TLC compared to a regular school
How the day is structured
The day is shorter at TLC; it begins at 9:30am and ends at 2:30pm or 4:00pm (depending on year).
Students study a maximum of three subjects per day. Duration of each lesson is 1½ hours.
In a regular school, a day typically begins at 8:00 or 8:30am and ends at 3:00 or 3:50pm. There are about 6 to 7 lessons per day. Duration of each lesson is between 45 minutes to one hour.
shorter and a later start to the day
Students get more time to go over the material covered by the teachers and to do independent study.
Commute time is reduced because we avoid peak hour traffic. The hour before 10:00am can also be used to replace any missed lessons or to provide extra coaching.
few subjects each day
The switching of mental activities and preparedness required several times during the day as students proceed from one subject to the next is minimised at TLC. Consequently, the use of lesson time is more efficient.
number of subjects on offer by tlc
TLC is small in size and stature, and so we have to be mindful of stretching our resources too thin. Doing a few things but doing those few things well is, to us, a good guiding principle.
Short academic year
We take shorter holidays so that we can still manage to have sufficient guided learning hours for all subjects despite the shorter academic year.
Education track at tlc
Normal track – this track allows students to work at a less hurried pace to develop their skills and it gives them an opportunity to settle into an unfamiliar system. This track covers a period of 16 months and, on average, each subject has 180 guided hours, well above the recommended 130 hours.
For comparison, international schools students in Years 10 & 11 go through 20 months prior to the IGCSE exams, out of which about 3 months are school holidays. The number of guided hours per subject would typically average 150.
environment within and around tlc
The centre is housed within an office and commercial complex in Sri Damansara which is well maintained and secured.
The office space we occupy is set up for whole-group teaching as well as individual work.
There are many eateries on the ground level; amongst these are Old Town White Coffee, Subway, Kayu Nasi Kandar and Kakatoo. As well as home packed lunch, there is the option for contract delivered food, payable monthly.
The Cambridge IGCSE
WHAT IS IGCSE?
IGCSE stands for International General Certificate of Secondary Education.
The curriculum is based on the O Level and is developed by the University of Cambridge International Examinations for the international audience, and it is intended for students whose first language may not be English.
The qualification is equivalent to the UK GCSE and Malaysian SPM, and it enables students to progress to pre-university courses such as A Level and Foundation programmes offered by many local colleges.
WHY THE IGCSE?
The IGCSE has international recognition and appeal – according to the Cambridge IGCSE brochure, there are over 750 000 entries each year from over 140 countries.
It is a flexible programme based on individual subjects of study. A typical core curriculum of study includes English, mathematics, a second language, and one or more subjects in the sciences. Students are free to choose other subjects to add on to the core curriculum.
It builds on the foundation of lower secondary education although it is not essential to complete this before beginning the IGCSE programme.
Apart from developing learner knowledge, understanding and skills in subject content, the curriculum also develops skills in applying concepts to both new and familiar situations as well as skills in working and communicating in English.
It caters to learners with a wide range of abilities; the core subjects - English, mathematics and the three sciences – are offered in two tiers; students who opt for the lower tier will be awarded grade C as the highest grade whilst the more able students who do the higher tier will be awarded A* as the highest grade.