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Jurong West Secondary School
2024

Direct School Admission Exercise

3 May 2023

Primary Six students with talents in sports, performing arts, leadership, or visual arts can apply to Jurong West Secondary School via the DSA-Sec Exercise. Find out about the talent areas, eligibility criteria, and how to apply.

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DIRECT SCHOOL ADMISSION (DSA) TO JWSS

A. INTRODUCTION

Jurong West Secondary School (JWSS) welcomes Primary Six students eligible for Secondary One admission in 2024 with talents in various areas to apply for Direct School Admission to Secondary One in 2023.

B. WHY APPLY FOR DSA TO JWSS

In JWSS, we place a premium on the holistic development of our students. This is anchored in our strong belief that both academic excellence and character development are pillars of a holistic education which make our students Learners, Thinkers, Leaders of Tomorrow.

Our CCAs and Student Leadership groups offer a multitude of exciting opportunities for students to enhance their skills and pursue their passion.

DSA talent areas and CCA highlights at JWSS

JWSS offers DSA to students who display talent/passion in the following areas:

Sports and Games

  • Basketball (Boys)

  • Netball (Girls)

  • Volleyball (Boys)

Our Sports and Games have been making steady progress with the most recent achievements being the school’s Basketball boys achieving West Zone Top 4 Placing in 2018 and Volleyball boys achieving West Zone Top 4 Placings since 2018. Our Netball Girls have also been performing consistently to attain Top 8 placings within the West Zone Inter-School Competition.

Performing Arts

  • Modern Dance

Our Modern Dance CCA has been doing well at the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Presentations winning Certificates of Achievement consistently over the years.

Leadership and Uniformed Groups

  • Leadership

Our Student Leadership programme offers a wide range of platforms for students to take on leadership roles in the school. JWSS Student Leaders are exposed to numerous highly customised developmental opportunities such as the Leadership Training Camp, Community Youth Leadership Projects, Public Speaking Workshops, CCA opportunities and Overseas Student Leaders Exchange Programmes which enable them to shine as confident, competent and caring leaders who will make a positive impact in school and the community.

Leadership and Uniformed Groups

  • National Cadet Corps (NCC) Land

  • National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC)

  • Boys’ Brigade

  • Red Cross (Youth)

JWSS is well known in the West for its highly established Uniformed Groups (UGs) – NCC (Land), NPCC, BB and RCY which have been achieving numerous Gold Awards over the last 10 years.

The UGs develop our students’ leadership potential in various ways. Leadership development courses impart to students the basics of leading others. They are regularly given opportunities to take on leadership roles, such as organising camps and events, and purposefully designing activities to help their juniors grow as individuals. The UGs also has a strong culture of mentorship, wherein senior members exercise care and concern for their juniors and nurture them to be leaders of character.

As UG cadets, students will be developed to be confident leaders and inspire others to make a positive impact to the society and the nation.

Visual Arts, Design and Media

  • Visual Arts

The Applied Learning Programme (ALP) in JWSS focusses on equipping students with ICT skills such as coding and app creation, knowledge of design principles in areas such as webpage creation as well as communication skills such as persuasive speaking. Students use these knowledge and skills to create innovative ICT-based solutions for real life issues in the community.

JWSS is one of only 2 secondary schools in the west to offer the Enhanced Art Programme (EAP) to artistically talented students. The EAP is a 2-year upper secondary programme that aims to expose students to different art media, creative processes, professions and practices in the arts and creative industries, while providing in-depth development of students in selected art practices which will enable them to further their passion in fields of art, design and multimedia. Students will be expected to take up membership in the Art Club CCA upon joining JWSS.

C. APPLICATION CRITERIA

Primary Six (P6) students eligible for Secondary One in 2024 may apply for Direct School Admission to Secondary One in JWSS based on their holistic achievements and talents as well as the following criteria:

DSA application criteria by talent area

Talent Areas

Criteria

Basketball (Boys)

Netball (Girls)

Volleyball (Boys)

Students applying should satisfy at least two of the following:

  • a proven and sustained record of representing Primary School at the Cluster, Zonal or National levels in the relevant sport


  • possess interest and passion for the relevant sport


  • demonstrate proficiency of skills and abilities during the relevant sport trial


  • achieved a placing at the relevant sport competitions conducted at Cluster, Zonal or National levels (e.g. Top 4 placing in West Zone)

    • #Please note that meeting all the above criteria does not guarantee the student will be shortlisted/given an offer.

Modern Dance

Students applying should satisfy at least two of the following:

  • a proven and sustained record of representing Primary School at the Cluster, Zonal or National levels in the relevant performing art CCA


  • possess interest and passion for the relevant performing art CCA


  • demonstrate proficiency of skills and talents during the relevant performing art audition


  • achieved an award at the latest Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation (e.g. Certificate of Accomplishment)

    • #Please note that meeting all the above criteria does not guarantee the student will be shortlisted/given an offer.

Leadership

Students applying should satisfy at least two of the following:

  • held the position of Prefect, Student Councillor, Ambassadorial roles or other equivalent leadership roles in Primary School


  • a proven and sustained record of playing key leadership roles in their respective CCAs in Primary School


  • active involvement in school level projects or community level programmes or projects


  • a keen interest and passion in advocacy as well as leading and serving the student body and the community

    • #Please note that meeting all the above criteria does not guarantee the student will be shortlisted/given an offer.

