nicola75

We have just found out that my family needs to move to Singapore in January. Our kids are 8 and 11 (year 3 and 6 in UK).
Can anyone recommend schools?
Should we do everything possible in order to stay within the British curriculum?
What are the thoughts our there on the IB curriculum? Will starting this affect their future studies if we return to the Uk after 3 years?
Also how is Singapore for pets, we don't know whether to bring our Springer Spaniel with us!
Thanks

Englishmum

The best/most highly regarded schools are the 'Trust' schools ie. they're non-profit making schools and instead of profits going into the back pockets of the directors eg. at schools such as the Overseas Family School, Chatsworth School, Emaar International School etc. all excess income is ploughed back into education. Tanglin, UWC and Singapore American School (SAS) - all Trust schools - have superb facilities and you can really see the difference when you visit other schools.

My kids went to Tanglin Trust School (British) and to an international school -the United World College of South East Asia (aka UWC) which is also a trust school and at one time was the secondary school for kids whose parents were with the British Army.

Tanglin is moving away from 'A' levels and will be focussing on the IB, at UWC my daughter took her IGCSE's and then we left Singapore (back again now!) but from the ages of 16-18 they take the IB Diploma or the IB Certificate for a less academically intense 2 year course. UWC consistently gets some of the best results in the world for their IB results (lots of Asian pupils!). Quite a few schools in the UK are now adopting the IB curriculum as it offers a rounded education (encompasses service to the community etc.) and many universities worldwide including the UK welcome students who've studied at IB level.


My kids went on some amazing school trips...eg. to Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo) to visit the orang-utan rehab centre and travel down the river on a longboart to spend the night in a longhouse with the Iban tribe (former headhunters!) My son also went to Perth, Australia on one trip, daughter did a one week residential sailing course etc.

These schools are notoriously difficult to get into with long waiting lists...but it all depends on which year/grade they're going into and it may be easier part-way through a school year as other pupils leave and other parents gave up on the wait-list and send their kids elsewhere. Actually UWC has just opened a new campus in the East of the island so it may be easier to get your kids at the moment.

I know a few expats who couldn't get their kids into Tanglin or UWC and have sent their kids elsewhere until a space comes up at their preferred school (one friend has just transferred her son into Tanglin, but his younger sister aged 8 is still at Chatsworth for the time being as there was no space for her at Tanglin when the new school year started a few weeks ago). Another friend who moved here in July is sending her eldest to Tanglin for 'A' levels but could only get her other daughter (aged 12 I think) into ISS - the International School of Singapore. The only problem is that you have to place a hefty deposit to get on the wait list at the preferred school.


All of the schools have a bus service, which picks kids up from home and they go island-wide and normally operated via the PTA so get your company to pay for this as it's extremely expensive; my friend is on a local package so sends her daughters on public transport (2 buses) which is no fun in the monsoon season - which she has yet to experience! Also proximity to the school isn't much of a guide to pick-up times (can be as early as 7am) it varies from term to term as families move into or out of Singapore.

It's best to live in a serviced apartment for approx a month whilst you are looking for somewhere to live and waiting for your furniture to arrive and once you know which school your kids are going to and where your spouse will be working it will be easier to choose where to live. Our apartment is in District 10 near Holland Road - my spouse works at the Science Park. Do you know where your spouse will be working eg. in the financial district or perhaps out near Jurong (west) which is where a lot of oil companies have operations?

I know that parents who can't get their kids into TTS/UWC mainly choose from these schools:

Chatsworth International School
Dover Court School
ISS
Australian International School
Emaar International School (quite new, just a few hundred yards from where I live)
Canadian School
Overseas Family School.....don't recommend this, facilities not great as directors like to pay themselves dividends from the profits...there was a rebellion a few years ago and many teachers were fired for asking too many pertinent questions about where the profits were going! One of them helped to set up the (then) newly opened Chatsworth school. Also a few years ago our next-door neighbours were from Denmark and pulled their daughter out of OFS because although she was learning English herself, she was expected to help another pupil whom had very poor English and it was holding her back.

some links:

http://www.tts.edu.sg

http://www.uwcsea.edu.sg/

http://www.dovercourt.edu.sg/

http://chatsworth.com.sg/

http://www.eis.edu.sg/english/ (new school, has spaces, a Brit friend likes it as small class sizes)

http://www.iss.edu.sg/html/main.asp

http://www.ofs.edu.sg/

Let me know if you have other questions. I'm currently in New Jersey but spoke with my spouse this morning and he said he felt the shock of the earthquake in Sumatra at 6.15pm local time today.....!

Englishmum

PS; regarding pets....

