Choosing and Evaluating Primary Schools

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STGIL\" post_id=\"2017077\" time=\"1615256830\" user_id=\"162744:

sibling sch also quite popular, need balloting also. no 2CS options

There are definitely options for 2CS but probably not what you fancy.

Yio Chu Kang (Hougang, nearest to Rosyth) is definitely an option.
So is Fernvale (Sengkang, not far as the crow flies, but not near by land transport).

Given the terrible odds for Rosyth, as well as having to spilt and make the 5mins / 20mins journey everyday be it Phase 2C or 2CS, it makes most sense to just take the Phase 1 option.

If the kid is extraordinary, in P4 he / she can go to Rosyth also.

[coast]

STGIL\" post_id=\"2017074\" time=\"1615256334\" user_id=\"162744:

Need advice on matter on planning admission for No.2:

I have Phrase 1 admission for school in punggol but travel time is abt 15-20 mins.

Rosyth is within 1km or 5 mins away.

should i try for rosyth for balloting at 2C or maintain at Phrase 1?

The odds for a successful P2C ballot at Rosyth are too low (IIRC, 4 or 5 : 1). It is better to stick to your Phase 1 place.

You can wait list your children at Rosyth around Sep/Oct.

Primary schools have a class size of maximum 30 for P1 and P2. Unless there are parents who give up their confirmed places, it is unlikely there will be any vacancies until P3, where schools are allowed to have 30++ for each class.

For normal transfer (P3 and above), from my observation of popular primary schools, priority is usually given for students with very good academic and/or CCA achievements.

All the best.

[ResilienceLC]

Need advice on matter on planning admission for No.2:


I have Phrase 1 admission for school in punggol but travel time is abt 15-20 mins.

Rosyth is within 1km or 5 mins away.

should i try for rosyth for balloting at 2C or maintain at Phrase 1?


Better to go with Elder school.
- 15-20 min is not too bad.
- If u ballot for 2C at one of the most popular school around - and you cannot get it.
What will happen then ? where will you be posted ?

Is it worth the chance ?

Work hard at PSLE - get into a good enough Sec Sch - then JC / Uni - more important

[Brandon.041807yf.041807goh.041807gmail.041807com]

Hello Parents,


We have a mild-autistic boy and we are preparing for his primary school registration now. We have been sending him to Early Intervention Centre since he was 3-year old, and he has made a great improvement over the last 2 years. He seems to be no different from normal kids, except there are times he has difficulty in regulating his emotion. I and my wife are contemplating deciding whether to put him to mainstream primary or Pathlight. If he manages to get into Pathlight, we hope we can transfer him to a mainstream primary one or two years later.

We would like to seek your advice on the criteria of mainstream primary school in taking transferred student (from Pathlight). What are the chances of getting a vacancy at a primary school by Transfer vs Direct registration after pre-school (we belong to Phase 2C).

Thank you in advance. Have a great weekend.

[zac's mum]

[email protected]\" post_id=\"2017404\" time=\"1615538937\" user_id=\"152383:

Hello Parents,

We have a mild-autistic boy and we are preparing for his primary school registration now. We have been sending him to Early Intervention Centre since he was 3-year old, and he has made a great improvement over the last 2 years. He seems to be no different from normal kids, except there are times he has difficulty in regulating his emotion. I and my wife are contemplating deciding whether to put him to mainstream primary or Pathlight. If he manages to get into Pathlight, we hope we can transfer him to a mainstream primary one or two years later.

We would like to seek your advice on the criteria of mainstream primary school in taking transferred student (from Pathlight). What are the chances of getting a vacancy at a primary school by Transfer vs Direct registration after pre-school (we belong to Phase 2C).

Thank you in advance. Have a great weekend.

Hi, have a look at Pathlight’s website first. You will notice that their P1 enrollment starts as early as May 2021. If your son qualifies under these criteria below, just go ahead to apply and secure the place first. You can worry about 2C or transfer later:

https://www.pathlight.org.sg/admissions/admission-criteria

If he cannot get a place by the time 2C rolls around (still on waitlist or not approved) - then u can consider enrolling in a 2C school near your house. I know a child who tried mainstream school first, parent had to hire a shadow teacher to accompany the child during the lessons (guide the emotional regulation & following instructions aspect).

