Singapore Expats

AIS or GEMS

Discuss about childcare, parenthood, playschools, educational, family & international school issues.

Sponsored by:

Canadian International School
Post Reply
LillyP1
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 9:28 am

AIS or GEMS

Post by LillyP1 » Sat, 01 Feb 2014 12:55 pm

Hello

Does anyone have any thoughts on AIS and the new GEMS school please.
Children are 6 and 7 ( year 1 and 2 here is Australia).

GEMS looks amazing but a little off the beaten track, where as AIS would be home from home .

Thanks

scarbowl
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 381
Joined: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 5:00 pm
Location: Singapore

Post by scarbowl » Sat, 01 Feb 2014 9:24 pm

Long established school versus first year of new school. Easy to decide on that one.

Cscgj
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 11:49 am

Post by Cscgj » Mon, 03 Feb 2014 3:21 pm

Hi LillyP1,

We are moving there mid April, from Melbourne with 6, 4 & 2yrs old. hubby & I are going to check out AIS & Avondale Grammar next Monday. We are tossing between the 2 oz schools so not sure about Gems.

Based on internet search alone, We are leaning toward Avondale for the small size - 300 students VS 2500 at AIS.

I'll let you know how our tours go next week.

Good luck.

Chriestiena

LillyP1
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 9:28 am

Post by LillyP1 » Mon, 03 Feb 2014 3:32 pm

Thanks Chriestiena, that's most helpful.
I have heard more favorable feed back for AIS out of the two of those. But really it comes down to what YOU are happy with.
Unfortunately cant make it up there until March for a look around.
I'll look out for your post.
Many thanks
Jo

quote="Cscgj"]Hi LillyP1,

We are moving there mid April, from Melbourne with 6, 4 & 2yrs old. hubby & I are going to check out AIS & Avondale Grammar next Monday. We are tossing between the 2 oz schools so not sure about Gems.

Based on internet search alone, We are leaning toward Avondale for the small size - 300 students VS 2500 at AIS.

I'll let you know how our tours go next week.

Good luck.

Chriestiena[/quote]

User avatar
PNGMK
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9248
Joined: Thu, 21 Mar 2013 9:06 pm
Answers: 11
Location: Sinkapore

Post by PNGMK » Mon, 03 Feb 2014 7:43 pm

They're both 'for profit' schools with the problems of such. I wrote a post on this somewhere and why I would not choose a for profit school.

http://www.ics.edu.sg/ is a not for profit mission based school that can educate satisfactorily children to 12 grade for entrance into Australian Uni in my experience and is a not for profit school in a central location.

(Caveat: a relative works for ICS but honestly that's where my kid goes and it's a good school).

LillyP1
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 9:28 am

Post by LillyP1 » Tue, 04 Feb 2014 4:50 am

Thanks PNG
I think I have read your post about the profit schools. And I hear you on your points...photo copied books etc
I'm not sure about having the children do an American education or having a religious element.

User avatar
PNGMK
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9248
Joined: Thu, 21 Mar 2013 9:06 pm
Answers: 11
Location: Sinkapore

Post by PNGMK » Tue, 04 Feb 2014 9:41 am

LillyP1 wrote:Thanks PNG
I think I have read your post about the profit schools. And I hear you on your points...photo copied books etc
I'm not sure about having the children do an American education or having a religious element.
I don't think either of those are particularly harmful. ICS has a pretty good academic record as well.

movingtospore
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 699
Joined: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 2:14 am

Post by movingtospore » Sat, 08 Feb 2014 12:03 pm

I would be wary of new schools. Like I said in another thread I've lost track of how many have come and gone the last few years.

Dubaiexpat
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed, 18 Jun 2014 2:19 am

Re: AIS or GEMS

Post by Dubaiexpat » Tue, 24 Jun 2014 10:12 pm

LillyP1 wrote:Hello

Does anyone have any thoughts on AIS and the new GEMS school please.
Children are 6 and 7 ( year 1 and 2 here is Australia).

GEMS looks amazing but a little off the beaten track, where as AIS would be home from home .

Thanks
Our children currently attend a GEMS school in Dubai.

Sunny Varkey is the person behind GEMS. Google enough articles about him and you will get a picture
Last edited by Dubaiexpat on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 10:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
PNGMK
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9248
Joined: Thu, 21 Mar 2013 9:06 pm
Answers: 11
Location: Sinkapore

Re: AIS or GEMS

Post by PNGMK » Tue, 24 Jun 2014 10:28 pm

Dubaiexpat wrote:
LillyP1 wrote:Hello

Does anyone have any thoughts on AIS and the new GEMS school please.
Children are 6 and 7 ( year 1 and 2 here is Australia).

GEMS looks amazing but a little off the beaten track, where as AIS would be home from home .

Thanks
Our children currently attend a GEMS school in Dubai. We cannot get them out quick enough.

Sunny Varkey is the person behind GEMS. Google enough articles about him and you will get a picture
There's quite a few clowns behind these for profit schools....

User avatar
Deborah Mcvicar
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 5:12 pm

Gems

Post by Deborah Mcvicar » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 5:16 pm

My friend was thinking of Gems, I'm sorry I can't send you a personal message, but maybe you can to me, any main points as to why your not liking Gems. Thank you kindly

scarbowl
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 381
Joined: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 5:00 pm
Location: Singapore

Post by scarbowl » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 8:20 pm

Go take a look. No harm in it. The campus isn't quite finished but they expect to open on time. It's a brand new campus and will have some startup issues. They plan to offer a stellar program. They just have no track record in Singapore.

movingtospore
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 699
Joined: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 2:14 am

Post by movingtospore » Mon, 14 Jul 2014 8:38 pm

The thing is, it often takes schools years to get to the point where they can offer a strong program (as opposed to fancy white boards). The typical pattern in Singapore seems to have been - open up, get as many students as fast as possible, then worry about things like curriculum and teachers. Just saying...we had a bad experience our first time round here.

User avatar
aster
Manager
Manager
Posts: 1621
Joined: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:15 pm

Post by aster » Thu, 31 Jul 2014 1:10 am

Cscgj wrote:We are leaning toward Avondale for the small size - 300 students VS 2500 at AIS.
This is a no-brainer, really.

Are you planning on returning to Australia after your stay in Singapore? If you are then Avondale might be the perfect solution. But if you will be trotting the world then is there any reason you'd want to keep your kids in the Australian school system?

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Parenting, Family & Schools”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests