Entering into secondary school, life could be smooth sailing for some students but not all. There are many occasions where a secondary student needs to make a school appeal for better study option. For example, a Secondary 1 Normal Academic stream student may want to appeal for transfer promotion into Secondary 2 Express stream. At Secondary 3, the most common appeal is for admission into certain subject combination, such as appeal for admission into double maths instead of single math class.
Secondary School Posting Appeal
To some students, appeal starts even before the first day of Secondary School. It comes about when a student receives his posting to a secondary school that is not within his preference. The student will have to immediately visit his preferred secondary school and complete an appeal form to register his interest for a transfer. Secondary school posting appeal is known to be one of the most common appeals in Singapore secondary schools. Some schools claim to have received more than 100 appeal forms yearly. Some students even make appeals to multiple schools so as to be guaranteed of more options and higher probability of success.
Under Singapore education system, academic performance is always the most important consideration in all appeal cases. An appeal is of good chance if the academic qualification of the student is not too far from the Cutoff-point (COP) of the school. For example, a student with COP of 234 stands fairly good chance when appealing to a school of COP 235 or even 236.
School Management And Posting Appeal
Generally all appeals are approved only by the Principal and Vice-Principal of the school. Any other staff or prominent individual, such as Head Of Department (HOD) or member of school Board, are not involved in the decision making process. There has been known case of school Principal rejecting appeal made by parent who is sitting in the school board.
For parents who wish to help their child to succeed in the appeal, it is important to show respect and sincerity to the school when checking status and making request for interview. Some wealthy parents may think that they stand better chance if they can convey to the school principal their willingness to sponsor a particular CCA or a particular school project. While some schools may politely express appreciation to such gesture, others may reply with strong negative reaction, taking it as an insult to school integrity.
Waiting Period For Secondary School Posting Appeal
Successful appeal results in movement of a student from one school to another school. Each school will tally their vacancies regularly and decide on how many appealers to interview next. The tallying process is ongoing day-after-day, some even into the second week of January, after school opening.
It is therefore important for the appealer to take initiative to check regularly with the school during this period. As a rule of thumb, if there is still no reply after 29 December, it is good to make daily check with the school, through into the second week of January.
Attending Interview For Secondary School Posting Appeal
Besides academic compatibility, a student appealing into a secondary school must be ready to take part in the CCA (Co-Curriculum Activities) that the school is strong in. When an appealer is called up for interview, he would normally be asked how much he knew about the school CCA and how he could contribute to make it better. For this reason, the appealer should conduct prior research on the CCA that the school is strong at. Information such as awards won by the school, name of the external coach engaged by the school, values instilled and expectations of students are standard questions. During the interview, the student must show enthusiasm, even if he is unfamiliar with the CCA.
In short, sincerity and enthusiasm shown by a student and their parents are the most important quality that will impress the school of the genuineness of the appeal. From the point of submitting an appeal to subsequent follow up calls and personal visit to the school to enquire on status, the student and their parents must maintain sincere attitude towards office staff and school teachers. These are the most important factors to ensure success in secondary school posting appeal.