Child seems no different from other kids except maybe general maturity level like one year behind. Tried extremely hard to keep up but could not cope with the academic demands by P3, and transferred to Pathlight. Note the class size in mainstream school is 30, whereas in Pathlight is 14. I do not know about transferring the other way. Maybe u could talk to some Pathlight personnel to see what are the success stories of transfer.

[Brandon.041807yf.041807goh.041807gmail.041807com]

Dear Zac’s mum,


Thank you for your advice and sharing. As our boy is currently attending ARC, an associate school of Pathlight, we have been advised on the criteria and procedure for Pathlight registration. If we were given a choice of the following two options:

1) Put him to Pathlight and transfer to mainstream primary 1-2 years later.

2) Send him to mainstream primary directly.

our concern for option 1 is that it will be difficult to transfer him out from Pathlight to a decent mainstream primary.

Thank you again.

[zac's mum]

I suggest you make more enquiries with ARC or Pathlight about the academic curriculum that the Pathlight P1s will be doing. How different is it from the mainstream 4 subjects? That would give u a clue about how much gap the child will have to make up, in order to satisfy the mainstream school’s requirements. They are likely to look at exam grades (if any), or make him sit an entrance test.

[Hendon]

[email protected]\" post_id=\"2017433\" time=\"1615554100\" user_id=\"152383:

Dear Zac's mum,

Thank you for your advice and sharing. As our boy is currently attending ARC, an associate school of Pathlight, we have been advised on the criteria and procedure for Pathlight registration. If we were given a choice of the following two options:

1) Put him to Pathlight and transfer to mainstream primary 1-2 years later.

2) Send him to mainstream primary directly.

our concern for option 1 is that it will be difficult to transfer him out from Pathlight to a decent mainstream primary.

Thank you again.

I think the mainstream school you are thinking of matters. Visit the school or schools and see if they have had students transfer in from pathlight or in similar circumstances and how things developed for the student.

School culture matters and so do teachers in mainstream schools, and who do change over time. You will probably need to see some structure in place to help kids with special needs.

P3 is also more academically challenged than P1-2 these days, and your child is entering a new school environment with new classmates at the P3 level

[coast]

[email protected]\" post_id=\"2017433\" time=\"1615554100\" user_id=\"152383:

Dear Zac's mum,

Thank you for your advice and sharing. As our boy is currently attending ARC, an associate school of Pathlight, we have been advised on the criteria and procedure for Pathlight registration. If we were given a choice of the following two options:

1) Put him to Pathlight and transfer to mainstream primary 1-2 years later.

2) Send him to mainstream primary directly.

our concern for option 1 is that it will be difficult to transfer him out from Pathlight to a decent mainstream primary.

Thank you again.

IMHO, if the intention is to transfer to mainstream primary later, it may be better to start mainstream directly with close monitoring. Do check with Pathlight how easy or difficult it is to transfer from mainstream if he cannot cope in P1 or P2. MOE has removed exams for P1 & P2 so it is a good start for him to go to mainstream directly without too much academic stress at the beginning.

Also, MOE has early intervention programmes such as LSP (Learning Support Programme) conducted in small groups for students who need additional help with English, Maths or Mother Tongue.

Apart from your concern about difficulty to transfer him to mainstream for Option 1, if he joins later in P3, academic demands will be higher than P1 & P2 as they have to be prepared for exams and an additional subject (Science).

Hope it works out for your boy whichever path you choose. All the best.

[zac's mum]

I took a further look at Pathlight’s website. The kids do not take Mother Tongue lessons at all, [although they do seem to follow the mainstream syllabus for the other core subjects]. So that may be an issue when transferring to mainstream primary (I do not know whether u can apply for and obtain MT exemption from MOE on the sole basis of ASD).


The suggestion of enrolling into mainstream first & see whether he can cope - I’d be very careful to stay away from the so-called competitive schools. The academic pace there is far too fast & the P1 kids there likely have had years of tuition since N2 age.

Better to pick a 2C school that is compassionate towards special needs kids & has good allied educator support (you may still need to hire a shadow teacher out of your own pocket as the schools’ teachers usually aren’t trained in special needs). If u go straight for a school that is undersubscribed even in 2CS, likely the class size will be smaller too.

Personally I’d suggest a co-ed school. Boys schools tend to have bullies that pick on the weak or odd. Some neighborhood co-ed schools like Pei Ying, Zhonghua, Elias Park come to mind; they have been in the news as supportive of & inclusive with special needs:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/primary-1-students-behavioural-difficulties-transit-moe-14322192