E R INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

[erised]

It's interesting to see parents give their opinions, but to tell you the truth- the only way you're going to learn the most about a school is through its students. All the inside details of the school (student body, enthusiasm, teachers etc.) are only going to come from students. You can visit the school, have a look around of the place- but its always useful to go research beyond than what the school shows.

[mosley]

Thanks Barbara

Which school will your kids be starting?

I look forward to your reply.

Mosely Toner

[mosley]

Oh sorry Barbara

I just re read your post and see they are starting ERIS.

Any informations would be greatly appreciated.

Mosely

[Fusi]

I have kids in the senior years at ERIS, and I am not so happy with it. There are problems recruiting teachers, several subjects given cover teachers (who are off-topic), but often are unsupervised. After 4 weeks, lots of text books are unavailable at a very badly run bookstore and it is very hard to contact the school and get support. homework is rare. However, the teachers who are available are mostly very good, and the environment is pleasant. The new headmaster is very keen on tidiness and rules, which my kids find pretty oppressive, but I wish they would be as strict with the education they provide as they are at demanding we buy expensive blazers, cutting hair and suspending kids for removing shirts to play ball! It feels all take and no give. However, it is new and I am holding my breath hoping it gets itself sorted.

[silverfern]

It's a shame to hear that ER is still suffering from the same problems it had at the beginning of the year.

We have now left the school and are very happy with our new school although initially we were apprehensive moving our child so quickly after starting with ER however we realised that there were significant teething problems which would need rectified quickly to ensure adequate education for the children. A lack of teachers and basic resources like school books reflect on the management of the school, the school should not be accepting more children if they cannot resource the classrooms.

Unfortunately it sounds as if they are continuing to enrol children but are not prepared to take responsibility for delivering the service.

With regards to the school books I ended up getting the list from administration and purchasing them from Popular Books. At that time they were using the Singapore curriculum so they are available anywhere.

Good luck.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Frankly, the woes that some of the posters here are voicing do not surprise me at all. They were roping in parents and school employees to try to advertise the school via various forums to the point that we had to lock a thread or two. Not very professional then (that was around 9~12 months ago). It would seem not very professional now either.

They advertise on this site but that doesn't mean that it is a recommendation by this site. It only means they pay for the banner space. It's up to the reader to make informed decisions. I'm glad some of our posters are coming back to let other know. That is what these forums are for.

[madisonb]

sides to every school. My son is attending ERIS through lack of choice because we are on a wait list for our 1st preference so I could easily bag the school but am prepared to give the new principal and the NEW school an opportunity to get through what any sensible parent would expect to be teething problems with any new environment be it here or in any other country. Yes there are problems with teachers and book supplies but there are a number of positions being advertised for teachers in Sing and if you look through this and other forums teachers in general are looking elsewhere because of rising costs associated with living in Sing at present so I would imagine it is not just ERIS that is having problems keeping or retaining teachers. Yes we all pay a large amount of money to send our children to "international" schools but we did that in Sydney for a private school and there were aspects of the school that we were not happy with but overall it worked. We as parents must ensure the best possible education is available to our children and it is our responsibility to discuss with the school any concerns that present themselves and this can be difficult I have no doubt not with just ERIS but with other schools here also - just look at the numerous comments people post here regarding nearly every other "international" school.
Surely at the end of the day what the most important aspect to any school is if your child/ren are happy, make friends, feel secure in their environment and the school is making every effort to achieve in both the short and long term goals a high standard of education. My son has just moved to ERIS from another country with established routines and friends and I am just grateful that he is happy and has adjusted to a new school environment well. He receives homework regularly and has been told that this will begin to increase in the next few weeks. We ask him about his day and look at his work which we perceive is in line with what he would have been given at his school in Sydney which we thought was always of a high academic standard. Others may feel that this is not necessarily a high academic standard - each to their own. The answer is to find another school that suits your child but who will ever know if that is the correct decision from a tour of a school and perhaps another visit. This will never be enough information and you just have to go with your "gut" instincts. Our son is old enough to be part of the decision making process and when the time comes to decide whether he should stay or move we will weigh up the good and the bad.
Forums by their very nature allow us to debate and discuss issues that concern all of us especially schools but frankly as a newcomer to Singapore I am dismayed by the amount of negative and potentially harmful comments that continually flow through these forums by people that really don't have any constructive comments to make and appear bitter and twisted about nearly everything to do with Singapore. Perhaps the majority of people who live in Singapore that love it and are enjoying their lives don't have time to sit on forums! On that note I'm off to explore Singapore!

