STPM Baharu : Form 6 in CHS

Alright, this is basically an article specially for CHS-ians/PJ students who wanna pursue Form 6 in SMJK Katholik, PJ. Yeah, CHS is one of the secondary school in PJ that provides Form 6 classes to the students. Some other schools that provide Form 6 classes in PJ are SMK La Salle and SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, but I'll just focus on writing about Form 6 in CHS, which is, the place where I had been studying for 7 years (yeah, hahaha wow).

Brief Introduction of CHS

First of all, a brief introduction for non-CHS-ians. CHS a.k.a SMJK Katholik is a semi-government school located in Jalan Gasing, PJ. CHS is a school with a long history, and a school with some really different environment and cultures compared to the other schools. Well, one very obvious (and great) difference when compared to the other schools is it's canteen. CHS-ians are actually spoiled with varieties of food when compared to many schools out there. From Chinese cuisine, Malay cuisine and Indian cuisine, we even have spaghetti too! And not to mention the price, they are really not expensive. Canteen aunties are really friendly too, and seriously I must say CHS has the best canteen around PJ schools. Next,   it is definitely with the numbers of co-curriculum bodies we have. From clubs, societies and uniform bodies, CHS is definitely a place full of activities despite its excellent academic performance. By the way, CHS is going to build a new building soon, so any funding are surely welcomed!

Form 6 in CHS, Yay or Nah?

PJ and KL people will definitely heard about CHS's excellency in PMR and SPM all these years, and I definitely must give the credits to all the dedicated and great teachers and also the headmistresses that served in CHS. The question is, what about Form 6 in CHS? Hows the teachers? Is Form 6 life in CHS somewhat similar to the secondary school life in CHS?

- COMBINATION OF SUBJECTS OFFERED

There are 4 classes of Form 6 in CHS: U6A, U6B, U6F and U6S, all offer different combination of subjects that you'll be able to decide which to enter the first day of your Form 6 in CHS. These combinations are:

1. Accounting, Economics, Chinese, Pengajian Am (U6A)
2. Maths (T), Biology, Chemistry, Pengajian Am (U6B)
3. Maths (T), Physics, Chemistry, Pengajian Am (U6F)
4. Maths (T), Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Pengajian Am (U6S)

Basically the maximum subjects you are able to take in Form 6 are 5, so in CHS, only U6S offers 5 subjects during schooling time. Still, you are able to take up extra subjects if you are able to look for any tuition/mentors out there. As an example, you can take up Further Maths (for the Science Stream) and Maths (M) (for the Art Stream) if you have the source to teach you out there.

In CHS, Science Stream students will be able to take up subjects from the Art Stream such as Chinese, Accounting and Economics, while requesting the teachers to mentor you after school.

- TEACHERS

CHS is definitely one of the best place to pursue Form 6 in PJ area, no doubt. Form 6 teachers in CHS are from the very best and that explained why out of 5 top STPM scorers in Malaysia, 3 were from CHS in year 2012, and that was really great.

• Accounting - Mdm. Quek Yin Ping is definitely one of the most dedicated teacher I've ever seen. With the changes to the syllabus under this new STPM Baharu, she put in a lot of effort to restructure everything to suit the new syllabus, in this I mean several long nights completing our notes, which I am extremely grateful of. A strict teacher during the class, but she is actually a friendly and nice person. You'll be amaze how she is able to complete the topics that she needs to cover just in time by the bell rang everytime, and that I call is experience. A great honour being taught by her. 

• Economics - Mdm. Yap Rio is another teacher that I truly appreciate being taught by her. A teacher that truly cares, she taught us a lot, not only those in the books, but also the way to be a better person. Like Mdm. Quek, she also spent nights to deal with our notes and again I'll forever grateful for all her effort. Her class is fun, yet everything taught is easily understandable. One of my most respectable teacher, for sure.

• Chinese - Mdm. Yap Sheau Wei is no doubt the best Chinese teacher I've ever met. Chinese, in the first place I thought was an extra burden when I first entered Form 6, but it turns out to be my favorite subject under this teacher. She is one teacher with the ability to transform something boring (Chinese Literature, as an example) into something really interesting to be learned. Besides, she is one lady that always inspires with her futuristic/modern thought, one thing which I personally impress and learn a lot from her class. If you think that Chinese is one boring subject, NO. It is one of the most interesting subject you can ever learn in Form 6 under this great teacher. No kidding, I'm a half banana and I can tell you that you'll definitely learn a lot from this teacher. No regret taking Chinese under Mdm. Yap Sheau Wei!

• Pengajian Am - There're a few PA teachers in CHS, these teachers are Pn. Ellen, Pn. Zaipah and Mr. Shanmugam. Pn Ellen is my PA teacher, and she is easily one of the most soft-hearted teacher I've ever seen. She is one nice person, and always do her best during her lesson, and her patience with students is definitely worth mention. Pn. Zaipah is another PA teacher in CHS, and though she is not teaching me, we've a chat sometimes when we met. A really nice woman with a modern mindset, she is one teacher that truly deserves every student's respect, even those that is not under her class. I personally do not know Mr. Shanmugam well, but from what I see he is one strict teacher, and also one of the best PA teacher in CHS. All in all, these 3 teachers are really good teachers.

• Maths (T) - There're also a few Form 6 Maths teachers in CHS, and they are Mr Lean, Miss Ong and Mdm. Tan Chai Tin. Well, for CHS-ians, Mr Lean isn't an unfamiliar name anymore, so I don't think I'll need much description about this awesome teacher, right? Miss Ong is also a nice teacher, and from what I see she is definitely a friend more than a teacher in the heart of her students. I rarely talks to Mdm. Tan Chai Tin, since she is teaching the Lower Sixers, but I can say that she is a nice woman and also a great teacher.

