9 A1's for this foreign Scorer

17-year-old Anderson Secondary School student, Li Yannan, is one of the top scorers in last year's O-level exams.

The China-born student's results are even more impressive, considering the fact that she set foot in Singapore two years ago and started learning English only then.

She told RazorTV in crisp and clearly-enunciated English: "Initially, it was very hard for me...but thanks to the school, they offered me a lot of help, and I think practise makes perfect, so I did a lot of exercises to help me improve my English".

Yannan added that she liked the "all-rounded" education system in Singapore, which included project work and "CCAs, which there isn't in China".

Her tips for students to overcome difficulties like she did?

1. Stay focused in class,

2. Take notes in class,

3. Practise,

4. Seek help when in doubt, and

5. Get enough rest.

Thurs 14 Jan 2010

Singapore Top's Scorer: Raffles or Hwa Chong ?

Malaysian Lai Kai Rou said she had moments while she studying, when she felt like throwing in the towel and giving up, but she persevered because she realised that "it's part of my responsibility".

With 10 distinctions, the 16-year-old beat more than 37,000 students to emerge as Singapore's top scorer in the 2009 GCE O level examinations.

Speaking with RazorTV, she said she was very surprised as she did not have very high expectations of herself and according to her, was "never very excellent academically".

She said she owes her success to being focused and consistent, as well as to her school, CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School.

The school churned out 14 top scorers this year, the highest number in the school's history.As for her future, Kai Rou said she is now in a 'dilemma', and is deliberating between applying for Raffles or Hwa Chong Junior College.

Thurs 14 Jan 2010

2009年O水准会考 成绩三年来最佳

2009年O水准会考 成绩三年来最佳

新传媒新闻报道，2009年O水准会考成绩放榜，考获五科或更多科及格的成绩是三年来最好，全国状元来自圣尼各拉女校，而两名马来状元和欧亚裔优异生，他们的母语，不约而同都是华文。

今年的状元出自圣尼格拉女校，来自马来西亚的她考获十科A1。

全国状元 圣尼格拉女校赖凯柔（十科A1）说，“我从来没有想到要成为最好全新加坡最好的那一个，我从来没有想过，因为我觉得一直这样想会给自己很大的压力。”

除了全国状元之外，在其余42名全国成绩最优异的学生当中，13名也来自圣尼各拉女校。去年共有3万7400多名考生应考，考获了五科或更多科及格的考生，占总数的81.1％。这比2008年的80.8％和2007年80.3%的成绩都好。 值得一提的是，今年九个非华族的优异生当中，就有三个的母语是华文。

欧亚裔优异生 南侨中学韩伟祥（七科A1）说，“我学华文因为我是半个华人，作为华人的人都应该学华文。我从小我的妈妈就觉得华文很重要，就一直叫我读华文。”

马来优异生 克信女中Annabelle Latif\（七科A1）说，“学习华文的挑战是在口试上不知道怎样用华语来发表。我会看华文电视剧，然后我会学那些人怎样用华语沟通。”

一分努力一分收获，两人肯用心，他们的普通华文考获B3。

受访的两名学生都表示，父母并不担心他们学习华文会影响英文的学习，更希望子女能够学习中华文化，这对子女学习华文的心态起着正面的影响。

11 January 2010 2147hrs
吴俍祥

Top School Exam Papers 2009

sms 90690147 for Free Delivery ! or email : examsutra@yahoo.com.sg to order !

Failing Rate in PLSE 2009

Neighbour School Shine out in PSLE 2009

Neighbour School Shine out in PSLE 2009

Top student Ranking in Chinese Press Ad

Top school Result in Chinese

Top PSLE student from Qifa Primary

The top primary six student this year is Qiu Biqing, 13, a girl from Qifa Primary
School in West Coast, with an aggregate score of 290.

The top Malay and Eurasian students, Syafiqah Nabilah Bte Shamshera and
Samantha Annabelle Neubronner are both from Raffles Girls' Primary School.

The top Indian student is Muhammad Saad Siddiqui (below)from Anglo-Chinese School (Primary).
Other top students come from Nanyang
Primary School,Gongshang Primary School, Rosyth School, South View Primary School, Greenridge Primary School, Nan Hua Primary School and Rulang Primary School.

A total of 48,541 Primary six pupils sat for the Primary School Leaving
Examinations (PSLE) this year. Among them, 47,117 pupils (or 97.1 per cent) will proceed to secondary school.

In terms of course eligibility, 63.1 per cent are eligible for the Express course, 22.4 per cent for
the Normal (Academic) and 11.6 per cent for the Normal (Technical) course.

The 2009 Primary six cohort is the first batch of pupils under Subject-based Banding who sat for the PSLE. Subject-based Banding, a refinement to the previous streaming system, was implemented from the 2008 Primary 5 cohort to give pupils the flexibility of taking a
mix of subjects at Standard or Foundation levels depending on their strengths and abilities in each subject.