National Cadet Corps (NCC) Land (Boys only)

National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC)

The Boys’ Brigade (Boys only)

Red Cross (Youth)

Students applying should satisfy at least two of the following:

  • a proven and sustained record of playing key leadership roles in their respective CCAs in Primary School


  • active involvement in school level projects or community level programmes or projects


  • a keen interest and passion in the relevant UG activities


  • held the position of Prefect, Student Councillor, Ambassadorial roles or other equivalent leadership roles in Primary School


  • Obtain a Conduct Grade of ‘Very Good’ or better in Primary 5 (overall) and Primary 6 (mid-Year)

    • #Please note that meeting all the above criteria does not guarantee the student will be shortlisted/given an offer.

Visual Arts, Design and Media

  • Visual Arts


Students applying should satisfy at least two of the following:

  • provide sufficient evidence of Visual Arts talent through portfolios reproduction (to submit softcopy of their artwork as photographs)


  • demonstrate proficiency of skills through a Visual Arts Task (interviews will be conducted where necessary)


  • represented school at Cluster, Zonal or National level art exhibitions or relevant events


  • took part in school-based art exhibitions or similar events

    • * Applicants do not need to submit actual portfolios with their applications. Applicants may choose to bring their actual portfolios when he/she sit attend the interview.

    • ** Students admitted through DSA for the Visual Arts, Design and Media [Visual Arts] should have the intention of pursuing Art as a GCE O-level subject at the Upper Secondary level. They would also be expected to take up membership in Art Club CCA.

    • #Please note that meeting all the above criteria does not guarantee the student will be shortlisted/given an offer.

The timeline for the MOE DSA-Sec Exercise is as follows:

MOE DSA-Sec Exercise timeline and stages for 2023

Application Stage

Submission of online application

4 May – 31 May 2023

Stage 1

Selection Stage

26 Jun – 11 Sep 2023

Stage 2

Exercise School Preference Stage

23 Oct – 27 Oct 2023

Stage 3

Results Release Stage

Late Nov

D. APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Centralised DSA-Sec Application Process:

Application for DSA-Sec can be submitted through the online DSA-Sec Portal. The application is free-of-charge and will be open from 4 May 2023 to 31 May 2023. For more details, please refer to MOE website – www.moe.gov.sg/dsa-sec.

E. SELECTION PROCESS BY SCHOOL

All shortlisted students will be informed latest by 7 Jul 2023 to attend an interview, audition, sports trial or visual art aptitude test depending on the DSA area.

Students who are shortlisted to attend the interview and trials are to report to the school’s General Office where the teacher overseeing the DSA Exercise will meet them to give further instructions.

The details of the selection processes for each of the talent domain are as follows:

DSA selection process schedule by talent area

Talent Areas

Selection Process

Date & Time

Basketball (Boys)

  • Sports Trials

12 Jul 23 (Wed) from 3.30pm

Netball (Girls)

  • Sports Trials

12 Jul 23 (Wed) from 3.30pm

Volleyball (Boys)

  • Sports Trials

12 Jul 23 (Wed) from 3.30pm

Visual Art

  • Interview

  • Visual Arts Task

14 Jul 23 (Fri) from 3.30pm

Leadership, NCC (Land), NPCC, BB, RCY

  • Interview

19 Jul 23 (Wed) from 3.30pm

Modern Dance

  • Auditions

21 Jul 23 (Fri) from 3.30pm

F. RELEASE OF OUTCOME OF DSA-SEC EXERCISE

All applicants would be informed of their selection outcome by 11 Sep 2023 [i.e. Confirmed Offer (CO), Wait List (WL) or Unsuccessful].

Applicants given CO are guaranteed admission only if they:

  • Indicate the school during School Preference Submission (23 Oct – 27 Oct 2023)

  • Qualify for an academic course offered by the school (i.e. G3, G2, G1) based on PSLE results.

    • DSA-Sec allocation results will be released through Primary Schools together with PSLE results.

    • Please note that students successfully allocated to their DSA-Sec schools will NOT be allowed to participate in the annual S1 Posting Exercise to opt for secondary schools, and are expected to honour the commitment to the allocated DSA-Sec school for the entire duration of the programme. They will also NOT be allowed to transfer to another school after the release of the PSLE results.

    • Students who are successfully admitted to the school via DSA are expected to honour their commitment to the school, and participate in the activities related to the talent they are selected for from year 1-4.

    • G. ENQUIRIES

    • The selection criteria and process for the talent areas will be updated from early-May. For more information on DSA-Sec, please refer to the MOE website at https://www.moe.gov.sg/dsa-sec.

    • Parents and students are encouraged to choose schools wisely based on the student’s aptitudes and strengths, bearing in mind the schools’ academic and non-academic requirements, and the programmes available to develop the area of talent.

    • If you would like to have further details or require any clarification, you may contact any one of the following staff:

    • Mr Lee Kah Onn

    • Head of Department,

    • Physical Education and CCA

    • lee_kah_onn@moe.edu.sg

    • Telephone:

    • 6262 3593

    • Mr Syaifudean Selamat

    • Coordinator,

    • Physical Education and CCA

    • syaifudean_selamat@moe.edu.sg

    • Ms Angela Sim

    • Administrative Manager

    • jwss@moe.edu.sg

    • Mrs Yeoh-Tan Jiing Shyuan

    • Vice Principal

    • We would like to wish you all the best in your DSA Application.

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