Choosing and Evaluating Primary Schools

[Macymama]

Choose a Primary school near your house… go and visit the schools and have a feel.

As time comes nearer - go to the school you have narrowed down and register there.

[After that - enroll her in enrichment class like English, Abacus, etc to give her the extra edge]

Where are you staying ?

Mr Ng[/quote]

==========
Thanks for the sharing, we will arrive in Singapore late August, we have targeted those areas around Airport, but we won’t rent any house before we get any confirmation on her P1 vacancy.

What’s your suggestion in living / school choice?

i think we can only wait till Phase 3 completes to know the school, and the house to live in… will there be any chance of having no shool vacancy for her for P1 next year?

[Macymama]

tankee:

Macymama:

Dear parents,

I am from Hong Kong who is holding a EP P1 working in Singapore. I have 2 kids, the first girl will enroll the P1 2014. I have no idea how to seek for a Primary for her. I know we have to wait till Phase 3. But can anybody teach us how to do and what to be prepared? Thanks so much for helping a mother here. Thanks!!!!

Prepare for the registration or for adapting to Primary school?

Both...
by end of August, need to prepare for registration
by end of December, need to get ready for P1 school life... what shall we do...

[bluemoon]

sleepy:

At end of p1, I wait list for top school with p1 results. Managed to transfer at beginning of p4, after a really long wait. But totally worth it. Very satisfied. Top school is top school for a reason

Yeah, I too believe not all the schools are the same even though they teach the same syllabus. Some schools just have that winning formula.

[Dreamgear]

bluemoon:

sleepy:

At end of p1, I wait list for top school with p1 results. Managed to transfer at beginning of p4, after a really long wait. But totally worth it. Very satisfied. Top school is top school for a reason

Yeah, I too believe not all the schools are the same even though they teach the same syllabus. Some schools just have that winning formula.

Ya but not all students in the same school are treated and performed uniformly across the board.... Sometimes its better to be in the high ability classes in normal schools then in the \"forgotten\" classes of the top schools......

[lchunleo]

Dreamgear:

bluemoon:

[quote=\"sleepy\"]
At end of p1, I wait list for top school with p1 results. Managed to transfer at beginning of p4, after a really long wait. But totally worth it. Very satisfied. Top school is top school for a reason

Yeah, I too believe not all the schools are the same even though they teach the same syllabus. Some schools just have that winning formula.

Ya but not all students in the same school are treated and performed uniformly across the board.... Sometimes its better to be in the high ability classes in normal schools then in the \"forgotten\" classes of the top schools......[/quote]sorry to inject, so what so different between those \"popular/branded\" school and not? what is the delta?

[track15]

Choose schools for the best fit between their approach towards character moulding and your own personal one. You’d rather have a child whose academic results is quite good and character good rather than results good/very good but character lousy. Not cut out for life.

Academic wise, only a few schools are suspect when it comes to academic programmes. Anyway, academic performance is more likely to be determined by genes and parents’ pockets.

[track15]

r_mummy:

Pen88n:

[quote=\"r_mummy\"]Hi, I am new here and my boy is going to P1 next year.


Would like to have some advice on the following school, Xinmin and Hougang Pri. very much appreciated.

I think both are good neighbourhood schools. Factors to consider:
1) Distance from your home
2) If balloting is involved, which has more vacancies and chance?
3) Your personal preference (should visit the school with your kid)

Thanks for the valued advise.
1. To compare distance: Hougang Pri will be nearest to me (i am Q'ing for Phase 2C)
2. Been watching the pattern of the MOE registration results... Hougang Pri seems popular.
3. To visit the sch, can we call and request?