Many landlords don't like pets (Muslims consider dogs unclean) or some condos don't allow them.

However, dogs are allowed in my condo, my friend has a labrador, another one has a bull terrier, someone else has a corgi, on my landing there are two small dogs. The only problem is that it is a tropical climate so not much fun for the dogs....so they tend to get walked first thing in the morning when it gets light at 7am year round, or at my favourite time of the day, between 6pm to 7pm (when it gets dark year round) or even later. You may need to keep your dog in the aircon when indoors. You may wish to live in a house, many have tiny yards - but most dog owners live in condos with facilities like pools, tennis courts, gym etc.

I once had a duplex with a ground floor...and as soon as the lease was up we moved to another condo on a higher floor as a cobra tried to come into the kitchen and my spouse was away on a business trip lol! Just as well you're not bringing a cat as they do like to bring small snakes into their home...! (You may notice that the cats have 'deformed tails' in Singapore and it's a genetic mutation peculiar to the local cats....probably from inbreeding.)

We did have some expat friends a few years ago who had an Irish Wolfhound...the poor dog spent most of his life lying down on the marble floor trying to keep cool!

Your dog may need to go into quarantine for up to 30 days....not sure about dogs coming from the UK but you should be able to check online.

Will you have a car? Some taxi drivers (Muslim) won't allow dogs in their taxis so you may need to book ahead and get a Chinese taxi driver (almost never see Indian ones) to take your dog to the vet. There are loads of vets near our apartment, the Mount Pleasant clinic has a good reputation.

nicola75

WoW thanks Englishmum, thats great, I have been looking at the websites and contacted Tanglin, but they have a waiting list of 26-30 for each year group unless we are willing to join up partway through the year, not too much of a problem but what do you do with 2 kids for 3 months?!!
Haven't looked at the UWC website but will do. Did your kids settle in well?
On another note, How's New Jersey, we lived there a couple of years ago and loved it!
Finally Did you work in Singapore? How easy was it to make friends etc?
thanks

Englishmum

Hello Nicola - regarding your first question; it's quite a common problem. Some parents start their kids off in another international school then transfer them when a spot comes up at Tanglin/UWC etc. Otherwise parents get home tutors (TTS can provide a list, normally they're qualified British teachers who take on part-time tutoring or do supply work for Tanglin if a teacher is sick etc.) Another thing (probably not relevant as exams are not looming) is for you to stay on in the UK and keep them at their schools there, but since they're young there isn't much point in doing so.

It's a long time since my kids started at Tanglin, my son had just turned 6 and daughter was 101/2 and they took to it like ducks to water; they are assigned a 'buddy' when they join the class.

I didn't do paid work in Singapore (was there 51/2 years first time around), we would go off on trips in the region whenever there was a school holiday eg. Hong Kong, Oz, NZ, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand etc. as my spouse gets 6 weeks off a year and like most mums, would spend the Summer with the kids in England. It gets v. quiet in the Summer hols as everyone tends to go on 'home leave'. I did however do voluntary work for 4 years at the Australian & N.Zealand Assoc. and helped out at the school library, was a class mum one year etc. Many 'trailing spouses' do choose to do voluntary work at places like Riding for the Disabled, one friend volunteered at a local school for deaf children and learned how to sign. She also taught ESL but quit when she found that most of the 'students' were Thai hookers who needed a student pass to stay in Singapore lol! Very few expat wives work unless they have a well defined career in their own right; if one works on 'local terms' the pay and holidays tend to be poor.

Singapore is far easier than NJ to make friends as it's more social and not as superficial. I much prefer Singapore to NJ. My husband transferred back to Singapore a year ago and I'm splitting my time in both countries and got back from Singers a couple of weeks ago and will be back in S'pore in a few weeks. All of the people I knew from the first time we lived there have moved on, with the exception of one Chinese Malaysian friend. I've made friends on my condo (was invited out for lunch within 24 hours of moving in!) and via ANZA and even made friends with one Englishwoman who got off at the same bus stop as me lol! Tip; don't bother joining the British Association, ANZA is more fun.

Where did you live in New Jersey? Did your spouse commute into NYC?

nicola75

Hi, thanks for all that, you really are keeping busy aren't you?!!

We lived in Bridgewater, Somerset and my hubby worked in Murray Hill NJ. Really enjoyed it, but like you say didn't make as many friends as I would liked to have. We spent some time in San Diego, and that was much more friendly.

Our times in the States were only short term though - 6 months each and there was obviously alot less to think about!

