[Bukit Timah] Primary Schools

[metz]

janet_lee88:

HI chamonix,

I agree with you.
BTPS has quite a lot of foreign students esp Indonesians. This group is generous with donations.

Hi Janet,
Many Indonesians? Hmm, not really sure about that. But for my son's P1 class this year, there seems to be a good mix of foreign kids.

[janet88]

Chamonix,

It's not true that Bukit Timah has many Indonesians ? A friend told me so leh. :?

I would like to see what's the take up rate for Phase 2A2 for Pei Hwa now. With half vacancies gone, it's going to be a tough fight for those in 2B and 2C.

[metz]

Yogini:

Many thanks, chamonix! Your info is really helpful!

Hi Yogini,

You are welcome. Based on distance, your best bet will be Keming since you are <1 km of the school in Phase 2C. But if you are adventurous enough, there's no harm trying for PH. You might be lucky in the balloting process, especially with the \"2 chances for Singaporeans as compared to 1 chance for PRs\" rule.

As for P2C supp, you can rule Keming out as the vacancies will be taken up by P2C. The school is surrounded by many HDBs, so it's unlikey there will be vacancies left after Phase 2C.

For BTPS, b'cos of its secluded location, there are usually about 60 or so vacancies left for P2C supp. Still quite a safe bet as a backup plan.

Good luck!

[metz]

Janet,


Actually my impression is there are more Koreans or Japanese around. If I’m not wrong, I think there are 2-3 in my son’s class alone. And during the session for parents last year, there were upper primary Korean pupils assigned to help the Korean parents with their forms etc. Which level is your friend in now? I understand there’s compulsory supplementary classes from P3 onwards, and kids are allowed to study another language (Malay, Chinese, Tamil) too.

For PH last year, the registrations under P2C got heated up only on the last day. So, Yogini, you might want to call the school on the last day of Phase 2C before registering your boy.

Was there any balloting for MGS last year? I thought there was none cos some withdrew last minute and the balloting process was called off. I might be wrong though.

[janet88]

chamonix:

Janet,


Actually my impression is there are more Koreans or Japanese around. If I'm not wrong, I think there are 2-3 in my son's class alone. And during the session for parents last year, there were upper primary Korean pupils assigned to help the Korean parents with their forms etc. Which level is your friend in now? I understand there's compulsory supplementary classes from P3 onwards, and kids are allowed to study another language (Malay, Chinese, Tamil) too.

For PH last year, the registrations under P2C got heated up only on the last day. So, Yogini, you might want to call the school on the last day of Phase 2C before registering your boy.

Was there any balloting for MGS last year? I thought there was none cos some withdrew last minute and the balloting process was called off. I might be wrong though.

I didn't know about Pei Hwa registration last year. It's only this year that I'm following because of curiosity (my daughter due for P1 registration this year and would have been in Pei Hwa until hubby decided to register her in my former school).

My friend is teaching in BTPS.

[teddy75]

janet_lee88:

Chamonix,

It's not true that Bukit Timah has many Indonesians ? A friend told me so leh. :?

I would like to see what's the take up rate for Phase 2A2 for Pei Hwa now. With half vacancies gone, it's going to be a tough fight for those in 2B and 2C.

I wonder what does MOE based on to reduce PHPS vacancies by 8.3% from last year's 360 to 330 this year ? Or is the decision made by the school itself ? Monkey year (2004) birthrate slight tapering off at 37,174 from Goat year (2003) of 37,485 ? My personal opinion that 0.83% is not large enough to justify it ..... or maybe a survey of their existing population ?? Is there such a thing ? Can anyone share ?

.... I really really hope that this is all a bad dream and an \"Honest Mistake\" that 175 is actually for NYPS and 111 is actually for PHPS (yearly avg 150 minus 30 dropped ?) since they are both one line entry away from each other in the MOE table.....

If not, the foregone conclusion for PHPS 2C balloting would be a ThunderBolt HOT contest for those <1km ....out of the Blue ! .... :!:

praying for all concerned and including myself.... (2012 registration, <1km)

[metz]

janet_lee88:

I didn't know about Pei Hwa registration last year. It's only this year that I'm following because of curiosity (my daughter due for P1 registration this year and would have been in Pei Hwa until hubby decided to register her in my former school).

My friend is teaching in BTPS.

Mine was just last year, so my memory is still kind of fresh. When I called up about the enrolment on the 2nd day of Phase 2C last year, I was told to go down and register (though I didn't), even though I was >2km.

This year will be a breeze for you. No more heart thumping moments. For me, I'll be going through the motion again next year. But I suppose it should be pretty smooth since we are targetting CHIJ (OLQP) which is <1km from our address.

Since your friend is a teacher in the school, she should have more info than me. For me, it's just based on pure observation. Donations? During my son's stay in the school, there has never been any requests for donations. Is that common in BTPS?

[metz]

teddy75:

I wonder what does MOE based on to reduce PHPS vacancies by 8.3% from last year's 360 to 330 this year ? Or is the decision made by the school itself ? Monkey year (2004) birthrate slight tapering off at 37,174 from Goat year (2003) of 37,485 ? My personal opinion that 0.83% is not large enough to justify it ..... or maybe a survey of their existing population ?? Is there such a thing ? Can anyone share ?

Most primary schools are moving towards single sessions slowly. PH is a partial single session school currently, so more cuts in classes may be expected over the next few years. The same scenario happened to BPPS too. There were 2 fewer classes for P1 registration last year. Not sure if there's any more cuts in classes this year though.

[teddy75]

chamonix:

teddy75:

I wonder what does MOE based on to reduce PHPS vacancies by 8.3% from last year's 360 to 330 this year ? Or is the decision made by the school itself ? Monkey year (2004) birthrate slight tapering off at 37,174 from Goat year (2003) of 37,485 ? My personal opinion that 0.83% is not large enough to justify it ..... or maybe a survey of their existing population ?? Is there such a thing ? Can anyone share ?

Most primary schools are moving towards single sessions slowly. PH is a partial single session school currently, so more cuts in classes may be expected over the next few years. The same scenario happened to BPPS too. There were 2 fewer classes for P1 registration last year. Not sure if there's any more cuts in classes this year though.

Thank you for your enlightenment...

BPPS was 240 last yr and increased to 270 this year instead.... maybe there is demand there and they have reacted to upgrade their facilities to allow this... let's hope PHPS will do the same too....

[metz]

teddy75:

BPPS was 240 last yr and increased to 270 this year instead....

That's certainly good news for those living around BPPS. My friend had a roller-coaster time registering her kid last year. There was only 50% chance for her even though she was staying steps away from the school. Fortunately she got a seat in the school.