In case anyone of you missed it, your results will be out in early Jan
http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2008/08/single-intake-for-junior-colle.php
1) Starting from 2009, all Junior Colleges (JC) and the Millennia Institute (MI) will start the school term for Year 1 students with a single intake in end January/early February, and the Year 2 students in the 2nd week of January. Specifically for 2009, Year 1 students will start school on 2 February and Year 2 students on 12 January.
2) A single intake system will facilitate a stronger educational programming in these schools where all students would start their course of study together. It obviates the need for the two admission exercises and the turn-over of students due to the two intakes (see background). In addition, it will also reduce the waiting time for some ‘O’ level graduates, who might otherwise need to wait for three months before entering JCs/MI.
3) JCs and MI will continue to share between 10 and 12 common weeks of school holidays with the primary and secondary schools (see 2009 School Terms and Holidays webpage). The common holiday periods of 1 week each in March and September, 4 weeks in Jun and the remaining weeks at the end of the year, will enable families with children studying in different educational levels to spend time together.
4) To make the single-intake possible, the following changes will take place from 2009:
5) The revised school calendars for JCs and MI, based on a single intake in early February of 2009, are on the 2009 School Terms and Holidays webpage.
i believe it's better this way =)
die die die
1st january!!!11111111
Originally posted by eagle:In case anyone of you missed it, your results will be out in early Jan
http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2008/08/single-intake-for-junior-colle.php
Single Intake for Junior Colleges and Millennia Institute from 2009
1) Starting from 2009, all Junior Colleges (JC) and the Millennia Institute (MI) will start the school term for Year 1 students with a single intake in end January/early February, and the Year 2 students in the 2nd week of January. Specifically for 2009, Year 1 students will start school on 2 February and Year 2 students on 12 January.
2) A single intake system will facilitate a stronger educational programming in these schools where all students would start their course of study together. It obviates the need for the two admission exercises and the turn-over of students due to the two intakes (see background). In addition, it will also reduce the waiting time for some ‘O’ level graduates, who might otherwise need to wait for three months before entering JCs/MI.
3) JCs and MI will continue to share between 10 and 12 common weeks of school holidays with the primary and secondary schools (see 2009 School Terms and Holidays webpage). The common holiday periods of 1 week each in March and September, 4 weeks in Jun and the remaining weeks at the end of the year, will enable families with children studying in different educational levels to spend time together.
4) To make the single-intake possible, the following changes will take place from 2009:
- The ‘O’ level results, which are currently released in late January, will be released in early January; and
- The posting results from the Joint Admissions Exercise, currently released in mid-February, will be released in end January.
5) The revised school calendars for JCs and MI, based on a single intake in early February of 2009, are on the 2009 School Terms and Holidays webpage.
Well..there's certainly changes in the system for once.
wah so sad no 1st 3mths. i had a lot of fun then.
Did you know...
The H2/H3/H1 system and syllabuses, is unique in the world, only Singapore has it. No other country in the world (including USA and UK) takes the H2/H3/H1 syllabus, they all have a more standardized 'A' level syllabus, even across examination boards (ie. the 'A' level syllabus for Cambridge, Oxford, AQA, EdExcel (the 1st 2 are UK, the last 2 are USA) are almost all the same, and quite significantly different from the H2/H3/H1 syllabus that Singapore candidates experience.
All of this is thanks to the farsightedness of the Singapore Government, who has decided that being extra kiasu in training our students, will give Singapore a competitive edge over other countries.
Subjects wise, the H2 syllabus differs most significantly from the rest-of-the-world 'A' level syllabus, for Biology (and to a lesser extent, for Chemistry and Physics).
Physics actually quite similar
>>> All of this is thanks to the farsightedness of the Singapore Government, who has decided that being extra kiasu in training our students, will give Singapore a competitive edge over other countries. <<<
I wasn't being sarcastic, btw, coz I actually agree with the Sg Govt on this one (as far as the H2/H3 sciences are concerned; but not necessarily on other education policies or curriculums. I think PW is problematic, for instance.)
h1 student: Teacher, why is it that ?
trollteacher: This is in H2 syllabus. You dont need to know.
h1 student: But teacher, i want to gain more knowledge.
trollteacher: You cant even do well in simple h1 syllabus. Wake up your idea and stop asking so many irrelevant questions.
h1 student drops out.
i think it is quite weird to focus so much on molecular biology, instead of the general biology (as in the former A level biology syllabus)
how many people are going to end up in bio-med science, bio-engineering?
for the medicine people, NUS would be asking them to relearn the stuff they learnt in secondary, whereas the stuff learnt in jc(molecular biology) is comparatively useless.