Thanks again! :xedfingers:[/quote]
Both Good Schools. Heng Swee Kiat said so.
But Xinmin discipline top-notch. So parents who like to pamper their children don't bother. The staff don't take crap from parents

[kaisuDad]

Total | %2C left | Vacancy left

330\t–\t2.10%\t–\t7\t–\tAi Tong School
300\t–\t2.70%\t–\t8\t–\tHenry Park Primary School
240\t–\t5.00%\t–\t12\t–\tRed Swastika School
210\t–\t5.70%\t–\t12\t–\tCHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School
240\t–\t6.30%\t–\t15\t–\tNan Hua Primary School
390\t–\t6.70%\t–\t26\t–\tNanyang Primary School
240\t–\t9.20%\t–\t22\t–\tAnglo-Chinese School (Primary)
270\t–\t9.30%\t–\t25\t–\tFairfield Methodist School (Primary)
300\t–\t10.30%\t–\t31\t–\tRosyth School
360\t–\t10.80%\t–\t39\t–\tPei Chun Public School
200\t–\t11.00%\t–\t22\t–\tSingapore Chinese Girls’ Primary School
360\t–\t11.10%\t–\t40\t–\tTao Nan School
240\t–\t11.30%\t–\t27\t–\tCatholic High School
300\t–\t12.00%\t–\t36\t–\tPei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School
270\t–\t13.00%\t–\t35\t–\tSt. Hilda’s Primary School
330\t–\t13.30%\t–\t44\t–\tMaha Bodhi School
240\t–\t14.20%\t–\t34\t–\tTemasek Primary School
270\t–\t14.40%\t–\t39\t–\tRulang Primary School
270\t–\t15.20%\t–\t41\t–\tHoly Innocents’ Primary School
270\t–\t15.90%\t–\t43\t–\tKong Hwa School
270\t–\t16.70%\t–\t45\t–\tAnglo-Chinese School (Junior)
180\t–\t17.20%\t–\t31\t–\tYu Neng Primary School
300\t–\t17.70%\t–\t53\t–\tNan Chiau Primary School
270\t–\t18.10%\t–\t49\t–\tSouth View Primary School
210\t–\t18.10%\t–\t38\t–\tMethodist Girls’ School (Primary)
300\t–\t18.70%\t–\t56\t–\tChongfu School
240\t–\t19.60%\t–\t47\t–\tRiver Valley Primary School
240\t–\t21.30%\t–\t51\t–\tRadin Mas Primary School
210\t–\t21.90%\t–\t46\t–\tAnderson Primary School
240\t–\t22.90%\t–\t55\t–\tSt. Andrew’s Junior School
270\t–\t23.00%\t–\t62\t–\tRaffles Girls’ Primary School
210\t–\t23.30%\t–\t49\t–\tCHIJ Primary (Toa Payoh)
240\t–\t23.80%\t–\t57\t–\tSt. Joseph’s Institution Junior
210\t–\t24.80%\t–\t52\t–\tHong Wen School
300\t–\t25.00%\t–\t75\t–\tMaris Stella High School
300\t–\t25.70%\t–\t77\t–\tMee Toh School
240\t–\t26.30%\t–\t63\t–\tCanberra Primary School
270\t–\t27.00%\t–\t73\t–\tPaya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Primary)
270\t–\t27.40%\t–\t74\t–\tJurong Primary School
240\t–\t29.20%\t–\t70\t–\tHougang Primary School
240\t–\t29.20%\t–\t70\t–\tKuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School
180\t–\t29.40%\t–\t53\t–\tPasir Ris Primary School
240\t–\t29.60%\t–\t71\t–\tPoi Ching School
210\t–\t30.00%\t–\t63\t–\tEndeavour Primary School
180\t–\t31.10%\t–\t56\t–\tChongzheng Primary School
240\t–\t32.50%\t–\t78\t–\tNorthland Primary School
180\t–\t32.80%\t–\t59\t–\tJiemin Primary School
150\t–\t34.00%\t–\t51\t–\tCHIJ Our Lady of Good Counsel
210\t–\t34.30%\t–\t72\t–\tSt. Stephen’s School
240\t–\t34.60%\t–\t83\t–\tCHIJ Our Lady of the Nativity
240\t–\t35.00%\t–\t84\t–\tRivervale Primary School
180\t–\t35.00%\t–\t63\t–\tYangzheng Primary School
180\t–\t35.00%\t–\t63\t–\tCHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace
240\t–\t36.30%\t–\t87\t–\tGongshang Primary School
210\t–\t36.70%\t–\t77\t–\tSt. Margaret’s Primary School
240\t–\t36.70%\t–\t88\t–\tSt. Anthony’s Primary School
240\t–\t36.70%\t–\t88\t–\tAdmiralty Primary School
270\t–\t37.00%\t–\t100\t–\tDe La Salle School
270\t–\t37.00%\t–\t100\t–\tShuqun Primary School
240\t–\t37.10%\t–\t89\t–\tYew Tee Primary School
210\t–\t37.10%\t–\t78\t–\tAnchor Green Primary School
240\t–\t37.10%\t–\t89\t–\tWoodgrove Primary School
240\t–\t37.90%\t–\t91\t–\tNgee Ann Primary School
240\t–\t38.30%\t–\t92\t–\tZhangde Primary School
240\t–\t38.30%\t–\t92\t–\tCHIJ (Katong) Primary
270\t–\t38.50%\t–\t104\t–\tWest Grove Primary School
240\t–\t38.80%\t–\t93\t–\tJurong West Primary School
210\t–\t39.00%\t–\t82\t–\tFengshan Primary School
240\t–\t39.20%\t–\t94\t–\tBukit Panjang Primary School

