CONGRATULATIONS: St Joseph SPM 2011 top scorers including David (front row, fourth left) and Po (front row, fourth right) pose for a group photo with their assistant principal (Form 1 to 5) James Cheng (standing, right), principal Thomas Lau (standing, second right) and Lim (standing, left).
KUCHING: SMK St Joseph registered 22 straight As scorers in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2011.
When met at the school yesterday, the school senior assistant in charge of Form 6, Belinda Lim said the school has successfully maintained its high standard.
She said the overall pass rate of SPM 2011 was 96.39 per cent, which was also the pass rate for Bahasa Malaysia, English was 95.98 per cent and English 1119 was 100 per cent.
“English 1119 is more on writing. I think the students are strong in writing and the teachers’ focus is right,” said Lim.
There were 249 SPM candidates and 166 were from the Science stream. For the Arts stream, Pendidikan Seni (Arts) had 100 per cent passes, followed by History (Sejarah) at 91.16 per cent.
Lim said the candidates did fairly well in Science subjects like Biology (pass rate of 97.04 per cent), Physics (93.37 per cent), Chemistry (81.21 per cent), and Additional Maths (75.76 per cent).
She said there was a slight drop in the pass rate in Chemistry. The school always had 90 per cent or above pass rate for the three Science subjects. She added they had also worked harder to improve the performance of students in Additional Mathematics.
“The students have always done well in English. We have 47.8 per cent of English A scorers. We have students who did well in Bahasa Melayu and the pass rate is also not so bad and 16.46 per cent scored A,” said Lim.
For the Art stream, she said it needed improvement especially for Commerce (57.83 per cent pass rate) and Ekonomi Asas (60 per cent).
Top scorer Samuel Po who scored all A+s said he is now studying foundation in Science and Engineering at a private university here.
When asked about the secret of success, he said: “I paid attention in class. Teachers’ tips and forecast questions really helped.”
He added that good time management was also important. He spent a few hours in the afternoon and another few hours at night studying at home. Within a week, he covered all the subjects.
“For language subjects like English and BM, we could study much. What I do is, I read a lot of books and newspapers,” said Po.
He said earlier preparation for the examination left him more confident. He was still watching movies but he was not interested in spending much time on surfing the net or computer games.
He was pleased with the results, as they were better than what he had expected. The only subject he was less confident in was History (Sejarah). Po was one of the top scorers in Additional Mathematics in class.
“I was struggling in Form 4 but I was getting better in Form 5. I did not go for any outside tuition,” Po said.
Another top achiever David James Albert said he might go for chemical engineering or teaching. He might consider Form 6 if he did not get any scholarship.
“My priority is teaching because teachers impart knowledge and inspire others, it is a noble job. I think I will be happy and contented teaching others, although there are many other things (profession) that will make more money.
“I am inspired by the school teachers as some are really helpful and dedicated. A teacher is like a candle burning itself to light others,” said David.
He said he was very happy with the good results and would not ask for any better. The youngest child of three siblings said his mother is a Chemistry teacher.
“I did not go to tuition in Form 5. It would have interrupted my own study schedule. I believe in studying smart rather than studying hard. We have own style of studying and the timetable should be planned to suit our different methods to be effective,” said David.
He said he studied constantly and also prayed. Being the president of a uniformed club in school, he worked harder to be a good example proving to others that while being active in a co-curricular activity he could keep a good balance on his study too.
Another straight As scorer Fabian Jong who likes Physics said he would like to take an engineering course. Apart from opting to get a scholarship to go to college or university, Form 6 is also an option.
He said he was surprised to get such excellent results as he left it to the last minute to prepare for the examination. He said Physics was his favourite subject because it challenged him logically and analytically to solve problems.
“I did study all the time but didn’t do so much. Actually, I regretted in the last minute rush because it was very stressful. I should have prepared earlier. I didn’t have high expectation but now I am so glad with what I got,” said Jong.
Straight As student Adrian Goh wished to get scholarship to further his study. He said the results were better than he expected.
“I want to be a doctor. I like Biology but I am weak in that subject,” said Goh.