[Tampines] Primary Schools

[Notksmum]

chloe javier - noted. Thanks! I shall think very hard abt it.


pebblez - oic! those are gd schools too!

[toddles]

pebblez:

We will go for PLMGS and ACS

under methodist affliation?

considerable travelling it seems...

[toddles]

chamomile:

Hi,


Parents share their experiences volunteering at local schools in an attempt to get their children into the desired school. Angie Cheong volunteered for Gongshang Primary School, Li-Ann Sia for St. Hilda’s Primary School.

I read the article. my goodness, at SHPS it's almost like a full time job!

[pebblez]

Yes that’s right.


Indeed… we live within 1km of St Hilda’s but I won’t fret the distance too much now because the environment we were exposed and experienced during our PV time there, points our family more towards to PL and ACS.

We are grateful to the Lord that we had first hand experience at the school and were given a chance to see the system for ourselves.

[pebblez]

toddles:

chamomile:

Hi,


Parents share their experiences volunteering at local schools in an attempt to get their children into the desired school. Angie Cheong volunteered for Gongshang Primary School, Li-Ann Sia for St. Hilda’s Primary School.

I read the article. my goodness, at SHPS it's almost like a full time job!

I see my fellow PV mates more than I see my mummy! LOL...

[Notksmum]

hi pebblez,


So care to share your PV experience at St Hilda’s? It was fulfiling and good? Is it true that under Phase 2B even if you volunteer for >80hrs you may not get a spot?

[merkon]

pebblez:

Yes that's right.


Indeed.. we live within 1km of St Hilda's but I won't fret the distance too much now because the environment we were exposed and experienced during our PV time there, points our family more towards to PL and ACS.

We are grateful to the Lord that we had first hand experience at the school and were given a chance to see the system for ourselves.

Hi! Can u share how's the system like there? I'm planning to put my boy there and I'm hoping for a nurturing environment for him. I'm not into the academic but more for the mission school environment.

[EthanEthan]

merkon:

pebblez:

Yes that's right.


Indeed.. we live within 1km of St Hilda's but I won't fret the distance too much now because the environment we were exposed and experienced during our PV time there, points our family more towards to PL and ACS.

We are grateful to the Lord that we had first hand experience at the school and were given a chance to see the system for ourselves.

Hi! Can u share how's the system like there? I'm planning to put my boy there and I'm hoping for a nurturing environment for him. I'm not into the academic but more for the mission school environment.

My impression of Anglican schools are pretty nurturing...but that's experience with St Margarets and St Andrews.

[pebblez]

Notksmum:

hi pebblez,


So care to share your PV experience at St Hilda's? It was fulfiling and good? Is it true that under Phase 2B even if you volunteer for >80hrs you may not get a spot?

Hi dear,

Yes it is true.
Volunteering regardless of the number of hours, does NOT guarantee a spot, nor mean you will be given extra considerations, that is clear.
In fact, as with all other schools in Singapore, the only guarantee at this stage is if you have another child in the school already.

I know, given we are chatting in this forum in the first place, it is hard for many of us to look beyond volunteering, for the mere fact of gaining school admission as much as getting to get to know the school and the people that makes up the school.

I volunteered at both St Hilda's and PLMGS to even begin to talk about it.

When we first considered volunteering, we had a slightly different objective in mind- that is to get close to the pupils there, and to meet some like-minded parents who might shed some light on raising morally sound children.

In our time at St Hilda's, we did a myriad of activities. Both me and my husband were involved in 2 different learning support programs on a weekly 1.5 hr hourly basis- HARP and RIFP. One encourages pupils to read avidly as the name suggests in exchange for little gifts and rewards while the other is a sort of a supplementary program for weak P1/P2 speakers of the language. Day in day out, we see pupils come, many of them kids of the reading mums (reading mums and coordinators manage the core of the PV program) themselves, most came for the badges and many don't come at all. They read during recess, they read at assembly, they read at the bus bay. And kids will just be kids, we don't see a lot of difference between kids from here or kids down our block. They rush in when the bus arrives and rush out when the bell rings. It was good fun to chat with and watch them though

We saw their prayer sessions nonetheless and whole levels would sit at the canteen while the pastor speaks, that is probably the most amazing thing we saw, kids of all races come together.

