hi Chief, applaud the excellent post indeed! but for an ordinary school, it takes more than just one or two great students to make it stand out from all the other normal schools, even with the benefit of time. part of the reason why certain schools r well known now (eg. NYPS, RGPS etc etc) are becos they have a long history (been around for very long time and r one of the first schools established!) or a result of MOE's decision to convert them into one of the few schools with GEP system - this naturally filters/attracts the smarter students to these schools and hence produce more outstanding results when compared to the other schools.ChiefKiasu wrote: Why not think out of the box? Send our kids to the more ordinary school, help them to excel there and get their names permanently on the school plaques in the school's hall, challenge them to bring pride and glory to the school by doing better than kids in the supposedly better schools, and be seen as the ones that really made the difference in the schools. Our kids can then be the pioneers that brought their schools to the top. Imagine the pride that THEIR children will have when they become students of those schools. Just imagine.
It is our children that made the schools, and not the other way around. A good school is one with educators that can inspire our children to challenge their limits, and not one that is completely focused on getting their charges to score all As for academic exams.
Our children's path are to be charted and walked by themselves, not by us, and definitely not by the school of choice. Teach our kids to want to chart their own paths to their dreams using their own natural born skills and talents. Life does not end just because they did not get into that "good school" that we wanted so much to get them into.
i myself am a product of a neighbourhood school. to me, i had an excellent foundation thanks to good teachers, particularly my pri 6 teacher who is exceptionally dedicated. to this day, i stil remember the things they taught me. where is my pri school now? its stil faithfully serving the needs of educating the young in our old neighbourhood - is it famous now? not really, its stil an ordinary neighbourhood sch but that does not mean it had not produced batches of successful, well-adjusted citizens who contributed much to our society tdy!
my previous post is more of a joke la, frankly i myself m not gg to try for those branded schools - cos i m too lazy. gg for a sch where i have church affiliation and is more well-rounded curriculum and programme. but the post is also applicable, considering that most of us kiasuparents wld like (at the very least) for our kids to get into a "good" school. if any tom dick or harry school also can, then none of us will be here visiting this site
of course, i hope my dd wil get to go on that "wall of fame" in her pri sch next time!