Only 1,424 students did not pass the exam, they have a choice of enrolling in Assumption Pathway School or NorthLight School, or re-taking their PSLE.

Out of 44 children who were home-schooled, 37 took the examinations this year. Seventeen, or 46 per cent, did not meet the benchmark.

Top PSLE girl could hardly speak English

Top PSLE girl could hardly speak English

When Qiu Biqing came to Singapore at 10 years old, her English was so bad that she had problems forming full sentences.

Three years down the road, she is Singapore's top PSLE student, with a score of 290 and an A* in English. She also says she wants to be a lawyer or a writer. Biqing came from Guangzhou in 2006 and started school in Singapore at primary three at Qifa Primary School.

Her father, Mr Qiu Guo Hua, 45, is a research fellow at the National University of Singapore, and her mother, Madam Xie Xiaojin, 42, is a research assistant there. They both work in a physiology lab. At the time, she was too embarrassed to speak to anyone with her broken English. She only started to improve after much encouragement from her classmates and teachers. She told Lianhe Wanbao, "My form teacher in primary three was Indian, which
forced me to speak in English - that really helped me a lot."

To improve her English, she read English books widely. From picture books from the children's section, she has now progressed to Harry Potter and books by Jodi Picoult (author of "My Sister's Keeper"), which she said are her favourites.

Principal Debra Saw said, "Qiu Biqing's is very modest, and very helpful towards her classmates. She is the most well-rounded student I have come across in recent years."

Here's why PSLE maths must be tough

Here's why PSLE maths must be tough AS EXPECTED, this year's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) mathematics paper evoked an emotional outcry from some parents, as was the case in previous years. It will not be the last time either.

Some students cannot solve mathematics problems because of lack of aptitude or attitude. Some can solve only the types of problems they have been taught to solve, and using only prescribed methods. Only a few can solve new types of problems using original methods.

Every exam, especially a public one, should identify these three categories. Complaints will naturally come from the second but for the good of Singapore and the really gifted, the third must be discovered and nurtured. Parents may cry foul but how can there be unfairness when all pupils sit for the same papers?

Should fairness be such that every pupil is eventually classified as 'average'? Fairness should give every student an equal chance to learn and do his best; it should not decapitate those who are head and shoulders above the rest.

We should be realistic enough to realise that equal opportunity does not mean, and should never produce, equal achievement, painful as this may be to accept personally.

What is unfortunate is that in Singapore, a student's future is so often determined by just one exam.Some flowers which blossom late can also be of matchless beauty. Not doing well in any exam does not necessarily mean a student is inherently poor in that subject.

On the other hand, good exam grades may only be due to the mastery of examination techniques. Is a student good at maths and science? Only time will tell. Some parents complain that if they, as adults, cannot solve the maths questions posed in this year's PSLE, how can one expect a child to do so. Well, it all depends on the adult or the child. Or how about another common complaint, that the maths poser was phrased in language which was so hard to understand when the exam was not to test a pupil's English skill?

Well, there is no such thing as an exam of maths only. The PSLE maths paper is an exam on maths in English. We cannot divorce any subject from the linguistic medium used, whether it is in maths or any other subject.One should aim high and climb hard, but one should not expect the mountain top to be whittled away for one's benefit.

Ee Teck Ee

More top scorers from neighbourhood

[Photo: Top PSLE students from South View Primary, John Zhang, 12, and Michelle
Lim, 12.]

NEIGHBOURHOOD schools have trumped their more storied counterparts in producing top students in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).

Seven of the 13 best students this year came from schools in the heartland: Qi Fa in West Coast, South View in Choa Chu Kang, Greenridge in Bukit Panjang, Rulang in Jurong West and Gongshang in Tampines.

Last year, only two neighbourhood schools produced top scorers.

Top student from Qifa Primary

Name /School / Score
Qiu Biqing /Qifa Primary School /290
Chen Muhe /Nanyang Primary School /287
Joyce Sin Jie Yin /Gongshang Primary School /287
Choong Kai Xin /Rosyth School /287
John Zhang Jiong /Yang South View Primary School /286
Lim Xuan Li, Michelle/ South View Primary School /286
Syafiqah Nabilah Bte
Shamshera /Raffles Girls' Primary School / 286
Chua Gek Yee / Greenridge Primary School /285
Yap Kwan Yi / Nan Hua Primary School /285
Lim Kai Bing, Danson / Nan Hua Primary School /284
Faith Nadine Choo Yun
Sum /Raffles Girls' Primary School /283
Roscoe Lim Yi Cheng /Gongshang Primary School /283
Katie Chan Kar Yan /Rulang Primary School /283

source:
Thu, Nov 26, 2009
The Straits Times