International Schools

[Howell]

We will potentially be moving to Singapore in August with a 4 year old, 2 year old and a new born from the UK. As fees will be coming out of our own purse rather than an ex pat package, how much roughly should we budget per term or year? I would like the 4 year old in school at least 4 days, and the 2 year old in a nursery for a max of 3 days. I don't really know where to start as the school websites don't detail fees. Approximations are fine and views on schools would be helpful as I'm in the dark at the moment.

[rajeshwari rajamani]

hi, I have 3 kids myself and am currently looking for a preschool for my middle one who turns 3 this May. Some of the choices of pre schools will be Pat's School house (Mandarin and English languages), Eton Pre school, White Lodge, Montessori (couple of franchisees). These are the big independent ones. Then of course all the big (international and local) schools run their nursery/ pre-K open to 3 year olds +.
In addition, there are some small pre schools which are very good, some like the Steiner one, based on non mainstream philosophies. So to the above I would add Steiner preschool in Siglap, Rosemount (run by a few Australians women), Pibo's garden (run by an older English lady)...

Re: fees, the big schools (like Singapore American school, Canadian, German, UWC etc..) would start at around 18,000 SGD per year for a 5 day week (see Australian school website as they put up their fees). This excludes bus fare and lunch etc.
Eton House, Montessori, Pat's Schoolhouse and White Lodge are in the next bracket at around 11,000 to roughly 15,000 per year (Again 5 day week). I dont know yet what Steiner, Rosemount and Pibo's garden charge, but would assume about 10,000 or there abouts per year. Local school fees should be much less but they are Englis and Mandarin based.

The other thing you should be aware of is that admissions are difficult mid term, so you may be better off choosing a school and registering right away, for the next term which starts in August.

Do troll the site for more info. Just added my two bits in the hope that it helps.

Cheers,, Raj

[cbavasi]

Howell - For the 4 year old if you are going to be sending them into K1 at an International School you would be looking at roughly $20k +/- a year. Most of the larger schools have the school fees listed - and will also list the deposits, school building fees (if applicable), term fees...etc. The buses are separate but figure $1000 a year (guesstimate). If you think you are going to be here a couple of years best to sort out a place where you think you would like to send them - even if it is for the following year (2010). For the 2 year old you could wait until you arrive to visit nursery programs in your neighborhood. My 2 year old is in a fantastic program (3x a week) and it is $450 a month. My son was at a different nursery at the same age and it was $700 a month - so it varies. There is a lot of information on this site about schools - but it can be overwhelming.

[Howell]

Thanks so much everyone. I'm finding it a little overwhelming having to do the research myself from the UK whilst pretending to be doing some work! Will look into all your points/ advice. Most appreciated.

[Forks]

There are plenty of threads on this sites about International Schools, both the good and the bad.