Download PowerPoint Slides from WELCOME P4 Meet Parents (25.3.11) Download PowerPoint Slides from http://www.rivervalleypri.moe.edu.sg 1

Agenda Vision, Mission & Values Overview of Subject-Based Banding Subject Based Banding at RVPS Question & Answer with Teachers, Key Personnel, VP and P. All slides will be available on school website.

“Inspiring Learners, Edifying Leaders” VISION “Inspiring Learners, Edifying Leaders”

School Vision Inspire – stimulate creativity, fill a person with confidence, to influence and guide someone (spur, motivate, fire, stir, arouse, encourage, influence, enthuse, excite, imbue) Edify – to improve the mind or morals of (build up, instruct, improve, enlighten, inform, guide, educate, nurture, teach)

by providing a Total Education in RVPS School Mission To nurture our pupils to be Future-Ready by providing a Total Education in RVPS

Total Education Balanced, holistic, rigorous and progressive, Knowledge, skills and values Partnership with parents Future-Ready Ready for life and for the world By enhancing their cognitive, physical, aesthetics and character development. Contribute actively to society

CORE VALUES Serve with Respect Lead with Integrity Live with Compassion Learn with Excellence CORE VALUES

MOTTO Strive for the Best 8 8

4 MOE Desired Outcomes of Education (DOEs) & 4 Pupil-Focused Strategic Objectives (Goals) No DOEs Goals 1 A Confident Person Pupils who are able to think creatively and critically 2 A Self-Directed Learner Pupils have inquiring minds and a passion for learning 3 A Concerned Citizen Pupils who are able to contribute to school and society 4 An Active Contributor Pupils have leadership qualities

MOE Key Stage Outcomes of Education (Pri) be able to distinguish right from wrong know their strengths and areas for growth be able to cooperate, share and care for others have a lively curiosity about things be able to think for and express themselves confidently take pride in their work have healthy habits and an awareness of the arts know and love Singapore

Class Names from 2010 Confidence Diligence Endurance Friendship Graciousness Honesty Kindness Have a discussion with your children about their class names

PERI Recommendations Balancing knowledge with skills and values Investing in a quality teaching force Enhancing infrastructure

1. Balancing knowledge with skills & values Use engaging pedagogy to teach skills and values – enhance content mastery and teaching methods More holistic assessment to support learning – emphasis on skills development, esp P1 and P2 Emphasise non-academic programmes within curriculum – quality PE, Art, Music lessons for all – Programme for Active Learning (PAL) in P1 and P2

2. Investing in a quality teaching force Provide additional manpower Recruit committed, quality educators Equip teachers well through training and professional development

3. Enhancing infrastructure Single-session primary schools (likely to be 2015 for RVPS) New generation primary school facilities Support for social services

Subject-Based Banding NURTURING EVERY CHILD by Catering to Your Child’s Abilities We would like to share on the topic of Subject-based Banding, which was announced in September last year, and will be implemented in all Singapore schools for Primary 5 in 2008. I will give you the broad overview, followed by some details which are specific to our school. 16

(1) SBB for P4 (2) DSA for P3–P6

Why Subject-Based Banding? Every child is unique – aptitudes, abilities & talents Balanced education to prepare them for life Child’s interests and strengths Aims to help every child realise his potential No child to be worse off with SBB What does Subject-based Banding mean for your child? Every child will be encouraged to do the subjects at the level that best meet his abilities. If your child is doing well in all subjects, he will take these subjects at the standard level. If your child is good at some subjects but very weak in others, he will be able to take a mix of standard and foundation subjects. This will help stretch and develop your child further in his strong subjects. It will also allow your child to proceed at a pace he can manage for his weaker subjects. For those of you who are familiar with the previous method of streaming, what this means is that Subject-based Banding will replace the merged and EM3 streams from next year’s Primary 5 cohort, i.e. your child’s cohort. This system is more flexible than the merged and EM3 streams – it allows pupils to take a mix of standard or foundation subjects, depending on the pupils’ abilities. No child would be worse off with Subject-based Banding. 18

Why Subject-Based Banding? To provide more flexibility and choice to pupils with strengths and abilities that vary across subjects – concentrate on the subjects they are good at. To encourage greater interaction, camaraderie and class spirit among pupils with different strengths in the same class. We recognise that pupils have varying strengths in different subjects. Not everyone is good at every subject, or weak in every subject. To provide more flexibility for pupils to develop their strengths, Subject-based Banding is therefore introduced. Another aim of Subject-based Banding is to encourage greater interaction among pupils with different strengths and abilities. Pupils do not have to attend all lessons with the same classmates, but have the opportunity to interact with other pupils and learn from each other. 19

