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OFS vs AIS

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sgkid
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OFS vs AIS

Post by sgkid » Wed, 31 Oct 2012 11:58 pm

Hi, I've moved here to SG last year & my kid will continue to year 1 next year. Have looked at all the major int'l schools and have narrowed the list down to 2 schools: OFS & AIS. Now having a hard time deciding since AIS is more expensive & wonder whether it'll be worth it since I'm paying the tuition myself. Both schools offer IB PYP which I'm sold so program-wise they should be very similar. I think the key differentiating factor for me will be the teachers since they can either inspire or frustrate the kid. Having read all the school threads in this forum, not much seems has been shared about teaching quality (interaction between student & teacher, teacher support, teacher patience) assuming my kid will be normal without any learning disability (none so far that I can see). Wonder if anyone can share recent experience with either one of those 2 schools in the area of teacher quality preferably or anything else. Thanks.

offshoreoildude
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Re: OFS vs AIS

Post by offshoreoildude » Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:05 am

sgkid wrote:Hi, I've moved here to SG last year & my kid will continue to year 1 next year. Have looked at all the major int'l schools and have narrowed the list down to 2 schools: OFS & AIS. Now having a hard time deciding since AIS is more expensive & wonder whether it'll be worth it since I'm paying the tuition myself. Both schools offer IB PYP which I'm sold so program-wise they should be very similar. I think the key differentiating factor for me will be the teachers since they can either inspire or frustrate the kid. Having read all the school threads in this forum, not much seems has been shared about teaching quality (interaction between student & teacher, teacher support, teacher patience) assuming my kid will be normal without any learning disability (none so far that I can see). Wonder if anyone can share recent experience with either one of those 2 schools in the area of teacher quality preferably or anything else. Thanks.
Even though AIS offers IB - I wouldn't put a child in there unless you're planning to continue through the Aussie education system. OFS is generally IB mixed with a US accreditation. They are both 'for profit' schools meaning the boards don't spend a penny more than they have to on teacher, facilities, equipment, pens, books, papers etc. I'd be trying for SAS or ICS.
Now I'm called PNGMK

elspike
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Re: OFS vs AIS

Post by elspike » Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:27 am

Hi offshoreoildude,
offshoreoildude wrote:Even though AIS offers IB - I wouldn't put a child in there unless you're planning to continue through the Aussie education system.
Could you elaborate why you would say that? They offer IB all the way through to the diploma program, with the option of NSW curriculum in senior years I think.
offshoreoildude wrote:They are both 'for profit' schools meaning the boards don't spend a penny more than they have to on teacher, facilities, equipment, pens, books, papers etc.
We haven't seen any of that mentality at all. Facilities, resources and staffing are all very good. At least in the Junior school where our children are.

Sgkid,

Our children are in Year 1 and Kindy 1 at AIS at the moment. Teachers are great. They have given great feedback on how they are tracking academically and socially. I have no hesitation in recommending their Junior school program. I have had nothing to do with Middle and Senior schools so I can't give an opinion there. We also fund the schooling ourselves, so we too had a very exhaustive search before deciding.

offshoreoildude
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Re: OFS vs AIS

Post by offshoreoildude » Thu, 01 Nov 2012 11:15 am

elspike wrote:Hi offshoreoildude,
offshoreoildude wrote:Even though AIS offers IB - I wouldn't put a child in there unless you're planning to continue through the Aussie education system.
Could you elaborate why you would say that? They offer IB all the way through to the diploma program, with the option of NSW curriculum in senior years I think.
offshoreoildude wrote:They are both 'for profit' schools meaning the boards don't spend a penny more than they have to on teacher, facilities, equipment, pens, books, papers etc.
We haven't seen any of that mentality at all. Facilities, resources and staffing are all very good. At least in the Junior school where our children are.

Sgkid,

Our children are in Year 1 and Kindy 1 at AIS at the moment. Teachers are great. They have given great feedback on how they are tracking academically and socially. I have no hesitation in recommending their Junior school program. I have had nothing to do with Middle and Senior schools so I can't give an opinion there. We also fund the schooling ourselves, so we too had a very exhaustive search before deciding.
MY wife is an international HS math teacher. I speak on her behalf when I say that 'for profit' schools are there to make money and they disguise this with clever marketing and very tight control of what their teachers are allowed to say to parents - my wife would have told many parents to not waste their money at (name redacted) but she wasn't allowed to . A dollar spent on your kid is one less for the directors - in the case of CIS that includes Michael Milkin who served a prison sentence for insider trading! You really want to see who is behind these schools. LOOK for an independent governance board (BIS in Jakarta for example runs this way - it decouples the school governance from the investors).

Some things to look for;

Photocopied text books - the schools here blatantly ripe off copyright holders. Same with websites - blatantly copied over. An over reliance on kids doing online IB programs means the schools are too bloody cheap to bring in IB certified teachers.

Additional fees for everything and anything.

School is reluctant to offer any additional ECA's because it pushes cost of operations costs up.

And the kicker - ASK to see the teachers qualifications and certifications. You'd be amazed at how many teachers are teaching math here with no certification from their home state. TRY to corner a few teachers out of school and buy them a coffee - get them talking and your rose colored glasses will fall off your face.

Some for profit schools are not so cut throat as others though. SAS is a state department school for example and runs for value - not for profit. However ICS is a 'not for profit' school that is a mission school but miraculously all ICS schools in NICS are required to remit about 16% of their revenue to the home office in Texas (presumably to the founder of NICS for operational reasons). CIS is owned by the bunch of investors along with AIS that was started by a bunch of honkies - neither group runs schools for 'fun' do you think?

In general though - I would say that the schools are not so unscrupulous in the elementary grades - but you as a parent NEED to watch, question and always assume that your kid is not getting full value from the school.
Now I'm called PNGMK

sgkid
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Post by sgkid » Thu, 01 Nov 2012 8:55 pm

good discussion guys, thanks for all the feedbacks.

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