St James Church Kindergarten

[lifeasglim]

Smritis:

Hello everyone,

I am considering SJCK for my 4 year old boy to start K1 in 2019 in their Gilstead campus. I am looking for feedback from parents who have their children currently in the school or have recently graduated from this campus. Below are a few queries i have about the school but feel free to share any other feedback you may have.
1) Is the child P1 ready at the end of K2 by just attending regular school program and the enrichment classes? Or as additional classes outside of school required.
2) How experienced are the teachers?
3) Someone mentioned the teachers are usually exhausted and low on energy for the second session. Is this true? As I will be enrolling him for the second session. Is the same teacher teaching both sessions in the same day?
4) If you do send your kids for enrichment classes outside of the school - what subjects or type of classes are sending them to.
5) How is the school holiday programs?
6) If the teachers do not give regular feedback - how do you know how your child is doing especially in K1 and K2.
7) Are the teachers in general warm and friendly and easy to talk to?
Is the Mandarin and English curriculum sufficient or are extra classes required?

I'd appreciate advise on any of the above queries.

Thank you very much.

Hello Smritis,

My child is in N2 and will be K1 next year at Gilstead. Here are some of my experiences so far - hope it helps.

2) How experienced are the teachers? - so far in our two years, my child have had both young and experienced (meaning more than 10-15 years of teaching experience)
3) Someone mentioned the teachers are usually exhausted and low on energy for the second session. Is this true? As I will be enrolling him for the second session. Is the same teacher teaching both sessions in the same day? - my child has been in session 2 all along. On the days when I send my child to school, I find the energy of the teachers alright but I can't compare as I have no experience with the AM session.
6) If the teachers do not give regular feedback - how do you know how your child is doing especially in K1 and K2. - you can arrange for the teacher to call you and you can speak with them. Usually if I meet them when dropping off my child, they will just tell my briefly how the kid is doing. Every half a year, there is an app where you can see their progress. So far this for for nursery experience.
7) Are the teachers in general warm and friendly and easy to talk to? - For me, the teachers have all been great and warm. When I engage them, I dont get the impression that they are trying to cut short the conversation.

[Patronsaint]

Hi guys - does anyone know what PSLE prep is like for St James? thanks

[jadebean]

My DS is with St James Gilstead. One thing to note is the traffic around Gilstead is very horrible and the residents are not tolerant of parents slowing down their traffic flow. Hence, the principal keeps on reminding the parents to drop off their kids and not park in the school compound. The reminders get so often, and it can be irritating at times. If u are not sending in by sch bus n choose to pick up ur kid urself it can be a real issue. There’s no nearby public carpark for you and it can be a real far walk in.


Sch bus also has its issues. Even if u don’t stay very far from sch, the driver may pick u up at an earlier time than necessary. For eg if i send my kid to sch, 30 min is enough to beat the morning jam. But a sch bus will come to fetch ur kid at least 1 hour in advance because there r too many kids to pick up along the way. Plus they do not routinely check the students temperature on boarding the bus (my own observation). You can figure out the pros and cons yourself.

Last but not least, they change and update their uniform from pre-nursery to nursery. So after 1 year you need to buy another set of uniforms (because it’s a different style). There are a lot of miscellaneous fees involved. Not a school for the average Joe or low income family - just my humble opinion.

[Skyeth]

Does anyone know if there is a parents’ chat group for Gilstead K1 2019?

[lifeasglim]

Hi Skyeth, not that I know of but usually the parents will form their own class chat groupwhen sch starts.

[Sarah1]

Hi. We are moving to Bukit Timah area and upon searching on the internet I found a few preschools which are affordable and with a proper school culture. St. James is one of them.

I have 2 girls, so what do you guys suggest? Or any other schools?
Apart from that, is it possible to buy a spot for st. James gilstead or leedon from someone? I get the idea from this thread. I’m looking for N2 and K2 classes from Jan 2020. Thanks.

[sansanjs]

Just want to check if st James has separate little girls and boys bathroom? Or boys and girls use the same bathroom at the same time?

[Fijkd]

Please do not send your kid to St James just because of the popularity of the school. It has grown too big and lacks thinking and human touch. Feedbacks were NEVER considered. Class sizes were enormous. To explain for the teachers lack of control over the children, the school kept using the same old excuse that it is for the kids to learn independence. My kid was there for 3 years. Not only he is far behind academically, he is also bad in self help skills. With such an huge class size, the kids were often left on their own. The kids played with pee and water in the toilets. And conflicts between classmates were unresolved and kids quarrel often. Parents also have their fair share of conflict with the school admin team. The school have simply grown too big and the admin have a take it or leave it attitude. Very often, we heard parents getting anxious after hearing the school has a super long waitlist. However, over the years, we also heard that parents who register in Dec can still get a place in Jan. Don’t be fooled. The school is just playing with psychology to lure more interest.

[Coulson]

I read with concern about "kids played with pee and water in the toilets". Which St. James are you talking about? I hear that there are three locations. And is this a recent incident or it happened many years ago?

[silverdusk]

I agree that you should not send your kid to St James just because of the popularity; but do send them because of the moral values they teach and for the caring teachers.


I do not think the school is playing with psychology (logically what would be in it for them then?) as the truth is, it depends which branch and which school year you want to register your child into. I can site further example like from my friend who managed to register her daughter last month, for next year Nursery year at Gilstead but was told the wait list at Leedon is 28 children.

Class size gets big in K2 year (2 teachers for 30 students) but isn't that the same for P1? Hence they have no issues transiting to primary school. For my child in Nursery year, class is 18 students for 2 teachers.

I am sure there are some teething issues with St. James branching out to Little Seeds preschools but that is exactly the feedbacks getting considered as there has been many parents including myself asking for a full day preschool service.
Also there has been some dissatisfaction in quality of year-end class photos taken this year so the school has taken the feedback quickly and a reshoot is taking place this week.

I have a child who graduated from St. James and is in primary school who is completely fine academically, in self help skills and independence. My other two children currently in St. James are the same.
St. James does not focus on academics as much as say, Brighton Montessori and MindChamps but what they teach I feel is more focused on habits, values and manners. So if those are what parents pursue for their children then St. James would be a great place to go to.

Fijkd\" post_id=\"1940087\" time=\"1570412645\" user_id=\"149146:

Please do not send your kid to St James just because of the popularity of the school. It has grown too big and lacks thinking and human touch. Feedbacks were NEVER considered. Class sizes were enormous. To explain for the teachers lack of control over the children, the school kept using the same old excuse that it is for the kids to learn independence. My kid was there for 3 years. Not only he is far behind academically, he is also bad in self help skills. With such an huge class size, the kids were often left on their own. The kids played with pee and water in the toilets. And conflicts between classmates were unresolved and kids quarrel often. Parents also have their fair share of conflict with the school admin team. The school have simply grown too big and the admin have a take it or leave it attitude. Very often, we heard parents getting anxious after hearing the school has a super long waitlist. However, over the years, we also heard that parents who register in Dec can still get a place in Jan. Don’t be fooled. The school is just playing with psychology to lure more interest.