>>> h1 student: Teacher, why is it that ?
trollteacher: This is in H2 syllabus. You dont need to know.
h1 student: But teacher, i want to gain more knowledge.
trollteacher: You cant even do well in simple h1 syllabus. Wake up your idea and stop asking so many irrelevant questions.
h1 student drops out. <<<
That's a very accurate picture of what happens in every JC. Which is why a supportive tutor who is willing to encourage the student to truly understand and appreciate the science for what it really is (regardless of silly syllabus limitations) can be tremendously helpful to the student's enjoyment.
Of course, not everyone has the time or money or opportunity for tuition. But how it goes on in schools, both secondary schools and JCs, doesn't look like it's going to ever be changing for several reasons :
1) MOE teachers are severely overworked (but again, 'tong ren bu tong ming', just like in the SAF, for instance, some pple slack, some pple kena crap-work all the way. So *many*, not all, MOE teachers are severely overworked. Others just backstab to take credit, for instance). So they won't have the time or energy to give every student full support, like a private tutor can.
2) The syllabus, curriculum and system, is superficially results oriented, rather than true results oriented. True results, includes the student truly understanding and enjoying the process, so that he/she may have the motivation to contribute to humanity with his/her own unique insights, research and exploration. But being superficially results oriented, the JC teachers feel their priority is just to get students to blindly memorize to get marks. A good tutor, has the time and opportunity to help students to understand and enjoy at the same time as also memorizing to get full marks.
3) There are many teachers out there (both Sec sch and JCs), who do not themselves have a healthy mindset or attitude towards teaching and the students' learning. Every teacher, like every human being on this planet, is unique. I've met many colleague teachers whom I disagree on their teaching (content, method, style, etc). And students from other classes have said they wished I was their teacher instead. (this isn't so much about ego or advertising, it's to make a point - there are all kinds of teachers (just as they're all kinds of doctors, psychologists, philosophers, religious pple, etc), it's errorneous to overgeneralize to say most MOE teachers are horrible, or most MOE teachers are wonderful. They are individuals, with all individual kinds possible.)
>>> i think it is quite weird to focus so much on molecular biology, instead of the general biology (as in the former A level biology syllabus)
how many people are going to end up in bio-med science, bio-engineering?
for the medicine people, NUS would be asking them to relearn the stuff they learnt in secondary, whereas the stuff learnt in jc(molecular biology) is comparatively useless. <<<
By that reasoning, the syllabus doesn't really matter, whether old 'A' level or new 'H2', because arguably, University (and internship, or industrial attachment, or on-the-job training) is where the true learning (eg. for medicine, engineering, etc) begins.
Secondary school is only to prepare you for JC. Nobody uses secondary school learning to do their job.
JC is only to prepare you for University. Nobody uses JC learning to do their job.
But the new H2 Biology syllabus is at least more interesting than the old 'A' level Biology syllabus. What's unfair about the new H2 syllabus, is that it tries (and fails miserably) to syncretise 'A' level syllabus with University syllabus, and the result of it is JCs just photocopy University textbooks and dump them on students as notes to memorize. An insanely ridiculous, and unproductive to understand, unwieldly amount of crap to memorize.
Last year, Cambridge folks came down to the JCs to check out their JC Notes used for the new H2 syllabus. As far as H2 Biology was concerned, their findings was that all the JCs were simply kiasuingly dumping on their students waaay too much details which would never be actually required in the H2 exam. But the JCs will continue their kiasu ways. Because they're kiasu.
Anyway, as far as you (students) are concerned, focus on your own future. Plan for yourself, your career path, and work towards that now. Be in medicine, engineering, psychology, business, proactively seek out more learning, employment and career opportunities now. If you don't start to plan for your own future and take care of yourself, the Universe can't do much to help*.
