local schools are lessons taught in English?

[aussie mum]

We have been looking at International Schools as the fees are beyond our price range.

If our children were to attend a local school, given they could get in, would they be taught in English as this is their only language?

Thanks

[sundaymorningstaple]

Yes. Except for the second language courses which are obviously taught in those languages & English to start with. There may well be exemptions to the 2nd language requirement now, but I'm out of touch as both of mine are finished school. Maybe boffenl will see this post and touch base as she has her little girl in a local school and loves it and apparently is doing very well.

[samp1]

Local school is taught in English but the kids also learn Chinese for the same amount of hours they learn Chinese.
My daughter (Australian) is now in P2 and loves school. we are also very happy with the local school system, especially given it's $14 per month! THe difference is it is very academic focused and not that balanced with the arts and sport. However, for $14 per month school fees, you can pay for enough after school activities to balance academic side. This is how i view it.

[BodyBlitz]

local schools are segregated into many forms -
Many local chinese are from chinese background so main mode of conversation is Chinese/hokkien/singlish.
These schools are usually in the neighbourhood of the heartland.

If you want, you can look into christian based schools like the christian brother school (catholic) - St Michael, St Joseph Junior, etc - Some boys only some mix, Girls only - CHIJ - Convent of the Holy Jesus has many branches around singapore and many more.

Anglican - St. Andrews, ACS - Anglo chinese School
They have education from Primary school, Secondary school(O levels) all the way to Junior college(A levels)
These are more English oriented(which is mainly the middle and upper class) as parents who send their kids there are more English background and are alumni of the schools.

St. Andrews and Anglo Chinese are very sports oriented - they are one of the top for Cricket and Rugby where many national players are groomed.

[lia_27]

Hi,

I'm a teacher here at a language center, and I teach a lot of the Singaporean kids who go to local schools. Samp1 said what I was going to say about all the courses being in English and that the schools are very academically focused.

I find that the students are very disciplined academically, but I think their education lacks a bit of critical analysis. And again, I agree with Samp1 that they also lack some of the extra curriculars. But, I think he/she has a good point that both of those things can be supplemented with other classes/work at home.

We're thinking about having kids too, and I agree the local schools sound like a good option. The only thing that I worry about is that at Primary 5 they take a test that sorts the above average kids from the average kids. Its quite a hard test and they are only around 11 years old. I worry that some of the late bloomers will miss out. The streaming process seems a bit harsh so early on. It determines if they will go to a 5 year or 4 year secondary school and (sometimes) where they will go to university. At only 11! I imagine if you are comfortable with this kind of testing or if you don't plan to stay that long, it wouldn't be a big concern.

Anyway, I hope I helped. Good luck with your decision!

Lia

[AussieSkater]

We are from Australia and have just enrolled our two sons in local school, one in P1 and the other in P3, and they are loving it. Yes it is academically focused, but I think it also depends on the school they go to as some of them are a bit more broader in their activities and what they encourage.

My youngest one, went straight into P1 but the older boy had to sit an entrance exam, which covered english and maths. Maths was an issue for him, he failed the test, yet at home in grade 3 he was in advanced maths. We found out, after we got the test results, that the maths is far more advanced here for the level then back at home, mainly in the are area of problem sums.

We went and met with the vice principal of the school that we had selected and also had the youngest one already going to and went over things with her. Anyway she listened to what we said, read his school report from Australia and she knew that the maths was a problem for kids coming from other countires, but we agreed to work through the P2 maths with him as extra homework and she accepted him.

This school is academically focused but also focused on sport, with two boys from Australia was a bonus. We couldn't be happier, there are a few other international students at the school. So for this reason the school as established a "special" chinese class for them, where they learn conversational chinese, and not so much the real heavy indepth chinese.

I think it all comes down to finding the right school. Let me know if you need any further information.

[hometutors.sg]

We have been looking at International Schools as the fees are beyond our price range.

If our children were to attend a local school, given they could get in, would they be taught in English as this is their only language?

Thanks

Agree International Schools are expensive here.

Yes English the main teaching language.

And your child can even pick up Chinese as a second language.

[boffenl]

AussieSkater said it all! (See SMS I can convert people too!)

The local school has been incredible for our daughter as her strength is math--they are doing 3 digit subtraction and multiplication already. Scary to think that is week four of primary 2! But she loves it, thank goodness.

The English spoke in class is different than the english they will hear during recess and from the aunties at the canteen. My daughter says she has to speak Singlish to most people outside the classroom since they won't understand her. Oh well, the good with the bad.

PM me if you have any questions.

[madura]

Anglican - St. Andrews, ACS - Anglo chinese School

Just a note, ACS is Methodist.