Teck Ghee Primary

[rejoice137]

Hi concern_mun,


I think kids at this age may still need nap in the afternoon. With the long school hour, napping may be beneficial and important. Does the student care let them nap? You should request that or change to one that allow napping in the afternoon. My boys attended student care last year and I requested the student care to let them nap in the afternoon. If your DD nap in the afternoon, may be she can stay up a bit later in the night so you have some time to work with her? I personally think getting the kids to rest sufficiently is more important than doing additional worksheet.

Bring her to the morning reading program at school so she gets some help in reading. Borrow books from library that are for beginner readers to get her into reading slowly. Read with her for the start till she can progress. Talk to the math teacher that your DD has difficulty doing math not because of math but more for her English and see if the teacher can work out something with you.

I think it is best not to rush her as each kid develops at different time. Though the education system here is competitive and pressurized, we as parents can help to make it easier for the kids to take things at your kids’ pace. Give her time and work with her all the way.

[stressedmomma]

Hi mummies! I am new here. Thinking of a primary school for DD next year is so stressful!

I live close to TGPS and thought of sending her there.
Mummies please advise what are the good and bad points if any about the school>?
Are the teachers caring and is safety emphasised?
Thanks!

[Ninjago]

stressedmomma:

Hi mummies! I am new here. Thinking of a primary school for DD next year is so stressful!

I live close to TGPS and thought of sending her there.
Mummies please advise what are the good and bad points if any about the school>?
Are the teachers caring and is safety emphasised?
Thanks!

Not so stressful in terms of pace of teaching - is good for those adjusting to P1 but no good for Kiasu parents who may think slow teaching as compared to other schools.
Late school start at 7.45am - is good for pupils who need more sleep but is bad for parents who don like late lunch as late dismissal at 1.45pm.

[stressedmomma]

Thanks for the reply…Oh I think it’s good to start later.

Slower pace for lower pri is Ok with me but what about upper pri?

[stressedmomma]

Thanks for the reply…Oh I think it’s good to start later.

Slower pace for lower pri is Ok with me but what about upper pri?

[rejoice137]

Hi stressedmomma,


Welcome to the forum. Agree with Ninjago, students at TGPS experience less stress than other "branded" schools. In fact the kids are given time to adjust to the school life in P1 and with P2 still ample time to complete their school work at school. School work increases at P3. But the students were given lots of revision before SA tests. Recently I saw my DS1 who is P3 doing a few past year test papers for MT and other subjects to get him ready for SA1.

I like the late start of school too so getting my boys ready to school is not so stressful. Though the dismissal time is late, the school is thoughtful enough to set a power break after 12 noon for the kids to get something to eat. My boys often come back home not too hungry but still have good appetize for lunch.

One area I think the school can improve on is communication. A few times I went to school only to find out my DS1’s CCA canceled or he has to stay back for test. Other than that, my two DSs are happy at school and make a lot of good friends. I think that is what matter most.

Bring your DD to visit the school one day and also attend the open house this year to see if you like what you see at the school. That will help you in making your decision.

All the best.

[stressedmomma]

Thanks I’ll do that. Any idea of the open house date?

But cannot just walk in to see the school right?
IN general how do the mummies here find their teachers?
The pupils?

[Ninjago]

stressedmomma:

Thanks I'll do that. Any idea of the open house date?

But cannot just walk in to see the school right?
IN general how do the mummies here find their teachers?
The pupils?

Actually whether you get a good form teacher or not may also depend on luck, regardless of school. Quite happy with my DS teacher so far as I emailed to her once to give some feedback and I got a reply and DS said 'actions' were taken after I checked with him a few days later. When he did a mischevious act, teacher also wrote in his diary and even chatted with him during recess a few days later. DS's class has pupil with special needs and he said there is another teacher to help out this pupil during lessons.
As for pupils, although being a neighbourhood school, there are many cars in the morning n noon fetching the kids. So think there are pupils with parents from different walks of life. No guarantee that pupils from which particular class are better so really hard to comment. When my DS wants to play games or go library, he will look for different group of friends. So children will be like birds of same feather will flock together... They will look for their own friends. I think this is largely the same in all schools.

[Astee Foo]

Hi Stressedmomma,


From my understanding, the schools are slowly doing away with open house event but instead there will be a parents seminar organised by MOE held in one of the school in the same zone. In collaboration, the few schools will have their representatives (Principal/Vice Principal and HODs) onsite to answer parents question pertaining to the school itself. I believe this year seminar was held at Zhong Hua Primary School
[url][http://www.moe.gov.sg/events/seminars-for-parents//url]

If you are interested to know more about TGPS, you can call up the school office and arrange for a visit to the school with your child.

There are many dedicated teachers in TGPS (based on my own experienced of a P5 and P3 kids.) School always emphasis on 3 ways communication traffic (Teacher-kids-Parents), so it's equally important we, parents, work hand in hand with the teachers to make the education journey memorable for our kids. It's not an easy task and we learnt along the way.

Good Luck to your registration.

Regards,
Astee

stressedmomma:

Thanks I'll do that. Any idea of the open house date?
But cannot just walk in to see the school right?
IN general how do the mummies here find their teachers?
The pupils?

[rejoice137]

Hi Astee,


I think it is a pity if the school is doing away the open house event. I feel that the open house event is not just for the potential new students to learn more about the the school, it is also for the existing students to feel a sense of belonging to the school.

Last year Ds1 participated in open house as a scout. We also took Ds2 to visit the school so that he was familiar with the surrounding. We were very impressed by the works/presentation done by the students and teachers during the open house. When we went to the classrooms, we saw the middle and upper primary students mending the booths and asisting the younger kids playing educational games. I could sense that the younger kids admired the big gogor and jiejie a lot for being so knowledgeable. The existing students mending the booths also felt so proud to showcase what they have learnt in school. The performance at the stage also an eye opener for us. The two boys had a great time playing games, learning about math and science and brought home some souvenir.

This is very different from another "branded" school I visited the same day where external professional event organizers were hired for the open house. Visitors to that school bought paid tickets to participate in various game booths. DSs were quite disappointed when they could not take part in any game because we did not purchase any tickets :-(. This is also one of the main reasons I felt that sending my boys to TGPS is the right choice.

Parents may gain valuable information from a parent-school seminar. But for the child who will be spending most of the next six years in school, he/she likely won’t know if he/she will enjoy the school through the seminars. I do hope that the school will organize an event for the potential P1 children (not just for parents) if they are doing away with the open house.