Agenda• School’s Directions & Special Programmes

for P5 • Developments after P5• DSA• PSLE Matters• How the School will work with your child• Tips for Parents• Curriculum Talks

Cedar Primary School2016 SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY AND DIRECTIONS

Our VisionEvery Cedarian a lifelong learner, a

person of character

Our Vision UnpackedEvery Cedarian every student is importantA Lifelong Learner to cope with the VUCA landscape and in line with the nation’s desire to build up a nation of adaptable knowledge workersPerson of Character character formation and building a sense of rootedness to the nation

Our MissionNurturing

Enthusiastic Learners and Responsible

Citizens

Our Mission UnpackedNurturing consciously done through our school programmesEnthusiastic Learners enabling our students to be active participants in their own learningResponsible citizens ensuring that our students are civic-conscious and contributing members of society

Our ValuesCourtesy Care Enthusiasm Determination Adaptability Responsibility

• Striving for Academic Excellence for Lifelong Learners• Developing Cedarians of Character

• Pursuing Staff Excellence to build capacity and competency in Teaching, Administrative Efficiency and

Customer Service

Our Strategic Focuses

Cedar Primary SchoolDeveloping Cedarians of Character

Special Programmesfor P5 pupils

a. P5 Creative and Inventive Thinking (CIT) Programme

b. P5 3-day / 2-night Character Development Camp

c. P5 Study Campd. NE Showe. Learning Journeys

Special Programmes for P5

Cedar Primary SchoolStriving for Academic Excellence

for Lifelong Learners

Mark Range Grade91 and above A*75 to 90 A60 to 74 B50 to 59 C35 to 49 D20 to 34 EBelow 20 U

Standard Subject Grading

Foundation Subject GradingMark Range Grade85 and above G170 to 84 G250 to 69 G330 to 49 G4Below 30 U

Mark Range Grade80 and above Distinction65 to 79 Merit50 to 64 PassBelow 50 Ungraded

HMT Grading

Developments after P5

Subject Combinations Offered• 4 SS + 1 HMT• 4 SS• 3 SS + 1 FS (FEL, FSC, FMA & FMT)• 1 SS + 3 FS (FEL, FSC, FMA & FMT) • 4 FS (Foundation Mother Tongue will be

offered)

Movement After P5HMT

• Can continue to offer HMT if the child scores at least a Band 3 in HMT

Movement After P5 –Subjects offered at P6

• We may need to speak to you if your child has fared poorly in his subjects and needs to offer them at Foundation instead of Standard level in P6

• Your child may be asked to sit for a re-test in January to confirm his/her subject combination in P6

• The decision for the switching of subjects lies with the school and not the parents at this stage

Movement After P5 Subjects offered at P6

• Your child may also be provided an opportunity to offer EMS or MT at Standard level if he / she does exceptionally well in it.

• However additional support is essential.

Talent Management & DSA

by Mr Jabbar

DSA Matters• The DSA-Sec Exercise is an admission exercise to

allow participating secondary schools to select some Primary Six (P6) students for admission to Secondary One.

• The selection will be based on their achievements and talents before the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results are released.

DSA Matters• If your child has a CCA portfolio, he / she needs to

maintain his / her participation and attendance until the competition season is over

• We acknowledge external CCA achievements in the Holistic Report Card where evidence is provided

• Academic performance is still important to many schools offering DSA

• More information on DSA and participating schools can be found at: http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/dsa-sec/

DSA Matters• Candidates may be asked to attend trials,

auditions, interviews and / or aptitude tests

check respective

school websitesMarch

Go for trials

(June)By August

School Preference

Form / Indication

DSA-Sec allocation

Sec 1 Posting Ex

APPLICATION STAGE

SELECTION STAGE

PREFERENCE STAGE

RELEASE OF RESULTS

• Football– Victoria School– Tanjong Katong Sec School– St Joseph Institution

• Badminton– Zhonghua Secondary School– Tanjong Katong Girls School– Victoria School– St Joseph Institution– Nanyang Girls’ High

• Leadership– Tanjong Katong Sec School– Nanyang Girls’ High

• Debate– Tanjong Katong Girls School

• Academic• St. Joseph Institution• National Junior College• Nanyang Girls’ High

• Band• Tanjong Katong Sec School• Tanjong Katong Girls School• School of the Arts

• Dance• Tanjong Katong Girls School• School of the Arts

Some Examples

PSLEMatters

Which subject is most important?• E/MT/M/S: Every subject is important.

• English and Mathematics are important in terms of being found ready for secondary school.

• All subjects are important in terms of getting as high a PSLE T-score as possible.

• The higher the PSLE T-score, the more choices of secondary school.

Computation of PSLE Score

PSLE T-score• T-Score is not the mark that a pupil obtains in the

examination; sum of the T-Scores for the subjects taken

• T-Score gives the rank or position of a pupil’s performance compared to all other pupils in that subject whereas the mark obtained in the examination only shows how good the pupil is in that subject

• All 4 / 3 subjects that the pupil offers carry equal weighting

PSLE T-scoreHow is it calculated?

T = 50 + 10 [ (X – Y) / Z ]X is the pupil’s mark for the subject

Y is the average mark (mean) scored by all the pupilsZ is the spread of the marks around the average mark

(standard deviation)

We have no way of ascertaining what the Y and Z for any particular exam is

Pupils need to put in their best effort for all subjects

Some Realities – T-Score• Average score (Y) obtained by all pupils for a

subject is 68.0

• Spread of marks around the average score (Z) is 14.0

A child scoring 80 will obtain a score of :T = T = 50 + 10 [ (X – Y) / Z ]

or T = 50 + 10 (80-68) / 14 = 58.57

Some Realities – T-Score• Average score (Y) obtained by all pupils for a

subject is 68.0

• Spread of marks around the average score (Z) is 14.0

A child scoring 50 will obtain a score of :T = T = 50 + 10 [ (X – Y) / Z ]

or T = 50 + 10 (50-68) / 14 = 37.14

Some Realities – T-Score• Therefore in the example cited,

the pupil based on his raw scores should obtain 1 A and 1 C.

