Millidream III: The P5 journey

Time flies. 4 years ago, I wrote about the conclusion of one major milestone, which was P1. After a few years of minor milestones, P5 turned out to be a major milestone year for her. I will write more about that in another coming post. As far as her studies went, there were both challenges and triumph moments this year.

Firstly, she continued to do well in languages, i.e. an A (80-90marks), but not exceedingly well, i.e. not A* (>90). This (2 As for languages + assume 2 A*s for math & science) is probably good enough for a very good secondary school, but may not be enough for the top few. Oh well, I will try to push on with helping her with CL, but will not go overboard. Its important to get into the best schools on her own merits, else she won't go far without collapsing.

The major struggle this year was her higher CL. When we met her CL teacher in May, she tactfully told us that Lynn got to buck up, cos she got only 1 point (pass but <65marks), when most student got 2 points (65 - 90). Her marks were 62, so our aim for 2nd half was to work harder on the comprehension. After her term 4 exams, I thought, si liao, seemed to be still under 65.. But when we got the report book, she actually scraped through - overall was 65.1 marks. Ha! Of course I was still worried that the school will force her to drop the subject. Luckily, she was allowed to continue. There were a handful of students, about 10% of the higher CL class who were asked to drop the subject. Phew.. our challenge continues next year!

Lynn likes Science since P3. When I helped her with science revision, I always joke that I totally a non-science student - never enjoy it, never really score well either. Somehow Lynn has a aptitude for this subject. She really surprised me in getting the "Best in Science" award for the level this year. In P1 & 2, she was in randomly assigned classes where she was one of the top 3. And she shared the "Best in Math" award with 3 other students for getting 100 marks for P2 Math. In P3 and 4, she was in the best 2 classes, so I encouraged her to aim for "Best in Math", before the subject gets more difficult for girls than boys, and it was also easier than being top 3 in the top classes. However, she missed out by few points. So this year, I wasn't placing any hope on any awards. I guess one reason that she got top 3 and the science award shows that effort does make a difference. Maybe the other kids slacked slightly, and she put in consistent effort, so she got rewarded this year.

Anyway, my niece Joyce got decent PSLE marks this year, which was 5 marks above my sister's own. My sis was not ungrateful, just that she's a bit disappointed that it was 2 marks off the COP of the school they were aiming for. She thought that Joyce should do better than herself because Joyce had tuitions. She asked me what I think of Lynn, which I told her I really don't know. It's hard to compare; I got good scores without guidance, without tuition. But my "good scores" were still way way below those for the top girls school. As for Lynn, lots of her classmates and cousins have tuitions (i.e. competition is tougher). Lynn herself has me to guide her in CL and Science. Hypothetically, if the conditions are the same, am I or is she smarter? So, irrelevant comparison. Well, all I know is that we shall continue the hard work next year. Secondary school shall be, whatever will be will be... And then she will be on her own :)

Here are some photos of the award presentation day.

Beautiful mosaic wall outside the Hall.

I took a photo of her good friend Heidi playing the 扬琴for the Chinese orchestra performance.

The award presenter for P5 is the Vice principal, Mr. Wong.

2 awards! Happy us..

Ok, below are 2 photos with funny/nice stories:
Firstly, a photo for the award winners from her class (4, including one for best progress). As mentioned, her school doesn't announce exact position. We (parents) have came to accept (and even embrace) the concept of not defining academic success in minute detail. Then Lynn said that since they know the 3 of them were top3, they compared marks in the report books on their own, and figured out who was 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Hahaha.. There's really no way to stop Singaporeans from comparing!

The other photo is Lynn with Ms Chua, her form teacher for P3/4 and her Math teacher from P5. She is Lynn's favourite teacher to date. I have written about Ms Chua in previous blogs. As parents and students, we are really fortunate to encounter caring and passionate teachers like Ms Chua. I wish her the best in her teaching career. We were in the canteen having the buffet after the ceremony. Lynn was reading her story book, which was a gift (for award winners) from Ms Chua, that they went to buy the day before. I was surfing on my mobile. So both of us didn't see her come up to our table. She said she wanted to take a photo with her "bookworm". It was a slightly embarrassing moment. But I'm really glad to have this photo. I wish I can thank the teachers enough.

That afternoon, I took Lynn for shopping, then to East Coast Park. Going to ECP via public transport is like going down memory lane, of my secondary school days. The way to ECP is still very much the same as in the past. Firstly, take the MRT (in the past, it was to City Hall MRT (Raffles City); that day, we went Eunos). Then change to buses that goes to Marine Parade. Drop off at Marine Terrace Road, walk to and then take the tunnel to cross over to ECP. Its as tedious as before. The tunnel looked refurbished, but still gave me the creeps like in the past.