ACS International and St Joseph International

[hotmum]

Hi
Any comments on the above schools which also offers IB program.
Whats the different between these 2 schools and other International Schools like UWC/Tanglin ?

[skye]

ACS(Int) runs on a Singapore school year (jan - Dec) and is open to Singaporean as well as foreign students as its curriculum, although IGCSE and IB, ties in with the requirements of the MOE for Singaporeans. Singaporeans need special permission form the MOE to attend UWC and Tanglin, for which the student has to make a special case, permission not always granted. Not sure about St Josephs.

[hotmum]

Thanks.
Any idea about their standard ? Is the standard good as UWC?

[Forks]

avoid CNIS (chinese International School), nuff said.

[splat]

the local schools employ local teachers and the International Schools employ international teachers.

[Forks]

the local schools employ local teachers and the International Schools employ international teachers.

That is not always so, many International School have local teachers and TA's working for them, granted the majority are expat.

[splat]

really? which International Schools employ local teachers? I would think parents paying mega $$$ for international teachers would be kicking up a fuss if this was so.

[Forks]

both OFS and ISS employ locals, Chatsworth has employed locals as well as several others.

Also there are some locals schools up (the one in bukit timah comes to mind) which has quite a few expat children going there with no complaint from the parents.

You seem to be assuming that a local can never be as good as a foreign teacher. What kind of attitude is that?

[splat]

I'm answering the question the OP asked on what is the difference between the schools. No offense intended unless it's offensive to have International Schools in Singapore who employ foreign teachers.

What grades/subjects are the local teachers teaching at Chatsworth, ISS and OFS?

[Forks]

I'm answering the question the OP asked on what is the difference between the schools. No offense intended unless it's offensive to have International Schools in Singapore who employ foreign teachers.

What grades/subjects are the local teachers teaching at Chatsworth, ISS and OFS?

cant gibe you any numbers but having kids in International Schools and having met locals who work there I am as happy with their work as any other teacher.

Im still not seeing your point about local teachers but Im willing to let it be, lets just say its more a case of schools than teachers, for example a school like CNIS has local and expat but by all accounts its a bad place to send your kids while ISS has also loacl and expat but does a great job.

[handbelljoe0112]

Hi
Any comments on the above schools which also offers IB program.
Whats the different between these 2 schools and other International Schools like UWC/Tanglin ?

these 2 schools are "local" International Schools. they are affiliated with local schools here. for ACS it would be the methodist group of schools which include ACJS, ACPS, ACS (independent), ACS (Barker), ACJC, MGS, PLMGS, FMSS, st francis, methodist school of music etc) there are about 12 schools in total in the group, all affiliated to the methodist church. SJI international is affiliated to SJI.

these two schools accept local students. the cold hard truth is that the standard is not as high as UWC as many of the students who go to these schools were from the affiliated primary schools and did not make the cut to get back to the local branch and continue on with secondary school there. the school fees are much high (5 times) higher than their local schools fees (even though it's much cheaper than UWC). but the students there are, sad to say, not as hard working. and they mostly come from very rich families. (as do most of the children from these groups of schools)

i am from a methodist school and i have many friends in ACS (international). they are all these because they either didn't make the cut to continue on secondary school in a local methodist school or they failed a year and did not want to repeat.

[cbavasi]

these 2 schools are "local" International Schools. they are affiliated with local schools here. for ACS it would be the methodist group of schools which include ACJS, ACPS, ACS (independent), ACS (Barker), ACJC, MGS, PLMGS, FMSS, st francis, methodist school of music etc) there are about 12 schools in total in the group, all affiliated to the methodist church. SJI international is affiliated to SJI.

SJI is not a "local" International School. The primary school does accept local students. The idea is to make the high school more integrated so the hope is that the primary students will graduate into the high school and eventually it will even out.

[hotmum]

Thanks handbelljoe0112

your reply helped me alot to decide.

[acsdatabase]

Thanks handbelljoe0112

your reply helped me alot to decide.

Hot Mum,

I hope your "decision" involved considering the Anglo-Chinese School (INDEPENDENT) on your list, which is a school which has very different (albeit is affliated to) ACS (International). This is not an International School but is a government-supported independent school, and is by far THE best IB school in Singapore, no questions asked. ACS (Independent) is ranked at least amongst the top 3 IB schools in the world, and its standards surpass UWC or any other international school (With fees many times its) by many, many times. That is, if you can ever get your child in of course, with its extremely competitive entrance criteria.

I leave you with a sample of how ACS (Independent) performed in its most recent IB exams, astounding results considering this was only its 2nd year doing the program (although its pioneer batch did just as spectacularly). It's also got the biggest cohort of students of any IB school (more than 400 students) , so the results are therefore not those of a skewed elitist 10-person private school, just in case you were wondering. A quick google search will also get you many newspaper articles from all over telling likewise.

http://acs.sch.edu.sg/acs_indep/uploads ... 202008.pdf

[Nath21]

Can you tell me where you got the information with regard to your comment "its ranked in the top 3 IB schools worldwide" I couldnt find any ranking system of IB schools either regionally or worldwide either in general searches or on the IB site.

I was interested because my own school in Australia has offered the IB since 1997 and I was interested to find out where it was ranked.