It's the school holidays, and you're stuck at home with a primary school-aged child who will be taking the PSLE in the coming years. And you're looking for holiday camps so your child doesn't spend the entire day at home, glued to their digital device. Continue reading to find out how to make the most out of your child's school holiday.

What defines Academic Performance in Singapore Now?

First and foremost, let us talk about the recent changes to the Singapore educational system. The current educational climate in Singapore has advanced far beyond what we experienced in primary school. Confused about the most recent changes? Let us explain it to you.

New Banding System in academic performance score

Since 2021, the PSLE T-score has been replaced with a wider scoring band system, known as Achievement Levels (ALs). Each PSLE subject will be scored using 8 ALs. Students who perform similarly will be placed in the same AL for each subject.

DSA-Sec as part of the academic performance framework to help your child get into the desired school

On top of the recent changes in the Banding System, MOE has also been fine-tuning the education system to help children discover and develop their strengths and interest while moving away from an overemphasis on academic results.

And this is where the Direct School Admission for Secondary Schools (DSA-Sec) program comes into play. The DSA-sec is a process through which students can apply to specific schools prior to taking the PSLE. Students can apply based on a variety of skills, including sports and games, debate and public speaking, leadership, and so on.

As a result, it is clear that your child's success in the current educational environment is now measured far beyond the scopes that a textbook can teach and conventional academic success.

What are the Success Factors for Academic Performance?

Self-motivation – the importance of motivation as the key to academic performance

Self-motivation is a skill that is frequently undervalued, yet extremely important. It is more than simply getting out of bed every morning. In actual fact, it has a significant impact on your child's academic performance and future success as children who have an inner drive to work hard have an advantage over their peers. Furthermore, studies have shown that children with intrinsic motivation can think more logically and apply their knowledge more effectively to achieve outstanding academic performance.

Self-awareness – to understand what niche areas to go into for DSA-Sec.

Self-awareness is an important skill for children to be aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. Children who are self-aware will also be able to identify their niche areas, which they can then use to apply for the DSA-Sec process.

Self-regulation – discipline for academic performance.

Self-regulation is the ability to understand and manage one's own behavior and reactions to situations. Being able to self-regulate includes things like the ability to control impulses, calming down after an exciting or upsetting event, and focusing on tasks. These small habits help to instill and cultivate discipline in your child, allowing them to perform better.

How do Forest School Holiday Camps Improve success factors that lead to Academic Performance?

Learner driven curriculum increases self-motivation skills

The Forest School Holiday Camps adhere to the Forest School Philosophy, which offers a nurturing, heart-centered rhythm for children to engage in free sensory play in a natural and safe setting. The curriculum of the holiday camps is unique in that it is learner-driven, which fuels the children's intrinsic motivation to create and learn new things on their own terms.

Forest School Children Engaging in Free Sensory Play at a Holiday Camp

Self-awareness skills - learner-driven curriculum helps find out your child’s interests & inclination

The learner-driven curriculum also provides a conducive environment for a child to freely explore and discover their interests and inclinations, which they may not have discovered in an otherwise rigid educational environment.

The Forest School's lesson plan includes a variety of activities that allow the child to explore and discover what they are good at. With activities like Free Art and Natural Instruments, forest school encourages creative expression. These activities involve the children exploring the natural environment in order to gather materials for their masterpieces. This process assists the child in becoming aware of how they interact with their surroundings, cultivates self-awareness, and gradually assists in determining their potential niche area.

Self-regulation skills - Practice identifying, processing, and managing emotions.

The children at Forest School see numerous opportunities to improve their self-regulation skills as they work together to resolve any conflicts that may arise. While reconciling their differences, they will need to identify, process, and manage their emotions which contributes to their self-regulation skills.

An activity that the Forest School has as part of their lesson plan is Self-Expression. This activity can take place throughout as well as at the end of the session where children can talk about how they feel and what they enjoyed as well as things they might not have. The process of expressing their opinions and emotions might guide them in managing their own emotions and behavior as they find ways to express them in a congenial way.

If you would like to find out more on how outdoor activities helps your child’s mental and physical well-being, click on this article “6 Ways Forest School Outdoor Activities Help The Gaming Child”.

Written by Hazwani Binte Tubah

3 Reasons Why Forest School Holiday Camps Help Academic Performance