Back when I was in the Singapore teaching service*, I always have to prep my Primary 5 students regarding the gap between Primary 4 and Primary 5 Mathematics. Many students and parents, used to coasting along easy Mathematics from Primary 1 to 4, were not prepared for the shock facing them.

Back in those days, the crunch always comes at the Continual Assessment 1, held at the end of Term 1. Although they did some practice papers to prep them, the actual experience of doing the paper was always shocking for the students (and sometimes the parents). Today, with the CA and the mid-year exams scrapped for Primary 5 students, the first time they take a paper is at year-end. The shock can be very immense.

1. At Primary 4, they take a 1h 45 minute paper. At Primary 5, they take two papers over 2h 30 minutes.
2. At Primary 4, they do a total of about 5 to 7 word problems. At Primary 5, they do a total of 17 to 22 word problems.
3. With the introduction of concepts like ratio, average and rate, and with more complex word problems, the Primary 5 students find themselves no longer in Kansas**!

Every year, before they scrap the CAs and the mid-year exams, I got students, used to getting 80th to 90th percentile scores, suddenly scoring in the 70th percentile, mainly because they run out of time during the exams. The tears they shed were very real, and I had to be around to comfort them and assure them.

It does not have to be this stressful.

I remind my students and parents all the time to treat both Primary 5 and 6 as a two-year prep programme for the PSLE. Primary 5 is the springboard to steel them for the rigours of the PSLE, and they should not treat any failures too hard.

Most importantly, in the classes I teach, I prepare my students to think with the clock, to pace themselves when doing questions, so that they would not run out of time. I also lead them through the question and techniques involved in solving them, so that they are are prepared for the time when they would face these questions.

So Primary 5 students and parents, just be prepared that you have to step up your game, prepare yourselves with the types of questions commonly encountered in the exams, and you can be confident enough to face Primary 5 Mathematics face on!

Michael Chan
Principal and Primary Mathematics teacher
Frankel Tutors

*My students are mothers and fathers today, to give an idea of how long ago that was.
**An American reference in the 70s, and giving away my age again…