PSLE results will be released on next Wednesday, 24th November 2021.
What’s next?
My purpose in writing this article is to help parents and P6 children think with clarity.
*Mark is an active boy who has been involved in sports since Primary 3. He was the captain of his primary school basketball team. During pre-covid times, he had basketball training at least 3 times in a week. In addition, he had to attend supplementary and remedial classes after school. He was deemed an average pupil, and could be likened to attain a raw score of AL5 for every subject. This potentially puts him at a total of 20 points. He is eligible for the Express stream in Secondary 1. As Mark lives in Sengkang, his parents decided to select these 6 secondary schools as his potential choices after having a talk with him:
– Hougang Secondary School
– Holy Innocents’ High School
– Monfort Secondary School
– Punggol Secondary School
– Serangoon Garden Secondary School
– Serangoon Secondary School
The reached consensus was a product of thinking with clarity.
a) Distance
If *Mark wanted a school located in another region (say, Central) because it is excellent in basketball, he has to take the time taken for transportation into serious consideration. Inclusive of basketball training and after-school lessons, he has to grapple with the fact that the longer time spent travelling could be used for revision or rest. Hence, his parents needed him to buy into the notion that he can make better use for the potential time savings if he were to enter a nearby school.
b) Culture
“It’s a neighbourhood school, so it’s a bad school.” This is the generalised school of thought we’ve been brought up in. During our trainee teaching days, we did not have any say in our school posting. We go wherever the Ministry assigns. I remember fondly in my first school posting as a beginning teacher, my mentor used to remind me, “How you frame your words, frame your world.”
During the first day of school, fresh-eyed, really to give my best to my form class, I was taken aback when I heard remarks such as “Teacher, I don’t want to come to this school, I only come here because I have no choice.” From that moment on, I decided to commit myself to showing the class that they can excel when they put in the hard work. Many years later, I’m still in contact with some of these pupils. Some has become entrepreneurs, some has decided to further their studies for post grad, some has decided to climb the corporate ladder, some has decided to settle down with children earlier in life. To me, they are all successful in their own way.
What’s the point of this anecdote? Culture is a powerful tool to shape the belief of an individual. We have no control over which teachers will be teaching *Mark. But his parents could sign up as a family for the open houses for various secondary schools, and talk to the seniors or teachers representing them, and have a “vibe check” to see if it fits. The open house also serves as a great opportunity to visit the premise physically and see what are the facilities offered by the school. Culture in all, culture is all.
*name has been changed to protect the privacy of my pupil
Part 2 of the article is here:
https://www.etontuition.com/psle-2021-part-2-whats-the-point/