st Meet Parents Session - Ministry of Education

1st Meet Parents Session 16 Jan 2016

Lower Primary

Pr 1- Mdm Nooradelin (AYH)

Pr 2 – Mdm Deon Yeo (YH)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHpnDsI6qzA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHpnDsI6qzA

“Our children should grow up to be confident persons, adept at working in teams and able to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively. They should be self-directed learners who view education as a life-long process. They should also be innovative and enterprising individuals, able to cope with ambiguity and adapt well to change. At the same time, Singapore needs citizens who are morally upright, have a strong sense of civic responsibility and who will contribute actively to society. These skills and dispositions should be inculcated in the formative years of primary education”.

Source: Report of the Primary Education Review and Implementation Committee, March 2009 p3

Realise a more holistic primary education, better prepare our young for the future

Peri Holistic Assessment (HA)

• Holistic assessment in our context refers to the ongoing gathering of information on different facets of a child from various sources, with the aim of providing qualitative and quantitative feedback to support and guide the child's development. Holistic assessment informs teachers on their teaching practice and guides them in the design and delivery of student learning. It will also enable parents to support their children's development and growth.

Formative Assessment

• The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by teachers to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning.

• richer information that can be used by teachers, pupils and parents to improve in specific areas


• Mini White Boards


• Exit Cards


FAST Kit

Summative Assessments

• serve as useful and critical tools to provide information about teaching and learning to pupils and their parents

• provide important information about standards of performance for the pupils

Summative Assessments

• Mini Test

• Spelling Test

• Writing

• Practical

• Oral

formative

summative

•throughout the year •allows teachers to follow up •allows pupils and parents to monitor learning

•at the end of the term or semester •shows mastery

Assessments

Parents as Valued Partners in Education

Effective Communication Channels Strong working relationship with your child’s teachers Clear Expectations

Be supportive of school rules and policies

Be on the same team!

Communication Channels • Individual Teacher and Parents

• Student handbook • Letters • Digital means such as emails and sms/whatsapp • Phone calls • Face-to-Face meeting

• Formal (Meet-Parents-Sessions) • Informal

• SLs and Parents

• PIE Coffee Sessions • Parents’ Brief during Meet-Parents-Sessions • Weekly Notifications • Emails, Phonecalls, Face-to-face meetings

Parents Engagement

Parents Involvement

• Outings • Participation in school events • Planning and carrying out of school activities

• Participation in workshops • Attendance of Meetings

Being supportive and working together with the school

Parents Engagement

When a teacher calls…

It can be scary for both child and parent. So what can you do?

• Move to a more convenient place to talk

• Don’t get defensive

• Isolate what’s wrong

• Brainstorm the possible reasons for bad behaviour

• Devise a plan to create change

• Talk to your child

• Consequences and Confessions

Parents as Valued Partners in Education

Learning at Home

• Conducive environment

• Routines

• How can I, as parent, help my child?

Keeping Them Motivated Encourage Learning by : • Reminding them what they learnt from school.

E.g. counting money, telling time “Remember when you didn’t know how to count. Now you can.”

• Keep instilling that education is important and

that Education is something that no one can take away from them.

Connect school work with children’s interest

• It will be a challenge but it helps the children in the long run

• Find similarities with school work and the

children's natural interest

Include schoolwork into everyday life

• Incorporate school topics into daily life subtly

• Ask them simple questions, quiz them on spelling in a fun way

• Keep them learning and thinking even during school breaks

Set up homework routines

• It is hard for working parents to be involved in their children’s life. Set up a routine from day 1 so there will be less problems in the long run.

• Set TV/ Computer time clearly and make sure that they finish their homework straight after school.

IF…

• If your child is having trouble at school, speak to the teachers.

SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL LEARNING

TIPS TO HELP EASE TRANSITIONS

S A F E Support Affirm Familiarise Empathise

Images courtesy of Master isolated images at FreeDigitalPhotos.net



S Support

Commit some time every weekend to play games and have fun together

Visit places or take part in events that both of you enjoy

Encourage your child to make new friends



A Affirm

Encourage your child when they make unusual observations.

E.g. Say “That’s interesting!” and ask why he/she said that.

Recognise small successes.

E.g. Say “You write your numbers neatly now – well done!”



F Familiarise

Find out what primary schools have in store for students these days.

Do practical things to ease your child into new routines.

E.g. Plan the daily routines together, teach your child new habits like packing his/her bag.