[Jace Lau]

Hi All,


I am not sure if this is the right thread to ask but I am kinda stuck in a dilemma. I moved over to my new place at Upper Thomson a yr ago and started to look for a sch for my son who will be entering P1 in 2015. previously we were at bedok and we wanted to do PV at Temasek Pri, which was just the next block. When we unexpected had to move to Thomson to be near my parents, we checked out the schools around and decided to PV at Anderson Primary which is 1-2km away from my house. The only school <1km from my home is St Nicholas, which for obvious reason, i don’t qualify.

Anyhow we applied for PV for Anderson and waited for their call. In fact when I didn’t hear from them more than a mth after they closed their PV application, I contacted them. Managed to speak to their VP (Admin) and she sorta told me that they had overwhelming applications for their PV programme and they will only select a certain percentage. She said their selection process could be one-to-one interview, but at no point did she mention that it would be a pure balloting exercise. So when we received the letter to attend a balloting exercise to enter their PV programme, we were surprised, but nonetheless recognised that they had every right to do so. On the day of application, we found out 63 parents applied for 20 PV slot and needless to say, we didn’t get a slot.

Now we are kinda stuck because while checking the P1 registration history, we are in 1-2km region of AMK Pri and Mayflower Pri only (Ai Tong is within 1-2km but that’s like next to impossible to get in!). To be honest, we didn’t consider either schools and they do not seem to be as ‘good’ as Anderson. We did think of applying to Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Pri Sch in Bishan because i was from their secondary school but wonder if i can use that to apply under Phase 2A (under Alumnus)? I have to say that I am not an alumnus member for KCPSS but their alumni doesn’t seem to be active. neither have i registered for KCPPS’s PV programme. On hindsight, we really put all our eggs in one basket.

I would be glad if u could share ur opinion with me. Should i just go for Mayflower or AMK Pri schools and forget abt KCPPS? is there no other schools other than these 2 schs? My parents live within 1km of Catholic High and Ai Tong, but both are super hot schools which need balloting for 2B. even if i moved in with them and use their address, i would only be in 2C.

[ruigal]

Hi Jace,


I understand what you are going through as I went through the same thought process last year for my daughter born in 2007 and I have just gone through the whole balloting system in Ph 2C where balloting was only for SC within 1km and going in knowing that only 50% of applicants will get a space.

You can try going through the grassroot route if you stay in a constituency that is similar to the school of choice. I am not sure if you are in time to clock in the hours but I regretted not doing so last year although the school and where I stay do not belong in the same constituency despite the physical distance (across the road!) but let’s not question the system now as nothing is going to be changed but rather try to work through the system. Grassroot volunteering will be able to get you to Ph 2B for schools in your constituency.

If you still cannot, take heart that it is not the end of the world as I have had 2 friends this year who despite doing PV and qualify for Ph2B and live within 1km still failed to secure spaces in Ai Tong and Henry Park.

I heard that Teck Ghee is also a good school in your area as I used to stay in Thomson / AMK area. Or take a chance at Ai Tong in Ph2C if there are still vacancies by then.

Not sure if this would be of help but I wanted to let you know that there are many of us who are like you. I am bracing myself to go through this same process for my son the year after next…stress!!!