Another question I have is why do you prefer to live in a condo, I thought that families would prefer to have houses?

lumines

Hi Nicola,

Just a quick word about your spaniel - when we came to Singapore 18 months ago, Singapore Airlines wouldn't carry spaniels (one of many breeds they won't carry ) so you'll need to look for a different airline to bring your dog. I don't think you'd have a problem with BA, but then BA don't fly directly from Manchester to Singapore (I'm assuming you'd want to fly from Manchester if you're in Blackpool now!), they only fly from Heathrow. Just another thing to think about (one of many, I know!)

Apart from that, I don't think your dog will need to go into quarantine here, not if he's been in the UK for the whole of the last 6 months. If you do decide to go into a serviced apartment for a month while you find somewhere to live, make sure they allow pets. We stayed at Great World and they had no problem with pets, though they did charge a bit extra.

Good luck with it all anyway

Englishmum

Oh, Bridgewater is further west on Rt 78 from where our house is in Short Hills. I guess your spouse is with a telecomms company or BOC...?

Land is scarce in Singapore (it's about the same size and shape as the Isle of Wight but with 4 million people living there.....the govt. wants to eventually increase it to 6.5 million! ). Land prices are high and most of the population lives in apartments - indeed most locals live in HDB (Housing Development Board) flats which they buy from the govt. and have to wait years to get allocated one. The wealthier ones live in HDB flats and buy an apartment as an investment to rent out to expats!

There are some seriously wealthy locals here and there are some enormous OTT mansions. The Chinese in particular love to display their wealth and there are loads of Ferraris, Maseratis, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Mercedes etc. although it's rare for them to invite people back to their homes.

Anyway....most of the expats I know of whom live in a house tend to be long-term or Permanent Residents whom have established friendships....some of the lucky ones live in the lovely 'Black & White' colonial houses (you bid for them in a lottery system but have to provide your own white goods, air-con etc and if you wish, your own pool. Other houses (and there are many in my neighbourhood, Mount Sinai, are basic terraced houses with a tiny yard. They don't have facilities so you would perhaps need to join a country club to play tennis, use the gym and swimming pool, although there are public swimming pools. On a very hot day (eg. virtually every day!) who wants to get organised to go out for a swim if you can have one at the place where you live?)

Also if you live in a house you are normally responsible for your own gardening - most people have a gardener coming in with a strimmer, mosquito fogging every month etc. so extra costs there. As I mentioned before, I freaked out when a cobra was trying to come into the kitchen when we were in a ground and first floor duplex apt. and in the past I had friends (in Black and White houses) whom have lots of snake and water monitor lizard stories....yikes!

We have always preferred to live in condos (now on the 4th!); our current one has a tennis court, gym, barbeque pits, infinity pool. Some of the very large condos also may have a mini-mart - I call in at the condo next door to drop off my drycleaning, perhaps buy a newspaper (the Straits Times is a joke) or milk if I've run out. The nice thing about a condo is that one can easily make friends there (usually at the poolside) and at ours we have the odd condo barbie or coffee morning. It's ideal for kids as they usually make friends on the condo so you don't have to constantly ferry them around if they want to see friends. There are plenty of kids on our condo, from newborn babies up to secondary school age, they're expats and locals.

At the ages of 8 and 11 you don't have to worry about your kids falling off a balcony (although many apartments don't even have balconies or sometimes a landlord will provide bars on request, especially for those with toddlers)...I love sitting out on ours to have breakfast, dinner or just a glass of wine in the evening. It's more isolating to live in a house in my opinion, although living in a house may be your preference and there's nothing wrong with that!

Many expats and most locals employ a live-in maid or a part-time one who comes in to do the cleaning....now that's another story...

Biogentic

as of oct 2009 we have 4.9mil close to 5mil people but less than half of it is local breed singaporeans. thanks pap for that

Kooky.

Your point being?

Biogentic

point being it is a heavily populated country with high population density. limited entertainment, no night life, strict and senseless law, no minimum wage to protect employee, labour union only protect employer... i am a singapore citizen dying to get out, but people here hope to get in... choose other places, you cant believe i am treated as a 2nd class citizen in my own country.

Kooky.

Are you of Malay origins?

Biogentic

i am a chinese. Anyway sporean chinese, malay, indian and eurasian live together very harmony. we seldom discriminate each other. The singaporeans would only discriminate the chinese from China... they bring their bad habits to our country and expect to take over us as citizen. They snatch away our jobs, replacing us for any white or blue collar jobs available.

Kooky.

There is so much rubbish (and hypocrisy) in that quote that it doesn't merit a sensible answer.

ex reg

Dunno myself.

Elements of truth there and only the last sentence I'd really disagree with.