It’s certainly not a normal Friday that everyone is looking forward to for PSLE Mums and Dads. Primary school students have received their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results and we are sure most parents and students are glad that the tension and anticipation is over.
A total of 42,336 students sat for the PSLE this year. 66.4% of the cohort qualified for the Express stream, 20% and 11.2% are eligible for the Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) stream respectively.
This year, 1,007 students (2.4%), did not qualify for secondary school. Of these, students who have attempted PSLE once may re-attempt the PSLE in the coming year or apply to Assumption Pathway School (APS) or NorthLight School (NLS). The remaining students who have attempted PSLE more than once will be preferentially offered a place in APS or NLS.
Students who are eligible to progress to secondary school would have received their Secondary One (S1) Option Form from their primary schools on Friday. Parents may submit their child’s S1 Options online via the Secondary One Internet System (S1-IS). The S1-IS is available from 11am on Friday until 3pm on Nov 27 this year, through the S1 Posting website.
Alternatively, the S1 Option Form can be submitted through the student’s primary school from next Monday till Nov 27, from 9am to 3pm.
The S1 posting results will be released on Friday, Dec 19 2014. Students are to report to the secondary schools they are posted to on Monday, Dec 22 2014 at 8.30am.
Click on the next page for some tips on secondary school application, courtesy of EduMatters.
Common concerns from parents
We noticed that some frequently asked questions that are appearing in forums and FaceBook groups and we would like to give our take on some of them.
1. If my child missed the Cut Off Point (COP) by a few marks, should we still try for the school?
EduMatters: We recommend that your child can still try for the schools in their first or second choice. Generally, COP fluctuates from year to year. Comparing 2012 and 2013, most schools dropped between 3 – 5 points. The COP shown in our directory, and the Secondary 1 booklet is a guide based on last year's intake.
However, by the 3rd or 4th choice, it would be wiser to choose more realistic schools that your child have a higher chance of successful enrolment.
2. Should I register my child in the same school as his/her sibling?
EduMatters: This is a common question asked when a parent have two siblings and their COP differs. If their age gap is very close (or if they are twins), it might be good that they attend the same school or different school, but of similar traits.
Same school considerations: It is inevitable for teachers and friends to compare siblings or twins. If you children have been comfortable with each other and can look out for each other, having them in the same school may not be a bad idea. At the very least, it makes Parents Teacher Meetings more convenient.
Different school considerations: There will be no comparisons in school, but if the siblings are attending schools of different focus, the comparisions may happen at home (especially for twins). Parents will need to moderate the comparisions to ensure it does not turn into unhealthy competition.
3. Express or Normal Academic
Sometimes we get caught between these two streams if your child achieves the borderline score between 188 – 200. The dilemma would be the inferred quality of education for each stream based on the school's "branding". Usually the child can do the Normal Academic stream in the better "branded" school while for the same score, he or she is offered the Express stream at another school.
Here are some issues to consider as you make your choice.
(a) Is your child more suitable to be a big fish in a small pond, or a small fish in a big sea? Read here for more details.
(b) Did you child worked very hard to achieve this score? Or did he/she not perform as expected due to other reasons (Stress, anxiety, fatigue before the exam)?
(c) Is your child aiming to go to a Junior College, or a Polytechnic? Currently there are 4 routes from Normal Academic stream to enter into Polytechnic. Taking the Normal Academic stream might allow your child a pace where he/she can manage, enjoy learning and still find their way into a Polytechnic.
(d) If you and your child are still unsure if he/she can cope then it might be better to choose the Express stream first. It is always easier to transfer from Express to Normal Academic if they cannot cope, compared to excelling in their work to transfer from Normal Academic to Express.
4. PSLE Top Score
In the past, Singaporean parents are very keen in knowing the top scorer for each cohort. Some might even follow it closely like the stock market indexes. However, we can only guess the purpose of doing so. Perhaps it is for announcing proudly to friends and family during gatherings?
Unless your child scored above 280, the purpose of knowing the top score is probably very meaningless, and we would like to think no parent would be out there caning their child for not being the top in PSLE 2014.
There is no award for the top scorer, and clearly the Ministry of Education (MOE) wish to move away from it by not announcing top scores in all national exams anymore.
Some may want to use top scores to gauge the current batch's COP into certain branded schools, but without more detailed information on the cohort, we would say their efforts are possibly as close as guessing next week's 4D numbers based on this week's winning numbers.
For those that are still interested, KiasParents has a page that is collating top scores of each school from public inputs.
References:
Click here to view COP, CCA and other information for all schools or here to see all Open House Dates.
Article and images are courtesy of EduMatters.