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<?xml encoding="UTF-8"><html><body><div id="attachment_100621" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-100621" onerror="kspReplaceCdn(this)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-100621" src="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-vladislav-vasnetsov-2202685-800x534.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="534" srcset="https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-vladislav-vasnetsov-2202685-800x534.jpg 800w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-vladislav-vasnetsov-2202685-320x214.jpg 320w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-vladislav-vasnetsov-2202685-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-vladislav-vasnetsov-2202685-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-vladislav-vasnetsov-2202685-scaled.jpg 1348w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px">Photo by <a href="https://www.pexels.com/@vladvictoria?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vladislav Vasnetsov</a> from <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-playing-badminton-2202685/?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pexels</a></div>Feeling clueless or confused about co-curricular activity (CCA) points, even though your teen is already in Secondary 4? It&rsquo;s perfectly normal, and many parents &mdash; as well as teens &mdash; share your sentiments.
However, CCA points could benefit your teen when it comes to school applications after the O-Levels, and that&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s worthwhile to understand how the scoring system works. Below, we&rsquo;ll try to answer some questions that you might have, but if your teen needs help to secure CCA points, do get in touch with the school as soon as possible!
<h4>What Are Bonus Points &amp; Why Do They Matter for the O-Levels?</h4>
For the O-Levels in Singapore, your teen will be awarded a &ldquo;raw&rdquo; score, which is a sum of the individual scores from your teen&rsquo;s best five or six subjects, depending on where he or she is applying to. But this will not be the final score if one also has &ldquo;bonus points,&rdquo; which can be deducted from the raw score to give a better &ldquo;net&rdquo; score.&nbsp;
Bonus points are awarded for school affiliation, as well as for your teens&rsquo; efforts in CCA and language studies. For more information on bonus points, do visit the Ministry of Education&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/post-secondary/admissions/jae/admission-criteria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>.
Of course, if your Secondary 4 teen is not in a school with affiliations, or part of a language programme, you can&rsquo;t take any steps to change this now. However, if your teen has not met the requirements to qualify for one or two CCA bonus points, there is still time to rectify this.
Is it worth the effort? We think so &mdash; CCA bonus points can be used for entry to junior colleges, polytechnics, and the Millennia Institute. They will also be considered when students select courses at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
But what if your teen is expecting to ace the O-Levels? Will CCA points still make a difference? Yes they will! If you look at the cut-off points for top junior colleges such as <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/schoolfinder/schooldetail?schoolname=raffles-institution-junior-college" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Raffles Institution</a> and <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/schoolfinder/schooldetail?schoolname=hwa-chong-institution-junior-college" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hwa Chong Institution</a>, they are typically at 4 or 5. You can&rsquo;t get such scores without help from bonus points.
In any case, with the greater emphasis on an all-rounded education in recent years, many students would be able to secure at least one CCA bonus point, and not having any at all could be a disadvantage, especially if your teen intends to apply for a popular school or course.
<h4>How Are CCA Points Earned &amp; How Do I Check My Teen&rsquo;s CCA Points?</h4>
The quickest way to check on your teen&rsquo;s CCA points is to send an email to the school&rsquo;s CCA teacher to find out!&nbsp;
Your teen can also enquire with the CCA teacher in school, but you may prefer to have confirmation in writing. If your teen has not secured the full two points yet, you should seek advice directly from the school.&nbsp;
For parents who don&rsquo;t mind doing some personal research, refer to the MOE&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/-/media/files/programmes/leaps-2.pdf?la=en&amp;hash=F108C31F913C3156498CF7B8B2D43218BC5F1FC7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LEAPS 2.0</a> document, which will explain exactly how CCA points are awarded.&nbsp;
LEAPS is actually short for Leadership, Achievement, Participation, and Service &mdash; these are the four domains that students are assessed on. This next bit might seem complicated, but each domain has five levels, with Level 1 efforts being quite minimal, and Level 5 efforts considered outstanding. This information is also covered in detail in the LEAPS 2.0 document.
To secure one CCA bonus point, an easy number to remember is 1, 2, 2, 2. This means your teen would need to fulfil Level 1 requirements in one domain, and Level 2 requirements in three domains. An example of this could be:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Participation (Level 2): Participated in a CCA for at least three years, with 75% attendance each year.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Achievement (Level 2): Represented school (or external organisation) at an event in one year.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Leadership (Level 1): Completed two leadership training modules of at least three hours each &mdash;&nbsp;check if this has already been done by the school.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Service (Level 2): Completed 30 to 35 hours of service to the school or community in four years. (Typically, a school will ensure that students carry out at least six hours of service per school year.)</li>
</ul>
Please note that there are other ways to get one CCA bonus point, and the above is just one example.
