Re: DSA 2024

Competition in DSA Sports is getting tougher and tougher by the year. We will soon see kids who are not just sports-inclined appearing at the DSA Sports trials and interviews. Very, very soon enough, u will find sports-talented kids who are also academically strong, n who also have good leadership roles showing up next to u at a sports DSA trial/interview. hahah… Really ironic - defeats the entire purpose of a Sports DSA avenue for kids. This situation has been brought about & exacerbated by some applicants who appear to be manipulating this DSA system just to get into the more sought-after schools. Can foresee that this situation is just going to get worse in the near future.

@Monstermummy79 My point is that DSA sports kids will not be assessed just on his sports performance and potential alone. Your said Cut-Off Point (which I take it to mean the school’s internal academic cut-off point) has been driven north due to the increased number of kids with better ALs coming in to vie for the same few DSA sports places. Hence, would appear that those kids who are equally sports-capable kids but with less desirable AL scores (despite still be within the so-called Cut-off Point) be pushed out of the selection process. That would then mean that competition is DSA sports places is not a mere matter of assessing the child’s DSA potential & competency alone. Such “internal academic COP” decided by sec schools for DSA Sports kids appears to be iffy in the first place to begin with.

@melting_starz Hi, I resonant with your sentiments. To the DSA kids, the DSA process is their "PSLE. The sec schools are told they can release the DSA outcome results anytime after their interviews and before a certain date in Sept. And so, can u imagine u taking “PSLE”, and after that the “PSLE” results are shared with u and your classmates at different times over a period of time?? Really cant imagine how much of emotional/psychological impact caused by the suspense & anxiety it can have on the DSA kids from all the waiting, too. Take care not to send those “butterflies” already in your tummy to your kid’s tummy.

@Monstermummy79 My point is that DSA sports kids will not be assessed just on his sports performance and potential alone. Your said Cut-Off Point (which I take it to mean the school’s internal academic cut-off point) has been driven north due to the increased number of kids with better ALs coming in to vie for the same few DSA sports places. Hence, would appear that those kids who are equally sports-capable kids but with less desirable AL scores (despite still be within the so-called Cut-off Point) be pushed out of the selection process. That would then mean that competition is DSA sports places is not a mere matter of assessing the child’s DSA potential & competency alone. Such “internal academic COP” decided by sec schools for DSA Sports kids appears to be iffy in the first place to begin with.

@melting_starz Hi, I resonant with your sentiments. To the DSA kids, the DSA process is their "PSLE. The sec schools are told they can release the DSA outcome results anytime after their interviews and before a certain date in Sept. And so, can u imagine u taking “PSLE”, and after that the “PSLE” results are shared with u and your classmates at different times over a period of time?? Really cant imagine how much of emotional/psychological impact caused by the suspense & anxiety it can have on the DSA kids from all the waiting, too. Take care not to send those “butterflies” already in your tummy to your kid’s tummy.

Re: DSA 2024

Competition in DSA Sports is getting tougher and tougher by the year. We will soon see kids who are not just sports-inclined appearing at the DSA Sports trials and interviews. Very, very soon enough, u will find sports-talented kids who are also academically strong, n who also have good leadership roles showing up next to u at a sports DSA trial/interview. hahah… Really ironic - defeats the entire purpose of a Sports DSA avenue for kids. This situation has been brought about & exacerbated by some applicants who appear to be manipulating this DSA system just to get into the more sought-after schools. Can foresee that this situation is just going to get worse in the near future.

@Jacoco How was the SNG track & field DSA interview like this year? Usually news will be shared on 31 Aug (as was the case in 2022 & 20230. However, 31 Aug is on a Sat this year, so let’s see if it is on 30 Aug this year.

Hi guys , SNG track & field just sent out rejection/interview email this morning

@temjin68 O dear, like I said, if at all, I may know a bit more about track & field, not softball. Hmmm, I agree with u that the wait can be mentally and emotionally torturous. If this is already so bad, wait till u get to the stage when u are waiting for the DSA outcome after interview. I have tried writing to MOE to get them to tell the sec schools to release all DSA results on the same day, not sporadically across a period of time as long as it is before a certain given date. This current arrangement had such negative effects on the psychological/emotional coping of my kid and her classmates who were also waiting for DSA results last year, (esp when they already heard of some of their classmates having a CO already and they themselves still waiting). It is not a pleasant process for these 12yo kids at all, esp when all these happen just 2-3 weeks before the 4 PSLE main papers.

@Archana Heyo, yes, email notification for DSA track & field trials for VS has been sent out. In fact, the there are 2 trial dates - 18 July & 30 July. And actually, there was an email that VS sent out to VS DSA applicants that if they do not hear from VS by 19 July Fri, it means their kids are not shortlisted. But please do check your spam email. Some email notifications went to our spam. Hope this helps.

@John-Memek With the exception of some schools like VS who conduct trial and interview on the same day.

@temjin68 Hi there, I dono which school trials your child attended? Is it Dunman High track and field trials ? Hmmm, I only am more familiar with the with track and field trials of SNG, Cedar, NYGH. But dont worry, usually after trials, every kid will be told to go home la. ahaahah. The interview segment is conducted on another day. I think with the exception of some schools like VS. VS track and field trials and interviews are on the same day, in group interview format.

@akks Thank you. That is correct. To add to this info, when a Confirmed Offer (CO) is being given to a child, he/she must still be able to do well enough in PSLE for this CO place to be secured. eg: I have heard of a child who obtained AL23 for his PSLE, despite having been offered a CO from a sec school of his choice prior to PSLE. It is quite sad that he did not secure that CO in the end. So getting a CO does not necessarily mean that the child is confirmed going to that sec school. It is only an offer at that point, whether or not it is CONFIRMED. On PSLE results release day, together with the PSLE results slip, all successful DSA (CO/WL) applicants will receive an accompanying MOE letter indicating that the child’s place in that secondary school is secured, based on his/her PSLE grades. I actually told my daughter that this MOE letter is more important than the PSLE results slip to me…