Successful DSA-SEC Admissions In 2024 ~ Mr Jayren Ng

20 Jan 2024
All About Dance Dance Competitions Dance Performances Direct-School Admissions (DSA-SEC)
DSA-SEC Admissions In 2024 - Our Student's Success Stories
 
In an academically driven society as Singapore where every parent's primary concern with school-going children is their educational results, we have encountered first-hand when dance is often sacrificed for extra tuition classes when a student's academic results need improvement. However, we are of the humble opinion that dance actually offers students an outlet to engage in an activity that betters their mental and physical wellbeing, leaving them recharged for their academic pursuits.


In recent years, our nation's leading education authority - Ministry Of Education has been pushing for a broad-based multifaceted learning approach as evidenced by the introduction of the new Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scoring system - Achievement Level (AL) since 2021 and the introduction of Subject-Based Banding (SBB) in Secondary Schools from 2024 onwards. Thus, pursuing dance while striving for academic excellence at the same time is now a very viable option through MOE's DSA-SEC admission programme that takes into account a student's talent in Dance when they are vying for a spot in their preferred Secondary School. For our full in-depth review of this topic, please visit this link: https://stepup.sg/blog/DSA-SEC-How-Dance-Can-Complement-Your-Child-s-Admission-Into-Their-Preferred-Secondary-School.

 


 

Shown above are the 2022/23 Dance Competition achievements of Mr Jayren Ng who managed to receive a confirmed offer from his preferred Secondary School through DSA-SEC via the talent area of Dance. Read on to find out more of his personal insights with regards to his successful DSA journey in 2023: 


1. What are the most important personal attributes in a student for success in DSA using dance?

I believe the most important attribute to achieve a successful DSA application would definitely be the passion for dance. Admission via DSA means a student must have the perseverance to go through 4 years of commitment in dance. Lastly, a student must have a strong will and determination to ensure that they are willing to work extra hard in order in to get what they want. 


2. How have the DSA preparations at StepUp contributed to your success in DSA?

We are grateful that Stepup gave us so much support from the moment we told them that we are applying for DSA. The school takes the initiative to explain to me and my parents what is needed for DSA. Mr Ng also took his time to conduct a mock interview with me. With all of these preparations, I believe it helped me in understanding what to prepare and what would be expected during the DSA interview.


3. How has the dance journey at StepUp contributed to your success in DSA?

StepUp is the place that I embarked on my dance journey since I was just a little boy. First, I really had an interest in dancing, and when my passion grew stronger, the school approached us and allowed me the opportunity to explore into Group and Solo Competitions. Hence, this contributed to the success of my DSA which is like a big jigsaw puzzle that follows in this order: the school gives me the confidence and trust, the teacher (Mr Chia) gave me the skills and guidance, and my parents provides all the support on whatever is needed. Lastly and ultimately, the greatest contribution is still my own effort so as to make everything click. 


4. Why did you decide to take up DSA-SEC?

DSA provided me with an opportunity to go to the school I want and also to give me a sense of achievement to be recognised for the efforts of what I loved. DSA also boosted my confidence and made me understand that any success required a strong sense of ownership where I must know what to do and to work my way towards it.


5. Who would you recommend DSA-SEC to and why?

I would recommend DSA to anyone who believes in themselves and have a Secondary School that they really prefer. However, they must also know that success in DSA does not mean everything, as the student must still commit themselves in dance and also do well in their academics.


6. What was the toughest part of the DSA-SEC submission?

During the DSA application process, there are 3 sections that a student has to go through. The toughest part would be the dance prepared by the teacher from the Secondary School. You do not know what to expect as you have to dance to their choreography after they have shown it to you twice. So, you have to learn it fast or be able to improvise. Luckily, through the dances which I had learnt through the years in StepUp, it enabled me to catch the steps fast. My Solo classes also helped me in improvising the teacher's dance parts that I can’t recall. The other 2 sections were the interview and self-choreographed Solo dance which was already well guided by the school and my dance teacher Mr Chia. 


7. If you could redo the entire DSA-SEC submission again, what improvements would you undertake?

I do not think that I would want to have a redo since I already got into the school that I wanted, but we would wish to share the experience that my parents had. They had many concerns and were worried that I may not be ready for the interview as I had never gone through something like this before. However, during the actual day, I told them that I will do fine and I believed that I can do it. Hence, on hindsight, my parents believe that going through all these years of training in StepUp, the number of stage performances that I had, built me up to have this strong confidence in myself.  


8. What was the differential between your average Achievement Level (AL) from Primary 4 to the actual PSLE results, and the AL cut-off score required by North Vista Secondary School?

My average AL was within a 11% differential from the requirements of North Vista Secondary School.


Thanks to Jayren for sharing her DSA-SEC journey and inspiring our juniors at StepUp with his success story! 

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