What should your child do after the PSLE? Of course, they deserve a break from studies, and relaxation should be the priority! 

At the same time, you might want to do some advance planning, so that your child can have a smooth transition into secondary school life.

Below are three discussions that we think every P6 parent should have with their child, soon after the PSLE is over:

Start Your Secondary School Research Now

This year’s PSLE results will tentatively be released between Wednesday, 20 November and Friday, 22 November 2024. However, some secondary schools will hold their Open House events before that. If there are schools you are eager to visit, you should already be checking the school websites or contacting them directly for Open House details.

For parents experiencing the PSLE for the first time, this may come as a surprise: when the results are released, it can be an emotional experience, especially if your child’s grades are below expectations. Couple this with your other commitments (such as work), and it may feel stressful to suddenly have to check out schools that were previously not on your radar. 

If your child’s results have been erratic and you’re not sure how they will perform at the PSLE, start your school research now. Take note of all nearby schools, see if they’ve been in the news, and check when you can visit them. If you are not available to attend their Open House events, try sending questions via email, or ask if you can schedule a private call.

As for preparations before visiting schools, keep it simple by consulting parents on forums or checking with your personal network. You can also visit the schools’ social media accounts to get a sense of their culture, their strengths, and their programmes. 

To keep an open mind when you visit schools at Open House events, focus on the most important stakeholders — the students. How do students approach you, are they attentive, and how much maturity and depth do they display when trying to answer your questions? For instance, one parent told us about an encounter that impressed her during an Open House event at a neighbourhood secondary school: she asked a student about school bullying, and they replied that school policies might be in place, but policies alone could not prevent negative actions by individual students. 

Another factor to look for is school pride: Do students seem happy to be in their school, and are they able to articulate why they are satisfied? We heard from a parent who visited a neighbourhood school, and was shown a recreation room that the students themselves had designed. These students told her that because they had ownership in this process, everyone was motivated to keep the room and its contents in excellent condition. This helped the parent to see that there was a sense of personal responsibility in the school.

Finally, you should bear in mind that school cut-off points may fluctuate from year to year. If, for example, your child’s prelim score is 17, you can look at schools with cut-off scores between 16 and 20. The schools in your final selections should have a range of cut-off scores — if not, your child’s posting might be left to the mercy of computer algorithms.

Assess if Tutoring and Enrichment are Still Needed

Did your child enjoy their tutoring sessions and enrichment classes in Primary 6? Were the teachers motivating, or were they careless with their words, which occasionally upset your child? Did they offer ideas on effective ways to study, or were they solely focused on completing sample papers? If they were drilling your child on practice questions, how did they track mistakes and ensure that the same mistakes were not repeated? Did your child’s grades improve under their guidance? These are some questions for reflection or discussion with your child.

If your child has a good relationship with a tutor, or enjoys a class — and it’s within your budget — you can consider continuing this in Secondary 1. Here’s why: the Secondary 1 transition can feel significant, especially if your child won’t be entering a school with familiar faces. Maintaining some relationships from primary school can provide much-needed stability and comfort. 

However, some parents prefer to let their child experience a year of independent learning in Secondary 1. If not, the child might expect to be handheld for every subject that they’re taking, and it’s excessive to hire tutors for subjects like History and Geography. 

That said, do also be mindful that your child may not know exactly what to do for revision. If this is the case, you can use our guide to help your child define their scope of work, create a task list, set goals and deadlines, and learn to study effectively during designated revision hours. 

There’s no reason to wait till the new school year to start discussing all of the above — post-PSLE is the perfect time to have these talks.

Be Intentional about CCAs

Does your child want to continue with their CCA in secondary school? It’s good to discuss this right after the PSLE, when your child is no longer bogged down with schoolwork. There are two less-straightforward scenarios to consider.

Situation A: Your child wants to continue with their CCA, but it’s not offered in their affiliated/preferred secondary school.

If this is the case, you’ll need to look for an alternative training setup, as well as check with your child’s preferred secondary school if they can represent the school in competitions while training externally. This involves time, travel, and training fees, so it’s good to map this out early.

You should also check with your preferred secondary school if students need to join a recreational CCA within the school, despite their external training commitments. If yes, you may want to consider alternative secondary schools that can better support your child’s CCA development.

Situation B: Your child wants to try a new CCA in secondary school.

There are two ways to approach this — interest versus strategy. Being led by interest means your child goes ahead to try out for whatever they’re most keen on. They may not be able to qualify for the school team, but there’s also much to be gained from recreational CCAs, which usually take up less time and don’t involve representing the school in competitions. This also means that if they don’t secure a spot in their preferred CCA, they will have to pick something else that might not be as appealing to them.

Being strategic, on the other hand, means that your child is eying a spot on the school team. This may be because they are naturally competitive, or they might want to secure their CCA bonus points for the O-Levels. Such children might gravitate towards an emerging school team, rather than one that is established. In other words, perhaps the activity was newly introduced in the school, and a school team is just being put together, with a greater chance for newcomers without prior experience to qualify. Being on such teams would then give the student an edge when they move on to their post-secondary institution, if they wish to continue with the activity.

A child could also gain a spot on a prestigious team, but it’s often with the help of parents who have familiarity with the sport and are able to arrange for coaching and competition exposure immediately after the PSLE.

By setting things into motion before the new school year begins, your child will have a better chance of securing their desired outcome.

Join the discussion on Secondary School Selection in our KSP Forum. You may also read about other parents’ thoughts on secondary schooling or find recommendations on CCAs here.

Want to hear from an expert? Join our KiasuParents Family Huddle on 30 October to learn how you can support your child appropriately when exam results are released so as to maintain good mental health and prevent suicide. Pick up practical tips from Dr Jared Ng, a Psychiatrist and Founder and Medical Director of Connections MindHealth (Novena Medical Centre).