For two CCA bonus points, the number to remember is 4, 3, 3, 3. This means your teen would need to fulfil Level 4 requirements in one domain, and Level 3 requirements in three domains. An example of this could be:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Participation (Level 4): Participated in the same CCA for 4 years with at least 75% attendance for each year.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Achievement (Level 3): Represented the school at a local competition, conference, festival, or exhibition for two years.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Leadership (Level 3): Upper secondary CCA committee member</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Service (Level 3): Completed at least 24 hours of service, and at least one <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/programmes/values-in-action" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Values in Action</a> project that impacts the school or community.</li>
</ul>
Once again, there are other ways to attain two CCA bonus points, so do read the LEAPS 2.0 document, or consult your teen&rsquo;s school for the full picture.
<h4>Are There Any &lsquo;Hacks&rsquo; for CCA Bonus Points?</h4>
One can&rsquo;t game the system, and anyway, we wouldn&rsquo;t want to encourage that!&nbsp;
However, we can say that the Participation domain is the easiest to &lsquo;score&rsquo; in &mdash; the mere act of committing to one CCA and meeting the 75% attendance requirements each year would already have ensured a Level 4 score.
Fulfilling the requirements for the remaining domains is more challenging, as it will need some initiative on your teen&rsquo;s part. But what you should know is that your Secondary 4 teen does not have to be an award winner or school team superstar to get one or two CCA bonus points. There is still ample time this year to volunteer with a charity, initiate a community project, or step up to a leadership position in school &mdash; CCA points aside, these are all growth experiences that will benefit your teen. If your teen is keen to pursue any of these opportunities, do get in touch with the school early in the year, so that they can support you.
One of our KSP members shared with us how her daughter, who is in Secondary 4 this year and not part of a school team, managed to secure two CCA bonus points by the end of Secondary 3:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Volunteered with a family service centre for half a day in Secondary 1</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Participated in the <a href="https://www.syf.gov.sg/syfgoesonline/2021-syfgoesonline/pixel-perfect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SYF Pixel Perfect</a> photo competition in Secondary 2</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Took a CCA leadership role in Secondary 3</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Worked on a church-initiated service project in Secondary 3</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Participated in the <a href="https://sms.math.nus.edu.sg/index.php/singapore-mathematical-olympiad-smo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Singapore Mathematical Olympiad</a> competition in Secondary 3 &mdash; there was no barrier to entry and training sessions were held in school</li>
</ul>
We would also appreciate more parents sharing how their teens have managed to get one or two CCA bonus points, for the benefit of the KSP community. If your teen has done this, do tell us more in the comments!
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Your Teen is in Secondary 4 and Needs CCA Points? It’s Not Too Late!

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<?xml encoding="UTF-8"><html><body><div id="attachment_93735" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-93735" onerror="kspReplaceCdn(this)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-93735 size-full" src="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-budgeron-bach-5153967-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" srcset="https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-budgeron-bach-5153967-scaled.jpg 1350w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-budgeron-bach-5153967-800x533.jpg 800w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-budgeron-bach-5153967-320x213.jpg 320w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-budgeron-bach-5153967-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u170058/pexels-budgeron-bach-5153967-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px">Photo by <a href="https://www.pexels.com/@budgeron-bach?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Budgeron Bach</a> from <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/young-professional-asian-ballerina-training-in-studio-with-adorable-little-beginner-girl-5153967/?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pexels</a></div>Wondering if you should let your child decide on his or her own co-curricular activities (CCAs) during the primary and secondary years? Or is your parental involvement needed, to create more opportunities for development?
Well, it depends on your priorities. Here&rsquo;s why some parents might be intentional about choosing their children&rsquo;s CCAs, and getting an early start:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">They were specialists in a particular activity and know the scene well &mdash; e.g. children of sportspersons will tend to follow in their footsteps.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">They&rsquo;ve set their sights on their children entering particular secondary schools via the Direct School Admission (DSA) route.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">They want their children to have school representation opportunities, especially in secondary school, to attain <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/cca-bonus-points-what-parents-need-to-know-about-leaps-2-0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CCA points</a> that can be used for junior college or polytechnic admission.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">They want their children to have a strong CCA participation record, which will help them stand out when applying to tertiary institutions.</li>
</ul>
If you&rsquo;re a chill parent or believe that children should be given space for exploration, this may seem far-fetched or even distasteful, but the fact is that some parents do start plotting their children&rsquo;s CCA journeys from the pre-primary years.
