Tag Archives: Education

2017 Secondary 2 Week 6 Update

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This was the usual week for the children, with school, CCA and some studies. 

GG’s school has had the Sec 3 streaming talk with them and she is not very happy with the subject choices that are offered to her stream. I need to wait until the parents talk next month before I sit with her to discuss what subjects will be best for her. I also need to speak to her form teacher about this. 

I also attended a parent support group meeting in her school where the principal was present and shared with him some of the things that GG has been telling about her class. Apparently her class is already quite notorious and some children are very disruptive in class with the end result being the whole class gets penalised. 

Next week is the parent support group meeting in BB’s school and the week after the tea session with his principal. 

Happy Sunday everyone!

Secondary 2 Week 5 Update

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This was a very short school week for BB & GG because of the Chinese New Year holidays.

GG got another achievement award in school, this time for her CCA. This was because of her CCA, Choir which took part in a competition last year plus their school’s anniversary celebrations. According to her, almost all, but not all members of the choir got the award.

Next week is the first common test for her, while for BB, it will be sometime towards the end of the month.

That’s all from us this week….

Secondary 2 Week 4 Update

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This was a slightly shorter school week due to the Lunar New Year celebrations in school on Friday which meant they did not have any lessons that day.

I was really mad at BB this week. Twice in the week, I’ve had to speak to his teachers regarding him – the first was his English teacher who complained that he did not complete some work and had also forgotten to bring his file and a book. The second time was his Maths teacher who told me he had not brought back some homework. I am happy that both teachers reached out to speak to me, because, this more than anything else shows they care about him, especially since this is an important year for him, his streaming year. I told both teachers to punish him as appropriate as he needs to know the consequences of his work. Also I have banned him from using his phone in the morning before school.

As for BB, she had a fairly mundane week, her biggest excitement coming from the Chinese New Year performance in her school on Friday where she was one of the soloists. She also wanted to sign up for the SYF Showcase performance which her teacher asked if she and her choir friends were interested in. I gave her permission on the condition that it does not distract from her studies.

Gong Xi Fa Cai or Happy Lunar New Year of the Rooster to all….

 

2017 Secondary 2 Week 3

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It was a fairly boring school week for GG & BB this week.

GG’s school honoured all students who won the Edusave awards over the past few weeks. GG was one of them and they school also posted photos of the children on their school Facebook page. GG felt quite embarrassed by all the attention she was getting in school!

BB came home from school to announce he has been selected for his school’s math olympiad team again. They will be tutored for around 5 sessions with a test at the end of this which will be some time just before they close for the half-yearly holidays. I was actually surprised that he got selected as his math marks were nothing to shout at. Apparently, the top 17 math students for the level were selected. It was not enough to be just the top 17, you also had to get a recommendation from your class math teacher.

For the past few weeks, when GG has CCA, she has not been eating the lunch we send with her in the morning. Her excuse every time has been that there was no time to eat, sometimes the difference between the class ending and CCA starting only 5 minutes. I got quite angry about this and texted a school leader, the parent-school liaison person who promised to speak to the teachers. I am also going to raise this question at the tea session with her school principal next month if things do not get better by then.

Have a good Sunday!

2017 Secondary 2 Week 1 Update

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School started on 3rd January for children across Singapore. GG was super excited to start school, while BB was ambivalent about it. This year is a difficult year for them as this year they have to choose their subjects they want to specialise in for their O levels. So getting good marks, especially if you want to choose popular subjects is a must.

GG’s school timing has extended by almost an hour most days while BB’s remains the same. Secondary schools in Singapore end around 12:30 – 12:45 pm on Fridays to allow the Muslim teachers and students to go for their Friday prayers. If they have any activity on Friday, it will usually start around 2:30 – 3 pm. This allows the Muslims to go for prayers and also eat lunch.

School work has started for both and so have homework too. I’ve told BB that he should not be scolded by his teachers for anything this year and also do well in school. GG is already mature for her age, it’s just BB I need to focus on this year to make sure he does well enough to get the subjects of his choice for next year. I know he will be completely miserable if he does not get Science as he is set on becoming an aeronautical engineer.