madura wrote:smayrhofer wrote:Like mentioned previously, neigbourhood schools are to be avoided!! Primary schools which are 'neigbourhood schools' still cane the children as a form of discipline, among other things. Also, the level of education will not be high enough and their exam results will not be good enough to continue at a better school at the next level (secondary/JC).
I have my doubts on this caning statement, can someone help to prove/disprove this? Actually, neighborhood schools might sometimes be a better choice, better balance of academic and non-academic time.
The problem with neighbourhood schools is not the curriculum, but the students in it. Neighbourhood schools generally have more rebellious kids. However, I agree that some "premium" schools focus too much on academics.
madura wrote:lynn13 wrote:Some of the popular primary schools are Nanyang Primary, ACS Junior, ACS Primary, SJI Junior, Raffles Girls' Primary, Methodist Girls' School, Catholic Primary, CHIJ, St Nicholas, etc.
Just because it is popular doesn't mean it is good. Some of the schools in the above list have a bad record of focusing too much on grades (hence its popularity among the locals!!).
Agreed. The Raffles group of schools are notorious for their obsession with good grades. I've even heard stories of students studying there who sabotage each other before exams just to get an extra edge over their classmates. ACS, SJI and MGS tend to have a more well-rounded education system though.
madura wrote:smayrhofer wrote:I have two brothers who both attended neighbourhood schools for Primary school. In those schools (this was 10 years ago), caning was a very common form of discipline. My mother volunteered at the school just to ensure that the discipline master didn't lay his hands on my brothers.
Not to say this is still the case or that it's the case in all neighbourhood schools. Just be sure that when you choose a school, you ask about their discipline methods.
emphasis on "10 years ago"
from what I hear, this doesn't seem to be the case right now. in fact, I believe the reverse is true, teachers not being harsh enough for fear of complaints from parents.
Agreed. In my 9 years of schooling so far, I've only ever witnessed 1 public caning. The average rate of canings in my school (Both Public and non-Public) is about 5 or so a year.
NewtoSing wrote:Anyone knows about Radin Mas school? I was told by our agent that it is a good school in district 4. What I meant by good school is a well balanced, no caning, have a good number of international students. Any info would be much appreciated.
Thank you.
Radin Mas is a pretty good school. Not sure about no-caning though. However, I do not feel that caning should be a factor in choosing a school. Canings are few and far between and are only meted out to extremely disobedient and rebellious students for extremely serious offences (Assault, Attempted Arson, Smoking, Vandalism, etc.)