As with all things in life, we believe that balance is key. Children should be given time and space to discover their passions. Yet, there are instances where you might want to step in to help support your child&rsquo;s CCA growth:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Your child has a natural ability that hasn&rsquo;t been spotted by the school, perhaps because your child is an introvert.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Your child is yearning to be &ldquo;good&rdquo; at something, or wants to develop a skill, but doesn&rsquo;t know where to begin. (This must come from your child, and not be a result of unfavourable peer comparisons by parents.)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You feel your child needs a life experience that can build confidence, resilience, perseverance, and time management &mdash; school-team training is perfect for developing all of these traits.</li>
</ul>
For the above scenarios, some &ldquo;strategising&rdquo; might come in handy. How can you help your child with his or her CCA choice? Here&rsquo;s what you can do:
<h4>Think Long-Term</h4>
Let&rsquo;s say your child is in a primary school with an affiliated secondary school. If you and your child are happy with the school, and you expect that your child will gain entry to the affiliated secondary school, it may be wiser to choose a CCA that is offered at the secondary level. Some children are left floundering in Secondary 1 when they realise their school doesn&rsquo;t offer the activity that they&rsquo;ve been immersed in for several years, and it can be hard for them to find a replacement activity. Furthermore, those used to the intensity of school-team training may find CCA participation at a recreational level unsatisfying.
Of course, once children reach secondary school, they may also decide that they would like to try a new CCA &mdash; ideally, this should be a choice, and not the only option open to them.
<h4>Connect With Other Parents</h4>
If you&rsquo;re the sort who <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/how-to-survive-class-whatsapp-groups/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loathes parent WhatsApp groups</a> and would prefer not to engage in school talk, you might want to make an exception. Other parents can give you valuable insights into how CCAs are run, based on their personal experiences. You can find out where to get discounts or a better price on training gear, as well as get the lowdown on the quality of coaching, what the school looks for in team selections, and what the actual costs are like, taking into account the additional training that may be needed if your child progresses to the next level.
In some schools, you&rsquo;ll also find that parents (who can spare the time) contribute to keeping CCAs going &mdash; they assist teachers and coaches, they bring refreshments for everyone after training, and they show up in full force to support the school team at events. In fact, you may be glad to be part of such a generous community.
<h4>Contact The Relevant Trainers</h4>
Often, school trainers run external sessions that your child can join for a taster. These may be in the form of enrichment classes held within the school, or at a separate location. Letting your child try these sessions before committing to a CCA is useful &mdash; you can see if your child has rapport with the coaches, and if you share the same values about growth and development.
You may also find that CCAs at a recreational (i.e. non-school team) level don&rsquo;t offer the personal attention that a child needs for honing a skill, simply because it&rsquo;s too crowded, and the main objective is to let everyone have fun. Participating in external sessions helps coaches to get to know your child better, and you can get an honest assessment on your child&rsquo;s aptitude and potential for advancement. However, do be mindful that trainers are running a business, and you don&rsquo;t have to accept their recommendations wholesale. It&rsquo;s best to do your own research, and use your instincts as a guide.
<h4>Be Prepared To Invest Time, Effort, And Money</h4>
If you&rsquo;ve prided yourself on being a hands-off parent, having to support your child&rsquo;s CCA involvement, especially at the school-team level, may come as a rude shock. Even at the recreational level, you may have to buy gear and sign up for additional training if you&rsquo;re so advised. And if your child is invited to join the school team, you will have to sort out transport (or even lunch) arrangements for practice and competition days, ensure that there are no clashes with other after-school activities, while at the same time making sure that your child is not too exhausted to keep up with schoolwork. You will also have to teach your child to negotiate homework deadlines with teachers, especially during competition season. And finally, you may find that there are additional charges that you had not anticipated, such as competition or costume fees.
This is why it&rsquo;s good to lean on your parent network, and ask as many questions as you can before making a firm commitment. At the end of the day, give what you can, and don&rsquo;t beat yourself up for not being able to do more. After all, as parents, we&rsquo;re all trying our best.
&nbsp;
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Choosing The “Right” CCA: Should You Have A Strategy?

<img onerror="kspReplaceCdn(this)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-83166" src="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u133359/44286247_s.jpg" alt="cca" width="848" height="565" srcset="https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u133359/44286247_s.jpg 848w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u133359/44286247_s-800x533.jpg 800w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u133359/44286247_s-320x213.jpg 320w" sizes="(max-width: 848px) 100vw, 848px" />
What are co-curricular activity (CCA) bonus points for secondary schoolers, and why would one need them? 