• But after applying the formula for T-scores, he receives 1 C and 1 D.

Educational Pathways after Primary School

Progression to Secondary School• Integrated Programme (IP) Course: 6-year programme

leading to the GCE A-Level Examination

• Express Course: 4-year programme leading to the GCE O-Level Examination

• Normal (Academic) Course: 4-year programme leading to the GCE N-Level Examination; A 5th year leading to the GCE O-Level examination made available to N(A) students who perform well in their GCE N-Levels

• Normal (Technical) Course: 4-year programme leading to the GCE N-Level Examination; programme prepares students for a technical-vocational education at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE)

Cedar Primary School Express

4 years

Normal(Acad)4 years

Normal(Tech)4 years

‘O’ Level

‘N(T)’ Level

‘N(A)’ Level

Integrated Programme6 years

PSLE

Sec 5N(A)1 year

Junior Colleges/Centralised Institute

2-3 years

AlternativeQualifications

Polytechnic3-4 years

‘A’ Level

Universities3-5 years

Work

Secondary Schools

ITE1-2 years

Primary6 years

Secondary4-5 years

Post-Secondary3-6 years

Which Education Pathway Will You Take?

Diploma

Relevance of the educational pathways to you and your child at this

stage Need to see PSLE as a 2 year preparation journey

Almost all of our Cedariansare capable of qualifying for

the Express stream.We need to work together to make it happen.

How the school will work with your child

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• What School Leaders intend to do :– Lesson Observations– Pep talks for the children (whole cohort, class,

individual)– Sharing of assessment results with the

children– PTM with P or VPs for parents whose children

are in danger of failing their SAs

How We will Work with Your Children

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• Your children move to different classes according to their P4 SA2 performance we do so to match their learning pace better but your child also needs to keep up and aim to improve his / her performance

• He / she is able to interact with and appreciate pupils of different abilities in his / her own form class helps to broaden the circle of friends for our Cedarians

How We will Work with Your Children

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• Remedial and supplementary lessons – also grouped according to ability - during term time, June and September holidays

• Review of concerns raised from CA in Semester 2, SA1 and SA2 results

• Monitoring and expecting every child to participate actively in lessons

How We will Work with Your Children

Tips for ParentsHow You can Work with Us

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Communications• We will be keeping you informed if your child is

misbehaving and we need your support • Please refer to your child’s Pupils Handbook daily

for daily homework updates / important announcements

• Should you need to meet with a teacher, please make an appointment ahead of schedule and refrain from contacting him / her after 6pm and on weekends.

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Homework Policy• 2 forms:

– Incomplete work started in class and to be submitted the next day

– Assigned homework with a 2 – 3 day deadline

• Spelling lists are assigned ahead of time for children to manage their learning and does not fall under assigned homework

• Teachers try their best to manage the amount of homework assigned for the students

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Homework matters• Pacing your child and monitoring his / her work – he

/ she may not have developed the maturity and discipline to work at a steady pace. Your child needs to take his / her school work seriously

• You need to monitor his / her daily and weekend homework as they will need to be able to cope and complete with the increased workload in time to come. Regular school attendance is assumed.

• Monitoring has to start now and not in Term 3

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Homework matters• Working with the teachers and reinforcing the

importance of completing their homeworkassigned by their teachers

• Our teachers will be very firm with their pupils when they do not complete homework assigned to them sending mixed signals as to which homework is more important can be frustrating for your child

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Assessment• Please ensure that your child takes assessments

seriously as the assessments serve as a yardstickof your child’s current progress

• A poor performance can mean:– the offering of a Standard Subject at Foundation

level in P6– Inability to cope with the P6 curriculum demands– affect his / her course options in Secondary School

Tips for ParentsHow You can Work with Your Children

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Balance• Providing your child balanced lifestyle – exercise

and recreation time should also be factored in his /her work schedule

• Your communication about and involvement in other aspects of his / her life

• Realistic and positive target setting for and with your child

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Recreational Activities• Minimise games and online activities, K-Pop and

Youtube viewing which are major distractions to studies

• Children under the age of 13 are not allowed to have Facebook accounts

• Ensuring that the children spend their holidays wisely and communicating with them on matters other than school work as well – do monitor their levels of stress

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Role Modelling• Role modelling so that the children have a more

positive attitude to reading and the use of Standard English and Standard Mother Tongue

• If you do have external sources of help coaching your child, do monitor whether they are value-adding to your child’s learning by helping him / her improve his / her understanding and his grades

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Understanding your pre-teen child

• In terms of :– His / her physical development– His / her interests and aspirations– His / her interpersonal relationships– What is happening at home– Your role

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How we would like to work with you

• Do update us, where possible, on what is happening at home to your child so that we can provide the relevant support

• We will do our best to support your child academically and where possible emotionally

• We need your support and to bring out the best in your child and appreciate your following up on advice given to the best of your ability

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How we would like to work with you

• All our Cedarians are capable of clearing the PSLE and the result is final determining the type of course and school that they qualify for

• Hope that if school and home can work together from the start of the year, more of our children can achieve their academic best

• So we need to be consistent in our messaging to them