[Bukit Merah] Primary Schools

[hubble]

Impressions/takeaways from this morning’s briefing/tour at ALPS:


1) The school seems to place a strong emphasis on inculcating good values. My missus was greeted by a P1 student in the library and she was rather impressed by the child’s confidence and courteous behaviour. The child even shared that he was excited about going to P2 next year so that he can share with & lead the P1s. I came away with the sense that the children in this school will have a strong sense of camaraderie & identity.
2) An initial concern about it being a new school is that of whether the school will get teachers who are sufficiently experienced. It was heartening to hear that the school was in a position to cherry pick the teachers it felt were a right fit for its ethos.
3) The proposed banding (as opposed to streaming) at the end of P2 is a bit of a concern though - not sure how they are going to do it in a way which gives sufficient scope for the the students to be suitably challenged/motivated.
4) The lack of choice of food in the canteen seems to be a cause for concern for many parents.
5) There is a lack of natural greenery; no natural open field where the children can ‘roam freely’ & there’s a concrete jungle feel.
6) Being new, it is unlikely that there will be many choices for CCAs. I was given to understand that it is likely that there will be a uniformed group (possibly scouts) - which would be a good start.

On the whole, I thought it was helpful for parents to understand the school a bit better.

[Double E]

hubble:

Impressions/takeaways from this morning's briefing/tour at ALPS:


1) The school seems to place a strong emphasis on inculcating good values. My missus was greeted by a P1 student in the library and she was rather impressed by the child's confidence and courteous behaviour. The child even shared that he was excited about going to P2 next year so that he can share with & lead the P1s. I came away with the sense that the children in this school will have a strong sense of camaraderie & identity.
2) An initial concern about it being a new school is that of whether the school will get teachers who are sufficiently experienced. It was heartening to hear that the school was in a position to cherry pick the teachers it felt were a right fit for its ethos.
3) The proposed banding (as opposed to streaming) at the end of P2 is a bit of a concern though - not sure how they are going to do it in a way which gives sufficient scope for the the students to be suitably challenged/motivated.
4) The lack of choice of food in the canteen seems to be a cause for concern for many parents.
5) There is a lack of natural greenery; no natural open field where the children can 'roam freely' & there's a concrete jungle feel.
6) Being new, it is unlikely that there will be many choices for CCAs. I was given to understand that it is likely that there will be a uniformed group (possibly scouts) - which would be a good start.

On the whole, I thought it was helpful for parents to understand the school a bit better.

Hi Hubble
Agree with you on the lack of natural greenery as compared to other Pri schools in Bukit Merah. I didn't complete the tour and I thought the field is somewhere behind the main building. So there isn't any field?

[lonerunner]

Hello Double E,


The \"Field\" is on 7th floor(top floor) - with fake grass. It should be directly above the location for indoor sports hall. Didnt get to see it today during the tour. The school campus is very small.

Size of the school compound can be seen from here:
http://www.alexandrapri.moe.edu.sg/cont ... dress.html

Some photos of school's facilities:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 172&type=3

[Disneyland]

hi,

did anyone go to the open house for zhangde pri sch, or has anything to share about zhangde?

[msrajey]

I went to both zhangde Pri open house and the ALPS briefing…


Generally both schools were good. But my assessment below could also be affected my original expectation levels of both schools before I visited them…

ZhangDe:
Students were guiding us through at Zhangde and these students were from primary 3… I liked their sports camps most and from what the student said its open to all as long as parents consented. But not sure if that’s absolutely correct.

Alps:
The principal was clear in her direction etc but noticed she’s not the first to do certain things. In terms of cherry picking new teachers seems like all new schools are able to do that now… Anyway my concerns were:
1. Canteen food had very limited choices with only 2 open stall - 1 Malay stall and another drink stall
2. They said no homework day on Wednesday but I am not sure if they can sustain this once the children enter upper primary. also currently the population is small so the teachers can focus better. But as the VP mentioned their recruitment pool allowed by MOE is similar to other schools as well so the level of focus will drain soon just like other established schools and it also depends on the school’s ability to recruit in time. Otherwise it will drain even faster.
3. the orientation around the school was abit confusing, not sure if it was becos it was my first trip there… But with the canteen and play area and classrooms at higher levels with lower levels being empty or nearly half the sch being empty it felt like the kids can go missing during recess time. I mean can’t be that bad as the sch is running with 2 levels already now but it also felt like not sth impossible.
4. Principal’s briefing was impressive no doubt but can’t really tell the impact as we weren’t able to interact much with the kids.

