St Joseph's, UWCSEA, SAS, GESS???

[Singaporeneu]

We will be moving to Singapore soon with our kids. Our oldest girl is 12 and needs a solid International secondary school, as she is very bright and particularly talented in maths. So far we have applied to UWC, SJI International and SAS. Does anyone have info on these schools and their academic quality? We are looking for a school with a detailed reporting system, streaming in Maths and if possible English and a school ethos that drives children to excel within their potential. We do not want a school that celebrates "meeting expectations".
We also applied to the German European School ( GESS) as a backup, as waiting lists at the schools listed above are long. I can't find any information about GESS, their IB results, their math program etc. anywhere in the forums (only their website is well known). Again, I would appreciate any input on GESS any alumnus or parent may be able to provide...
Lastly, would it be overly ambitious to put our eldest into a good local school? How many expatriates go down that route in Singapore?

[playfulmom]

Hello,

I am posting because I have a friend in a similar situation, and contemplating the same questions. Her son is 6 and is highly gifted in Math and Science. He is approx. 5 years ahead of his classmates in these areas. His family is contemplating whether to of put him in an International School or a local school for Primary 1.

The int'l schools that were recommended to her for academic rigor, by medical professionals that work with gifted children, were UWC and SAS.

For UWC, she did not receive a clear answer on when streaming occurred.

For SAS, in grade 3 children who are gifted in Math are placed in a separate program. So there is a cohort of children who have been accelerated since early on.

The local schools do have a higher level of Math and Science (on average). However, according to the medical professional, they do not try as hard to accomodate gifted children eg. extra assignments, ability to join older classes etc. Also, they do not have the counseling resources to help gifted children with the social problems they may develop.

I don't have any information for the other schools you mentioned.