*It's like this story of the religious man who was drowning in a flood. He had to climb onto his roof, but the rains continued and the water levels were rising rapidly. A rescue boat came by and said, "Climb aboard, we'll save you!". But the religious man said, "No need. I'm praying to God. He will save me." So the boat left. The waters continued to rise. Then a rescue helicopter came by, "Climb aboard, we'll save you!". But the religious man said, "No need. I'm praying to God. He will save me." So the helicopter left. The waters continued to rise and was now up to the man's neck. A UFO came by and the aliens said, "Climb aboard, we'll save you!". But the religious man said, "No need. I'm praying to God. He will save me." So the UFO left. The man drowned shortly thereafter. In the afterlife, he met God, and cried, "God! I prayed devoutly to you! Why didn't you save me? How could you forsake me?!?". To which, God replied, "Well let's see. I first sent you a boat, then a helicopter and then a UFO. Duuuuuuuude."
Originally posted by FirePig:h1 student: Teacher, why is it that ?
trollteacher: This is in H2 syllabus. You dont need to know.
h1 student: But teacher, i want to gain more knowledge.
trollteacher: You cant even do well in simple h1 syllabus. Wake up your idea and stop asking so many irrelevant questions.
h1 student drops out.
which student so garang go and ask out of syllabus question?
Originally posted by UltimaOnline:
>>> h1 student: Teacher, why is it that ?
trollteacher: This is in H2 syllabus. You dont need to know.
h1 student: But teacher, i want to gain more knowledge.
trollteacher: You cant even do well in simple h1 syllabus. Wake up your idea and stop asking so many irrelevant questions.
h1 student drops out. <<<
That's a very accurate picture of what happens in every JC. Which is why a supportive tutor who is willing to encourage the student to truly understand and appreciate the science for what it really is (regardless of silly syllabus limitations) can be tremendously helpful to the student's enjoyment.
Of course, not everyone has the time or money or opportunity for tuition. But how it goes on in schools, both secondary schools and JCs, doesn't look like it's going to ever be changing for several reasons :
1) MOE teachers are severely overworked (but again, 'tong ren bu tong ming', just like in the SAF, for instance, some pple slack, some pple kena crap-work all the way. So *many*, not all, MOE teachers are severely overworked. Others just backstab to take credit, for instance). So they won't have the time or energy to give every student full support, like a private tutor can.
2) The syllabus, curriculum and system, is superficially results oriented, rather than true results oriented. True results, includes the student truly understanding and enjoying the process, so that he/she may have the motivation to contribute to humanity with his/her own unique insights, research and exploration. But being superficially results oriented, the JC teachers feel their priority is just to get students to blindly memorize to get marks. A good tutor, has the time and opportunity to help students to understand and enjoy at the same time as also memorizing to get full marks.
3) There are many teachers out there (both Sec sch and JCs), who do not themselves have a healthy mindset or attitude towards teaching and the students' learning. Every teacher, like every human being on this planet, is unique. I've met many colleague teachers whom I disagree on their teaching (content, method, style, etc). And students from other classes have said they wished I was their teacher instead. (this isn't so much about ego or advertising, it's to make a point - there are all kinds of teachers (just as they're all kinds of doctors, psychologists, philosophers, religious pple, etc), it's errorneous to overgeneralize to say most MOE teachers are horrible, or most MOE teachers are wonderful. They are individuals, with all individual kinds possible.)
>>> i think it is quite weird to focus so much on molecular biology, instead of the general biology (as in the former A level biology syllabus)
how many people are going to end up in bio-med science, bio-engineering?
for the medicine people, NUS would be asking them to relearn the stuff they learnt in secondary, whereas the stuff learnt in jc(molecular biology) is comparatively useless. <<<
By that reasoning, the syllabus doesn't really matter, whether old 'A' level or new 'H2', because arguably, University (and internship, or industrial attachment, or on-the-job training) is where the true learning (eg. for medicine, engineering, etc) begins.
Secondary school is only to prepare you for JC. Nobody uses secondary school learning to do their job.
JC is only to prepare you for University. Nobody uses JC learning to do their job.
