Dover Court

[aman kaur bhullar]

hi all

we saw three schools

- one world international
- nps
- overseas International School

I have to say out of all three i liked Overseas family school the most, although we have decided to put our children in NPS, purely as it was the most cheapest and most convenient. One world had some good points too, they believed children were at different levels and are nurtured to that. There were building work going on around there which i couldnt help noticing, that reminded me of my time at school trying to do my GCSEs with the sound of drilling noise. Also when i walked into the grade 1 classroom, the children were split into two groups, a large group and a small group. The large group was doing spelling and the smaller group another activities and teacher was between the two.

Oversea has been around for 20 years, there facilities were excellent, 2 swimming pools, 3/4 different play frames for children, kids had a choice of uniform, there was an outdoor sports area and also indoor. My kids also preferred this one too.

Nps had an entrance test for my 6 year old, which made us think they must expect some standard of education from pupils. My husband prefered this school and he has been to see Stampford - which he was impressed with too however there is a 3k non refundable fee for application.

Nps also had spaces available at that time so we had to act quickly, and my husband said if it doesnt work out in NPS we can move them to another school.

Nps academic year starts in April 2012, we dont finish until July however ill be taking them out few weeks early and will be flying out 1st week july for them to start on 1st of august.

I guess only time will tell.

Hope this helped you all.

[Andream]

We are moving to Singapore mid July and we have just accepted a place at Dovercourt for our Son who will be going into Year 1 in August. Having read the recent posts its good to know there will be other new children learning the ropes at the same time! We are spending a week in Singapore in June to look at condos and visit the school. When we move out in July it would be lovely to meet up with any other new starters.

[Makingthemove]

Hi Andream,

We are going through the rubber-stamping process of the business side of things and that is taking its time, but we're all set on Dover Court and about to send off the paperwork. We''ll be moving out at the last minute (got Olympic tix for Aug) and hitting the ground running, but am sure it will all work out OK.

My son will be going into Y3 - it would be great to meet once we're there, for sure, so stay in touch.

[Andream]

Hi Makingthemove, thanks for your reply will definitely keep in touch, I think I need to do a few more posts and then I can PM you. (Not done this before!) although by the time we've finished I'm sure that we will be experiencing all sorts of things we haven't done before!

We too have tickets for the Olympics, but unfortunately won't be able to use them, my husband's company wanted him in place in May, however, we couldn't get a school place until the start of the new school year, so we are going out as soon as the summer term finishes here.

Looking forward to meeting you in the Summer and also anyone else ....
Mrs R, I believe your daughter will be in Year 1 in August too.

[Pammy210]

Hi - new to this site - my 2 kids have just been accepted at Dover Court. My son will be starting Yr 2 and my daughter Yr 1 in August. So good to see that there'll be a few other newbies there.
We'll be coming out altogether end of July so that shd give us time to "acclimatise" etc.... I'll be coming to SIN in June (as my husband will be out in Sin for 6 wks working) to look at accomodation. Looking at Holland Vill/B Vista/Dover Crt area too - think we'll need a 4 bed (to accomodate a steady stream of visitors) but that limits us hugely, might need to look at larger 3 beds. My hubby had a quick look at apartments when he visited the schools in March and said Westcoast Park is really nice and very close to Dover Court School too. Might be able to get a bit more space being a little bit further out too - any suggestions re this wld be most welcome!
Looking forward to meeting you all - hopefully we can hook up once we're all there (not looking forward to frizzy hair in all that humidity - lol!!)

Pammy210

[Leaving london]

Hi pammy
My son will be starting y2 at Dover court too in sept. I'm leaving London in may though so we'll be well acclimatised by the time you get there. I'm so glad theres a few English boys starting there as my son loves footy and I was worried he wouldn't have anyone to play 'football' with rather than 'soccer'. Yes we found condo mount Sinai Really nice and inbetweeners Dover court & holland village. Pm me if you want info & I can give u agent contact too.
Good luck with the move it's getting very exciting now.

[Andream]

Hi Making the move, really sorry for my delayed response to your pm I didn't open it until just now! I tried to pm you back but still haven't written enough posts. We are just arranging our pre-assignment trip & fly out to Singapore at the end of this month for a week. I'm really looking forward to visiting Dover Court & getting a feel for the place - I shall report back my findings for anyone who is interested. Hopefully I will be able to pm soon! Keep in touch.

