First semester report cards

This post is a summary of my kids' school results for the first half of 2010.

In Lesley-Anne's school, the SA1 takes into account daily work, pop quizzes and assignments on top of the written exam, so the kids had no "honeymoon" period, so to speak. Lesley-Anne's results are as follows:

English Language and Literature: A1 (double weightage)
Higher Chinese: B4
History and Geography: A1
Maths: A2
Science (Physics): A1

We're very pleased with the results as this was achieved during the period when she had to adjust to a new school, new subjects and a crazy CCA schedule (she comes home close to 7pm two to three times a week). Plus she had to prepare for both her piano and ballet exams in close succession.

Overall, she's juggling her schedule very well and enjoying her time in school. She seems to be handling maths much better than she did in primary school, missing A1 by only one mark. We knew Chinese would be more of a challenge for her since this is the first time she's taking HCL, so a B4 is a credible achievement. It's extremely comforting to see her making the transition to secondary school so smoothly.

Andre's results are a mixed bag. In the actual SA1 papers, his performance in English and Chinese were average, Science was surprisingly disastrous. It's not that he didn't know his work but the Singapore science test scripts tend to look for very specific answers with key words and from looking at the paper, it was quite obvious he hasn't quite grasped the technique. Only Maths saw a respectable performance.

Fortunately, the overall results took into account alternative modes of assessment done throughout the half year and these pulled Andre's grades up. Final grades: Band 1 for Maths, Band 2 for English, Chinese and Science.

It was like deja vu at the parent-teacher conference, the feedback was eerily similar to that of the past years'. He is capable of doing better if he pays attention in class. Socially, he has no problems. In fact, he may be TOO sociable. He kept talking in class despite the Chinese teacher changing his position several times, even next to girls. In the end, she had to make him sit alone. I think as long as there's a living thing next to Andre, he will chat it up.

If I'm being perfectly honest, I have to admit at being rather disheartened by Andre's results. It seems that each term, I do the pep talk, make him do all the necessary revisions, think he might be better prepared, but the results don't reflect the effort.

I've been through all the philosophical arguments. I call it the 3 'R's - rationalisation, resignation and resolution. Every kid has different abilities, boys mature later, he's just not exam-smart, etc etc. But when you run a race and keep tripping over stones despite your efforts, it gets harder and harder to convince yourself that the path will get smoother. Especially when you don't seem to be getting more adept at picking yourself up.

However, I have to believe that one of these days, it will happen. Admittedly, this faith is driven less by optimism and grit on my part than pure obstinacy. I've found that teachers are not always the most encouraging, neither are peers. If I, the parent, don't believe that Andre can, who will?

I don't know how many more times he will trip and fall, whether it will take another two laps or another 20 before he finds his footing. It sounds sappy, I know, but I will be there all the way, helping him up or cheering him on. He will make it eventually.