But the new H2 Biology syllabus is at least more interesting than the old 'A' level Biology syllabus. What's unfair about the new H2 syllabus, is that it tries (and fails miserably) to syncretise 'A' level syllabus with University syllabus, and the result of it is JCs just photocopy University textbooks and dump them on students as notes to memorize. An insanely ridiculous, and unproductive to understand, unwieldly amount of crap to memorize.
Last year, Cambridge folks came down to the JCs to check out their JC Notes used for the new H2 syllabus. As far as H2 Biology was concerned, their findings was that all the JCs were simply kiasuingly dumping on their students waaay too much details which would never be actually required in the H2 exam. But the JCs will continue their kiasu ways. Because they're kiasu.
Anyway, as far as you (students) are concerned, focus on your own future. Plan for yourself, your career path, and work towards that now. Be in medicine, engineering, psychology, business, proactively seek out more learning, employment and career opportunities now. If you don't start to plan for your own future and take care of yourself, the Universe can't do much to help*.
*It's like this story of the religious man who was drowning in a flood. He had to climb onto his roof, but the rains continued and the water levels were rising rapidly. A rescue boat came by and said, "Climb aboard, we'll save you!". But the religious man said, "No need. I'm praying to God. He will save me." So the boat left. The waters continued to rise. Then a rescue helicopter came by, "Climb aboard, we'll save you!". But the religious man said, "No need. I'm praying to God. He will save me." So the helicopter left. The waters continued to rise and was now up to the man's neck. A UFO came by and the aliens said, "Climb aboard, we'll save you!". But the religious man said, "No need. I'm praying to God. He will save me." So the UFO left. The man drowned shortly thereafter. In the afterlife, he met God, and cried, "God! I prayed devoutly to you! Why didn't you save me? How could you forsake me?!?". To which, God replied, "Well let's see. I first sent you a boat, then a helicopter and then a UFO. Duuuuuuuude."
There are many teachers out there (both Sec sch and JCs), who do not themselves have a healthy mindset or attitude towards teaching and the students' learning.
Very very true... Sigh...
Originally posted by skythewood:which student so garang go and ask out of syllabus question?
me lor
last time in JC I do that for both maths and physics
You can even see such attitudes in uni; some people take modules purely for scoring because they are "easy to scoer" modules, and not because they like it. That isn't a complete uni education in my eyes.
Originally posted by skythewood:which student so garang go and ask out of syllabus question?
no lor. this really exist even in normal students.
there is sometimes conflict in the syllabus, where the contents of the H1 syllabus may be laid upon the foundations of the H2 syllabus.
and i guess the story by firepig applies to me here. took h1 econs during the first 3 months of JC. then we were told to write an essay, which somehow includes some aspect of H2 stuff which we were not taught.
in the end i drop the subject for history, which is more skill base.
Hi,
Our H1/H2/H3 may be unique in the world but there is a similar system with a different name in UK, i.e. AS/A/AEA (Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced/Advanced Extension Award). The basic idea for introducing this approach, I believe, is to create diverse learning paths for students with varying learning abilities. This is rather desirable. Such an objective may look great on paper but the approach may not deliver good results if implementation is not properly carried out by teachers who just teach students to pass exams :P
There is hope if some teachers care for what students take away from their lessons :) Let me share with you a positive true story that took place during one of my lessons.
H2 maths student: Cher, why must X, Y be independent in "Var(X + Y) = Var(X) + Var(Y)?"
Me: If they are not, the result will not hold, as we will have something called a covariance of X, Y.
H2 maths student: My 'cher never say that leh. Ask us to memorise only. Can you go on to explain?
Me: Erm, that's out of syllabus. Since you are interested to know, I just mention simply. Covariance is a quantity that establishes a relationship between random variables X, Y. You will study that if you continue further education in university. At our level, we will just need to know that the covariance of X, Y is zero when X, Y are independent so that we have the result in your school notes.
H2 maths student: I can relate better now...I go share with my friends can?
Me: Better do that. Knowledge is always out there waiting to be shared.
H2 maths student: No leh, different schools do different things to outdo one another.
Me: What to do? Competition in Singapore is stiff mah.
H2 maths student: Still, we can share what?
Me: Then you start loh.
H2 maths student: Must ah!
Thanks!
Cheers,
Wen Shih