Emaar School

[surreymum]

We did all this a couple of months ago. Tanglin was full til Sep 09 at the earliest so we went on the hunt for an alternative while we waited. Emaar had spots available and seemed ok, but the facilities seems a bit sparce, although I agree with previous comments that the admissions dept was
prompt and very helpful. We viewed at lunchtime, and although it was noisy, there appeared to be plenty of adults around.
One World was recommended to us as the head is ex of the Austrailian School and highly respected. They have spent lots on the set up, but yes, if you want your child to make new friends in a scarey new country, then they might not even have anyone else in their class!! That will change but how long are you prepared for your child to experience that? We couldn't put ours through it I have to say.

OFS is generally considered an ok holding pen for lots of kids waiting for
places at other schools. New kids start every month so you don't have to wait for a new term, and there is no registration fee which is nice, but it is a massive school. In saying that some people love it so much they stay instead of moving on to the school they thought they wanted to go to! It certainly will immerce your child into an international family.

With the current eco enviroment, schools are finding they have places they never thought they should have. My 5 year old got into Tanglin a year before we expected to and didn't even have to start at another school thank goodness, and my 9 year old is at OFS waiting to tsf over when a spot becomes available, (thank God for a sibling policy!)

Happy hunting the worry of getting it right can be highly stressful.

[ozzmum]

Radar..My children have been at EIS (currently grade 2 and grade 4) for almost 12 months and have never ever mentioned any pushing, kicking, or punching. Every week I help out in the classroom and never once has the teacher denied a child permission to use the bathroom. I arrive during lunchtime and there is always teachers surpervising the children in the playground. So I'm not sure who is telling you those things but in my experience with the school what you have said seems far from the truth...no I am not calling you a liar, but go through the posts, you are just about the only one with negative things to say about the school. As for the ice cream...I know that there was some students who were buying ice cream instead of eating their lunches, but how can you blame the school for that? I provide a healthy lunch everday for my children and some days they get some money to spend on the canteen , but they are very aware that whether they are taking or buying their lunch that ice cream is NOT lunch. Blame the parents for not teaching their children that ice cream is NOT lunch. They stopped allowing icecream all together 2 weeks ago in an attempt to fix the problem...tell me how that is fair to my children and the others who eat a proper lunch?
Overall it's a good school. Excellent facilities, curriculum and staff.

[anitabatho]

Just my experience - my family and I moved here 2 weeks ago and are looking for a school for our 7 yr. old. Just this morning we went out on our first round of school visits. We saw the Canadian International School, Emaar, the Australian School and Dover Court. None of them had waiting lists and all of them could offer my daughter a place immediately;
As far as facilities go - the Australian school won by a landslide but it is quite far out and not at all convenient to where we will be living. The Canadian school was simpler but had a nice homey, pleasant feel to it and the kids all seemed very happy - great atmosphere all round. (plus they are building a brand new campus to be ready 2010). Dover Court was also homey and had that nice old school feel to it. Emaar out of all of them was the most disappointing. Although I won't comment on whether it is a good school or not as I don't have first hand experience - the introduction to it was not very impressive. The gentleman that took us around spent the first 15 mins of the meeting explaining the fee structure and then showed us around. He didn't tell us anything about the curriculum, school philosophy's or extra-curricular activities. The facilities seem good and the campus itself is quite nice but we just didn't get a positive feel about the place.

The most important thing I learnt today is that, if at all possible, you must go around and see each school in person. It is next to impossible to get a feel for the school over the internet. Not till you see the school with all the kids in action can you really get an idea what it's all about and whether or not it will suit your child.
Hope this helps!