bakedbean

Hi Wendy . Hi Lauren. Welcome to the forum both of you.

Lauren, are you planning on a move to Nusajaya?

wendywong

Hello bakedbean, everyone's on holiday? Hope i can get the reply on Sri Ara and Fairview. thanks.

mfwarren

Hi Wendy,

I have 3 children and my husband & I had also narrowed down our choices to Sri Ara & Fairview. We thought Sri Ara was a bit quirky but still felt it was a good option. Where would you find a ratio of 90 kids to 24 teachers?

However, we eventually chose Fairview as
- We like the IB Programme
- We preferred the slightly larger class sizes. We wanted more interaction for our kids ( Sri Ara would have been a class size of 6 and 4 students in our childrens' classes).
- Yes, slightly better facilities (and they move to a new campus early 2016)
- We could put all 3 kids in the same school (we have a toddler as well). It made sense from a logistics/transport standpoint (we are very reluctantly doing this as we weren't planning on spending that much for our toddler)
It was a trade-off instead of spending on transport sending the toddler to another school. School transport fees are averaging RM400 -RM450 per child for us as we live in the East Ledang/Ledang Heights area.

Hope this helps.

bakedbean

Quite possibly. It's kids' school holidays in both Malaysia and Singapore this month.

wendywong

Thanks for your reply, mfwarren. I also have the exact concerns in my mind about Sri Ara, as well as fairview like you, i also have 3 kids, 4, 5 and 7 years old and want to put 3 of them together. As for the IB, i like the concept very much, just do not know that if the teachers at fairview there can really deliver what IB program will offer since they just got the IB status in april 2013. do you know any parents have their kids registered there?

You drive the kids to fairveiw daily? East ledang from google map is about 18km from fairveiw. we actually bought a land in leisure farm and am thinking to build the house there. from google that's about 31km...how's the traffic from east ledang to fairview? My husband is thinking to rent in Setia Tropical first or buy a property there if it's too far from leisure farm.

bcml

hi wendy,

sorry it took me so long to post, as i was away for a bit. anyways, I was intending to check out REAL as well, but i havent gotten around to doing so just yet.

however we r most likely set on fairview for now. we also like sri ara but like mfwarren felt that our son needed more interaction w other kids his age. we havent moved to setia tropika yet as our house is not ready. once we get the keys, do some work, then we will enrol our son into fairview. he is 5 years this year and my lil one is 1.

hope this helps!

wendywong

Thanks for your reply dear bcml. I have checked out REAL school. It looks great on the facilities, and i can also put my 3 kids altogether. However, from my friends' suggestion, it may not a good choice. Maybe you can let me know after you visited them. I will go back to Sri Ara and fairview during the school time in early jan. I have the exact same feeling like yours for Sri Ara. We will most likely choose fairview also.

Only concern we have, there's no diploma programme in JB yet for IB school. Even though it's still early for us, but it's still a minor concern. Not sure if we shall send them to KL for diploma few years later?

bcml

Yes I have the same concerns u have too! I figured that we have 10 years till kids start their IB diploma. In Fairview they can opt to take the O levels exam after 10th grade (if I remember correctly). I think by then the new campus would have had a few good years to establish themselves n hopefully be able to offer the diploma. At the rate Johor is developing and with so many schools and universities setting up campuses, our options should increase by then.

On another note, met my Neighbour who has her 2 kids in Tenby (she drives them daily) taking about 20 mins per trip. She did mention that Tenby will be trying to attain IB in a few years.

wendywong

Dear bcml, do you mind asking some opinions from your neighbour about Tenby at setia eco garden? I read terrible review, even from some in this thread, something like "avoid TENDY". Actually Tenby will be nearest to where i could be staying since i have a property in Leisure farm.

wendywong

Hello all, Happy New Year!