Why Subject-Based Banding? “We recognise different abilities... and help each student to proceed at a pace that he can manage.” Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam Former Minister for Education (2006) Our Minister for Education shared in 2006 that “we recognise different ……..” 20

What SBB means for your child Every child will be encouraged to do the subjects at the levels that best meet his abilities – Standard or Foundation levels Removal of streams in Primary 5 and 6 since 2008 In the past, a child might take all Foundation subjects. With SBB, he can take one or more Standard subjects. What does Subject-based Banding mean for your child? Every child will be encouraged to do the subjects at the level that best meet his abilities. If your child is doing well in all subjects, he will take these subjects at the standard level. If your child is good at some subjects but very weak in others, he will be able to take a mix of standard and foundation subjects. This will help stretch and develop your child further in his strong subjects. It will also allow your child to proceed at a pace he can manage for his weaker subjects. For those of you who are familiar with the previous method of streaming, what this means is that Subject-based Banding will replace the merged and EM3 streams from next year’s Primary 5 cohort, i.e. your child’s cohort. This system is more flexible than the merged and EM3 streams – it allows pupils to take a mix of standard or foundation subjects, depending on the pupils’ abilities. No child would be worse off with Subject-based Banding. 21

How does Subject-Based Banding work? The Primary 4 examinations will continue to be school-based. The Primary 4 examinations will tell us your child’s academic ability in the various subjects and the school will recommend a subject combination based on the results. Instead of recommending a child to EM3, or merged stream, we will now recommend a combination that is most suited for your child. So for example, we may recommend that the child will do Foundation English, Foundation Science, Foundation Mathematics and Standard Mother Tongue. This remains our recommendation. You will make the final decision on what your child will take in Primary 5. The school will monitor your child’s performance in Primary 5, and decide at the end of the year what combination best suits your child. Parents who are familiar with the previous streaming exercise will notice that the process is exactly similar to the current one. 22

How does Subject-Based Banding work? All other pupils will continue the same subject combination in Primary 6. 23

How does Subject-Based Banding work? In summary, your child will take a subject determined by the school at Primary 6, based on our professional judgement of what would be best for your child. At the end of P6, your child will sit for the PSLE. For your child’s cohort, all subjects are examinable except Foundation Science. Examinable Foundation Science will only be offered one year later as we need to review the Foundation Science syllabus to make it examinable, as it is not currently designed as an examinable subject. 24

How will PSLE scores be calculated? The PSLE scoring system remains unchanged The raw mark for each subject is converted to a transformed score (T-score) The T-score reflects the pupils’ standing relative to other pupils on a common scale The PSLE Aggregate Score is the sum of the T-score in all subjects How will PSLE scores be calculated? There will be no change to the current method for computing the PSLE score. The PSLE score determines which secondary school and which secondary school course your child can go to. The current method for computing the PSLE score gives a fair comparison across all subject combinations, including standard and foundation subjects. What happens is that the raw mark for each subject is converted to a transformed score (also known as the T-score). This T-score reflects the pupils’ standing relative to other pupils on a common scale. The Aggregate Score is the sum of the T score in all subjects. Each subject carries equal weighting. 25

How will PSLE scores be calculated? The PSLE score takes into account the - content and demand of each subject – standard or foundation number of subjects taken Pupils taking foundation subjects would allow them to focus on building up strong fundamentals in these subjects and prepare them better for secondary school. For each subject, the subject score depends on the content and demand of the subject. Standard subjects have more content and more difficult questions than foundation subjects, so this is taken into account when calculating the score. Most pupils take 4 PSLE subjects, while some pupils may take 3 PSLE subjects to help them focus on the fundamentals. The scoring system will also take the number of subjects into consideration. How would Subject-based Banding affect a child’s chances for the different secondary school courses - Express, Normal (Academic), Normal (Technical). If a pupil takes all standard subjects, the chances are exactly the same as in the previous system. Depending on how well the pupil does at the PSLE, he will be posted to a course suitable for him i.e. Special / Express, Normal (Academic), Normal (Technical). If a pupil takes only 3 examinable foundation subjects because he is generally weaker in most of his subjects, he is likely to go to Normal (Technical) course unless he does exceptionally well, in which case he may qualify for Normal (Academic) course. This is the same as the current system. If a pupil takes 1 or 2 standard subjects as is now possible with Subject-based Banding, compared to someone who takes only foundation subjects, his chances of qualifying for Normal (Academic) course will be higher if he does well in his PSLE. Offering the weaker subjects at the foundation level would not disadvantage pupils, as doing so would allow them to focus on building up strong fundamentals in these subjects and prepare better for secondary school. 26