We were then also expected to fund-raise, initiate and spearhead raisers and also give our time to help ongoing activities. The idea is to take the work off the school teachers so they have more pupil time. We sometimes spend an entire day after our weekly program or come on a separate day to attend briefings or assist during fund-raisers on the weekend.

Now it may seem we were doing loads and must have been a fulfilling time for us but I must say that this is a hot potato school at the end of the day and loads of people were there because they had an objective to meet and they'd probably will have more objectives to meet until their child successfully goes on to the next stage. The feeling was clinical, almost legal at the end of the day and we cannot fathom our child becoming like that.

Contrastingly, our time at PLMGS was.. gentle. And the girls there were.. just girls. The prayer sessions there were like St Hilda's, entire levels just praying together, Amazing. We saw them dance, go for recitals, serve together, study together and the parents there were friends, real friends, also we go to the same church.

And, PLMGS did academically better or as good as St Hilda's at the end of the day. Different approach, same outcomes.

So...

[itskryptic]

Actually, just to point out, St Hilda's is stronger academically.

pebblez:

Notksmum:

hi pebblez,

So care to share your PV experience at St Hilda's? It was fulfiling and good? Is it true that under Phase 2B even if you volunteer for >80hrs you may not get a spot?

Hi dear,

Yes it is true.
Volunteering regardless of the number of hours, does NOT guarantee a spot, nor mean you will be given extra considerations, that is clear.
In fact, as with all other schools in Singapore, the only guarantee at this stage is if you have another child in the school already.

I know, given we are chatting in this forum in the first place, it is hard for many of us to look beyond volunteering, for the mere fact of gaining school admission as much as getting to get to know the school and the people that makes up the school.

I volunteered at both St Hilda's and PLMGS to even begin to talk about it.

When we first considered volunteering, we had a slightly different objective in mind- that is to get close to the pupils there, and to meet some like-minded parents who might shed some light on raising morally sound children.

In our time at St Hilda's, we did a myriad of activities. Both me and my husband were involved in 2 different learning support programs on a weekly 1.5 hr hourly basis- HARP and RIFP. One encourages pupils to read avidly as the name suggests in exchange for little gifts and rewards while the other is a sort of a supplementary program for weak P1/P2 speakers of the language. Day in day out, we see pupils come, many of them kids of the reading mums (reading mums and coordinators manage the core of the PV program) themselves, most came for the badges and many don't come at all. They read during recess, they read at assembly, they read at the bus bay. And kids will just be kids, we don't see a lot of difference between kids from here or kids down our block. They rush in when the bus arrives and rush out when the bell rings. It was good fun to chat with and watch them though

We saw their prayer sessions nonetheless and whole levels would sit at the canteen while the pastor speaks, that is probably the most amazing thing we saw, kids of all races come together.

We were then also expected to fund-raise, initiate and spearhead raisers and also give our time to help ongoing activities. The idea is to take the work off the school teachers so they have more pupil time. We sometimes spend an entire day after our weekly program or come on a separate day to attend briefings or assist during fund-raisers on the weekend.

Now it may seem we were doing loads and must have been a fulfilling time for us but I must say that this is a hot potato school at the end of the day and loads of people were there because they had an objective to meet and they'd probably will have more objectives to meet until their child successfully goes on to the next stage. The feeling was clinical, almost legal at the end of the day and we cannot fathom our child becoming like that.

Contrastingly, our time at PLMGS was.. gentle. And the girls there were.. just girls. The prayer sessions there were like St Hilda's, entire levels just praying together, Amazing. We saw them dance, go for recitals, serve together, study together and the parents there were friends, real friends, also we go to the same church.

And, PLMGS did academically better or as good as St Hilda's at the end of the day. Different approach, same outcomes.

So...