Adnams

Does Anyone have recommendations for international schools in Johor Baru? Do any exist that are good.?

Brit Expats moving to JB with a 5 and three year old. So interested n primary / elementary schools.

Thanks.

ex reg

You might google.
There is one I believe.
There is also a guy on here who now lives in JB.

IMO schooling may be a problem for your kids in JB.

As an alternative it may be possible to use the schools in Woodlands, Singapore, but the trip across the causeway at rush hour will be awful.

Didn't you ask questions and check out before you agreed to move?

Schooling for the kids may have been a deal breaker.
Sorry to sound negative and I may be wrong but ...

bakedbean

Aw... that's a bit negative. Surely not that bad. You've not been reading the Singapore propaganda again, have you?

Hopefully our man in JB will be on the case shortly Adnams. Adnams... mmmm...nice name. Mr bakedbean will go all dribbly and dreamy if he sees that name, heh heh.

ex reg

Yeah it is a bit negative.

A few of my posts are a bit negative, see the one re Tioman.

But many posters are too positive imo.
If my negativity eventually is shown to be wrong then hopefully it has at least balanced out the feeling overall.
Or better still a pleasant surprise is gained.

Further on the schooling in JB iirc there are many pre school nursery type places which may be useful to 3 and 5 year olds. Same as in Penang and Singapore. Must be a thriving business.
Can't vouch for the quality though.

bakedbean

But you sound positively negative Maybe I'm too positive but off-topic.....

I have no opinions on JB (not been there) nor schooling (no kids) so I'll wait for our expert JB man to come along.

We could do with one of those Poke buttons like you get on facebook.

Adnams

Well its not a done deal yet. Its a potential deal, so if there's no schooling avalable yes it would be a deal breaker. Daily commute to singapore would be a bit of a mare.

Englishmum

I did spot an international school near the coast on our way to Melaka, but tbh I have no idea what the curriculum would be or how many Westerners send their kids there. I do believe that a former teacher from Tanglin Trust (British) school in Singapore went there, no idea if he is still there or not.

The international school in Woodlands, Singapore is Singapore American School. Your 'tag' indicates that you're in Missouri, do you want your kids to be in the American or British school systems.

Many years ago when my kids went to Tanglin Trust school in Singapore, a few kids did come across from JB every day and I think came across in a minibus (they were listed in the parents directory produced by the PTA). However, it must have been a tough commute during the mornings and of course difficult if not impossible to get together with schoolfriends after school and weekends.

You need to bear in mind that the most popular schools (the Trust ones which are non-profit making eg. SAS, Tanglin Trust, United World College) have very long waiting lists for most age groups. All the international schools in Singapore are very expensive....will your company be assisting you with school fees?

Adnams

Hmm its not sounding promising.

As we're brits i think we'd prefer the Brit system. even though we live in the US now I dont think we're planning on returning here once we leave. Or anywhere offering I.B. would be of interest.

People have mentioned woodlands is that because geographically its nearer the JB border crossing?
Waiting lists gulp! How the hell do you get on the lists, or are there waiting lists for the waiting lists.
And yes there will be help with the schooling otherwise its deal breaker. Are average costs high in Singapore?
One option would be for the family to live in Singapore and the OH do the commute I guess.

bakedbean

Adnams, you may want to take a look at this thread here

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...3&highlight=JB

The guy we mentioned previously, who actually lives in JB, posted on this thread. You might want to add on to that thread perhaps to give the guy a little nudge, heh heh. Actually, you'll see on that thread that he's not too complimentary about int'l schools in JB. I wonder if there's some schools in other parts of Johor?

Singapore is a lot more expensive than Malaysia for sure. Englishmum can advise on that. But Singapore is a nice place to live in my opinion. It's not quite as squeeky clean as they make it out to be. But.... Englishmum is the expert there....

bakedbean

I've got some info

I've got a chum living in Johor but not JB and she has kids. She's not on this forum unfortunately so I'll copy and paste what she just told me.

quote
One school is called Sri Utama. We liked it but, if you're not there to pick up your kids every day at the close of school, the darlings get turned out into the street. We live 45 mins away by car and the risk was too great, considering Malaysian traffic. Their URL is http://www.sriutama.edu.my/

The other is Fairview International School. Don't know anything about them, tbh. Their URL is http://www.fairview.edu.my/

Adnams

Thanks that's brilliant. My google searches were proving rather fruitless.

Adnams

Ha the OH just spent two weeks in Singa after an 8 year break and he was surprised by how much it has changed and unsqueaky it has become.

vpinjb

I'll admit a degree of self interest here, especially as a new member, but I could not resist jumping into this conversation.

I've been in JB for more than 8 years now - I left the UK for Japan in the early 90's - and I have two kids at school here.

I also happen to be the Vice Principal of the International section of Sr Ara School, and I have no qualms about recommending the school to all ex-pats.

Whilst I do not claim that we are perfect, we do have a lot going for us.
To start with, class sizes are small - 5 or 6 kids is the norm - so all students are guaranteed personal attention. Compare this with other International schools here where 20-30 in a class is common.

Secondly, we have ex-pat teachers, yours truly included. I can't say for a fact that this is unique in JB, but I don't know of other schools in the same position.

Next, the school environment is beautiful. Admittedly, we do not have fancy new buildings, instead being housed in several colonial bungalows that were built around 50 years ago by the Sultan for his ex-pat staff.
This does however mean that we have a lot of land - it's like a semi-rural setting within 10 minutes of the city centre.

We follow the Cambridge syllabus, so your children are guaranteed an education that shoehorns into the UK perfectly too.
Finally, let me be honest here.

Getting into and out of Singapore every day is a major, major nightmare. You're talking about kids leaving (JB) home at 5am, and how much fun is that?
It's a waste of time too.

We're doing a good job educating kids from around 12 different countries at Sri Ara and as long as there's breath left in me, we'll keep getting better.

<snip>

bakedbean

Hi vpinjb. That's great info and honest too which is nice of you. Seems to be a fair amount of interest in jb schools - and maybe as Singapore schools overloaded a bit these days. All the best with your work.

FlyHigha

Hi VPINJB,

Would it be possible to have a chat with you ?
I'm in JB.

Regards

M