Maestoso e Grazioso con lo Spirito

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Message from the EXCO

Dear All, I believe some of you might have gotten a shock when you saw your CCA form yesterday. Most of you might not know about how RI's system works, when it comes to awarding CCA points. Yes, competitions like SYF and other merit CCA competitions give you many CCA points. However, you will need an attendance of 75% and above . Only then, would your CCA points be counted. You can excel in your merit CCA and win countless of competitions but as long as your core CCA, which is RICO, doesnt have an attendance of 75% and above, all these points you have earned would not be counted.

If you have an attendance of 50-75% in a year, your CCA points for that particular year would be cancelled. For e.g, Student A comes for half the practices in sec2 so his attendance is 50% for his sec2 year. He happened to participate in SYF in sec2 so according to RI's system, the points he got for SYF, along with all the other points in his sec2 year would be cancelled.

If you have an attendance of below 50% for any year, CCA points up till that point of time would all be cancelled. For e.g, Student B has had 100% for sec1-3. He has participated in 2 SYFs in sec2 and 4. He excels in his merit CCA and wins many prizes and competitions for the school and as such, he has accumulated many CCA points. For sec4, he decided to not go for CO practice after SYF and hence, his attendance became 30% for that year, which happens to be his last year. As such, all his CCA points from sec1-4 would all be cancelled and his CCA form would have 0 points.

This is how RI's system works. CCA points, which would appear in your final secondary school report, would be extremely useful in Uni applications, scholarships or any other applications. If yours happens to say 0 points - points cancelled due to lack of attendance for core CCA, i really wonder what the judges for the scholarships or people reading your report would think. In order to ease the application of the above, attendance is extremely important, especially for your core CCA. For sec1s and 2s, its not late to start now. Since SYF is next year, you still have a chance to earn CCA points provided you work hard, even if your points for this year and last year have been cancelled due to poor attendance. RICO would always welcome you back and as long as you try hard, it's never too late to start learning the instrument or being committed.

- Please tell this to your friends who dont come for CO, especially if they arent in the egroups Attendance isnt a bad thing. Although it can remove all your points if it is poor, having good attendance earns you points too. We really hope that you would think this through (especially if you dont come for practice or have inclinations of not coming), as the person affected is ultimately you. After reading this email, if you realise that attendance is so important, you should start coming for practice from 22nd October. Since you are coming, why make yourself bored and unhappy by hating CO and coming just for the attendance. Why not come for CO with an open mind and accept your instrument and this CCA? If you are willing to do so, you will definitely gain more from CO. With the severe implications that poor attendance brings about, we strongly advice you to go for practice, starting from 22nd October (practice starts then). Please think through this issue and we hope you would make a wise decision. Thank you

The EXCO