Ai Tong

[exhaustedmum]

The new P seems quite quiet and low profile… not much communication with parents. Many experienced teachers had left or are leaving ATS… its quite a worrying sign.

[exhaustedmum]

The new P seems quite quiet and low profile… not much communication with parents. Many experienced teachers had left or are leaving ATS… its quite a worrying sign.

[stardust25]

exhaustedmum:

The new P seems quite quiet and low profile..... not much communication with parents. Many experienced teachers had left or are leaving ATS..... its quite a worrying sign.

Hi exhausted mum,

Why do you say the new P is low profile? Heard her speak at a recent event and had the impression that she's the down to earth, quiet type. But she does have pretty good credentials - was VP at Radin Mas and seem to have run Park View well.

Am just surprised that the school compound looks rather run down e.g. a few damaged facilities etc when the campus is supposed to be rather new.

My DH is an old boy and alumni so we are likely to send our gal there starting next year, but distance is an issue. We are at Redhill. I do not drive and picking her up from school will be a challenge. Heard the bus company does not operate any routes to Redhill. Can any parents help advise?

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the while to make the gal travel so far too....sigh....

[floppy]

stardust25:

My DH is an old boy and alumni so we are likely to send our gal there starting next year, but distance is an issue. We are at Redhill. I do not drive and picking her up from school will be a challenge. Heard the bus company does not operate any routes to Redhill. Can any parents help advise?

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the while to make the gal travel so far too....sigh....

Redhill and don't drive?
My advice would be to seriously reconsider as it's gonna be 6 long years.
You can choose to shift house or buy a car.

[stardust25]

floppy:

stardust25:

My DH is an old boy and alumni so we are likely to send our gal there starting next year, but distance is an issue. We are at Redhill. I do not drive and picking her up from school will be a challenge. Heard the bus company does not operate any routes to Redhill. Can any parents help advise?

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the while to make the gal travel so far too....sigh....

Redhill and don't drive?
My advice would be to seriously reconsider as it's gonna be 6 long years.
You can choose to shift house or buy a car.

Maybe I should be clearer. We have a car BUT I do not drive. Mornings will not be an issue since hubby can send but pick ups will be. Hence my qn on the bus arrangements.
Indeed the distance is a concern but it is an almost guaranteed place in Ai Tong versus guaranteed balloting in ONE nearby school within 1 km of my house. The rest are all 2km or beyond and all confirm ballot under Phase 2C. I have a serious dilemma here. The only saving grace is the MRT station is supposedly going to be up in 2 years' time.

[floppy]

You will have to http://aitong.moe.edu.sg/school-information/bus for the bus arrangement. Alternatively, you can look into those ride sharing arrangement.


Caldecott and Bright Hill station will only open in Stage 2 (in 2020). You will probably have to work out a solution for the interim. Even then, I don't think the train will cut down the travelling time significantly.

[phtthp]

stardust25:

My DH is an old boy and alumni so we are likely to send our gal there starting next year, but distance is an issue. We are at Redhill. I do not drive and picking her up from school will be a challenge. Heard the bus company does not operate any routes to Redhill. Can any parents help advise?

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the while to make the gal travel so far too....sigh....

u can overcome your dilemma by -

rent a house closer to Ai Tong school, and in turn rent out your Redhill house for rental income, to tide over the period of time, until the next new MRT line is ready for operation, at Redhill nearby yr house.

In short, you use the rental income collected from your Redhill house, to help to pay or offset the rental of another house located much nearer to Ai Tong : to save on school bus Transport costs, as well as to minimize the time travelling to and fro, from the school.
Besides, being located much nearer to Ai Tong school now, there shouldn't be school bus issue Transport.

This is a strategy implemented by some parents, who stay far away from a popular school, yet want their kid to study in the school.

Or

at end of P2 -
use your kid's (Cca + results), to transfer your kid out of Ai Tong, into another school much nearer your current house location.

Coming from Ai Tong SAP school : should be easier to transfer him out to a school in Redhill neighbourhood, than the other way round (ie. students seeking transfer INTO Ai Tong)

at end of P2 and at end of P3 -
a lot of transfer movement(s), both going in and out of Ai Tong

out of Ai Tong movement arise -
because there are some parents here : who prefer to opt for schools with affliation, or for Gep schools, come end of P2 / P3 / P4

[jetsetter]

stardust25:

floppy:

[quote=\"stardust25\"]

My DH is an old boy and alumni so we are likely to send our gal there starting next year, but distance is an issue. We are at Redhill. I do not drive and picking her up from school will be a challenge. Heard the bus company does not operate any routes to Redhill. Can any parents help advise?

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the while to make the gal travel so far too....sigh....

Redhill and don't drive?
My advice would be to seriously reconsider as it's gonna be 6 long years.
You can choose to shift house or buy a car.

Maybe I should be clearer. We have a car BUT I do not drive. Mornings will not be an issue since hubby can send but pick ups will be. Hence my qn on the bus arrangements.
Indeed the distance is a concern but it is an almost guaranteed place in Ai Tong versus guaranteed balloting in ONE nearby school within 1 km of my house. The rest are all 2km or beyond and all confirm ballot under Phase 2C. I have a serious dilemma here. The only saving grace is the MRT station is supposedly going to be up in 2 years' time.[/quote]Well, just stick to ATS if the one nearby is not guaranteed. Transfer in P3?

Mind the late lunch hour!
I can imagine your dc will take her lunch at 3pm, depending on how fast she reaches home daily.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/parents-fret-over-pupils-late-lunches-despite-snack-breaks

[stardust25]

Thanks all for the valuable perspectives and insights, most useful. Chiefly I am also wondering how good ATS may be to merit the long distance. My hubby felt he benefited from the values imparted during his pri school days (though I find him more kantang)..but that would have been more than 20 plus years ago. How is ATS like now? In what sense is it a good school? My own impression from attending a more Chinese-oriented JC is that generally students are more down to earth and reserved but given that my gal is rather shy, I wonder if going to a school steeped in Chinese culture may actually not be the most beneficial.

[6musketeers]

stardust25:

Thanks all for the valuable perspectives and insights, most useful. Chiefly I am also wondering how good ATS may be to merit the long distance. My hubby felt he benefited from the values imparted during his pri school days (though I find him more kantang)..but that would have been more than 20 plus years ago. How is ATS like now? In what sense is it a good school? My own impression from attending a more Chinese-oriented JC is that generally students are more down to earth and reserved but given that my gal is rather shy, I wonder if going to a school steeped in Chinese culture may actually not be the most beneficial.

I'm thinking along the same line - how good is ATS to merit the distance? My hb is an old boy but he didnt quite benefit from the SAP primary school background, also more of a kantang type. My own impression of attending a SAP secondary school is that my rather kantang boy may not really enjoy the chinese culture and I'm truly worried about HCL for him.

Our situation:
Ai Tong - 5km away
Rosyth - 900m away
Is it a huge risk to give up 2A1 priority at ATS and go for 2C at Rosyth?

The kids are studying in a catholic kindy now and we like the teachings very much. Hence also exploring the option to send them to missionary primary schools. But we are not catholics. My hb is a baptised christian without denomination. Will that qualify under 2B for schools like SJI/St Gab, ACSJ or St Andrew's? All these are beyond 2km for us.