[Toa Payoh] Primary Schools

[feliciathng]

I stay in Ang Mo kio. My 1st choice is Anderson Primary school. 2nd choice is Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School.

I had already go for SD for my mother in law address. My son is taking care by her.

[Tulip]

feliciathng:

I stay in Ang Mo kio. My 1st choice is Anderson Primary school. 2nd choice is Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School.

I had already go for SD for my mother in law address. My son is taking care by her.

Which part of AMK are you? The SD to use your MIL addr. would not give you much advantage in terms of distance priority. I know certain parts of AMK is 1-2km from KCPPS, but that will prob. give you the chance to get in the ballot only.

Are you with 1km of Anderson? I think Anderson should be a \"better\" school than KCPPS.

[bigfoot]

Namie:

While people may think that Chinese is important, I will see if my child is the \"chinese\" material. I was from a mission school and during then, lots of my classmates struggled with Chinese as a 2nd language. They scored straight A1s except for Chinese where C6 was a miracle. In the end, they couldn't go to JC because lots of them failed Chinese. Lucky for them, their very wealthy parents sent them to States and Canada for studies and they are all professionals now (eg directors, dentists, doctors). So, I'll see if my son is the type who can handle higher chinese. If he is not apt in it, Maris Stella however a good school it is, may be his downfall.

I agree. So parents should consider this carefully. But not all students from mission school will do badly in chinese. I taught in a mission school before and the percentage pass and percentage distinction surpassed some of the traditional \"cheena\" schools. I think the notion that mission school students will not do well in chinese is no longer true. Nowadays most families choose to speak english at home. And I personally feel that exposure to chinese in a SAP school setting may not necessary be a bad thing. Just remember not to give your child too much pressure. Learning should be fun. In a school, it is the teacher that makes the difference, NOT the curriculum. The school can have a wonderful curriculum, but if the teacher delivering it is not good, then the students interest will drop.

So it all boils down to your understanding of your own child's interest and ability. Choose carefully and good luck to all.

[janet88]

Hi Breadandmuffins,

I was from IJ school. All of my classmates then speak in English. Nobody speaks Mandarin.

My son is a SAP school and daughter going to IJ school. Like yourself, I was rather confused where to register my daughter. Hubby convinced me that sending daughter to IJ school will lessen one headache as there is an affiliated sec school.
In terms of language, my daughter is better than my son. By sending son to a SAP school, we realized now that it is not easy to maintain his average result. But then he is happy in his school.
Although I foresee my daughter will not be speaking much Mandarin in IJ, I still hope she will do well and do not dislike Mandarin. It’s her Mother Tongue after all, and an asset to have.

[jellybelly]

Hi, we live in Marine Parade, are both working in/closer to town, are thinking of sending our boy to MS next year and have a couple of questions we hope the more informed, experienced parents here can help us with:


1) Can anyone comment on the traffic conditions around Maris Stella and the KPE traffic in the mornings and evenings going towards the school?

2) Is there a bus operator that sends/will send any boys to town after school?

Thanks in advance!

[elijah2005]

Based on the votes submitted, Marymount Convent only garnered 6% of the votes for preferred school in Toa Payoh. Is this because of its location? or because it has no affiliation?

[toffeev]

Hi, depending on the time that I send my boy to Maris Stella, we usually take about 5 mins to Q (from outside the Bartley Station) to drive into the school for drop-off. Their drop-off (non-raining days) is about 6 cars at a time. The traffic there gets quite bad after 7.15am. My friend living in the east have told me that it takes about 10-15mins to reach MS via the new expressway.


Not too sure about the school buses.

Initially, when I was considering which schools for my boy, I was also worried about Maris Stella being a SAP school & coping with higher chinese (we are an English speaking family). But now that he’s already half way through P1, it doesn’t seem that bad. The school does provide support for weaker students. They have remedial (which I think is the LSP), Chinese reading club in the morning, etc. That said, of course, parents support at home is also crucial.

Things to consider for Maris Stella (From what I know): -
1)SAP school (higher Chinese)
2)Affilation to Sec and Sec to JC (last year the Sec had 99.2% going to JC/Poly)
3)Right next to Bartley Station
4)Strict discipline
5)Full school so year end holidays are earlier (end Oct)
6)Academic wise - I feel that its quite fast pace. They have SA1, CA2 and SA2 for P1s, so HW, tests, quiz, etc are a given (otherwise the boys won’t be able to know their work).
7)P1-P3 have their food for recess in their respective classes (catered or home packed)
8)Single session

hth

[jellybelly]

Thanks very much, toffeev. That was very helpful and assuring.


Hope there’s a school bus that goes to town else it’ll be another mad dash to the childcare near the school in the evenings…

[ghostz]

elijah2005:

Based on the votes submitted, Marymount Convent only garnered 6% of the votes for preferred school in Toa Payoh. Is this because of its location? or because it has no affiliation?

Hard to say. Marymount is not my top choice as it is only a 6-year education path. Compared with the other Catholic schools like IJ which are a 12-year education path i.e primary-sec-JC.

[janet88]

elijah2005:

Based on the votes submitted, Marymount Convent only garnered 6% of the votes for preferred school in Toa Payoh. Is this because of its location? or because it has no affiliation?

Did Marymount ever have an affiliated sec school ? I remember how stringent they were back then. My mum wanted to put me there and because we are not Catholics, and also the school was using Higher Chinese, my mum decided not not register me there.