Tuesday 28 October 2014

Streaming –A very hot Topic indeed.


We have crossed over the half way point of voting  with 12 more days to vote.  Having received 220 votes as at the time of writing with the voting trend quite consistent at 80% not in favour of streaming. While the number  represents just over 5% of the parent population of LH, it is still a fair sample considering many parents may not be aware of the survey and many who use handsets may not want to go through the trouble of voting since it requires a little bit of navigating around the page.

The  comments we received to so far are  likewise encouraging –many are constructive , insightful and courteous irrespectively of their point of view. This is the environment  we want to inculcate namely to  promote constructive exchanges of views . 

Since the start of this topic, I have had the opportunity to engage with a number of teachers and been informed that no decision has been made on this subject  I have also been reminded that streaming is a matter of school policy which in practice means that it can be implemented without input or consultation with parents .  Assuming that an overwhelming majority of parents are against streaming  and LH decides to proceed with streaming , what will be the consequence?  

 Administratively , probably nothing will happen and there is nothing parents can do other than voting with their feet if they  feel strongly about the decision . Practically , there will be lots of stressful parents and children , some wishing to get into the preferred classes , others wanting to get out . The true impact , academic wise will only be delivered some 9 months later . The new breed of students  , having received the  love, attention and devotion they  deserved  (and expected?)   , will hopefully lead us to a new dawn with all rounded excellence .  

Please continue to vote before the closing date which is in 2 weeks. 
By far , our most popular topics have been academic related such as KSSR and STREAMING  and continuing on this thread,  we will be discussing “TUITION-“ at the conclusion of the current survey.
As we come to end of the academic year, we are preparing to welcome new parents attending standard 1 in LH in 2015. We will be organizing several parents get together events to share the joys of attending LH, how to navigate the academic maze and mess of KSSR, what to expect from a HIGH PERFORMANCE SCHOOL, what to buy and what not to buy, how to survive as banana parents  and many more. Watch this space . 

Drop us a line if you are interested in the event .

Happy Parenting

Ken Koo
LH PIBG Chairman

Wednesday 8 October 2014

STREAMING - THE SECRET WEAPON TO ACHIEVING HIGH PERFORMANCE, IS IT ? -- 成績分班制度

Streaming, not the internet kind, is a hot topic among LH’s parents recently. I have received reliable information that the top 25% to 30% students will be placed in elite academic classes starting 2015 affecting standards 6, 5 and possibly 4.

Parents Academic Research Team (PART) are hard at work again getting feedback from parents, teachers and ex LH students on the pros and cons of streaming. 

Conventional Proponents of streaming say:
  1. Having students of similar academic ability facilitates teaching, be it contents or speed of delivery, hence better efficiency in terms of completing the syllabus and preparing for exams. It allows an opportunity for the school to explore beyond the prescribed syllabus.
  2. It encourages students to compete with a bigger pool of students within a close proximity thus promoting academic excellence.
  3. It provides a controlled environment for the school to achieve its academic KPI by directing resources to targeted  areas; best teachers for the high achievers, lower teacher-pupil ratio for the less gifted to allow for more personal attention etc


The Opponents of Streaming say:

1.      It creates different classes of “citizens “within the school compound by virtue of one’s academic ability. This will inadvertently label the success or failure of the children by their inclusion in or exclusion from the elite classes- resulting in different treatment by the school.
2.      Teachers may be less motivated to give their best to the lower ranked classes because of the perception of weaker academic ability and the corollary is children will feel the academic glass ceiling, they will not give their best perceiving that their best may not be good enough to be considered as excellent within the ranking system.
3.      Streaming is a form of segregation which is against the order of nature; children develop at different pace and will benefit from interacting with other children of different academic ability. Those who are more academically inclined will help those who are weaker hence creating a more conducive cooperating spirit as opposed to the win at all cost attitude. Too much emphasis on academic achievement at an early age stifles the natural development of children making them less versatile or adaptable in the future.

Irrespective of whether you support, against or like to put forward alternatives, we invite you to comment and take part in our survey.  
(answer polls: top right of this page, add comments at bottom of this page)****

Once we have a fair sample of say 400 participants, we will publish the results and see how we can move forward.

Please take part and have your say

Happy parenting
Ken Koo
YDP PIBG LICK HUNG


**** if you are using mobile version, switch to web version to answer polls online ***** (Scroll to bottom of the page and select "view web version")


Parents Academic Research Team