Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As our classes are not one-size-fits-all, we do not publicly share our timetable/s. We highly recommend interested parents/students to book a free diagnostic assessment with our support team at https://wa.me/message/GRRBIR7T46MIE1 or +65 8874 4870. Slots are limited and arranged on first-come-first-served basis.

The free diagnostic assessment assesses students on 3 aspects:

1. Learning Style (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic) – for us to understand about student memory retention and learning pace so that our teachers could use a suitable teaching strategy

2. Behaviourial combination – like a psychological assessment to find out what motivates students to learn (as well as what demotivated them)

3. Language proficiency

With the results, our assessment team can then recommend suitable class arrangements for your child.

Our classes are classified into:

1. Core banded classes – students with similar learning abilities are narrowly grouped to enable teachers to address similar learning gaps and teach at a suitable pace

2. Foundation classes – for students who have bigger learning gaps (i.e. P6 student with a reading proficiency of P3 or a S3 student with a reading proficiency of P4)

3. Functional classes – tiered composition, oral and other functional classes to enhance a certain area of your child

If you are concerned if the timings may suit your child, don’t worry. You could share your preferred days and timings before the assessment so that we could advise on the availability. We are usually able to offer a suitable class timing, 99% of the time.

Our teachers are mostly former instructors and teachers who specialise in English language.

Our English teachers mostly majored in English Language and Literature, Sociology or equivalent disciplines. Hence, they are qualified to teach the Primary and Secondary English syllabi which has increased in complexity over the years.

For example, top Primary English compositions today demand correct use of literary devices (something that used to be taught only in Secondary English literature) while Secondary English narrative comprehension questions now test students on aspects that were only exclusive to English literature.

This requires our teacher staffing process to be more rigorous in order to provide our students with high quality English education and prepare them well for major examinations.

Our teachers are mostly former instructors and teachers who specialise in Chinese language.

Our Chinese teachers mostly majored in Chinese Studies or equivalent disciplines. Hence, they are qualified to teach the Primary and Secondary Chinese and Higher Chinese syllabi which has increased in complexity over the years.

As bilingualism is a strong feature at SLC, our Chinese teachers are mostly locals and must be effectively bilingual. This is to help students who struggle with the Chinese language to learn better. With a team of mostly local Chinese teachers, we have a collective understanding about the challenges local students face with learning Mandarin. Some of which include:

1. habitually translating English to Chinese

2. lacking Chinese vocabulary

3. not having a Chinese speaking environment

Internally, regular teacher training is conducted to keep our teachers abreast of the latest syllabi, exam formats, school marking schemes, educational technologies and teaching strategies. Non-local teachers are regularly trained in English translation and Singapore student culture so that they can better communicate with our students for effective Chinese learning.

Unlike most other tuition chains that enforce highly structured curricula that tend to be overly rigid and may not meet individual learning needs, we adopt a semi-structured curriculum that gives teachers and students greater level of autonomy and flexibility.

Our curricula are regularly vetted by our Academic Advisors who comprise retired senior teachers and HODs. See “Our Advisors” page for more info.

A semi-structured curriculum allows teachers to quickly adapt to student needs and address learning gaps. For example, student A has a Weighted Assessment for Paper 2 the following week and needs help in specific comprehension question types. He or she informs the teacher about 1-2 weeks in advance and the teacher is able to re-order our flexible curriculum to prioritise inferential comprehension question types for the following two weeks.

We use a diverse mix of materials: in-house written notes and materials adapted from past school papers and external assessment books. While high quality materials are important, we believe greater in building student conceptual understanding through guidance and nuturting student interest in the languages through engagement and relationship building.

The structured curricula are as follows:

1. Primary Chinese and Higher Chinese core banded classes

P6 students are put in P6 classes that are taught at a suitable learning pace. Classes are taught in accordance with the school textbook syllabus and exam formats.

2. Secondary Chinese and Higher Chinese core banded classes

Classes are taught in accordance with the school exam formats.

3. Primary English core banded classes

Classes are taught in accordance with the Stellar and school exam formats.

4. Secondary English core banded classes

Classes are taught in accordance with the lower secondary and N and O level exam formats.

5. Primary Chinese foundation classes

Classes are tiered in accordance with students’ actual language proficiencies.

For example, a P6 student with a reading proficiency of P3 will receive revision of high frequency P3-5 words that will appear in P6 exam papers. They will usually be trained in sentence construction, word matches, reading comprehension and note taking.

6. Secondary Chinese foundation classes

Classes are tiered in accordance with students’ actual language proficiencies.

A S3 student with a reading proficiency of P4 will receive revision of high frequency P4-S2 words that will appear in S3 exam papers. They will usually be trained in sentence construction, word matches, reading comprehension, composition and email writing.

We strongly believe in the effectiveness of our narrowly banded small group classes that have helped batches and batches of students achieve top results. While we do not provide 1-1 tuition, our teachers are open to offering academic consultation (zoom/physical/WhatsAppp/Telegram/Google Meet) at no extra cost especially nearing examination periods (subject to their availability).

Our lessons are available both physically outside Marymount MRT Exit B and online. Being centrally located in the Marymount/Bishan area, many students come from all parts of Singapore including Pasir Ris, Simei, Sengkang, Punggol, Jurong and Bukit Panjang. Students who have been on Zoom classes for most parts of 2020 due to Covid actually did very well for major exams. Last year, a student from our S4 batch improved from F9 to B3 for O level. Another from our P6 batch improved from C to A.

We first conduct a diagnostic assessment for our students. This includes:

1) learning style (visual, auditory or kinesthetic)
2) behavioural combination (an educational psychological assessment to find out what motivates them)
3) language proficiency

With the results, we will then identify their learning gaps (i.e. are they learning using the right method, what motivates them to learn, do they learn best by a detailed step-by-step instructional method or do they prefer conceptually understanding and creatively connecting the dots, are they by default more articulate and able to think out of the box or do they tend to be more reserved and interact via observation etc)

With this, we then provide our recommendations on areas for improvement, how we can strategically help students pull up their marks in essence of time and suitable teaching styles to meet their needs.

We generally have 4 bands for our classes for every level, proficiencies in increasing order (L1-4).

The assessor will match students according to the suitable class environment and pace for your child

We apologise in advance for any inconveniences caused as we do not allow parents and guardians to enter our classrooms during visits. This is to prevent our ongoing classes from being disrupted as we wish to deliver the best lesson experience to all of our students. Thank you for your kind understanding!