All The Best!

Such a memorable date for these parents!

On a larger scale, Live Earth is today too, but this morning, our Son is our main focus.


Yes, We Are Alive This Morning...

Instead of waking up late on a weekend, we woke up just the same as any weekday at 6:15am for all 3 of us to get ready to go to NUS High School, an affiliate of National University of Singapore.

After the online registration on its website 2 months ago for our Son to take his entrance test ahead of his PSLE or Primary School Leaving Examination in October.

He was one of the pupils in Primary 6 who were selected and encouraged to go for this selection test to get a place in NUS High for his secondary education when leaves Saint Hilda's Primary.

Even with a S$60.00 registration fee, there were about 2000 students vying for 200 odd positions!

The total number of Primary 6 students taking the PLSE this year is thought to be just over 5000 as with previous year.


Beating The Odds First

Took a cab in a sudden heavy morning downpour, we reached there just about 8:15am beating the peak hour traffic as well, the two most dreaded combination in the usual morning rush hour along CTE or Central Expressway.

Up to a cordoned area where only students were allowed to go beyond, promptly our Son went off to register himself at Counter 11.

Armed with the selection/registratin letter, his EZLink Student ID, Number 2D pencil, eraser and all his interest in Math and Science with him to vie a place in his school of choice... a tough, one of the cream-of-the-crop school in this country.

There, his group waited to be ushered into the exam hall for their 2 hours combined Math and Science test that were to start at 9:00am.

Interestingly, he did not looked calm and composed. I was all butterflies in me.


Of Coffee, Cookies And Nerves


While the students attempt to answer the 200 questions ranging from Primary 3 subjects to Secondary 4 test questions, most anxious parents, we two included, waited-out in the school canteen... nervously drinking coffee and eating cookies, reading the newspapers and chatted with other parents... while checking our watches every other minute.

By 10:30am, we were ushered back to the front entrance to meet our children, as batch by batch the children went out of the class rooms and exam hall.

Mostly solemn faces, we overheard some students talking to each other and some to their parents that the papers were tough... very tough in fact that they did not have time to answer all of the questions.

Some question included were totally beyond their primary school syllables knowingly so, to gauge the range of their math and science knowledge as genuine interest than than force-fed preparation.

As for our Son, he though he did very well in the Science questions, but not as confident with some of the Math ones even though he answered all 200 of them.

Well, our Son had done his best and had prepared well. It was good enough effort to me and the fact that he has natural interest in Science and Mathematics makes up for it more than I would hoped for, anyway.

The fact that he wanted to try for this makes me so proud of him.


And The Clock Starts Now!


We will only know the results in 2 weeks time by email.

If he is shortlisted, we will have to register him the second time for the school's Math and Science camp... with a fee of S$100, he will be assessed individually while having fun, interspersed with interviews in between before the final list of students be announced and a place awarded.

This is the DSA route or Direct School Admission way of getting into the school of choice apart from the MOE or Ministry Of Education national route of aggregate score placement from the 6 school choices a student is given to select after their PSLE exam at year's end.

All the best, my Son!

We know you did your best because you are the best.