How does Subject-Based Banding work? Now let’s look at how we will recommend the option for your child at the end of Primary 4. Besides the Primary 4 examination results, we will also take into consideration your child’s performance in a subject from past assessments such as (….), as well as comments and observations by your child’s teachers. What is the school likely to recommend for your child? If your child passes all 4 subjects at the end of Primary 4 and performs very well in Mother Tongue Language, he will be recommended to take 4 standard subjects and Higher Mother Tongue Language. (according to the text in the table). At least 85 marks 27

How does Subject-Based Banding work? If your child passes all 4 subjects at the end of Primary 4, he will be recommended to take 4 standard subjects. (according to the text in the table) 28

How does Subject-Based Banding work? If your child passes 3 subjects at the end of Primary 4, he will also be recommended to take 4 standard subjects. (according to the text in the table) 29

How does Subject-Based Banding work? If your child passes 2 subjects… (as per the 4 scenarios, pls read from slides). Our recommendations will be based on how well the child has fared in the subjects. We want to be able to give the child a combination he can cope with and do well in the next year. 30

How does Subject-Based Banding work in RVPS ? Fails all the 4 subjects ( EL, MT, Math, Sc) 4 foundation subjects Now let’s look at how we will recommend the option for your child at the end of Primary 4. Besides the Primary 4 examination results, we will also take into consideration your child’s performance in a subject from past assessments such as (….), as well as comments and observations by your child’s teachers. What is the school likely to recommend for your child? If your child passes all 4 subjects at the end of Primary 4 and performs very well in Mother Tongue Language, he will be recommended to take 4 standard subjects and Higher Mother Tongue Language. (according to the text in the table). 31

How does Subject-Based Banding work? Now that we have looked at the possible subject combinations, let’s move on to see what will happen at the end of Primary 5. At the end of Primary 5, the school will determine what is best for your child, based on our professional judgement. If a pupil who takes 1 or more foundation subjects does very well in them, the school may decide that he can upgrade his strong subjects to the standard level in Primary 6. Otherwise, the pupil would continue with the same subject combination. 32

How does Subject-Based Banding work in RVPS ? Pupils who score 80 and above for Mother Tongue and at least 50 marks for their HMT Now that we have looked at the possible subject combinations, let’s move on to see what will happen at the end of Primary 5. At the end of Primary 5, the school will determine what is best for your child, based on our professional judgement. If a pupil who takes 1 or more foundation subjects does very well in them, the school may decide that he can upgrade his strong subjects to the standard level in Primary 6. Otherwise, the pupil would continue with the same subject combination. To continue with the same subject combination of 4 standard subjects and HMT 33

How does Subject-Based Banding work? If a pupil who takes 4 standard subjects shows difficulty coping, at the end of Primary 5, the school may decide that it would be better for him to take 1 or more subjects at foundation level in Primary 6. 34

How does Subject-Based Banding work? Pupils who score less than 30 marks in any standard subject (overall marks ) If a pupil who takes 4 standard subjects shows difficulty coping, at the end of Primary 5, the school may decide that it would be better for him to take 1 or more subjects at foundation level in Primary 6. To switch that subject to foundation level. 35

How does Subject-Based Banding work? All other pupils will continue the same subject combination in Primary 6. 36

Possible Subject Combinations (1) 4 standard subjects and HMT(35%) (2) 4 standard subjects (63%) (3) Other combinations (2 %) 37

Role of teachers (tough but fulfilling) Role of parents (important) Teach and nurture our pupils – school vision, mission, values, goals, Desired Outcomes of Education, 21st century skills, PERI, SBB Maintain good communication with parents Role of parents (important) You are encouraged to play an active role in your child’s learning – monitor his/her daily work, provide guidance and support. Encourage your child to meet his/her learning goals, praise your child for his/her effort and progress. Attend parents’ meetings with the school and your child’s teachers and maintain good communication, work together to enhance your child’s learning.

Thank You. If you have any queries on SBB, please feel free to contact us.