Pat's Schoolhouse

[debpch]

dreamersloft,

i agree with jworld... why not check out other branches? I know for sure that Tanglin has a very big outdoor play area (playground + cycling area) cos my kid loves it.

heard that there will be a parents' portal coming up where you can view your kid's pics in class + provide/get feedback from teachers. This is so cool. :celebrate: i am so looking forward to it...

[dreamersloft]

HI Jworld and debpch,

I’m staying in Jurong West. So hope that the CCC could be within Jurong area, more convenient and less taxing in the long run.
It seems quite hard to find CCC in Jurong area though.

[Kabby]

dreamersloft:

HI Jworld and debpch,

I'm staying in Jurong West. So hope that the CCC could be within Jurong area, more convenient and less taxing in the long run.
It seems quite hard to find CCC in Jurong area though.

hi i am in JW too. my child goes to Arena. i've brought up outdoor playground to the P before too. she said the country club premise limitation is such that they cannot build a playground outdoors. so the kids play in the indoor playground and they bring their bikes and trikes and other vehicles outdoors when they ride.

when they play group games that need more space, they use the bigger space outside the school, but which is still within the country club.

i did take a look at the other 2 centers in the west before too. both of them and all of the other Pat schoolhouse centers all have outdoor playgrounds...

initially i felt a bit \"cheated\" cos we all pay the same fees, but after just a month, i feel that there's no point in changing centers cos my kid enjoys it so much there.

the teachers and P more than make up for the lack of outdoor play. so on my own part, i consciously bring my kids out to play more often. in school, he does more of other stuff like cookery, group games, music and movement.

hope this helps.

[dreamersloft]

Hi kabalevsky,

Thanks so much for the sharing! I’ll discuss with my husband. I feel that curriculum is important whereas my husband thinks environment.

[Koolmama]

autumnbronze:

Hi koolmama,


Would you mind PM-ing me the fees for Between 2 Trees? Thanks much in advance.

Hi sorry I don't have the fee schedule with me right now... you might want to call or email them for the details??

i think their email address is info@betweentwotrees.sg

[Koolmama]

Oh and they have a website here:


http://betweentwotrees.sg/

The school phone number is at the bottom of the front page

[Koolmama]

debpch:

Hi Koolmama,

My kid is at Tanglin... but I guess we have the same problems. SIGH.

Wah, the teacher's response sound a bit irresponsible leh... Shouldn't the teachers insist that sick kids (esp those who are visibly sick) stay at home? Otherwise, the virus would be going round and round and round...

Oh... u have gotten me a bit worried. My kid's Chinese is really bad too. So, from your experience, the curriculum @ Pat's is not really good, izzit? Has your No. 1 gone to P1 yet? How is he coping? I would be really concerned if the feedback is that Pat's does not prepare their kids for P1... Any comments? :?:

Well actually there is no doubt that their overall curriculum is good, and their bilingual immersion ensures that the children actually end up with pretty good VERBAL/CONVERSATIONAL mandarin skills... However, when it comes to written Chinese or recognition of Chinese words, they are quite weak. E.g. many of my friends' preschools provide Scroll Chinese readers, but Pat's never asked us to buy any English or Chinese readers. Their chinese worksheets so-so only... E.g. YuQuan has a very effective methodology to teach Chinese words, i have seen their worksheets before and even their Nursery standard is higher than Pat's K1 standard So, that is why actually alot of Pat's parents still send their children for Chinese enrichment at Berries. I didn't realise this until it was too late... My ds was already in P1 and most of his friends had already attended 2-3 years of Berries and he still couldn't read many basic chinese words!!

So now... I am trying to help him catch up by letting him go for more Chinese enrichment now in P1 lor...

[tigerlily]

Hi!


I’m thinking of sending my son to the Buckley branch of pat’s.
Does anyone have any comments or experience with this branch? Especially regarding the teachers and curriculum?
Are the kids well prepared for primary school?

Really appreciate any comments.
Thanks!

[omgmum]

breaking news from straits times:


SEVEN children from Pat's Schoolhouse have been hospitalised for food poisoning and another 211 children and seven teachers are ill with related symptoms.

They fell ill after eating food from caterer Mum's Kitchen Catering, whose licence has been temporarily suspended by the National Environmental Agency pending the outcome of the investigations.

NEA and the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a joint press release on Thursday that the catering company had been fined for lapses in a food poisoning incident in December last year (2010), when 35 people attending a company function came down with diarrhoea and started vomitting.

In this case, the children and teachers from six of the group's 14 centres have come down with symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomitting and fever.

The six centres are in Halifax Road, Lim Ah Pin Rd, Whitley Road, Claymore Road, Mount Emily and Jalan Ulu Siglap.

The food served in Pat's Schoolhouse, which has 2,000 children ranging from infants to six-year-olds across its 14 centres, is centrally prepared by Mum's Kitchen Catering. Those affected by the food poisoning were aged two to six.

link: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_667888.html

Omg! Is that why dd has been so cranky since coming back from her pm session?

[omgmum]

For parents whose kids keep falling sick, hang in there. My girl’s been sick since she joined PSH two months ago, and I mean continuously sick. The runny nose and cough are ongoing, and she comes down with fever every other week. She’s been out of school for more than 2 weeks in all, but thank goodness I’m currently staying at home, so I don’t have an issue with having to exhaust my leave.


What I try to do now is to really make sure she gets enough rest, and I’m giving her sambucol, probiotics, multi-vits, and umcka. Sambucol just helps with the cold/flu and Umcka is supposed to help with cold and coughs as well. Have just started the umcka, so will wait and see if it helps.

Now after the food poisoning incident, I’m thinking that I might just let dd have her dinner at home instead of at school. I’d thought that putting dd in preschool would help free up some time for me to concentrate on chores and have some rest in the day, but now I have to keep dealing with her falling sick.

And I’m so going to research on whichever catering company they use next.