Pat's Schoolhouse

[pebblez]

Hi there,


This is the first time I am posting since it is only recently that we began our frantic kindy search.

With Pat’s I was initially impressed with the loads of comments I hear and was really excited and am almost prepared to send my daughter there till I went to the Meyer Road branch and had all my expectations smashed.

Pat’s has many branches, and I really can’t say for sure that all the branches churn out or follow the same set of curriculum, the Meyer Road one for sure were one of the branch with a couple of inadequacies- if all the teachers there were like the one they had to lead ‘d story club’ for toddlers… i got no idea how and where the raves came about… the teacher allocated to us had to constantly refer to the songs on the wall, does not seem to really understand how toddlers work and behave, repeatedly saying that she is new and works with older kids more so need some time to settle in… the snacks they were given were the Kelloggs honey stars and milkmaid UHT milk (if you had ever been to JG, you would know our kids were given organic foods, fruits and juices) so daughter had to choke on the food and vomited all her milk and lunch… bad experience…

plus the toys at the centre were worn out, and some wheels broken, some had spikes sticking out… not the best for young dash around kiddos…the school floor was not exactly clean and had hair strands on the mat even before we started the class… :S

I compared this with Julia Gab… Pat’s nothing close… Sorry to say that…

[autumnbronze]

pebblez:

Hi there,


This is the first time I am posting since it is only recently that we began our frantic kindy search.

With Pat's I was initially impressed with the loads of comments I hear and was really excited and am almost prepared to send my daughter there till I went to the Meyer Road branch and had all my expectations smashed.

Pat's has many branches, and I really can't say for sure that all the branches churn out or follow the same set of curriculum, the Meyer Road one for sure were one of the branch with a couple of inadequacies- if all the teachers there were like the one they had to lead 'd story club' for toddlers... i got no idea how and where the raves came about.. the teacher allocated to us had to constantly refer to the songs on the wall, does not seem to really understand how toddlers work and behave, repeatedly saying that she is new and works with older kids more so need some time to settle in.. the snacks they were given were the Kelloggs honey stars and milkmaid UHT milk (if you had ever been to JG, you would know our kids were given organic foods, fruits and juices) so daughter had to choke on the food and vomited all her milk and lunch... bad experience..

plus the toys at the centre were worn out, and some wheels broken, some had spikes sticking out.. not the best for young dash around kiddos..the school floor was not exactly clean and had hair strands on the mat even before we started the class.. :S

I compared this with Julia Gab.. Pat's nothing close.. Sorry to say that..

Hi pebblez,

Interesting observation (highlighted in red). If you don't mind me asking, how did you arrive at this conclusion?

[empressplace]

D’Story Club is probably not the main focus of Pat’s but if you have any complaints about their services, you should write in as Patricia Koh is surprisingly responsive.


I have my doubts that JG could provide organic milk and juices as these are very expensive. Organic snacks like biscuits - possible. I wouldn’t know as I have no experience with JG.

Is your daughter allergic to non organic food? I am surprised that it causes such distress to her.

[pebblez]

Hi,


Please don’t get me wrong, with the no. of good comments going to Pat’s, I am sure it has its strong points.

And you are probably right that ‘d story club’ weren’t pat’s focus (not meyer branch’s focus for sure) and its ok, but just not to my favour nor my group of friends nonetheless so I came here to share my 2 cents.

This is a pat’s thread, so I should not comment about other school. We spent 3 terms at JG, I felt some change is probably good, not that we dislike JG already, but my objective is exposure for my child.

I would confidently say I pay roughly the same fees at pat’s ‘d story club’ as I would at JG for the one time a week class, so i believe it’s not true that JG provide organic juices etc just because they are expensive to entice parents like me, I would attribute it to providing just that extra touch and I was surprised thats all. I came to this observation because I had the opportunity to inquire more into what foods were served at JG classes and I was shown a folder of the food suppliers + different beverages and foods available. I watch out whenever the cartons are passed around to my children.

And please don’t get me wrong as well, my daughter ain’t allergic to non-organic foods, really we don’t mind being served bread if they are suitable for very young children. Just that for a 18 month old toddler, something more appropriate for their age groups could be served- such as gerber stars/ even baby fingers/ perhaps rice crackers, no need to be expensive or premium at all. You could argue that food ain’t the focus or we were being picky but we are here for the whole experience, from the environment to the quality of the lesson provided and of course, I wouldn’t mind going home with just that extra bit of safe and sound satisfaction.

[Amplifier]

Hi, I am thinking of enrolling my 3 1/2 year old son at the Meyer Road Branch of Pat’s Schoolhouse. I visted the branch last week on a weekday morning with my wife and we left with a good impression. The children look confident and happy. I will be going again to visit the school with my son. I am hoping that Pat’s (Meyer) will be able to sufficiently prepare my son for primary school without additional enrcihment classes and that the theachers are caring and encouraging. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the Meyer Road Branch and the teachers and Principal. I will be grateful for all replies. The other school I have on my mind is Chiltern

[empressplace]

Pebblez


Fully agree that you should expect organic food for D’Story Club. I would if JG does.

I did not personally attend D’Story Club as it was not available in every centre and my interest was merely to introduce my son to the school so that he may find it easier to transition to the preschool if we decide to send him to Pat’s Schoolhouse later. There are definitely better known accompanied enrichment classes. Judging from the feedback here, it’s no loss not having tried it!

- edited my post in order not to confuse the discussion between D’Story Club and the preschool.

[buds]

empressplace:

D'Story Club is probably not the main focus of Pat's but if you have any complaints about their services, you should write in as Patricia Koh is surprisingly responsive.

I've personally attended one trial lesson for Story Club.
It is one of the most poorly conducted trials i've ever
been to. Overcrowding and also the teacher then was
very unprepared. I honestly didn't enjoy the session..
Very unimpressed in fact if i were to put it bluntly.

It is sad to hear that things doesn't seem to have
improved from the time i went for mine from the
current/recent feedback from pebblez. Moving
around their teachers just to salvage the pgrm
may not be the best solution to this... Just my
honest opinion.

[DC Mummy]

I have not tried D’Story Club before. However, starting from this year, my boy is attending both Pat preschool and weekly JG (edudrama).


For Pat preschool, I have been given a copy of their daily children term menu. I would consider the menu good and nutritious with more variety as compared to other preschool / child care centers which I had visited before, esp my boy is a picky eater.

For the weekly JG class, there isn’t any food serve so I cannot comment on the food. But personally, I am not impressed with organic food as I believe children need to be exposed to a wide variety of food in their diet, rather than looking at whether food is organic type or not. This could possibly lead their immunity system not getting use to any non-organic food.

Pebblez, perhaps you can check whether are they serving the same food every week or something diff every week…

On the other hand, I must say the teacher conduct JG (edudrama) speaks good and better english when comparing with pat schoolhouse. Just my opinion, to each core strength, GB is like enrichment center, while pat school proivdes all-rounded preschool education…

[empressplace]

This is not the right place to discuss organic food but I just had to jump in to say that exposure to chemicals and pesticide in non-organic food does the opposite of building a strong immunity. I do agree however that one should not limit oneself to organic food at the expense of a variety in diet. Sorry if this detracts from the main discussion.

[buds]

No worries about that, empressplace.

Different children are brought up in different
ways hence making each one of them unique.
Individual families have the choice in making
their preferences that they find best suit their
family and lifestyles. :celebrate: