BRIEFING FOR PARENTS @ MGS (Pr) - Methodist Girls' School

WELCOME TO
BRIEFING FOR
PARENTS
@ MGS (Pr)
GODLY WOMEN OF EXCELLENCE
WITH A HEART OF LOVE @ MGS
10 JAN 2009

Methodist Girls’
School
~ Founded in 1887 ~
10 JANUARY 2009

School Vision
Godly women of
Excellence with a
heart of Love

School Mission
To educate every girl in a
Christian environment
in order that she may
MASTER, GROW and SERVE
in every phase of her life.

School Motto
To Master
To Grow
To Serve

School Values that GEL
Godliness
Excellence
Love

MGS – A Full School
Primary School –
A Governmentaided
School
Secondary School –
An Independent
School

Methodist Girls’ School
A premier school with top rankings in
• Academic Standards
• Sports & Physical Fitness
• Performing Arts
Highly Regarded In Singapore
and Internationally

A HOLISTIC EDUCATION AT MGS

Key Personnel – Senior Management Team
Principal
Vice-Principal (Sec)
Vice-Principal
Vice-Principal (Pri)
Vice-Principal
Chief Finance Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Hwee
Mrs Shirleen Ong
Mrs Corinne Sim
Mrs Diana Goh
Mrs Yap Tsui Lan
Mrs Mabel Lee
Ms Julie Chng
Ms Sim Yoke

ORGANISATIONAL
EXCELLENCE – recognised by
MOE and SPRING Singapore

School Distinction Award (2006)

SUSTAINED ACHIEVEMENT
AWARDS
(Pri)
•Physical Fitness (10 th Award)
•Sports (3 rd Award)
Sports

BEST PRACTICE AWARD
Teaching and Learning

Singapore Quality Class (2006)

Where Joy in Learning Takes Place at MGS
www.mgs.sch.edu.sg

Term 2 Week 14
• Loss of curriculum time in Term 4 – 3
weeks
• 22 Jun (Mon) to 26 Jun (Fri) - Additional 1
week before Term 3 begins
• Regular lessons for P5 and P6 only
• Remediation / Enrichment of P3 & P4

• Class Size in P3 (max. 44) – norm for
ALL schools in Singapore
• Typical class size in Singapore (and
manpower given by MOE) is according
to this class size. Exceptions were
made by MOE for P1 and P2

• P4 SBC – also demanded by students
from girls selected for GE Programme,
although priority is given to our own
girls

• Canteen prices will come in ‘3 sizes’:
S, M, L
• Lower Pri recess – will enjoy the
lowest price available. (Adults will not
be eligible)
• Parents need to return utensils after
use (be good role models)
• Revision of food prices – will take
place for most of the stalls

DETAILS OF THE P4 JOURNEY
By Mrs Mun Poh Hoon

Briefing for Parents 2009
Primary 4

Outline
• Examination Format
• Remedial Lessons
• Enrichment Programmes
• Project Work
• Character Development Programme
• P4 Adventure Camp
• Subject-Based Banding

Examination Format

English
COMPONENT
ORAL
LISTENING
LANGUAGE USE
COMPOSITION
TOTAL
CONTENT
- Picture conversation
- Reading aloud
- Picture matching
- Note-taking
- Dictation
- Vocabulary
- Cloze Passage
- Grammar
- Synthesis
- Comprehension
- Picture OR Situational
WEIGHTING
%
16
16
48
20
100

Mathematics
PART
ITEM TYPE
NO. OF
QUESTIONS
WEIGHTING
%
I
Multiple
Choice
20
40
Short-Answer
20
40
II
Long Answer /
Structured
5
20
TOTAL
45
100

Mother Tongue
COMPONENT
CONTENT
WEIGHTING
%
ORAL
LISTENING
LANGUAGE USE
COMPOSITION
- Picture conversation
- Reading aloud
- Picture matching
- Comprehension
- Vocabulary
- Grammar
- Comprehension
- Picture Series
20
10
50
20
TOTAL
100

Science
CA1 and SA1
Item Type
Multiple Choice
Open-Ended
SA2
Item Type
Multiple Choice
Open-Ended
Practical
NO. of Qns
30
*16
No. of Qns
25
*16
-
Weighting %
60
40
Weighting %
50
40
10
*Questions carry 2, 3 or 4 marks.

Examination Dates
Continual Assessment 1
(10%)
Semestral Assessment 1
(30%)
Semestral Assessment 2
(60%)
Term 1
Weeks 8 & 9 – Written Exam
26 Feb – 4 Mar
Term 2
Week 4 – Oral
Week 6 to 8 – Written Exam
6 – 14 May
Term 4
Week 2 – Oral
Week 4 & 5 - Written Exam
7 – 13 Oct

Term 2 Week 14
• Enrichment activities and remedial
lessons may be conducted at the
end of the June Holidays.
(22 June – 26 June)

Remedial Lessons

Remedial Lessons
• Remedial classes are kept to a small
number for effective teaching.
• Teachers will revise and re-teach basic
skills and concepts pertaining to the
subjects, according to the needs of the
pupils.
• Pupils identified based on P3 SA2 results

Enrichment Programmes

English (Enrichment)
• Literature lessons will be carried out for all
pupils during curriculum time.
• Rationale : To enable pupils to acquire an
appreciation of the English language
• Literary study on the literature books. Plot,
characterization, themes and enrichment
activities related to the book.
• 2 periods a week

English (Enrichment)

English (Enrichment)
• Little Red Dot - a newspaper for children
every Tuesday.
• Interesting articles on Science, Maths,
English and Social Studies. Free copy of
Straits Times included.
• English Teacher will go through some of
the articles in the paper.

Science (Enrichment)
• Young Botanist Card
(to be completed during Jun hols)
• Life Science Enrichment classes (June 09)
~ Aroma Chemistry

Mother Tongue (Enrichment)
Tamil Department:
• Touch Typing Workshop – Term 1
• Educational visit to Tamil Murasu – Term 2
Malay Department:
• Malay Language Creative Writing using Koobits
Software – Term 1
• Art and Cultural Camp – Term 2
(Learning Journey to Bukit Candu)
Chinese Department:
• Visit to Tea Chapter

Enrichment Programmes
International Competitions &
Assessments for Schools (ICAS)
Paper
Dates
Computer Skills
Science
English
Mathematics
21 April
12 May
21 July
4 August

Project Work

Project Work
Project Work on Conservation
(Animals)
- begins in term 2 and stretches to term 3
- teacher supervises the work closely
- pupils present their projects to the class
- non-examinable

Character Development
Programme

Character Development Programme – Pri 4
Leadership/
Enterprise
Leadership
Development
Programme
Camp
Citizenship
Learning
Journeys
CIP
Personal
& Social
ICT Enrichment
Programme

Leadership/ Enterprise
Leadership Development Programme (Jan 08)
To help pupils:
• raise their self-awareness
• discover their leadership styles and
strengths
• manage conflicts with their peers

Leadership/ Enterprise
P4 Adventure Camp (28 May – 30 May 09)
• to experience a residential camp in a communal
context
• to foster school and class spirit
• to develop stronger bonds among students
• to appreciate the value of co-operation and
teamwork

P4 ADVENTURE CAMP

Citizenship - Learning Journeys
Learning Journeys
• Chinatown Heritage Tour
• Maths & Science Trail
- 16 Mar 09 (during 1 week Mar holiday)

Citizenship - Community Involvement Programme
• Each student to complete at least 6 hours of CIP.
The activities will be conducted after school.
• Seashore Programme
During the P4 Adventure Camp, pupils will help
clean the East Coast beach.
• Responsible Pet Ownership
Pupils will listen to a talk on Animal Abuse by
S.P.C.A.

Personal & Social – ICT Enrichment Programme
• IT Enrichment classes - Advanced Powerpoint
(Term 2)
• Pupils will learn to incorporate and insert video,
sound clips into presentations.

Subject-Based Banding

Subject-based Banding
What is Subject-based Banding
• Replace the EM3 stream in P5 and P6.
• Pupils have the flexibility of taking a mix of
standard or foundation subjects, depending
on their strength.

Subject-based Banding
Why introduce Subject-based Banding
- To provide more flexibility to students with
strengths and abilities that vary across subjects.
- To encourage greater interaction among
students with different strengths.

Subject-based Banding
• At P4
- Students sit for school-based examinations.
School recommends a subject combination
based on students’ school-based exam
results.
Parents fill up option form to indicate
preferred combination.

Subject-based Banding
If at P4, she…
Passes all 4 subjects with
85% & above
Recommendation at P5…
- 4 standard subjects + Higher
Mother Tongue Language
Passes all 4 or 3 subjects
Passes 2 subjects or less
- 4 standard subjects
- 3 standard subjects + 1 other
foundation subjects; or
- 2 standard subjects + 2 other
foundation subjects; or
- 1 standard subjects + 3 other
foundation subjects; or
- 4 foundation subjects

Subject-based Banding
• At P5
Students take subject combination chosen
by parents.

Subject-based Banding
• End of P5
Student who
takes 1 or more
foundation
subject(s) and
does very well
School may allow
the student to
upgrade some
subjects to
standard level.
Student who
takes 4 standard
subjects and has
difficulty coping
School may allow
the student to take
1 or more subjects
at foundation level
at P6.
All other
students
School will allow
them to continue
the same subject
combination at P6.

Subject-based Banding
• At P6
Students take subject combination
decided by the school.

Subject-based Banding
• End of P6 (PSLE)
Progression to secondary level is based
on the PSLE score. The different
expectations of standard and foundation
subjects will be taken into account when
the PSLE scores are calculated.

Thank you
“Learning is a journey, not a destination”