview together . nJC - after dance audition, she was selected to second round for interview. My girl enjoyed all auditions and interviews. She got CO from St Marg (cut off 24x) and waiting list from SOtA. She gave SOtA as her first choice in DSA confirmation and we were very happy to recve the letter on results day that she is posted to SOTA (WL converted to confirmed)

We would hv been really happy with St Margaret’s as well because it is a great school and we were sure that with her T score she can’t get in to schools like that.
Also, Our family is really thankful to MOE for the DSA route, as it helped my lil Dancer girl to get into her dream school SOTA.


So my point is -
If you or your child think that you are talented in some area, start your research now. Find schools, find some seniors who DSAd to that school and understand more about their T score, how they went in etc, and chances of getting through. T score is just a one time score and I am sure many talented children should utilise DSA to get into their dream school - that’s what DSA is meant for. For those children who can score good, always PSLE route is better.

Thank you
Hope this helps. If not relevant, pls ignore 😊
I will be Glad to answer any specific questions if you PM. (Sorry, Not very regular in forum)

Pls note- a) my girl did not attend any DSA coaching. B) She is mainly trained under Indian classical dance and lil bit of jazz, not Ballet, but still she could apply to SOTA/Mayflower under international /modern dance category. All Schools are open and helpful for many such variations. Just call them and find out.

Thank you so much for taking the efforts to share your experience with us. This is very helpful to me who are hoping to follow the DSA route.
Best wishes to your daughter.

Hello all,

Did any of your daughters got into SMSS via DSA Choir. Please share what preparations need to be done. I have checked the website but any other suggestions would be helpful. Thanks
Best wishes for a successful Secondary education to all…

Zeal mummy\" post_id=\"2008692\" time=\"1608558708\" user_id=\"58173:[quote=\"Zeal mummy\" post_id=2008692 time=1608558708 user_id=58173]
SM81, I would encourage reading widely/ making trips to library weekly.[/quote]

Thank you...yes she does read a lot.. so much that sometimes I have to tell her to focus on the school tasks.
I noticed she could use help with OE comprehensions.. any recommendations to help with that..

coast\" post_id=\"2008616\" time=\"1608536007\" user_id=\"38933:

SM81\" post_id=\"2008587\" time=\"1608520897\" user_id=\"184060:

Hello everyone,
May I know other than top school papers, what other books are recommended for English practice at home.

Thanks
Best wishes for 2021...

School resources are usually sufficient for Oral and most Paper 2 components.

Get additional resources if your child is weak in certain areas.

Eg., if weak in Vocabulary, get Vocab assessment book (general and thematic)

For compos, you can ask your child to read one or two compositions from Creative Writing books by The Alternative Story. If your child likes it, buy one of the books.

All the best.

Thank you for your prompt response and recommendations.

Hello everyone,

May I know other than top school papers, what other books are recommended for English practice at home.

Thanks
Best wishes for 2021…

Norisk1983\" post_id=\"1954607\" time=\"1576872799\" user_id=\"182338:

Hi parents! My daughter managed to get accepted into SMSS.Hurray!! She is very happy and looking forward for the new school year in a new environment and in her own words, 'no pesky annoying boys ard'
In fact i think i was even more excited than her. Im sure she will definitely love the school and hopefully blossom into an even more confident and better individua. Lets hope for the start of a beautiful journey of our girls in SMSS! :rahrah: :rahrah: :boogie: :boogie:

.Hi Norisk1983,
How is your daughter finding SMSS.
I am eyeing that school for my daughter too.
Could you pls share the strengths a d weakness of the school
Appreciate your help.
Thanks

.Hi Norisk1983,

How is your daughter finding SMSS.
I am eyeing that school for my daughter too.
Could you pls share the strengths a d weakness of the school
Appreciate your help.
Thanks

Thank you very much for your prompt response and advise.