Entrance Exam for Primary 1, Kuen Cheng 2 (5 May 2018)

In a follow up to my previous blog at http://onattycan.blogspot.my/2017/03/application-to-kuen-cheng-2-primary.html, this blog will be all about the entrance exam and what to prepare for.

So, after submitting our application to this primary school about a year ago, the moment finally arrived. We arrived at the school early, around 7.05am as we were afraid of the jam and we managed to get a parking space right opposite the school. There were other parents and kids that had arrived earlier than us and all of them were anxiously waiting for the registration.

Upon arrival, we checked for our child’s name (in alphabetical order) on the board and which classroom she had been assigned to. There were 7 classes; classes 1-5 with 32 students each and classes 6-7 with 31 students each.

Check your child's names on the board

At 7.15a.m., the parents were seen lining up in front of the respective class registration tables. At 7.30a.m., parents were registering their children to get the child's number sticker to stick onto their outfit. After registration, everyone went to the school hall. The kids were lining up (sitting) according to their respective assigned group and parents were asked to take a seat for the headmistress’s briefing.

Registration

The school hall

Children lining up in their respective groups

Waiting, waiting, waiting ....sad coz no friends

Once they had all the children, the children were brought to their respective classes and the headmistress started off by welcoming parents and thanking the parents for their application to the school. She spoke in Mandarin and English. The headmistress explained about the school, school’s syllabus, i.e. LINUS programme, co-curricular activities, time table, etc. At the end, there were questions and answers from the parents. The speech was about 1 hour. Then all of us went to the canteen and bought some food and drinks for ourselves and our children for when they are out for a break.

Announcements after announcements, the children were supposed to come out for a break at 10a.m., but it was delayed. We overheard that the exam started late as the teachers needed to calm down the crying children before they could start the exam.

My girl came out at 11.30a.m., feeling sad. She was crying as she wanted her dad to be with her in the classroom. Other children that came out also cried, a few of them. She didn’t want to eat.

At 11.50a.m., all parents needed to send their children back to the respective classroom. Exam for Mathematics started at 12p.m. All finished at 1p.m. HOORAY…..

When I picked her up from her classroom, I noticed that the classroom’s windows were covered with curtains and closed doors with 2 teachers assigned to each class. It may be quite scary for certain kids and can’t blame the kids for being scared inside the room. It’s a proper exam.

Seating position in the classroom

Inside the car, I took the opportunity to ask my girl about the questions from English, BM and Mathematics paper. Here are the following comments (coming from my soon to be 6 year old):-

(a)   BM paper - Construction of sentences. A picture of “bread” was given and students need to construct 2 sentences with regard to “bread”; and

(b)   Mathematics – calculation (add and subtraction). There were Ringgit and Sen.  

Overall, she said the paper was easy!! She could do it.

For the exam, there was no mentioned by the headmistress that the results would be announced. Perhaps, it’s for their own internal assessment of the children.

Conclusion, these are the things that you need to do and bring on the entrance exam day:-

(a)   Prepare your children a year in advance for the exam;

(b)   Sleep early the night before and arrive early for the registration of the entrance exam. There is empty land beside the school, that was open for parents to park their cars;

(c)   Bring stationery and water;

(d)   Prepare some snacks for break time.   

* No documents required for registration. I saw some parents brought the original birth certificate and MyKid. Please check for next year’s requirements.