local school for 10yr old for this April?

[Mon01]

Hi there,

I am relocating with my son to Singapore this April and do not know what to do about getting him into a school mid term? I would like him to go to a local school and understand he will have to take the exam when he is in the country I assume only to be able to start in September. I do not know what the best thing to do is from April to September, International Schools are so expensive and I do not know if even they would take him for a few months until I secure him a place in a local school. Any advice? He is 10 years old 11 end of April

[sundaymorningstaple]

Your odds of a mid term entry are slim. The school year run from Jan 2 to the end of November for local schools. Getting enrolled into a local school is a bit of a hit or miss proposition as there are few places and the excess are balloted and dependents of Foreigners have the 3rd ballot in the exercise. Most schools run out of places on the 2nd ballot. Do some searches in the relevant forum here for more in depth discussions

[merichan]

Once you are installed and have the DP for your child, you can try to see if any school accepts to take him.

However chances are practically zero, as MOE is encouraging parents to go through the 2 sessions of AEIS ( stands for admission exercise for international students... been through it last october for my daughter who since joined P3 this January) a year.

Unfortunately you're just a few weeks too late for the S-AEIS ( that takes children mid-term in local schools) and your arrival date will coincide with the start of those kids so chances of finding a available spot are really really slim.

Best bet is probably to get him a spot either for AEIS in october either going trough the schools directly for a spot next academic year ( be aware that a lot of school have waiting list for transfers of kids already in local system, so in that case they won't take on a new student)

To pass time in the mean time, most tuition centres have programs to ensure the child is at the correct academic level to join in a local school. Those program can run as long as school hours.

MOE website on AEIS :

http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissi ... -exercise/

[Mon01]

Thank you for your post, yes I can see this is going to be tricky, would home schooling with a tutor or a term in an International School be a possibility? I assume it may be easier to get him into an international school.

[katbh]

It is not as tricky as it seems. If you have a DP, you can approach your local school to see if they have places. 10 year old would be going into P4. If they have places, you can take one up. Mid year, beginning of year makes no difference. If there is a place you can take it up immediately. Just keep calling schools and ask if they have places. If they do not, ask for application form and you can go on waiting list - often a place will come up a day, a week later. Keep trying all the schools. You will not get into a 'name' school and it will be hard to get into a popular school, but as most local children do not move school (it is strongly discouraged), when children leave (e.g. to emigrate or overseas posting) the spaces come up and can be filled by DP holders. Do not give up. Persistence will get your child into school in only few weeks. Message me if you would like help

[merichan]

Home schooling is really easy here and is definitely the option instead of a term in International School


singapore is not going to ask you anything - any proof of school etc. - for a child in DP

Personnally I had my daughter out of school for 7months the time to make the transition into local school and nobody came knocking.

There are quite a few homeschooling support group, parents grouping together to provide tutor for a few kids.


In the mean time get him in the local schools directly, by putting him on the waiting lists for schools and if you haven't found an opening by august, think about going through the AEIS to find it by next january.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Everybody is jumping the gun. The OP will not be in Singapore until April.

[priyamohan]

Hi Merichan,

Can you help provide more details on how you trained your daughter for AEIS exam?
My daughter sat twice for AEIS and both attempts failed.
If you provide details on training institutes, materials, training plan, etc then it would be great.

Thanks

[Sensei Michael]

Thank you for your post, yes I can see this is going to be tricky, would home schooling with a tutor or a term in an International School be a possibility? I assume it may be easier to get him into an international school.

There are International Schools that take in students for as short as a term. You just need to be able to approach the Principal directly rather than going through the Admissions department.