Choosing and Evaluating Primary Schools
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mummyvolk\" post_id=\"2028177\" time=\"1624757522\" user_id=\"192657:
U can choose to find another kindergarten nearer the primary school. The advantage is your child will make new friends, who are potentially future P1 schoolmates.
hmm, but moving in earlier will mean that we are moving away from our two kids schooling, so we need to send them to and fro from their current kindergarten and child care when we in during that uncertain period. How do you cope during all these uncertainty period?
If you choose to stick with the old kindergarten, then you have to settle the transport. Some parents choose to make the drive for the ~6 month period till K2 graduation.
I guess you have to weigh how important it is to you, to get your kids into that primary school. It affects the whole family, so discuss thoroughly with your spouse. -
wow OMG it really takes a lot of planning, organising and coordination for the change! Did anyone went through that? Please share your experience!
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mummyvolk\" post_id=\"2028180\" time=\"1624759034\" user_id=\"192657:
wow OMG it really takes a lot of planning, organising and coordination for the change! Did anyone went through that? Please share your experience!
Yes mummyvolk tonnes of planning involved. Currently, I am in a quite but not exactly similar situation as yours. But when the time comes, I will most likely bite the bullet, tahan the logistic and finish off the last 6 mths preschool journey without moving school. -
Touch_me_not\" post_id=\"2028185\" time=\"1624761449\" user_id=\"187786:
Can share with me what are your plans? Is the new location far like more than 5 MRT stops away (as a gauge)? You are renting a studio one room apartment first, then rent out your current house later? And also consider moving again to a bigger place if balloting is successful? Any family help? Your spouse is in it all the way with you?mummyvolk\" post_id=\"2028180\" time=\"1624759034\" user_id=\"192657:
wow OMG it really takes a lot of planning, organising and coordination for the change! Did anyone went through that? Please share your experience!
Yes mummyvolk tonnes of planning involved. Currently, I am in a quite but not exactly similar situation as yours. But when the time comes, I will most likely bite the bullet, tahan the logistic and finish off the last 6 mths preschool journey without moving school. -
Hi mummyvolk,
My hubby has left the entire planning to me and he'll just support us (within reason). The primary school we have in mind is about 7-8 MRT stops away from current preschool. As there is no guarantee to get in, plan is to rent a new place that allows break lease policy, but will not rent out current place and leaving it empty first, so we could have more flexibility if things were to fail.
By one room studio, you mean a whole apt to yourself? Or rent one room inside a 2/3/4 bedroom condo? If the former, I believe not all areas near schools happen to have studio for rent, so if you go that route, need to do early research. If the latter, then I feel is quite risky and not worth. How far along in planning and how firm are you in your school choice now?mummyvolk\" post_id=\"2028192\" time=\"1624764313\" user_id=\"192657:
Can share with me what are your plans? Is the new location far like more than 5 MRT stops away (as a gauge)? You are renting a studio one room apartment first, then rent out your current house later? And also consider moving again to a bigger place if balloting is successful? Any family help? Your spouse is in it all the way with you?[/quote]Touch_me_not\" post_id=\"2028185\" time=\"1624761449\" user_id=\"187786:
[quote=mummyvolk post_id=2028180 time=1624759034 user_id=192657]wow OMG it really takes a lot of planning, organising and coordination for the change! Did anyone went through that? Please share your experience!
Yes mummyvolk tonnes of planning involved. Currently, I am in a quite but not exactly similar situation as yours. But when the time comes, I will most likely bite the bullet, tahan the logistic and finish off the last 6 mths preschool journey without moving school. -
mummyvolk\" post_id=\"2028180\" time=\"1624759034\" user_id=\"192657:
This is a high-risk ‘game’ and frankly speaking, not for the faint hearted.
wow OMG it really takes a lot of planning, organising and coordination for the change! Did anyone went through that? Please share your experience!
IMHO Renting / shifting house for a chance to ballot, especially for Phase 2C, is unwise. The cost and time involved can be extremely high, and in many cases, it’s a all-or-nothing shot. The worst case scenario is after all that effort to get into the school, you realize that the most suitable school could just be next to your old place. -
anyone has advice to go for which primary school? i m deciding btw admiralty and canberra. both are convenient. my hubby is able to qualify as ex student for canberra but we also kiasu to have done PV for admiralty. wat do u guys advise?
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Hi Touch-me-not,
Pondering over a one room unit or at most 2 room unit first, then if really successful, then may terminate early and then move to a more suitable living space. Don’t think renting just a room will work. With that it will cost monthly outlay of $2-$4k already per month. Only if things work out then will rent out current hse to offset the cost. Well, may purchase even since my second kid will follow the elder one and it will be a good 7 years or so. Looks like your new location is quite far from the current pre school. It will take a toll on travelling esp morning peak hours! So you are 100% in it?