Other more established schools had more facilities and equipment in terms of sports and play… I may not be sure of ALPS on this point but Zhangde had more sports related activities and leadership training programs which ALPS might not have explored yet. Principal of ALPS is indeed impressive and even the teacher who gave us the tour was able to answer just any question. At Zhangde the interaction with the principal wasn’t there as I arrived much later too…but we saw the works of P1 and P2 and they used various tools to teach math and eng and they even gave us a list of websites to visit to teach eng at home for the kids…

Basically I was impressed with Zhangde as maybe I didn’t know much about them in the first place but had heard more about ALPS…

Hope the above is informative… Just my two cents worth.

[Raysan]

Thanks for the sharing. For me teachers are the main factors & concern. Heard that ALPS principle was transferred from a good school. However, new school needs time to slowly establish every area especially CCA. So really difficult to do fair contrast at both schools. My child will be at 2C phrase where ALPS, RMPS & Zhang De is within 1km. I’m still in dilemma…

[Double E]

Hi Raysan

My child will be in phase 2c and I am within 1km to ALPS, Zhangde and GES. Initially, I thot I will go for ALPS, but after visiting both schools, I am now torn between GES and ALPS. Frankly, if not that ALPS has a P and a VP from branded schools, I may just go to GES because of it’s more established programmes. GES’s new principal is also from a branded school.

[patlsy79]

JTS- my gal is currently in P2 at Alps, I just can say..no regret to choose this school even it was a brand new sch when my gal joined in 2014. Very satisfied with our teachers, from form, co to MTL teachers. All are very experienced and dedicated. May be I am just lucky enough, all my teachers are from very good school..as the P & VP. I perosnally asked them where were they from previously, not hear say :).


One thing I am not so happy is , the schoolwork is quite tough, i have fedback to my teachers esp Maths' teacher during term meeting but I was told the school is preparing the kids for PSLE so kids are well prepared and are on the right track. So we parents got to do double harder to help to children in schoolwork too. Though I am complaining abt the works, but in the other way I am more confident in the teachers & school. Not to promote the school but jus tto share..anyway now it require Balloting in this school liao. So good luck all parents

[lonerunner]

Hi patlsy79,


Could I confirm that when you wrote "the schoolwork is quite tough", do you meant:
1) the volume of school work assigned is alot? (too much homework)
2) the school work is tricky?
3) or both the above?

Could you give example how tough is tough please?

Many thanks in advance!

Cheers

[mysweetlittlethings]

Hi all,


Time flies and it's July again with P2C registration coming up soon!

I believe parents out there are busy assessing & analyzing which school to register.

Thought I may share more about ALPS with the rest of the parents whom might be keen to know more about the school.

The School Leaders & teachers
- Both P and VP are very caring & passionate educators with a big heart. Everything they do, they do it for the children. Even after 1.5 years at ALPS, parents are still very impressed by her in many ways.
- Most of the teachers are very experienced and have been teaching for at least 8 years and above. There are teachers from Maha Bodhi, RV, Zhangde etc.

* What I like about the team is - the endless opportunity for the P2s as well as the P1s to learn new things, make decisions and understand the consequences they might face too.
- the P1s has started leading the flag raising ceremony from Term 3.
- Students despite in lower primary are given tons of opportunity to showcase their work. Eg, Cheerleading Competition, SYF Art Exhibition as well as Sony Creative Science Award (with 2 entries into the Finals).
- Last year, the P1s student ambassadors lead the Open House.
- Buddy with the P1s from Day 3 of Term 1 as well as the ALPS Hike Excursion.
- P1 hosting the Prize Giving Ceremony.

Facilities
- Other than the synthetic field at Level 7, ALPS has various outdoor learning terraces, project zones, a pond as well as a garden where vegetables are grown. Various green projects has been introduced to the children for the past year - recycling, growing plants. The school has also participated in the NEA Captain Green Design Competition this year.
- School will organize hikes to Henderson Wave as well as regular walk along the canal just behind the school.

Academic Aspects
- Generally, homework is still manageable.
- Bite-sized assessment being given to children
- CL banding for the P2s this year.
- Learning through play - EL Week / MTL Game Day
- P2 Life Skills Camp

CCA will starts for the P3 next year.
Survey was done with the children earlier this year to see what they would like to take as CCAs.
Equal opportunity will be given to the children who would like to learn a game or skill.

Not sure if streaming will occur next year for the P3. If not, they will most likely adopt subject banding.

Recess
- Currently, there are 3 stalls running in the canteen for the 2 levels.
- Queue is long but the children should still have time to eat.
- Children can go to the playground or the library during recess.
- Hopefully there will be more stalls opening next year.

I believe all schools are good schools.
There will be areas where the school excels and areas where they do not.
I guess most ALPS parents are happy with the school simply cos we know the children are happy there!

Good Luck to all parents out there for the P2C registration!