[Jurong West] Primary Schools

[Sing]

ChiefKiasu:

phantom:

I spoke to this kindergarten principal and she told me that kids concentrate better in the afternoon. But, personally when I was young, I like morning session better because time pass quicker and you feel you have the whole day after school.

That's strange... because full-day childcare centres are notorious for making their kids sleep for a couple of hours after lunch everyday!

yup very strange!

[mrs nai]

:roll: Hi, pls advise which sch is better. We are staying at Jurong West near Pioneer Mall so I suppose Rulang is out (outside 2km).

[ChiefKiasu]

I would rate West Grove slightly higher just because they got a top 10 national PSLE scorer last year But really, they are both about the same. Since this is the case, you should visit both and see which one you have better vibes with.

[tamarind]

We have applied for West Grove Primary School as parent volunteers. Just had a session with the principal last Saturday. The parents of about 80 kids turned up. Actually the school has a new principal, this is her first year as a principal. She seems pretty nice and reasonable. I think perhaps there will be some changes under the new principal.


The principal mentioned that the students are grouped into HA, MA, LA meaning high/medium/low ability. They also have special programs to help students who have difficulty reading, parent volunteers are asked to help in this program.

Actually Jurong West Primary School is even closer. I went to visit the school before, somehow I did not have a good impression of the environment and the discipline of the students. This is just my personal opinion. I felt more comfortable with West Grove.

[tamarind]

For West Grove, you will need to ballot even if you are staying within 1-2 km. I remember last year it was about 300 students for 100 places.


That's why we applied to become parent volunteers at West Grove. According to the principal, last year all parent volunteers who completed 40 hours were able to get a place for their child.

Previously I heard that West Grove is also very academically driven, I believe no less than Rulang. But this year they have a new principal, she seems to be very nice lady. I wonder if there will be any changes.

I actually also don't want my kids to go to a school that only concentrates on academic results. But I want a school that has good teachers and good discipline, and there are not many choices in our area.

It is a fact that before entering primary 1, the child must already know how to read and write in sentences, in both English and Chinese. I heard a mommy whose son was in West Grove, and he only knew A,B,C in P1. The teacher is already teaching the children to write short essays in P1. So the mommy was told to withdraw the son and put him back to kindergarten instead

I believe not only West Grove, other primary schools also expect their students to be able to read and write well before entering P1. I did not send my kids to many enrichment classes. They are only attending one Chinese enrichment class (once a week 2 hours). I spend time after work to teach them myself. My 5 year old girl can read English books very well, while my 4 year old boy is also able to read simple books on his own.

I remember when I started primary 1 more than 30 years ago, teachers expect the kids to know nothing, and they started by teaching A,B,C. I don't think any primary school in Singapore has this kind of standard any more.

[lizawa]

not sure if all schools practise this. But as far as I know, P1 students will be tested on composition writing (English) during P1 exam. Not sure if SAP school students will be tested on Chinese compo writing in P1 though.

[tiredmum]

I didn’t know West Grove needs to do balloting too. I think there is no way we can be doing any volunteering work now.


Wow my god! My 5yr old son can’t really recognise many chinese words. He don’t even know ‘leg’ in mandarin. In fact, I did raise my concern with his current school chinese teacher but the teacher said he is doing fine for his age. He only have 1 lesson of chinese a week 30mins per session. I had enrolled him into the school extra chinese class twice a week one hour per session since Feb last yr. It doesn’t seem to help much either.

My son now can read and write english pretty okie. Its his chinese that I am worried. Just wondering, if he fail the subject can he move on to Primary 2?

Since the chances of West Grove is almost the same as Rulang, which other school is better Jurong West, Coporation or Boon Lay Gardens?

[tamarind]

My second choice will be Xingnan. I think last year it was 132 people balloting for 131 places or something like that, pretty high chance of getting in. That is my second choice because it is further, and also I think that area has a lot of mosquitoes. I brought my girl around that area(nearby coffeeshop) once and she got bitten very badly. I am a paranoid mommy :shock:


Jurong West also needs to ballot like West Grove, I think also 300 for 100 places. I visited the school but I did not have a good feeling about the school, but this is only my personal feeling. You should visit the school to see for yourself.

[mrs nai]

Thanks for the reply. My place is <1km from both West Grove & Jurong West Pri. I m a bit worried knowing that both schools were on ballot last year even for <1km.

[tiredmum]

May I know do they have school open house for us to visit the school or we can just pop into the school to visit the premise?


Maybe I should come back one weekday to check out all the primary schools and also student care.