Finally a piece of good news this week! GG & BB got their Hindi SA1 results yesterday and we were pleasantly surprised with the results….GG passed (not by a lot, but she passed) and BB failed marginally…I now have some hope for the future.

GG hasn’t stopped smiling since she came home from school yesterday. I am using this opportunity to tell her how happy she will be when she does well in her exams and has this feeling again! BB is being a perfect boy – not too concerned with his low(er) marks, but there’s always hope right?

The orals start tomorrow and then the written papers. Wish us luck….

The lull before the storm week – this is the last week BB & GG have before they start their SA1 (Semesteral Assessment 1) exams. Monday onwards they start the non-paper components – listening comprehension, composition for English and Mother Tongue (which they will sit out) and then the next week will be the oral exams after which the written exams start. This year is moving way too fast for me!

Earlier in the week, BB & GG sat for the ICAS test. I was pretty unconcerned about this test until I read some posts on parenting groups I frequent and then realized it’s more important than I thought it was! The children sat for the science test first with the Maths and English ones to come.

The International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) are independent skills-based assessments with a competition element. Commonly referred to as the UNSW tests, ICAS is unique, being the most comprehensive generally available suite of academic assessments and school tests for primary and secondary school students. Each test is sat at the student’s school and is invigilated by teachers under normal examination conditions. Over one million student entries are accepted from over 6,300 schools in Australia and New Zealand annually. In addition, students from over 20 countries including Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and the USA participate in ICAS each year.

For the Science test, the children are tested in skills in the key scientific areas of:

• Interpreting data, including observing, measuring and interpreting diagrams, tables and graphs
• Applying data, including inferring, predicting and concluding
• Higher order skills, including investigating, reasoning and problem solving

The papers cover content on:

• Earth and Beyond (incorporating the Earth Sciences and Astronomy).
• Energy and Change (incorporating Physics).
• Life and Living (incorporating Biology and Ecology).
• Natural and Processed Materials (incorporating Chemistry).

BB found the paper quite easy while GG found it hard (typical right?). BB also told me there were Chemistry type questions which he could answer (go figure!) I really don’t know if he actually did the questions after thinking it through or he just picked an answer he thought was correct!

I heard and hope this is correct that we can use these scores as part of our DSA application – let’s see if the result comes through before our applications go in J

BB and GG finished their Hindi SA1 exams and they said it was only ok! Now I am scared – when they say it’s ok, it usually ends up in them failing the exam! God!! They really need to get their act together – it’s just slightly over 5 months to THE EXAMS!!!

Another job for this week is to register BB for the NUS DSA. I’ve done most of the registration process, but need to fll up the last part about BB’s Maths, Science and English marks from P4 onwards. I need to ask his form teacher for this on Monday.

Otherwise the week passed by uneventfully, the school SA1 exams will start from the end of the month with the Orals first, so we need to get GG & BB on speed there.

Another week down and we are slowly inching towards the SA exams. GG & BB have their Hindi SA written exams next week and the other subjects will be in the end of the month.

We went to the Open House by NUS High School yesterday, and though we didn’t have much time to see the school (because of the Hindi classes), we managed to catch the principal’s talk and I am sold! I really like this school, and though BB is not thinking of this as his first choice, he also seems to want to give this a shot!

The admission process starts with applying for DSA, followed by the selection tests, selection camp leading to an offer letter. There is also a Phase 2 which will happen after the PSLE results are out. Fees for Singapore citizens is $300 per month, for SPR it is $450 and so on with $20  supplementary fees for all per month.

I really hope BB gets through one of his school choices….

This weekend, GG & BB got their PSLE exam booklets. This is a booklet which has the instructions to students taking their PSLE exams this year. In addition, since they are not taking the usual MT (Chinese, Malay, Tamil), they got an additional note for their Hindi exams. Now the exams is very, very real to us 😦

The booklet has things on exam rules and regulations, format, use of dictionaries and scientific calculators. There is also information on what to you if you are unable to take the exam in your own school (basically if you are hospitalised or suffering from some infectious diseases) and the results dates (yikes!) plus the time table (double yikes)