E R INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

[Belle SANTOS]

I am planning to enroll my son in ERIS. We are moving to Singapore this end of June. Can anybody please tell me how is there - academic wise and how is the environment there. What nationalities are enrolled and is it a good school. Any input will be helpful. What would be the nearest residential area to ERIS.

[sundaymorningstaple]

It's a new school so doesn't have a real track record to speak of at this point in time. Try searching this forum for earlier threads - there are a few.

[sofeajones]

i just visited the eris campus this mrng because i am interested in enrolling my 5 y/o for preschool. one thing i like about the school is its space. it is a new school however the facilities are pretty impressive. i live arnd holland road, it is along pandan valley and holland. i spoke to the principal and teachers and visited the classrooms and i liked it. maybe you shld check it out.

[Belle SANTOS]

Thank you for the input. I will be arriving Singapore on June 25 and I will certainly look at it. Where is the nearest residential area to live close by ERIS?

[sofeajones]

the residential area is holland road or pandan valley. there are alot of expats staying around there. most private apartments.

[miss_jay]

I'm a tutor who has two students from ERIS. They are pretty happy with the school but they also experience some slight racism from some of the children as my students are Asian (Korean). I suppose this is bound to happen with any International School, but just so you know and you can prepare your child in whatever way you see fit.

My students are in ESL classes. Will your child be taking English as a second language?

If yes, then I would advise you to hire a tutor for after school (not advertising myself here) because the teachers are not really thorough with their marking. I am always checking my students' school work and even though they make mistakes, their work is still marked as correct. Why is this? Then how do the students KNOW that they are making mistakes??

Perhaps their ESL teachers are being lenient, but still, I do not condone this as mollycoddling the children does not help them improve.

I hope that I haven't scared you off of ERIS, but I just thought you should know so that you can consider other options if you wish?

- Juanita

[miss_jay]

As far as I know there are Indians, Americans, Australians, British, Koreans, Japanese, and Africans at ERIS.

Though I'm sure the list is more extensive than that.



- Juanita

[silverfern]

Kiwis too.

[sofeajones]

yea i like the fact that there is a good mix of asian and expat kids.
i didnt want my son to go the american school because since we're in asia, it might be a good experience to learn about the different nationalities or even cultures.

[k1w1]

If yes, then I would advise you to hire a tutor for after school (not advertising myself here) because the teachers are not really thorough with their marking. I am always checking my students' school work and even though they make mistakes, their work is still marked as correct. Why is this? Then how do the students KNOW that they are making mistakes??

Perhaps their ESL teachers are being lenient, but still, I do not condone this as mollycoddling the children does not help them improve.

Most teachers do not find it necessary to mark every mistake a student makes - usually the ones that affect meaning are the ones targetted. I know this is not the way things are done in local schools.

Getting a paper back covered in red pen is usually very disheartening. Especially so for ESL students.

It certainly doesn't mean the teachers are being "lenient" or "mollycoddling". Pointing out every single mistake a child makes (regardless of how significant) is like slamming down their efforts, and is just not necessary.

[miss_jay]

Then I suppose we will have to agree to disagree on this one, yes? The marking style for local school is quite different. I'm a teacher in a local school and marking is very strict so as to make sure children do not make the same mistakes in future.

I'm not saying this style is necessarily better, just saying that it's a different style from what I've seen in marking done in ER.

Also, don't you think it would be confusing for a child, when someone else is looking at her work (could be her other teachers, could be her private tutors) and pointing out that something is wrong, and she'll say, "no I did it this way in school and the teacher didn't think it was a mistake"??

For my student, she and her mother moved to Singapore specifically for her to learn English - GOOD English. The dad is back at their home country working hard to send money over for his daughter's education, and it's hard. So personally, I'd rather she face reality and see her mistakes, rather than protecting her spirit or enthusiasm. After all, there are fun ways to make sure she learns from the mistakes.

But that's just a personal opinion.

Don't kill me!!

[EC]

I would say that you are the tutor here, not the teacher. You should be marking and working along with what your student is doing in school, whether you agree with it or not.

I agree with Kiwi's statements about marking. I wouldn't even use a red pen.

[miss_jay]

well i teach them 4 times a week after school. I'm pretty much given the same standard. And PLEASE don't blow this out of proportion. I don't go through my students' work and presenting them with a horrible page of mistakes.

Her book from school has NO mistakes at all. That's a little weird, don't you think?

If she has a creative sentence with articles like "a" or "the" left out, I mark it right and just point out to her what she needs to add in. I constantly tell her that her ideas are creative (which they are) and that she could work a little on her grammar.

I'm not THAT strict with her because I know she's learning, BUT I DO NOT MARK EVERYTHING IN HER BOOK CORRECT TO THE POINT SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT MISTAKES SHE'S MAKING.

Like I said, I'm trying my best to make sure she learns good English and get all the basics down. Do you have a child? Are you here with your child ALONE for the sake of her education while your husband is back in your home country?

You know the mother can't speak much English? She is here alone with her daughter. I am trying to help out the family as best as I can and give them what they came to Singapore for. I don't just teach, I write letters for them, etc. It's really hard for them. So I want the best for this girl.

There's never been a point where she doesn't want to learn anything from me. And I don't point out mistakes in her book from school. Instead, I take note of what kind of mistakes she's made and during my lesson with her, I make plenty of examples to try and make her unerstand what she might be missing.

The daughter has improved by leaps and bounds under my tutelage. And now she can help translate or speak for her mother when they go out.

I am a good tutor AND teacher. Don't tell me how it's done until you've been in my shoes. No offense, but I know what's good for my students. I know what they need and how they like to learn. So... when you're a teacher, you can mark the way you like.

[k1w1]

Wow, miss jay... a little defensive? This is your second post where I've seen you pretty much lose it when someone questions you.

I'm a teacher too. I teach ESL, and most of my students are here without a parent. Some are here without either parent, and live with guardians. Yes, I know about the struggles they have. I know how hard it is for them. (I'm a mother of two, and I would find this situation very difficult). I also know how good it feels to see these particular kids progress - but believe me, that's not just you. It's not just the ESL teacher either. Teaching isn't an isolated position - your colleagues will play a huge role. In this case, the schoolteachers of your students will be helping them a lot too.

It's great to see you're so passionate about your job. I am too, perhaps to a fault sometimes... Teaching doesn't stop when the bell rings. I have written many letters, made many phone calls and emails, had numerous meetings and after school sessions with kids - because they need it, and I am able to help. This is what teachers do. But to say you know what's best for your students (moreso than the teacher that sees them every day) is a little out of line...

It's not your job to pass judgement on teachers or entire schools (as you did earlier in the thread) due to marking, or any other reason. The teaching styles in local and International Schools are very different (I spent two years teaching local kids before joining an International School). For this reason, I usually recommend my students hire tutors who have trained overseas or who have worked in international schools. Teaching ESL and English are very different. I have had students who are barely able to use past tense and their tutor has corrected their attempts by writing sentences (into their books) in passive tense - as this is exactly perfect English. Very conusing for the student and totally unecessary.

[EC]

I'm a teacher at an International School here in Singapore. I made a comment that I agreed with Kiwi and did not pass any judgement on you, unlike what you've done.

Again, I'd say that you're the tutor and not the child's teacher and that is a huge difference. Your style is different than the classroom teacher's and even though you may think you know 'better', you could very well end up confusing the child. We have a tutor bank of qualified tutors that we use for this very reason, rather than having parents seek out individuals on their own.

I don't doubt your qualifications or your passion but it's sounding more like hubris with every posting.