Well, these are either one or two points that can be deducted from one’s O-Level examination score to give a better overall score, and they can be extremely useful if your child is slightly off the mark to enter his or her first-choice school. 
CCA bonus points can be used for entry to junior colleges, polytechnics, and the Millennia Institute. Those wanting to join the International Baccalaureate programmes at Anglo Chinese School (Independent) or St Joseph’s Institution can also use these points to improve their scores. The bonus points will also be considered for Institute of Technical Education courses.
In short, there’s nothing to lose from finding out more about how the CCA bonus point system works. If your child’s secondary school hasn’t explained it to you, you can visit the Ministry of Education (MOE) <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/education/programmes/co-curricular-activities">website</a> to download the information. It’s best to do so during your child’s lower secondary years, so you and your child are fully aware of the requirements and have time to plan ahead.
The current CCA grading system is known as LEAPS 2.0, which refers to the domains that students are assessed on, namely Leadership, Achievement, Participation, and Service. “The whole system is very complicated,” <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=81657">bemoaned</a> a KSP member when the system was newly introduced, and we’re sure many parents continue to feel the same way today. 
Want to feel less confused about LEAPS 2.0? Read on for some useful pointers!
<img onerror="kspReplaceCdn(this)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-83190" src="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u133359/87234193_s.jpg" alt="" width="848" height="565" srcset="https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u133359/87234193_s.jpg 848w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u133359/87234193_s-800x533.jpg 800w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u133359/87234193_s-320x213.jpg 320w" sizes="(max-width: 848px) 100vw, 848px" />
The magic number to remember is: 4, 3, 3, 3. What does this mean? For each of the four LEAPS domains (mentioned above), there are different “levels” that a student can attain, from Level 1 to Level 5. For a student to score two bonus CCA points — which is the maximum — the basic requirements are a Level 3 for three domains, and a Level 4 for one domain. 
It’s easy to score a Level 4 in the Participation domain. All your child will need to do is participate in the same CCA for four years, with at least 75% attendance for each year. (Read about other qualifying criteria in the MOE’s <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/education/programmes/co-curricular-activities">LEAPS 2.0 document</a>.) 
Scoring a Level 3 in the remaining domains requires initiative. Again, the LEAPS 2.0 document is mandatory reading, as it has various examples of how students can get their one or two bonus CCA points. 
For the Service domain, every secondary school student will contribute at least six hours per school year to the community, which is equivalent to Level 1. Some schools may help their students to clock 30 or 36 hours of service (Levels 2 and 3 respectively), but you will need to check this with your child’s school. In any case, your child can also arrange to volunteer with an external organisation — do ensure that the organisation gives your child a certificate of participation that states the number of volunteer hours — and submit this to the school.
For the Leadership domain, some secondary schools try to ensure that most students have a class committee role, which will give them a Level 2 score. If your child wants a Level 3 in this domain but has not been selected for a bigger leadership role such as class chairperson, you can consider having him or her enrol in the <a href="http://www.nyaa.org/faqs.html">National Youth Achievement Award (NYAA)</a> programme. This is a self-development programme available to young people in Singapore between the ages of 13 and 30. The programme’s activities (which your child will take on in his or her own time) are designed to provide young people with a platform to develop personal qualities and skills to make a difference to themselves and the community at large. An NYAA Silver award is equivalent to a Level 3 in the Leadership domain. To find out more, your child can either enquire with the school’s designated NYAA coordinator (if there is one), or simply get in touch with the NYAA Council directly to get an enrolment form. 
For the Achievement domain, your child would need to represent the school or an external organisation at a local or international event for two years. This can be challenging if your child is not on a school team, or part of an external organisation that participates in competitions. However, if your child is already pursuing a hobby outside of school, find out if there is a competition that he or she can join, and contact the school to ask if your child can represent the school for this event, and what paperwork needs to be submitted. It may not be a straightforward process, and your child may need your help in this area. There are several other ways to qualify for a Level 3 (and above) in the Achievement domain, which you can read more about in the LEAPS 2.0 document.
Schools do help with CCA bonus points, but some more than others. What can your child’s school do? The best way to find out is to check with your child’s form teacher. If your child has shown initiative in pursuing a hobby or helping the community, let this be known to the school, and they may offer additional assistance to help your child plug the gaps. Don’t be afraid to approach the school for support!
Need more advice on LEAPS 2.0? Please contact the MOE directly using their <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/feedback">feedback form</a> or via their <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/contact">helpline</a>.