• Chemistry - There're 2 Form 6 Chemistry teachers in CHS, and they are Mdm.Wong Suee Shya and Miss Wong Wai Kuan. Personally I do not know Miss Wong well so I cannot give much description about her. But as for Mdm.Wong Suee Shya, she is no doubt one of the very best teacher from what I see. She is the only teacher that is able to conduct her lesson for 2 classes at once, and whats more, her students love her! I really like this teacher personally, and I'll surely love her chemistry lesson if I remained in the Science Stream in Form 6. 

• Physics - There're 2 Form 6 Physics teachers in CHS, they are Mdm. Loo Chai Chain and Mdm. Loo Nyek Foong. I do not know both of them well, but I can say that they are both very experienced Physics teachers.

      Update: Mdm. Loo Nyek Foong retired from CHS in the month of February, year 2014.

• Biology - Mdm. Janaki and Mdm. See Yike Chu are 2 Bio. teachers in CHS. Mdm. Janaki is rather new in Form 6, and she always do her very best in conducting lessons to her students. I rarely meet Mdm. See Yike Chu, but she is definitely an experienced teacher and my seniors love her. Personally I think she is a really nice and great teacher.

• MUET - There're 4 MUET teachers in CHS, and they're Mdm. Vivian, Mdm. Ho Siew Chee, Miss Sharmini and Mr. William. Mdm. Vivian and Miss Sharmini are both new to MUET, but both of them are experienced English teachers. Mdm. Vivian has her own style in teaching, and I think her style is kinda similar to the college style of teaching, while Miss Sharmini is also another teacher that I think a friend more than a teacher to her students, and personally I think she is a fun teacher. Mdm. Ho Siew Chee is an experienced MUET teacher and for my year, most of the Band 5 students are from her class, which best defined her teaching ability. Mr. William is another teacher with his very own style of teaching, and his mastery in English is definitely one of the very best in CHS. In short, they are great teachers but since English is a language subject, it is ultimately up to an individual's hard work to master it.

Upper left: Mdm. Quek, my account teacher. Upper right: Mdm. Yap Rio, my economics teacher.
Lower left: Mdm. Yap Sheau Wei, my chinese teacher. Lower right: Mdm. Ellen, my PA teacher.

All in all, the Form 6 teachers in CHS are from the very best, and simply from these teachers, I can say that CHS is definitely the place you wanna go if you want to do Form 6. 

- CO-CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

There're different co-curriculum bodies in CHS available, but basically these are a few which is led or fully managed by Sixth-Formers:

• Clubs/Societies - Sixth Form Society, One Malaysia Society, Science & Maths Society, Prostar Club, Invention Society, these are the few clubs that is either led or fully managed by Form 6 students in CHS. You are automatically a member of the Sixth Form Society once you entered Form 6.

• Sports - Badminton Club. Pathetically, the badminton club is the only sports club partly managed by Form 6, which is pretty frustrating sometimes. But if you are from CHS during your secondary education you can request for your ex-sports club teacher to make an AJK spot for you in Form 6, but that is given that you had contributed to that club during your secondary school period and the teacher agrees to this.

• Uniform Bodies - Wushu and the Adult Girl's Guide. Again, this could be frustrating sometimes. Wushu is the only uniform body for the guys and the choices are really limited for the ladies. But like sports clubs, you can request for your ex-uniform body's teacher to make an AJK spot for you in Form 6.

To make things short, yeah choices are pretty limited in CHS for co-curriculum, but since it still stands 10% for your entry to public universities so you might wanna really consider joining at least 2 out of 3 different kind of category for the sake of your future.

- OTHERS 

One thing that is really worth mentioning in CHS is the counseling department. Miss Shirlena is a teacher that cares and always open for a counseling session. You might not use the counseling service provided by our school for all the years studying in CHS but it is surely one place to get good advises when you have problems. I've been going to Miss Shirlena for advises when I was studying in Form 6 and even before I enter Form 6 and honestly everyone should consider going to her and the other counseling teachers when there is any question or problems instead of putting yourself in misery.

Besides that, one thing that you should know is that exam in CHS is NOT TOUGHER compared to STPM. Do not assume that CHS's paper is tougher because in Form 6, most of the time IT IS NOT. I can only say that it is rather on par and sometimes the papers are easier than the real STPM. Well, not that CHS's paper is not tough, but now we are dealing with STPM, so the situation is kinda different compared to SPM. 

- FORM 6 IN CHS, MY EXPERIENCE

I've been studying in CHS for 7 years but I would say that Form 6 life is the best years of mine in CHS. I've learnt a lot from my teachers, I've know many great friends and the journey is truly worth going. CHS has the best teachers for Form 6 and also a complete learning facilities such as the science labs and projector. Chinese was one subject that I once considered an extra burden but under Mdm. Yap Sheau Wei it actually turns out to be the lesson that I gained a lot of new knowledge and perspective in my thinking. Not only that, since the number of people in Form 6 is usually not big, I get to know most of the people in Form 6, and it is great! Studying in Form 6, you'll not only gain knowledge, but you will also get a big family. 

CHS Form 6, a big and fun family.

- CONCLUSION

So this is it! An introduction of Form 6 in CHS, and I sincerely hope that this article helps you in making the ultimate decision for your Pre-U, and if you find my articles useful, do share them to the people who wants to know more about Form 6! 

Here is my in depth introduction of STPM Baharu, if you want to know more about STPM Baharu: (http://rockinxuan.blogspot.com/2013/11/stpm-baharu-introduction-to-pre-u-of.html)