[Pammy210]

Hi Leaving London, Andream and Making the Move and any other new to Sins! Thanks for your reply Leaving London, won't let me PM yet as not done enough posts. My son's not got into the whole footy thing, just hasn't interested him yet, but I'm sure he'll really appreciate havin another boy in his yr that's new just like him! Will PM you once able to re properties. Would be very interested in how your visit goes Andream, look forward to reading ur post. Also my daughter will be starting in Year 1 at Dover Court in August, does anyone have a child doing the same? Exiting times!

[Makingthemove]

Hi all,

Nice little crowd gathering, we'll have a party when we get out there.

We've just worked out that my other half really needs to be out in SG two months sooner than we thought. Nothing like shaving half the time off your potential 'notice' to simplify the chucking-out process. Didn't really want to keep all those weird-but-beloved family heirlooms. And those Olympic tickets? Well, there'll be another in four years' time won't there? (maybe so, but not in my hometown...)

See you all out there; genuinely can't wait but never mind frazzled hair, Pam, I'll be the one with the frazzled personality as well

[Leaving london]

Making the move - so exciting that you'll be there sooner! When will you arrive? We'll be there all summer, minus school or anything else! Help!

Pammy - hi yes my son will is really friendly and will be delighted to meet another boy in his class. Also my daughter will be starting in reception, I know that's a year below yours but I'm sure she'd love a friendly face.

We should all get together for a pre school pool session sO all the kids will feel comfortable they are starting with other kids they already know and have met in their own familiar environment.

Really excited! Also getting a bit nervous about leaving family and friends now

X

[Makingthemove]

LL, he's going out early but not us, we'll be over early Aug, soz. But yes to a pre-school meet up, will be so nice for the kids to meet before starting.

Nearly time for you - I'll have to live through your online and FB posts! Don't be scared, it'll be great.

PS do you have any property contacts?

[Andream]

Hi All,

A pre school trip to the pool sounds great. It will be really helpful for our little ones to know a few familiar faces when they start school.

Is anyone else thinking of using the school bus? I have been looking into it today. My husband's office will be up in the north at Seletar & we have been looking at condos in district 9 & 10 so that we are half way between the two. I'm getting my head round not having a car - actually I'll need to get my head round living in a city again - we currently live in a little village in the Derbyshire dales!!!

[Makingthemove]

I've signed provisionally for school bus though the thought brings out my inner-clingyness. Two years of London tube commute followed by a move and then two years of pampered 5-minute walk means we are not used to the school bus idea but I'm told it's a high point of the day - unusual NOT to - and completely organised. And I liked them when I called to chat. So we're (well, he's) going for it.

Bus route will also dictate where we live since what may appear to be the closest route to school on a map is not the same via bus. Do a search using top right-hand corner search facility and you'll find some other threads on this.

I don't drive so the no-car thing is not a problem, in fact I can't wait to make use of the very organised transport systems I saw this Christmas when we came out on hols. Put London's creaky, grid-locked hellish funfair of a network to shame. And when the MRT went down (funnily enough the Northern Line, just like home) there were actual people at each stop, giving real advice. Proper humans.

[Andream]

Thanks for the pointer about the bus routes, will have a look at the threads. My son is extremely excited about going on the bus to school (hurray!) because although we walk to school here the children from the next village come on a bus all on their own & he thinks this is very cool!

I have a dim & distant memory of living on the Northern line many moons ago - but am looking forward to the clean, sleek mrt for getting around. At least there'll be no discussions about whose turn it is to drive when we go out!

[mrs.r]

Hi Andream & Pammy210,

I haven't been on here for a while. Yes, my daughter would start year 1 in August.
My husband is in Sg now and I am travelling out there in 2 weeks time for a quick look around.
Has anyone looked at properties near by? Any suggestions? We will not have a car and ideally I would like to be close enough to walk (that may be a bit ambitious?) to school.
Any thoughts? If that is not feasible I don't want the stress of a long school run so maybe I need to look into the school bus routes. Are the school buses safe?
Nice to know we wont be the only newbies!