fivegomad

Hi all, There's a distinct possibility that my husband will be offered a job in Singapore over the next month or so. This in itself is fab as we have visited many times over the past few years, adore Singapore (when on extended hols, which I know is different) and should have done it earlier. However, life got complicated and we now have three children at three different schools, a dog, a family home and goodness knows what else to consider.

So, as is my way, I'm arming myself with as much info as possible before we HAVE to decide.

First sixth form. My eldest Son will be leaving UK school this year and heading to sixth form to take A levels. He is 16 next month. What age do students start sixth form/college in Singapore? Is it true that you can't join after the year starts? So does that mean we'd have to rush everything through to get him in by this summer? He is the one person who is going to be totally against the move (for obvious teenage reasons) so any advice or experiences with moving teenagers would be gladly received. Are the A levels the same as UK? Any recommendations where to start looking?

Our middle Son attends a special needs school as he has Down's Syndrome (see, said it was complicated). From what I can see, there are a number of special schools (MINDS?) that could cater for him. However, at 13 he needs a good school that will offer him a decent education. It appears that most special schools only offer half day sessions - can someone shed some light on this?? I could be wrong. Here he goes to school for a full day, obviously. Is there anyone in Singapore who had experience of life there with a child with special needs. I'm dreading this part of it the most as I know how much there is to think about here...

Our youngest daughter is 8 and we will obviously be looking at a good school for her too. I don't think a big school like Tanglin would suit her as she's a sensitive soul who will need some nurturing. Again, any recommendations gladly welcomed. I guess we'll be joining the waiting lists of the many schools. Wouldn't rule out a local school though.

Finally (for now!) the dog. He's a labradoodle, so not small. Is this a no go? It seems from most of the info I've seen so far, only small dogs are allowed in most rental accommodation.

Any other advice, ideas, experiences or general suggestions on how to move forward will be read with interest.

Thanks in advance for listeining to my ramblings...

bakedbean

Hello. Just to say to the forum. I shall leave the good Singapore residents to advise you.

Pupsiecola

Hi there,

We spent a year living in Singapore last year, and like you had visited before several times so thought we knew what we were getting in to!! We were supposed to be there for 2 years but we had to come back a year early due to the school the boys were at (big International school) being totally crap. Our 10 year old son was fine, but our 8 year old had a horrific time and became withdrawn and almost depressed because he's not very academic (yet - he was 7 at the time of moving!) and the IB system can be really tricky at that age if you've struggled with the basics of reading/writing/maths. He isn't special needs, although the school were convinced that he was. Actually they just wanted him out so that they could fill his space with someone brighter who was easier to teach. They got what they wanted and we had no other options. Schooling choices in Singapore are not very varied in our experience. I don't want to put you off and you know what you're looking for which is a great start. I just wanted to say that it's such a small island and it caters to an incredible work ethic which just didn't suit our boy. Thankfully he is back in the UK state system now at a lovely school and is doing well (without learning disabilities!).

Re the dogs, we used to see a tiny helper walking a HUGE Great Dane by our condo!

Good luck. I hope others will have some positive advice for you.

fivegomad

Was hoping for a slightly more positive response - or at least, more responses...

bakedbean

There's quite a few existing threads covering schools on here. Try plugging in 'school' into the search box and they should come up.

Pupsiecola

I hope you get some better answers OP. I don't think I saw one Down's child/adult in our time in Singapore which I remember thinking at the time was very odd :-(

Good luck

bakedbean

I did, but cannot help,with the question

Pupsiecola

Not sure if OP had any luck finding out about schools but I just read this on another forum which may be of interest:-

http://www.expatliving.sg/kids/educa...apore-6257.ece

ori0n

With regards to the school I am not able to help but for the dog, I might be able to share some opinion.

If you intend to stay in a landed property, dogs in general is not an issue but you need to let the landlord know about this.

For apartments, this will depend on individual management rules. in general most allows dogs.

For additional information: there are several dog parks in singapore where you can let your dogs run around with other dogs. If you need more info do let me know.

Englishmum

Tanglin Trust School (a British school) is the only international school which offers the traditional British 'A' levels AFAIK (the local schools have the Cambridge 'A' levels (for non-British schools) but I doubt they would accept your son unless his GCSE results are stellar; you would need to check with the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Also try ISS - the International School of Singapore, again check their website. We moved to the US after our daughter took her IGCSE's at United World College and she went to boarding school in Oxford for her 'A' levels. Would boarding school be an option for your son? It's also a stepping stone before going to Uni and he will be able to go to the university open days - not easy to do from Singapore! (Edit: sorry, it seems that ISS has moved away from offering 'A' levels and now offers the IB instead. http://www.iss.edu.sg/ )

I would try Dover Court Prep School in Dover Road. Also Genesis school for special needs pupils:

http://www.dovercourt.edu.sg/academic-programmes/dse

http://www.genesisschool.com.sg/

A local school may not be a good fit for your family; for a start the school term times are very different to the international schools so you would hardly ever be able to get a family holiday. Many local children have extra tuition (have you heard of the Tiger mothers?) and in school holidays attend 'enrichment' classes or extra curricular activities at or organised through their schools. Classes begin very early in the morning and often finish at lunchtime, then the second cohort of children arrive for their classes which begin in the afternoon until early evening. In some schools there are classes on Saturday mornings. I can't really comment on the tuition, your daughter may be able to do French instead of 'mother tongue' languages (Chinese/Malay/Tamil) and class sizes can go up to 40 pupils - however they are moving away from rote learning. I think it may be more pressurized for a sensitive child who may get more culture shock being immersed into the local system. As a non-immigrant you will be at the bottom of the pile as to the allocation of school places, so your daughter will not have a chance of getting into a popular school and indeed may be granted a place miles away from where you choose to live. Actually it is best to get the schools sorted first before deciding which part of the island you want to live in....it is very crowded and commuting times are very long in peak hours even if the distance is short.

Unfortunately the Singapore govt. dictate to each school how much land they can have per pupil and this includes international schools - this is why they are getting larger and larger. Perhaps you could check out Chatsworth International school or ISS which are a little smaller in size.
We had friends on one condo we lived at and they had their Irish wolfhound in Singapore! The poor thing spent most of his time trying to keep cool on the marble floor....he was a celebrity in Singapore though, the locals had never seen anything like him lol! In two other condos I lived at (Westpoint and Montview) there were labradors. At Westpoint the whole condo is owned by brothers who also live there, they were fantastic landlords and they didn't mind a well-behaved dog as long as the dog was kept on a lead in the grounds (there was a park at the top of the hill from the condo). Many taxi drivers are Malay muslims and they won't allow a dog in their cars in case they come into contact with the dog's saliva - if you don't have your own car and have to take a dog to a vet you can phone the taxi company and book a Chinese driver who is happy to transport a dog.

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fivegomad

Thank you all for your suggestions, help, comments. All welcomed. We have been to visit and found schools we liked and disliked and are currently making decisions.
Will definitely need some advice on doggy parks OriOn.
And yes, Pupsiecola I had already seen that feature in Expat Living. As is quite common, the main 'special needs' that were mentioned were not really global development based and so, dealt with very differently. But, we are still hopeful we'll find somewhere.

Pupsiecola

What a great post Englishmum. You really know your stuff - are you still living in Singapore?

LanternsB

Hi

I think I can contribute on the dog bit...

My mate has a 10 yr old retriever... Not small ! I see many dog owners here at the east coast. You might want to consider living in a landed property (loads of them here in the east) where you get more space.

I have seen a few restaurants with signs "no pets allowed" and then again, I have also seen places where pets are welcome.

Hope this helps.

ori0n

Hi I will later try to put a list of options here

ori0n

As promised some dog parks information for you:

Bishan Dog Run (Bishan Park)
http://www.streetdirectory.com/sg/mc...96_152848.html

West Coast Park
http://www.streetdirectory.com/sg/we...1/27052_1.html

I frequent the above 2 places. But there are a few more listed on the website below.

For more information you may visit this website:
http://www.timeoutsingapore.com/arou...e/run-spot-run

and

http://www.bestofsingapore.sg/best-o...-in-singapore/