Any expats with kids in Local Govt funded Primary Schools

[LJC]

Hi,
I'm interested in enrolling my child in Primary 1 next year (2009) and would like to know if anyone currently has or are intending on enrolling their child in a local government school in the Holland Rd area? Also I had read somewhere that there was a popular government school on the East Coast for Expats...we would consider moving (as our apartment is currently enbloc) does anyone know the name of this school?
I know it is difficult to get places in the better local schools eg. Nanyang is our closest but apparently impossible.
Ideally I would like to send him to a school which has other expats kids in to make the transition easier for him. We are Australians and he is currently at a local private kindergarten and is learning Mandarin.
Any advise on local government schools with expat students would be appreciated.
thanks
LJC

[viajera]

ey, we're also in the area and my son will start P1 next year! we've just arrived half a year ago from Europe (Eurasian family), and unless my son displays difficulty keeping pace at the kindergarten this year, we're planning to enrol him in a local school. the place nearest us is the new town (opp commonwealth MRT), henry park and ghim moh primary schools.

we haven't really gone and looked at the schools yet, but i've checked last year's balloting results and some of these schools did have free spots even at the end of the balloting (expats get last priority in the balloting as you know). nanyang is very popular among the locals and places are gone during the first rounds of balloting.

i think the one on east coast that you're referring to is the tanjong katong primary. getting in is also notoriously difficult; it was featured in the papers last year!

[LJC]

Great, it's reassuring to know other expats will be going through the system with us (all the other expats I've talked to have balked when I've mentioned sending the kids to local schools!?).
We are looking at Henry Park (although they told me we were outside their region) and Queenstown to start with. Will let you know how we find them and I would be interested to hear your opinion also.
I will keep you informed.
thanks
LJC

[sundaymorningstaple]

For further reading......

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/forum/ftopic46235.html

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/forum/ftopic44324.html

sms

[boffenl]

My daughter (US/Canadian family) is currently attending Pei Tong Primary in Clementi, near-ish to Holland Village. We arrived 9 months ago and she's three weeks into local school--she LOVES it!

We did visit three local schools and three International Schools before settling in on two local schools--one had no spots available and Pei Tong only had 15.

She also attended a local kindergarten program and began learning Mandarin and is reading spectacularly well. I'm very impressed with the book and work she's doing--the music and arts programs are unbelievable for first grade. Coming from the midwest that's the first program to go, but here art and music are stressed.

We're really pleased so far. One problem--her Singlish is getting better too.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Boffenl,

Both of mine are totally fluent in Singlish, but also English (That's where the parents come ). Like me, you'll wonder if they can speak English at all once their friend start coming over. What we did in the early years was make them speak only proper English when in our house. At least within earshot anyway. We also refused to answer or ignored them until they spoke properly. When they want something you would be surprised what they can remember.

It's good your child is liking it and merging well. The local kindergarten was probably a good move. If you remember a long time ago I mentioned that the local school systems cater a lot more for the arts than some seem to think.

I'm glad to hear all is going well.

[munbeans]

Would it be super tough (if near impossible) for high school students from overseas to join the local schools? I have been told don't even think about it as the curriculum is far more intense.

[boffenl]

I don't know, it's an interesting question though--anyone with any experience can answer? I've been really surprised at how advanced my daughter's primary 1 class is--they had computer class today. I now understand how local kids heading to the States could be almost 2 class years ahead.

Would be worth a visit on your part to some of the high schools to compare the curricula yourself. I've found all the local schools really really responsive. Just check out MOE's website for addresses and telephone numbers.

[sprite]

I've been really surprised at how advanced my daughter's primary 1 class is--they had computer class today. I now understand how local kids heading to the States could be almost 2 class years ahead.

I know I am in the minority here (or at least the silent majority) but is this really our goal? To raise children that are so advanced? And at what cost? A child's life should be well-balanced, and for some, less focussed on results and the competitive nature of rank and grades. I have a doctor friend here who tells me about all the kids that come in with ulcers from top Singaporean schools. Children as young as 8 years old with ulcers.

It's not that I don't believe a student can be well-educated in a Singaporean school, whether they are local or expat -- I just don't like any curriculum that puts so much emphasis on academic rigor (cue sms to tell us all how US schools are failing and therefore should not be emulated). Especially if it is at the cost of a child's overall well-being. There is more to life than A levels and O levels. I don't know how many time Singaporean friends of my children turned down trips to: the ballet, the zoo, the amusement park, a birthday party because they had tuition on a Sunday afternoon.

