While the pressures of PSLE slowly fade into a distant memory, the realities of higher academia slowly take its place in the form of Secondary School O Level preparations. Choosing your child’s secondary school is just one of many major considerations – knowing how to maintain their momentum of learning is another, bearing in mind that they’ll eventually have to choose their subject combination in Sec 3. Education can be a lifelong pursuit for many of us who maintain an open mind and drive for personal improvement. How we make use of our limited time resources can help prepare us for opportunities that may come our way in the future
My Higher Academia
Steeper learning curves, higher expectations, heavier study loads, a greater demand for critical thinking capacity and tougher literacy standards may await students as the culture shock of Secondary School suddenly kicks in. Using the holidays productively and preparing for admission into Secondary School is one such area of early assistance WRITERS AT WORK English tuition classes are able to offer to both parents and their children stepping out of Primary School. With your child’s progression into Secondary School, there are two key aspects that will demand from them new sets of skills to utilise. These challenging components in Secondary School English would naturally be examinations and weighted assessments.
Tip 1: English Paper 1 Essay Writing
Early in Secondary 1 English exam papers, students will already encounter familiar curriculums in their exams, with sections similar to that of situational writing. Instead of composition writing, Secondary school students will have to produce essay writings, where a key area of contrast in Secondary School English is that the word count for situational writing increases from 150 words to 750. To hit the coveted grade of English A1, students must be prepared to write extensively beyond the minimum required word count of 350. However, simply increasing word volume alone won’t guarantee a distinction right off the bat. Students must be able to demonstrate in their writing coherence and relevance to the exam question, in a meaningful and constructive manner. The sheer increment in word count may catch some students flat-footed, especially those who are not quite accustomed to writing at greater lengths than usual. Also bearing in mind that students will also require more motor stamina to execute in handwriting, the increased word count and produce an essay of quality within the stipulated time limit, on top of the fact that exam paper durations will subsequently be longer and more strenuous.
When it comes to writing, students may find themselves confused as to what genre the essay question is hinting at, or how they may best respond with their essay. Having an essay plan in the form of a thesis statement can help. Secondary School students will have to expose themselves and be well-versed with genres such as argumentative essays, discursive essays, and reflective essays for the O Level English exams. Not only that, they need to be able to communicate a clear train of thought in their essays to display a deeper understanding of the concepts written about. It takes time to develop skills such as question analysis, fulfilling the requirements of the task, character creation, choosing their question options strategically, planning thesis statements, and being aware of the format and tone that they are writing their essay with.
Tip 2: English Paper 2 Comprehension
With progression into the Secondary School curriculum, students will be confronted with a familiar segment of English comprehension – which Paper 2 is entirely composed of – at a higher level of difficulty. Here, English Paper 2 comprehension questions become significantly complex and language-specific, involving more language devices, more detailed descriptions, statistics and information.
Turning our attention to the Visual Text segment, there are a few key differences. Students may notice that there is no longer any multiple choice questioning. Rather than simply looking for information, they are also required to understand inferences made from the given excerpts.
In addition, there is the inclusion of the Summary question, which many students may consider to be the real hurdle – a section comprising 15 out of 50 marks, and 10.5% of their overall grade. This means that the Summary itself, is worth more in weightage of marks than Paper 3’s Listening Comprehension. Fortunately for WRITERS AT WORK, our students are extensively trained to use a precise and systematic approach to Summary called the strike-out method, allowing them to to perform consistently well in this area under exam conditions, scoring more than 10/15 for Summary frequently.
Tip 3: English Oral Examination
n Paper 4, students engage in Oral Communication, which carries a weightage of 30 marks. This segment places emphasis on effective communication skills, with the main difference of Secondary School that reading aloud is no longer included. In its place, a planned response section now involving media literacy, requires students to prepare structured responses within a limited amount of time. Moreover, the spoken interaction between student and invigilator requires them to think quickly on their feet while articulating with clarity. With a weightage of 15%, this component plays a significant role in assessing students’ spoken English proficiency. The duration for this section would be approximately 20 minutes.
Feeling the Weight
Starting 2023, in lieu of mid-year examinations for Secondary School students, they will be given Weighted Assessments to assess their command of the English language. Around 3 to 4 Weighted Assessments will need to be completed in Secondary School, taking note that not all of them will feature the same format – these assessments could range from essay questions or comprehension questions, to group projects, speeches, or videos which require students to think outside the box and creatively come up with a project according to the assignment brief.
Although Secondary education can be a daunting endeavour, parents better prepare their children for the academic challenges that lie ahead by maintaining the momentum of learning. After all, having knowledge is half the battle won – WRITERS AT WORK is an English tuition centre offering some of the best enrichment classes for Primary 1 – 6 and Secondary 1 – 4 school students in our 9 branches across Singapore. Here, our team of passionate teaching staff seek to make students better learners through organisation skills, reflection, and understanding of how we process information. Whether it’s the PSLE or O Level English exams on the horizon, WRITERS AT WORK will take care of your child’s English results! Join us at our tuition centres to be a part of the best English enrichment courses for primary and secondary school students in Singapore.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
1. What Are the Basic Steps in Creative Writing?
A good first step would be to plan out the story – it is important that the story follows a Plot Curve which has a logical sequence of events and a clear conclusion. The main and supporting characters should be clear – there should not be a whole village of characters – just enough to further the plot. Moreover, the central conflict of the story should be clear.
2. What Is an Enrichment Class in English?
An enrichment class allows your child to not only learn the basics of the mechanics of English such as good grammar and sentence structure, but it also teaches your child to appreciate the nuances of the English language. Students in an English enrichment class will learn skills like inference and critical reading – these skills are highly important even when students graduate out of school and go into higher education or the working world, as it will teach them to process and filter information to determine what is being said and evaluate the veracity of the information.
3. How Does My Child Benefit From Writing Classes?
Writing classes build systematic thinking and logic in children. Crafting a story plot is the same as thinking, step by step, what events chronologically happen in the context of a given scenario. Students will be able to express their ideas and thought processes in a coherent and concise manner, which will help them in their other subjects as they will be able to formulate sentences to better understand the material. English proficiency is a highly transferable skill.
4. Which Tuition Centre Is Good for English?
WRITERS AT WORK is an excellent option to help your child prepare for their English Language classes at school at any level. WRITERS AT WORK teaches students how to write compositions which are the basic building blocks for all communication, whether it be in school or outside in the workplace.
