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 some students, appeal starts even before the first day of Secondary School.
Secondary School Posting Appeal
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.
The 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.
Main Criteria For Successful Appeal
Under the 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 1 to 3 points below the school’s Cutoff-point (COP). It is therefore important for students to check the COP before completing the appeal form.
Some wealthy parents may think that they stand a better chance if they can convey to the school their willingness to sponsor a particular Co-Curriculum Activity (CCA) or a particular school project. While some schools may politely express appreciation to such gesture, others may reply with strong negative sentiment, taking it as an insult to school integrity.
School Management And Posting Appeal
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 members of the school board, are not involved in the decision making process.
Personal referral to Principal and Vice-Principal is one sure way of successful appeal. However, there are also known cases of school Principal rejecting appeal referred by a member of the school board.
Waiting Period For 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. For parents who wish to help their child to succeed on appeal, it is important to show respect to the school staff when checking status and making requests for interviews. As a rule of thumb, if there is still no reply after 29 December, it is good to make daily check with the school, even in the second week of January.
Attending Interview For Posting Appeal
Besides academic compatibility, a student appealing into a secondary school must be ready to take part in the CCA that the school is strong in. When an appealer is called up for an interview, he/she would normally be asked about his/her interest in the CCAs that the school are most proud of.
For this reason the appealer should conduct prior research on the CCA that the school he/she is appealing into. 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.
Successful Appeal
Sincerity and enthusiasm shown by a student and their parents are the most important quality that will impress the school of the genuineness of 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 a sincere attitude towards office staff and school teachers. These are the most important factors to ensure success in secondary school posting appeal.
There are many other occasions when a secondary student needs to make an appeal. The most common example is for admission into certain subject combination at Secondary 3. While the appeal procedure may be different, sincerity and enthusiasm of appealer are always the determining factor for successful appeal.