To munbeans, I don't know any high schoolers who have moved from overseas and joined a local school. To be perfectly honest I don't think I would make the move if that was my only option. The culture shock would be huge, not to mention the difference in curriculum (never mind how rigorous it is -- just different). That's not to say it wouldn't work for some, but I think it would be disastrous for my family for a lot of reasons.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Would it be super tough (if near impossible) for high school students from overseas to join the local schools? I have been told don't even think about it as the curriculum is far more intense.

munbeans,

I would have to second that. The fact that they would be so far behind age on age, unless you children are from Minnesota and the best in the US like some on here, I think it would be discouraging for the child and may cripple their self-esteem if they cannot catch up.

Starting from an early age while still in early primary is what I espouse. Many, many more non-Singaporeans are starting to see the wisdom in this now that the local system is a lot more flexible and moving away from the rote learning that was used in the early day. The best part is that they don't need to be in a top ranked school (thereby avoiding the "ulcers"). I've not met any of them yet in the 25 years I've been here but statistically speaking, there's probably there's probably a couple.

[boffenl]

Ulcer--yikes. I had to wait until Grad school to get mine. Anyway, depends entirely on the parent. My daughter was enrolled for extra tuition for Hanyu-Pinyu but we dropped that when she felt better about handling the classwork.

She is in no extra tuition classes now. However, given that her classes end at 1:45, that leaves a lot of extra time in the day. We're weighing guitar lessons or ballet maybe. Of course, maybe we're in a different kind of school. The teachers seem so caring and concerned. I've already told them we'll be heading back to the US for most of April and their first remark wasn't about homework (in fact, I had to prompt them to ask if I could have a syllabi to take with us!) it was how much fun and what interesting things we'll do.

I must say, the longer we go on, the more enamoured I am with the local system. Two thumbs way up so far.

Liza

[jaw]

hi, I'm a local and glad to see discussions about local education system. I have friends who are out of the country for a couple of years and the main worry is their kids not being able to catch up with the education pace here. Some friends who migrated usually reported their kids cruising through the education overseas. I'm not saying the local system is good, it's has its cons. Frankly, for an education system targeting for the mass, it's pretty good. BUT even though MOE has it's guidelines, they cannot control how schools like to implement them. Thus you find some schools stressed so much on homework, worksheets etc and some schools (usually more established ones) choose to do otherwise.

I would suggest parents to check out the school's emphasis and talk to the principal to sound them out, best if you can find an existing parent with kids in there to talk to. Frankly, I find the school system here is not forgiving to children who are artistically inclined. Their emphasis has been academic although there seem to be a shift in MOE's direction. Our edn system here has always been emphasising on Maths and Science because in the past, we are very manufacturing based in our economy and we need to groom a lot of engineering pple. BUT this is changing. Funds are allocated by MOE to schools to create their own niche in the discipline they deem to be strong in.

And if you compare our 'stress' level to China, Taiwan, Japan and even South Korea, Singapore is actually not all that bad. Stress is very subjective, how stressed your kids are depends on how stressed the parents are and how much you want them to achieve. Not all parents forced their kids to have tuition classes in the weekends and end up with ulcers ... and also missed the zoo trips ..... at least I am not one of them .

just my 2 cents.

[sundaymorningstaple]

jaw,

You make good cents!

[munbeans]

Jaws,
Your comments are very "censible" and much appreciated.

The one reason - the constant study and memorising would be why I am not keen on the local schools but if things may be different now, I'll have to investigate which school would be suitable.

Thanks.

[queenie-me]

Would it be super tough (if near impossible) for high school students from overseas to join the local schools? I have been told don't even think about it as the curriculum is far more intense.

Ermmm....
Well. I left high school not too long. Maybe 2-3 years ago.
Life in high school here is isn't that bad. But one thing about peers I faced was being influence. Maybe I was easily influence. - I don't know.

For academic, it was not too bad. I choose Science cause I am not good at art at all. And my parents told me so.. But it's stressful in a way that my teachers expect me to get A's straight - which I did get it after much pushing and drilling. At first, I thought they did it so that they will get a promotion or something like that. But after much thinking and knowing them. I understand that they did this, is because they know I can do it.

But from my point of view is that different people has different ways in handling "intense". I handle it with a form of respect.
As a youth, I would rather have my own pick between international or local. Cause' I know what's best for me. Hope this helps...