I would punish if the child did something wrong on
purpose.
In all seriousness, getting 60+ at P3 is really not too good. My
own targets for my boys have always been 80+, in my case, they
usually get it. But before someone starts to tell me that I've set
my targets too high, let me say that my preparation for my boys'
learning process started very very early. Therefore it is not a
reflection of what everyone should do ( 
I also know of some parents who want nothing less
than 95+).
To get a child to perform better, I usually sit with the child and
review each question and look at why the child was not able to
answer those questions. In the case of mathematics, I always
pointed out to my son that if he's just a little more careful, he'd
gotten a almost perfect score, but because of his carelessness, he
lost some marks. The child need to know where he had gone wrong,
meaning, he needs to understand the reality that if he'd just
pushed himself a little more he'd get a much better marks. Most
important, a child need to be able to push himself. Unfortunately,
this has got to do with the home structure (see below on
parenting)
I think the critical thing is NOT to make him get 80+ but to
consistently delivering 70+. Consistency is the key word. So I'd
say your immediately goal is to push his scores to 70+ for, say,
over a period of 3 to 4 test. But in the interim you need to
dissect each paper as to which section is he doing badly in (you
are aware that the papers are all broken in sections right). Bear
in mind that the long term goal is PSLE. Where the short term goal
is concern, address all the weak areas in the tests.
Parental support - this is, to me, the weakest link. If a parent
has no time for the child, I believe the child is lost. This is
nothing you can do. I (with my wife) spent lots of time with my
sons. We do lots of things together. As a matter of fact, tonight,
we will be putting the finishing touches to our 2000 piece jigsaw
puzzle. My family is extremely close and enjoy each others company
and talks a lot with each other on how we spent our days.
Discipline - I firmly believe in the cane, but I have raised my
boys well that I don't need it anymore. Discipline is NOT about
venting the parent's frustration and anger on the child, it's about
teaching and moding the child's behaviour. It has to be done in
love and instruction. Never cane when the adult is angry. Never
cane when there is no explanation.
Hope this helps.