Hi Floppy
The thing is, we can’t be certain which school is most “suitable” and we don’t have the luxury to be able to try out many schools. i guess i base my judgement on choosing the school by studying at the school MOE kindergarten so that my elder one experience the environment, asking her if she wants to go to the primary school next door and she said no, browsing the website for the school we “think” is good for her, and she said she wants to go. yeah asking kids what they want is never going to give you comfort that it is constant.
That’s why I am really pondering how much sacrifices we as parents have to do for going all out. Hope parents who have gone through the journey could share their knowledge and experiences so that we are aware of the pitfalls if possible! -
mummyvolk\" post_id=\"2028237\" time=\"1624803674\" user_id=\"192657:
If you are going to go down this route, there are definitely many things that you will need to plan for.
Hi Touch-me-not,
Pondering over a one room unit or at most 2 room unit first, then if really successful, then may terminate early and then move to a more suitable living space. Don’t think renting just a room will work. With that it will cost monthly outlay of $2-$4k already per month. Only if things work out then will rent out current hse to offset the cost. Well, may purchase even since my second kid will follow the elder one and it will be a good 7 years or so. Looks like your new location is quite far from the current pre school. It will take a toll on travelling esp morning peak hours! So you are 100% in it?
Hi Floppy
The thing is, we can’t be certain which school is most “suitable” and we don’t have the luxury to be able to try out many schools. i guess i base my judgement on choosing the school by studying at the school MOE kindergarten so that my elder one experience the environment, asking her if she wants to go to the primary school next door and she said no, browsing the website for the school we “think” is good for her, and she said she wants to go. yeah asking kids what they want is never going to give you comfort that it is constant.
That’s why I am really pondering how much sacrifices we as parents have to do for going all out. Hope parents who have gone through the journey could share their knowledge and experiences so that we are aware of the pitfalls if possible!
Besides suitable location, lease and contractual agreements, you will also need to plan for Plan B if ballot fails. What are the other options available?
If you are thinking of alternatives around your current place, if available, you will need to do a quick turn around of updating your address (at least in your NRIC). If you are in one of those newer towns, you will probably have a number of options but not necessarily better than your current MK. Otherwise, you will have to look for another school near your rental place. It may end up not being a choice of shift-if-balloting-successful, you may also need to change even if unsuccessful.
One option that you can consider is to enroll in Phase 2A2 of the MK affiliated primary school or in one of your alma mater. Given that the MK is supposedly in one of the newer primary schools, your rental / new address, even if it’s > 2km, should still be safe for Phase 2A2. After that, wait for Phase 2C and look at the odds of balloting. While we can estimate based on historical data, no one can be certain until the numbers are in. You should have a target in mind, whether the odds is an acceptable risk that you are willing to take. TBH, when one is not looking at hypothetical and at actual odds / risks, you will end up in a very different frame of mind. Notwithstanding, if you still want to go for it, you can withdraw from your Phase 2A2 school and re-register in Phase 2C. Unfortunately, if it goes tits-up, you will have to implement your back up of another school. -
mummyvolk\" post_id=\"2028237\" time=\"1624803674\" user_id=\"192657:
We shifted for our kids schools, only difference is we bought a place instead of rent. We had 3 schools in mind which I can register under 2b. 2 of them are sure in, the 3rd choice got to ballot. We eliminated the latter as we cannot imagine being stuck with the property for at least 3-5 years if ballot fails. We are now left with 2 choices, which are both boys schs. As we have a younger girl, we’ve decided to go with the one which has an all girls school nearby. Both kids, or rather the younger one is still attending the same childcare ever since we shifted 3 years ago. Distance is pretty far but as we drive, we’ve decided not to affect the kids with our decision to shift house
Hi Touch-me-not,
Pondering over a one room unit or at most 2 room unit first, then if really successful, then may terminate early and then move to a more suitable living space. Don’t think renting just a room will work. With that it will cost monthly outlay of $2-$4k already per month. Only if things work out then will rent out current hse to offset the cost. Well, may purchase even since my second kid will follow the elder one and it will be a good 7 years or so. Looks like your new location is quite far from the current pre school. It will take a toll on travelling esp morning peak hours! So you are 100% in it?
Hi Floppy
The thing is, we can’t be certain which school is most “suitable” and we don’t have the luxury to be able to try out many schools. i guess i base my judgement on choosing the school by studying at the school MOE kindergarten so that my elder one experience the environment, asking her if she wants to go to the primary school next door and she said no, browsing the website for the school we “think” is good for her, and she said she wants to go. yeah asking kids what they want is never going to give you comfort that it is constant.
That’s why I am really pondering how much sacrifices we as parents have to do for going all out. Hope parents who have gone through the journey could share their knowledge and experiences so that we are aware of the pitfalls if possible!
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