Just would like to give a bit of update from here. My husband and i went to Tenby at setia eco garden. We actually have pretty good impression with the admin who guided us for all the information that we need. We requested to talk to the principle and teachers, and the possibility to come during school day to see how they do the teaching. At first she said we couldn't do that as that may interrupt the teaching session. After sharing the request from the point of view as parents, the admin said she will arrange a morning coffee session that we can join together with all the parents of the existing students so that we can talk to them and have better understanding of their kids in Tenby. This will be the 2nd year for Tenby at Setia eco garden. 1st year they had about 80 students, and in the coming term, they will have about 200 students. Besides, they are applying to have IB Diploma soon.

bcml

hi wendy,

happy new year!

thanks for the update! i havent had a chance to head to johor just yet so no updates from my neighbour.

thats great that you will be meeting up with some parents who have their kids in tenby. at least you would be able to get a better picture and feel of the school. would love to hear your thoughts after the meet!

bellynbella

Hi all!

Wendywong, how did you go with Tenby? Which school did you decide to choose?

Im heading to JB on Friday (my first visit) and will be seeing Tenby, Fairview and Sri Ara for my daughter 6yrs and also visiting REAL Nusa Idaman for my son 2yrs.

Does anyone have any other pre-school suggestions around the west side of JB besides Cherie Hearts, REAL and Hilltop? I don't like that Cherie is in a shophouse. My son loves to be outside and Hilltop (it's in the middle of JB, right?) isn't a great location for me since I have to drive into Jurong East.

Once we've decided on a school then I will decided where to live.

All help and reviews are greatly appreciated

coolbaby

Hi, dear all mummy..
I am new to the forum . Because my english is poor.. So , i try to learn english from u all..

My girl was studied at tenby for Reception 5yrs old..
Bukit indah go tenby ard 10mins , the distance r important to me bcos i nit to send her to sch everyday !! Haha !

I chose tis sch because it not stress for her study, traditional sch are stress n many homework, n must learn many many of subject at sch.. Wat a poor childhood ! Reception is take 2 main subject is english n math .. After Yr1 they will hv mandarin n bahasa subject too.. But better than traditional sch lah.. Hv ard 8-10 subject need to learn !!

She likes the sch very much,can play fun n study oso..her classmate are many of foreign student, so she can learn to speak english so fast !

The teacher are friendly.. They are welcome parent to ask their kid at sch abt their progress..

coolbaby

Hi, belly..
Frm jurong to tenby use 2nd link are near.. Exit the tuas toll i thnk within 30mins u can reach tenby..
But, 2ndlink to hilltop are far.. If exit from woodlands kastam within 30 mins u can reach hilltop. From exit tuas u nit more than 1 hrs to reach hilltop..

Hilltop is located at jb town
Tenby is at setia eco garden near ( gelang patah)

tenby to hilltop ard 45mins to 1hr( depends on which main road u want to use), bcos hv many direction can go thru .

bellynbella

Hi Coolbaby.

Thanks for that info.

I visited Fairwview, Tenby and Sri Ara last week and we've decided on Sri Ara. I didn't really like Fairview but Tenby was lovely. I liked Carene that showed me around. It did concern me that in Malaysia teachers only have to have a degree in something but not necessarily teaching. Carene did confirm for me that both year 1 teachers were well qualified in teacher/child centered degrees. However, when I went to Sri Ara I was immediately feeling good about it. Yes, it's very run down por old physically but Mr Aziz and Simon (head master)we're more than happy to sit down with me in length and discuss their schools weaknesses and strengths and I appreciated the candid honesty. It is so very similar to the school that my daughter is currently attending that I think her transition will be easier at Sri Ara. They even offered me today to take my 2yr old son so my children can attend the same school together. I awaiting a reply on a few questions but my major concern would be not having other kids his age to play with. Just down the road is Stepping Stones Montesorri. Does anyone have any info on this?

Now where to live? The second million dollar question. Tomorrow I am coming over to check out horizon Hills but does anyone have any suggestions for other gated community's that would be the best position for my commute between Jurong East and Sri Ara?

Thanks all for your great help.