[jockney]

Madisonb
I like some of your comments and am glad your child is happy as that is the main thing eh?
There are negative aspects in all schools here and I too have seen and posted many comments, but we all think differently and want different things for our kids.
I have learnt to let my son have some input and try and not pass my fears and insecurities on to him and upto now it has been ok.
I heard so much negative stuff about OFS on this forum I was secretly concerned that we had made an error, but my son loves the school, he is getting well educated...better than in Scotland where we came from, the teachers are approachable and very helpful....even when it does not go my way...i still think the school is ok!
I hope ERIS proves to be a good school for your child and you dont need to go to your preffered school!
I think a lot of people are just plain unhappy...never mind unhappy with singapore, thats why you see a lot of negative comments...although negative experiences are a different matter and can be changed into positive.
good luck

[Fusi]

I understand it isn't easy to hear negative things about something you have comitted your children to, and I apologise if people feel bad about this, but I am trying to be honest and give credit where it is due. My family are very happy in Singapore and we came here because it was a solution to the scarey schools at home. My kids wanted to do A levels, and had no other choice but ERIS. Of course happiness is important (if it still gets them where they want to be), but my kids are not happy. My oldest told me he had to do 2 A levels himself, with no school support, and is very worried. My other kid feels the school is not interest in him,other than getting him to look nice. We have tried to be reasonable and adress these issues, and to be fair 50% of our problems were sorted, and again most teachers that are there are excellent, but 4-5 weeks into the school year and no English teacher? (amongst others),For GCSE and A levels? with no attempt to cover the work using other English teachers, no book lists to read? That is very bad by anyones standards.

[madisonb]

I in no way meant to imply that you were negative - I was being general to the mood of some posters when they reply and rather than being constructive are just venting their own frustrations without any benefit to the OP. Of course this is not always the case and I have gained some valuable insight into the way of life in Singapore from many posters.

Completely understand and empathise with your situation. It must be absolutely frustrating when your children are preparing for the most important years of their schooling without enough support or teaching. Call me naive perhaps but could you contact the Parent Body to see if they have any clout regarding the senior years situation. Have you spoken directly to the Principal?

If other schools are not an option could you source extra tutoring in the interim? I know you should not have to do this and it is an extra expense but it may be a short term solution until the school rectifies these issues. You could always threaten to send the invoices to them as they are in breach of their duty of responsibilities as a school!!!

Don't worry about the uniform demands - I haven't sent off a cheque for what they are asking for - what's the point if they grow another few centimetres before they need the jacket? I think they are just trying to get some continuity and standards. They are really relaxed compared to my son's previous school whereby he had to wear his jacket to numerous summer events and he had to wear a tie everyday so he thinks ERIS is a piece of cake!

Please let me know how you go. Regards Sue

[Fusi]

Thanks for your reply, yes I have spoken to the head on several occassions, we've been very upfront about how we feel. I agree with getting tutors, which are an essential, even in the best International Schools. Incidently, local tutors are usually very organised and much better value for money, at around &35- $50 per hour.Re the parent body, it seems it was going to be very different under the last headmaster, having real imput and influence, but not now. Its been largly abandoned as far as I know, unless someone knows otherwise?
Maybe some of us parents could get together?

[silverfern]

that the parent body hasn't been kept up, we spent a considerable amount of time setting that up with the support of the Prinicipal and teachers.

We, as a body, made huge improvements in the school in the first six months by utilising the energy and enthusiasm of new parents and teachers.

[Fusi]

I know about that, but sadly the new regime wants parents to help fundraise and volunteer, and definately no decision making imput as customers. In fact the parents are the last to hear about anything now. This may be because all the real decisions are made from Dubai and the board of Governers, who are very distant from parents wishes and concerns, unlike many other International Schools. Are your kids still in the school?

[silverfern]

No, we left at the end of the school year. No regrets.

It sounds like the same problems with management are still there although I was up at the school recently and was pleased with some of the changes that have occurred. There are some great parents, teachers, staff and children at the school and I wish them all the best for the future.

It's also great that some parents are so passionate about defending the school, if that passion is channeled in the right way it could make a huge difference to the school.

[madisonb]

Whilst I wouldn't say I'm passionate about the school I am prepared to give the school and principal and directors a chance to rectify obviously serious issues that currently exist. As nearly every other school in Singapore has been established for many years we all don't have any point of reference to be guided by but I think that all these schools would have suffered from similar problems.

All I wanted to give was a view of a parent and child that have been relatively happy with the education and setup so far....we are only talking one term but it appears the year that my son is in is fairly stable. I also appreciate that if I was in the same situation as Fusi I would be absolutely livid about the standard of education and it is a shame that progress is slow. I just don't have the answers for this one.

I rang the school yesterday to enquire about a parents body and was told someone will call back as they didn't have any info. So thank you for the info here now I know why!

I might get flamed for this comment but we actually expected the standard of school to be lower than we had previously experienced for the simple reason that they are "international" schools whereby students, teachers, admin staff are in constant flux and moving. Schools are bought by other companies here where that just doesn't happen at say private or local public schools in our own country. It's very nature is unstable and you can only hope that the stability any school maintains is due to its integrity and professionalism but that takes time. That's not to say I don't expect a high standard but try to be flexible also.

My son has started a grade higher than he would currently be in Aust and has been able to select electives such as Chemistry and Physics that he would not be offered at the school he is wait listed on. ERIS also offered Indonesian which he studies. We are the 1st on the wait list for our school of choice so we will need to make a decision whether to stay or go soon.

In general I just become disillusioned when nearly every thread contains personal nasty comments towards someone else who has taken the time to respond. I know it goes with the territory and there are always really useful info by geniune posters. It would be great if the replies that were the most relevant to the question were given priority and any other comments followed so you could cut to the chase!