E Empathise

Help your child learn words to identify his/her feelings.

Acknowledge your child’s emotions E.g. “I know the start of

Primary School is tough.”

Discuss together what can be done if he/she has worries at school.

Start bedtime early.

CHAT WITH OUR CHILDREN


T A D Talk Ask Discuss



T Talk

Talk about fond memories of your own school days. E.g. Kind teachers and cheeky classmates ; what you did in primary one.



A Ask

Ask about his/her thoughts and feelings about the school. E.g. • CCE/FTGP/PAL activities • How the school day was



D Discuss

Discuss the characters in a book/show.

E.g.

• Explore how people deal with

conflicts.


Listen without interrupting. • Nod your head and ask questions to show interest and affirmation.

LISTEN TO WHAT CHILDREN ARE SAYING

Instead of asking, “How’s school today?”

• Tell me something that made you laugh today.

• Tell me one thing that you learned today.

• Who would you like to play with at recess that you’ve never played with before?

• Tell me something good that happened today.

• What was your favourite part of recess?

• Did you face any difficulties/challenges? How did you overcome it?

• How would you rate your day today on a scale of 1 to 10? Why?

Homework Policy – Pr 1 and 2

During term time:

Time taken for work completion (English, Math, Mother Tongue

and other subjects)

Mondays to Fridays Saturdays and

Sundays

Remarks

Not longer than 1h

per day

Not longer than 1h in

total

Set aside 20 min

MTL homework

Does not include

prep time for

spelling and

dictation

Homework Policy – Pr 1 and 2

During school holidays- The weekly Homework Load during term time will be used as a guide. Duration of homework during the March/September Holidays and June Holidays should not exceed 3 and 5 days respectively. Homework is inclusive of online assignments.

Number of hours

Not more than 3h in total during March and September

Holidays

Not more than 5h in total during June Holidays

Exam Policy – No exam will be held one day after a school holiday

and public holiday. This is with the exception of the conduct of Oral Examinations and Listening Comprehension.

– Pupils who are absent for any of the papers due to illness must present a medical certificate in order to have “VR” (Valid Reason) reflected in the results slip. Pupils who are absent for good reasons other than being sick will be granted “VR” on a case-by-case basis. This will be decided by the Principal or Vice-Principal.

– Pupils who are absent for any paper without valid reasons will be given “ZERO” for the paper.

Exam Policy (P2)

• Pupils must minimally sit for the following papers in order to have marks pro-rated for the subject:

English

Language

(EL)

Paper 1

(Composition)

Paper 2 /4

(written paper

and Listening

Comprehension)

Paper 3 (Oral)

Pr 2 √ √ √

Exam Policy (P2)


Mother

Tongue

Language

Paper 1/ 2

(Composition

and written

paper)

Paper 3 (Oral) Paper 4

(Listening

Comprehensi

on)

Pr 2 √ √

Exam Policy (P2)


Math Written papers Practical Test

Pr 2 √

Make-Up for Missed Papers

• With the exception of Math Practical test, make-up will be allowed for all components of EL, MTL and Math summative tests within 2 working days from the test date.

• Papers will be administered to the absentees as and when they return to school during curricular hours. No further make-up will be provided should pupils miss the make-up test date.

Cheating

Cheating is a serious offence. Pupils caught cheating during the exams will be dealt with severely. For example, assignment of “ZERO”

for the test component for which cheating was committed.

Class Allocation/Subject Banding

Progression from Pr 1 to Pr 2 • No banding for English and Math

• Banding for CL and ML based on students’ CL and ML summative test scores at Pr 1 and SA2 overall scores at Pr 2 respectively

– No banding for TL in view of smaller cohort size

• En Bloc Promotion from P1 to P2 with minor student movements at the end of Pr 1 for special cases.

• Class size capped at 30 per class at Pr 1 and 2

Class Allocation/Subject Banding Progression from Pr 2 to Pr 3 • New form class allocation using Overall EL results

at the end of Pr 2

• Banding for CL and ML based on students’ SA2 CL and ML overall scores at the end of Pr 2

– No banding for TL classes in view of smaller cohort size

• Banding for Math and Science classes using Overall Math results at the end of Pr 2

• Class size capped at 40 per class; smaller class size for lower progress Math and Science classes

BEYOND PRIMARY EDUCATION

Importance of building up and strengthening literacy and numeracy

Leads to more choices at upper secondary and post secondary

st Meet Parents Session - Ministry of Education

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