david59:

Merlion:

david59, what you said here is correct. GEP students do not have to take HCL if they do not feel like it. BUT I think your student did not explain in details to you. For those who are taking HCL, their chinese test paper is not the same as the mainstream HCL.

Yup, you are right. Tougher than the normal HCL. In fact, all subjects are more difficult than the normal schools; and esp. for Maths and Science are a few notches up. So when it came to PSLE, it was just a piece of cake for him.
In fact, he is already offered a place to study in RI, Hwa Chong and NUS High. Others got stress whether can get to their dream school, he got stress which is the best choice to make. :stupid: :stupid: :stupid:

oh congratulations!!! Keep us update of where he goes .. I hope my son can go RI in future.. :celebrate:

Full.Cream:

for those whose children will be going for the 2nd GEP screening, have u already made up your mind on which GEP school?


Don't shy! This is a KSP forum after all!!

Last year when my son got into 2nd round screening, my husband and I were quietly discussing which school we like him to go if he qualify for the gep. But when it come to the final decision when he was confirmed of getting into gep, our choice chance. Firstly we were concern about whether it is a mix or all boy school, secondly distance as they need to stay back at least once or twice a week for extra lesson and thirdly the school culture.... And last but not least we wanted to choice tns as our first choice but found out that as we stay a bit far from it their school bus don't service us???!!! :stupid: But so far we have no regret of putting my son at the current gep school ... it is nearer and he like and adore the form /english teacher. :love:

Full.Cream:

Are we talking about the same thing here?


i) \"If you do not want to do HCL, do not go to Tao Nan, Nan Hua, Catholic High and Nanyang (those Special Assistance Plan (SAP) Schools which offer only Chinese Language as Mother Tongue).\"

Do you mean these schools only have HCL ONLY? No normal CL or ML?

ii) So GEP can still take normal CL in some schools. Even this is different from the non-GEP (\"GEP CL\"). Ya?

iii) For some schools, they only offer 2 types of CL, HCL and normal. There is no GEP-CL specially for the GEP. Ya?

From what I gathered, acsp seemed to have only 2 types of CL in P4 coz there's where they are encouraged to mingle with the rest of the cohort. But in P5, I thought I heard comments that the normal CL for GEP is more difficult than the 'normal' CL, ie, there's a socalled GEP-CL. I never bothered to confirm this so wonder if someone can verify :oops:

So perhaps some kind soul can enlighten us on the above before we continue to hamtam each other :celebrate:

My son is in Rosyth p4 gep this year and all of them (chinese) have to take hcl and as you guys has mentioned earlier the gep hcl are more difficult then mainstream hcl in term of work sheet and exam..... so those whose chinese is not good will suffer ... My advise for those parents who are going to choose gep school for their children to check with the respective school whether they offer CL . If I am not wrong Rosyth use to off CL but this year all students has to take up HCL. :shock:

Full.Cream:

jesschan:

[quote=\"Full.Cream\"] with abt 180 pr sch and 4000 invitations, that's 20ish per school (ave).

sounds logical... thanks.

was told acsp has 60+, so probably more for those superduper SAP schools :D[/quote]If I am not wrong most of their kids are able to go good and expensive enrichment centers for tuition...
but of course some of them are real gifted

CrazyDad:

Nowaday there are schools that can train better pupils to become GEP potential. So not all of them are natural, some are good at taking exam.

Well, I think those primary schools that have gep have higher number of students getting into gep......... so.... 'fair'??/ 'unfair????????

I have another point to highlight... those high ability students who have the apportunity to be trained to get into gep will take up the space for the real gifted students and end up some of the real gifted children will miss the opportunity of getting into gep :stupid: :stupid:

Merlion:

One good thing about GEP is it will train a kid to be more mature and independent. Yes, there are still GEP kids who go to those high price tuition centre for Maths and Science enrichment. And to be honest, I do not understand why their parents are doing that. GEP is a program that is supposed to train a kid to be independent and being able to solve problems by themselves. If the kids have problems with school work, they should discuss with their classmates or seek help from the GEP teachers. All the GEP teachers are special trained to handle all kind of gifted kids. Sometimes, I think parents just have to learn to let go of their kids and let them handle their own study. We will be surprised how well they will do if they have the right mind and attitude. The baseline is to teach the kids to be motivated and have the right attitude towards learning and most important - towards life.


Being selected for GEP does not mean that the kid is suitiable for the program. The parents are in the best position to know that if their kids are ready for the program. If a kid has to go to tuition center for english, maths and science tuition when they are in P3, then I think the parents better think twice before sending the kid into GEP. A poor GEP kid once written in his english eassy \" Everyday is like hell to me\". If I were the parents, I would pull him / her out of the GEP program because the program is hurting the kid's little heart. Don't just go for GEP because it is GEP. Only go for GEP if you think that this is the best route for your kid.

Ya you are right. At the begining of P4 gep, I was pretty worry of how difficult will be the work of gep for my son. Initially he was stress too but after term two, I could feel that he feel more ease already and now he seems to be coping quite well though once a while he will grumble stress. He can handle his social studies portfolio project pretty well and for his family project he got 39/40. Initially I wanted to help him in his homework which he didn't know how to do but he refused to as he said the teacher will go through with them... so I suppose that is how the gep works

musette:

Whoa! GEP sounds like a scary programme for a 9 year-old kid. My dd loves to read all kinds of books and magazines and is in the top 1% for NSW Science (results for Maths and Eng not known yet), but after reading all these, she'd better think twice about GEP. Not that she can get in....

Well, I think as a parent, we would some how know whether our kid is naturally gifted/intelligent or not. If you think they are, then i think is good for them to take up gep ( if they are qualified) which will further stretch and nature your kid... Yes the work is more stressful .. but i think it is real useful and can train up those kids who are real gifted. However, they would probably need a bit of your support and help along the way :lol:

Merlion:

>The principal gave out the offer to those who got in in front of the entire P3 at that time and get them to clap for them and congradulate them.


I think the same thing happens in a lot of schools when it comes to release of PSLE result right? The teacher will announce the top 3 or 5 students in that school and the students will go up to the stage and receive the result. All the students sitting on the floor will clap for them and congradulate them. Agree?
Please don't be so sensitive when it comes to GEP. I thought we were teaching our kids to have better sportmanship - congradulate those who did better. I hope everyone in this forum can be more fair to GEP students, not all of them are trained or drilled to get into GEP. :celebrate:

I totally agree with you.. you sound like a teacher. Are you? :lol:

Merlion:

There will be a GEP parents briefing at the beginning of year for each GEP school. The teacher will brief parents on what to expect. As GEP student's exam will end next week, just relax and go and have as much fun as possible for the upcoming holidays becasue P5 is the toughest year for GEP kids. As for oversea exchange program, some GEP schools will arrange P5 students to go to Beijing China in June for 2 weeks.

:oops: errrrr.......thats sound frightening...... for the 1st two term of p4, my son and I did feel quite stressful as there was this family tree project to submit and also he was not used to the gep and new school. But from third term on wards, it seems that he can manage pretty well ... hope next year he can cope well too ... otherwise not only he will feel stress, I will also suffer... let us hope for the best

Hi, my son next year will be in p5 gep. Heard that it is more busy in p5 ... can any one tell me more about it...I would also like to know whether they will have chance to go for oversea competition or exchange programme. Thanks. :lol: