Huxleyspence

I'm. Moving to singapore in august with my husband and two sons, aged 9 and 12. Dulwich college is a school I've seen on line but not visited yet, does anyone have any experience of this school?

bakedbean

Hello and welcome to the forum

I've just done a Search on "Dulwich" within this sub-section. (You'll find the Search button up on the blue bar top right, in case you wish to search for anything else.)

Two existing topics popped up. So you may like to read them for starters:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/singa...please-827269/
and
http://britishexpats.com/forum/singa...4-kids-830548/

You will note from both these topics, and there are quite a few others within this section, that there are big waiting lists for schools in Singapore, so you may not have much choice if you haven't planned yet.

Hope it all goes well anyway.

Huxleyspence

Thank you baked bean, I'm finding the pages on the site so busy it's hard to see what's where! I've looked at those now and it does help, as dulwich do have spaces and we are visiting next week to see it. Also another which have space. So maybe we will be lucky. Back to the hard work of sorting the house out this end!

xizzles

Hi Huxleyspence, welcome to the forum! Whereabouts in Singapore will you be based? Dulwich, if I recall correctly, is somewhere out in the west (near ? Bukit Batok), and while there will be buses to ferry the kids from door to school & back, do bear in mind that travelling time can be an issue. Having said that, I've heard from friends that Dulwich College is certainly a lot "friendlier" than some of the other schools (Tanglin Trust - the waiting list stretches around the block, for example!) - although reliable sources (i.e. the mates' spouses @ the local drinking hole) tell me that GEMS in Yishun is another up & coming international school well worth a look (they teach Mandarin as a compulsory second language, which I thought was pretty clever).

Good luck and happy moving to Singapore!

Huxleyspence

Thanks Xizzles, yes we are house hunting in that area. I will certainly look at GEMS too many thanks for the tip. Tangling still has a massive wait list and although it appears lots of people home school until a space comes up or use an interim school, I'm not keen on either of those ideas. My boys need to settle in a school ASAP as far as I am concerned. The thought of them learning mandarin is a fantastic opportunity for them will go check it out now. Cheers.

Hanalei1

You might be lucky with those ages at Dulwich they still had space in years 6, 4 and 3 for August as of 3 weeks ago....It is the younger age groups that are full. I think it currently only goes to Year 8, will be Year 9 in August and Year 10 in 2016 as the year group moves up before the secondary school block is finished. I have a lot of friends there and they are all very happy, it seems to have hit the ground running and not had some of the teething issues of other new schools.

In terms of location, it is very close to CIS were my kids go and we live in Bukit Timah at the Botanic Gardens end without any problems.

Huxleyspence

Thanks for that. I have just had communication that they've a space in year 5 now so we will visit next week, and we are also house hunting in that area so I'm really hoping it will all come together. Have your children settled in ok? It's rally the only thing I'm worried about, because both my husband and I love the place!

ANL

Hi HuxleySpence, wondering how your visit in Singapore went? Hope you have schools and accommodation sorted for your two lads?

I am new in this forum and just read your threads. We lived in Singapore over three different spells (16 years!) in the past. Our two lads were at United World College in the last 4 years we were there and it did put them in good stead for their journey to higher education in the UK. The eldest spent a year in Tanglin at one point, but only at junior. UWC and Tanglin seem to have a long waiting list, but you can never tell, with last minute relocation. With any colleges, you will have to keep persevering and not give up.

From our experience, the most important things to get right are schools and accommodation. Singapore is easy for expats to settle into. Go with an open and positive mind; make the effort to integrate and socialise and soon you will become a seasoned expat! Enjoy!

Contact me if you need any advice (via email).

bakedbean

Hello ANL and welcome to the forum Where are you based now?

AndyMaca

Dulwich is great! We moved here from UK in March and my daughter joined Year 2 class.

The teachers are fantastic and the facilities impressive (they have a butterfly farm in the playground!). We were initially hesitant about using the school bus system but it really is great. They take great care with the kids. We live in Holland Village and the journey is less than 30 minutes. Feel free to contact if you want any more info.

Huxleyspence

Hi! That's very reassuring thank you as we bit the bullet and applied, and both boys got in ( after a three hour exam! ). So I've one starting year 5 and one year 8 in august. We arrive at the beginning of august. We will be living just off holland road in the mount Sinai area so I'm hoping the bus will be convenient for them too. Perhaps I will bump into you at the junior school? Your daughter will be in year 3 in august yes?

bakedbean

Hey....welcome to the forum

For your info, the PM function will kick in for you once you have done 3 posts on here.

xizzles

Holland Road & Mount Sinai are lovely areas to be in - so, well done & congratulations on having a good eye Huxleyspence

And the best part: not too far away from Bukit Batok! I'm sure your kids will enjoy the school (and the bus trip)!

Huxleyspence

Thanks Xizzles ! We are on hourly countdown now , cannot wait to get there and start our adventure!

Huxleyspence

So I can contact people privately?