bakedbean

Hi Matti. Just to say Welcome to the forum

matti33

Hi BakedBean,

Thanks for your welcome.

butterfly39

Hi if you need any help on schools you should take to a friend of mine who helps expats with education in Singapore, she has just moved hers from UWC into a local school. Mine are currently at Marlborough College having moved from Tanglin. You really need to look at the children and there needs when your looking at the schools, also take into consideration the wait lists. Happy to introduce you to her.

matti33

Thanks Butterfly. I would really appreciate that. I am very concerned about how my daughter will adjust to a new school and new environment and would grab any advice I can.

Best

Mlela

butterfly39

If you send me an email to <snip> I'd be happy to introduce you.

matti33

Hi Butterfly39

I think I can PM you now.

Thanks

Mlela

butterfly39

Yes any time.

xizzles

Just my 2 cents worth - local primary schools (especially the "popular" ones: Raffles Girls, Nanyang Girls, River Valley, Anglo-Chinese Primary/Barker/Junior, Henry Park but to name a few) have waiting lists even for local Singaporean citizens living within the vicinity.

Some parents have been known to buy or rent around a "good" school, just to get a bit of an edge come registration time, and other parents have volunteered time and energy to the school (serving as adjunct teachers, librarians etc) - and balloting for places isn't an uncommon sight.

The government recently announced tweaks to the registration process, biasing the process further to benefit citizens. I reckon it'll be kinda hard for a foreigner to get into any of these "elite" schools, but there are reports of "neighbourhood schools" (i.e. the less popular ones) with more classrooms than there are students!

Good luck anyway!

RedDragon2008

How have you found Marlborough College?

Mine are 6 and 10 (currently in private school in Melbourne Australia)

Emili George

This may be too early to reply but found this thread interesting while I was researching on Google for schooling related material and thought to participate here.

One of my friends decided to try the Canadian International School for his son since he wanted an international school in Singapore (http://www.cis.edu.sg/). They offer the best programs with a detailed curriculum that includes French and Mandarin as additional languages. Have any parents tried it?

Dunroaming

Hello all.
I have been reading till my eyes have gone square and still none the wiser. My three year old. What options do I have? Is kindergarten only option for pre schoolers? There are local and international ones too? She is currently in thee days a week at kinder. And so I would like to keep it at three days or is it strictly only five days a week? How expensive is kinder? And what age can they start?
Slightly off topic. But products for children like drinks and snacks? Is there a wide range? I know in uk there are heaps of brands but just wondered what the offerings are like in sg.

Dunroaming

P.s any French speaking kinders around?

Bocat

Some international schools also offer kindergarten.

There's a huge variety of kindergartens in Singapore. Some mainly local (which my kids went to), some a mixture of locals and expats, some mainly expats.

Age ranges will differ at each kindergarten - as will whether they offer full days, half days, full weeks etc etc. You'll really have to come and check out what's on offer near you.

Re French speaking - I'm not sure if the French School offers kindergarten. Hope it's ok for me to post this on here - but the Singapore Active Toddlers group on www.meetup.com may be a good place for you to join and ask these questions on their Discussions page. Lots of Mums on there with this sort of info.

Re drinks and snacks - loads of choice but if you want familiar brands be prepared to pay over the odds for them.

Dunroaming

Thanks for clarifying bocat, and the info on mums meet ups. At the moment the husbands work will cover most the school fees but only from 6+ Want to see if they can cover preschool if it's international kindergarten. So will look into schools first then area. Is it a catchment area case or you just apply and can live anywhere you want?

Froggybarnacle2000

Hi Dunroaming,

There is a French-speaking playgroup called Les Petits Singes in Singapore (www.lespetitssinges.com). It's for kids 2-4 years old. You can choose to send your child there once, twice, or three times a week. The lady who runs it is fantastic with children. I think it'll be perfect for your three-year old!

My child went to White Lodge Kindergarten and we were very happy with it. Three years have passed since then so I am not sure about the wait list that you mentioned in the other thread. I suppose for the bigger international schools there would be a wait list for Nursery/ Reception. It doesn't matter where you live, you can send your child to any international school you choose. The catchment area rule applies only to the local schools, specially the ones that are ranked in the top ten. As it stands, it is very hard for foreigners to get their child into these local schools, so maybe you'd best concentrate on finding the international school that suits your children. Good luck!