Transiting from PSLE to Secondary School Science can be difficult. Diving into a pool of new knowledge, students find it challenging to grasp the in-depth concepts Secondary School Science has to offer.
Students will be exposed to the 3 fields of science – Chemistry, Physics and Biology. Contents are more in depth. Physics involves calculation, Chemistry entails understanding of complex concepts and chemical symbols while Biology requires heavy memory work.
Transitioning from Primary to Secondary Science is never easy. A new environment, new subjects and new expectations. Coupled with demands of teenage years can be both academically challenging and emotionally draining.
There are less quality resources for the Lower Secondary syllabus compared to that of Upper Secondary. In addition, scheme of work varies across different schools and most tuition programmes are generally unable to provide targeted help for students.
When we plan with parents, we begin with the end goal in mind – to help students do well in their A level and get into a good University. A critical framework is necessary to map out the route for parents, students and tutors to work hand-in-hand towards the long term vision of doing well in A level examination. The Making Sense programme ensures that students acquire the necessary skill sets, exposure and rigor to excel in their secondary school examinations, before they embark on the A level journey.
For lower secondary science tuition to be effective, customisation is of essence. There is a wide disparity in the scheme of work among secondary schools. By offering the option of structured classes or Personalised learning (PL), we can better identify the needs of the students and offer the correct solution. In addition, PL allows for a small and intimate setting where teachers work closely with individual students to address their needs.
Students in both structured classes and PL will gain access to our highly sought after-notes. Concise and comprehensive, these materials are designed by our Curriculum and Assessment unit, which includes all the equipment and laboratory set ups to facilitate students’ understanding.
Tutor will check on student’s academic needs (eg: advanced learning, addressing specific weakness, exposure to more application questions on certain topics) and focus on the specific area the students is struggling with. In addition, term tests are conducted to gauge progress of students and to give constant feedback and guidance for students to improve their grades.
Don’t be fooled by Mr. Lymon’s army specs and casual demeanour, he has almost 10 years’ of tutoring and curriculum development experience under his belt!
A chemical engineer by training, Mr. Lymon has been coaching students in sciences since graduating from NUS in 2013. His favourite subjects are chemistry (duh) and biology, he is keenly interested in the practical applications of coordination chemistry in the field of biomedical sciences.
Mr. Lymon believes that tutor does not merely tutor; a tutor is also an academic mentor and coach. As such, he strives to be approachable and build rapport with his students in class, as he feels that a student’s learning journey is greatly enhanced by being immersed in an engaging and comfortable environment.
Don’t be afraid to ask “stupid” questions, because to Mr. Lymon, there’s no such thing as a “stupid” question. Afterall,
“Being bad at something is the first step to being good at something!” – a wise man
Many students find Chemistry difficult as a subject as it seems content heavy and concepts are abstract but fret not!
With vast years of teaching experiences in secondary schools, Mr Terence is able to break down complex concepts into something students can easily comprehend, identify the misconceptions they have at his fingertip and able to cultivate the thinking process behind application questions. With an approachable and patient demeanour, students do not hesitate to clarify any doubts they have.
Skilful in teaching padegogy and differentiated instruction, he has the ability to target the weak learning areas of the students and give specific remedies to help them improve.
The final academic result indeed matters but often, it is this thinking and analytical skills that stays with you as you proceed to higher tertiary levels.
Mr Chuah. was majoring in Mathematics in the National University of Singapore, where he was in the Special Program for Mathematics, studying advanced mathematics. However, despite having received a high level of exposure to mathematics, he has not forgotten his other interest in Chemistry.
Mr Chuah. participated in the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad and was a contender for the Singapore team for the International Chemistry Olympiad. Despite not making the final cut, he has since successfully trained many students for the competition, having taught content equivalent to undergraduate chemistry. Wei Bin is now venturing into preparing students for national examinations, where his wealth of knowledge in advanced chemistry is a huge asset since novel situations beyond the syllabus are often assessed in recent years.
Modern students face time management issues in the examination, and Wei Bin always has shortcuts and tricks for students to answer questions quickly. However, being aware of the struggles of some of the weaker students, he also adopts pedagogies from the Making Sense team to help everyone understand the fundamentals. He hopes to strike a nice rapport with many students to boost their confidence in the Chemistry examinations.
