Lorna Whiston Pre School
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kerosupichan:
Beside the above 'fundamental' point. Any other thing different or unique different from other CC? If not, it does not make sense to put yr kid in such an expensive Childcare where you can find all this basic requirement in other childcare.Hi,
My girl is currently at Lorna Whiston (Alexandra). She has been in school for more than half a year.
My personal experience with the school has been overwhelmingly positive. I love the teachers and the principal. The teachers are truly caring (especially my girl's chinese teacher) and the principal is strict but warm and very knowledgeable and experienced.
My girl enjoys school very much. I admit that she has always been a difficult child but the school teachers have been very patient with her. Now, my girl loves her teachers!
Even the taking of school bus has been a good learning experience for her. Uncle Lee has been so friendly and accomodative (he is positiviely one of the friendliest school bus uncles around!) Her friends in the bus make it a point to welcome my girl. There is even a school-mate in the bus who will hold my girl's hand and comfort her when my girl first attended school.
All in all, I love the school. Except for the fees, there is really nothing much I can complain about.
Unless yr objective is to let yr kid socialise with the 'rich' kid, i do not see any plus point of putting the kids in there. -
Hi, happydaddy,
Hmm… For me, my first and foremost criterion in the selection of a school for my child is the quality of the teachers.
I believe a good teacher makes a world of difference in education… You can tell when a teacher teaches from heart versus one who merely executes.
And children are very sensitive. They, too, know when a teacher truly puts in an effort to reach out to them.
For me, my wish is very simple. I only want my child to enjoy the process of learning. To be honest, I have visited a number of schools and didn’t see dedicated teachers in all the schools. -
Hi Lhy686, nice to see you here at this thread
May I know if the fees are before or after subsidy?
Is transport provided?
What is their teacher:student ratio btw? -
Partyof5:
Hihi Partyof5,Hi Lhy686, nice to see you here at this thread
May I know if the fees are before or after subsidy?
Is transport provided?
What is their teacher:student ratio btw?
Hee! nice to see u here too!
The fees for full day after subsidy is $1294.
They do have transport services i guess, but i didn't enquire about that coz we're just staying opposite the ECP, so don't need transport.
Teachers : students ratio will be according to the guideline stipulated by MCYS
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Partyof5:
Have visited the school n quite like the environment, it definitely spacious... and also they will be building a private school playground downstairs.. as for school bus they do have but have to call up to ask for the driver's contact, like my case i ask before that for half day morning to n fro eunos n EC will be like 400.. So all in all, itz kinda ex and i m still considering whether to put him in tat school or not le... in fact i thought my DH can drive him to school in the morning and maybe my mom or I can take cab to bring him back in the afternoon...Hi Lhy686, nice to see you here at this thread
May I know if the fees are before or after subsidy?
Is transport provided?
What is their teacher:student ratio btw?
their teacher:student ratio is 2:12 so is 1:6
as for now it is so new and i really dunnoe whether should I put him there, wat if the school couldnt sustain due to the lack of students becoz before LW it was cherie hearts which only operate for like half yr plus and closed down... -
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onionchief:
The CC are not alone. Everywhere shortage of english teacher... as long as the curriculum is good, any teacher teach is ok.My son goes to the playgroup at LWPS ( Alexander ). My daughter was at St James and she will be attending K1 at LWPS next year. St James is undoubtedly the best pre-school in Singapore. However I needed a full day program and I am quite encouraged by the teacher's dedication as another parent has indicated and their creative curriculum for the younger tots. Some pros and cons
Pros:
1) Art and craft are highly inventive, fun and extremely creative
2) Their scrapbooks and projects even for playgroup is very impressive. The teachers have to help the child put them together
3) Starting from 2011, they will incorporate enrichment classes like speech and drama from LW centers to the pre-schools so this helps me justify the higher fees next year.
4) I like the food menu. It includes whole milk, a variety of fruits and meats. They also try to bake their own cakes.
5) The classrooms are new and clean with both air-conditioned and non-air condition areas. As a result, my boy don't get sick as often but recently there's been a bout of flu and cough virus and its been a vicious cycle
5) They don't let children watch TV after academic programs. I have once sent my daughter to a Montessori where kids watch TV from 430 till their parents arrive. At LWPS, they do activities, story telling and playing with kids from other classes
6) My son went from not speaking a word to having so much more confidence now in using words to express himself at 2.5 years old. This is based on the teacher's encouragement on a daily basis
7) During their graduation concert, the K2 students got a chance to give a 3 minute speech on their experience at LWPS and to thank their friends and teachers. I am very impressed with how articulate the students are but I am sure the parents injected a lot of thought into the process.
I like the fact that Lorna instilled a culture of respect in this school between the teachers. The Chinese and English teachers are paid the same salary and they receive a bouquet of flowers as a thank you gesture at the concert. The children are very well mannered as well because the right values are implemented in the entire community. Perhaps this is why the Chinese teachers at LWPS are very dedicated, friendly and happy. You can see it on their faces. There is equality between the Eng and Chinese teachers when they take care of the children. Why is this important? Because children don't always hear but they always watch.
My Worries:
1) LWPS does not teach English based on Phonics in the past. Next year they will introduce a Phonics enrichment slot once a week. They have a individualized reading program where they 'grade' the children's levels so parents know where their child stand but I heard based on some teacher's feedback, that this program is only effective if they have a dedicated teacher. AKA - the results are pretty random
2) There are more insects and mosquito since its in a open area. However I still feel the teachers can apply the anti-mos repellent more conscientiously since little tots with HUGE bumpy bites make my heart. break.
3) Most of the native English teachers are Malay not Caucasians or Chinese. I don't have anything against this but I feel that the ratio of Malay, Chinese and Caucasian teachers can be more proportionate. That said, my son's teacher is one of the best I have come across and she is however, leaving LWPS next year. The fees are definitely high enough to afford more qualified teachers. Most of the teachers there have the min 2 years of experience before they come to LWPS - they are all fairly young though. I personally prefer more experienced and qualified teachers for K1 and K2.
4) Their turnover this year is a little worrying since they are expanding and yet cannot keep the turnover rate down. The fees are increased and according to the letter by the principal, its to provide a more equitable salary to the teachers. If so, why are the teachers (the good ones esp) leaving?
I am giving LWPS a year to review the academic progress since my girl will be attending K1 and this is a important pre-school year. Based on her range of vocabulary, writing abilities, sentence structuring and problem solving skills for math at the end of K1, it will be a pretty good indication whether LWPS is worth the higher fees.
Overall, I would rate this pre-school a 7.5/10. They are one of the best pre-school cum childcare around.
This is not a worry but a fact because it may matter to some parents. The student population are mostly Chinese, expat Chinese, 1 or 2 Japanese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and really not that many Caucasians. However they were all able to speak fluent Chinese and English no matter what nationality. I guess if you want to learn Chinese, you have to immerse yourself in the environment so if you choose a pre-school with too many expats and learning Chinese is as important to you as Jim Rogers, then this is a rather balanced and conducive environment to cultivate a love for the Chinese language.
My son CC, k2 change 4-6 teachers per year, changed till i immune to it and dun even know their name. -
The school changed teachers so often. Each time did the school gave out any memo to inform parents?
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Hi, patlee,
Yes, I received a year-end memo informing the parents of the teachers who will be leaving the school by the end of the year.
Hi, onionchief,
Nice to meet you here. I agree with you wholeheartedly on your list of pros and concerns. My girl has been getting the flu virus throughout the past few months and it is heart-breaking. It is a little puzzling because my girl has been very healthy (touch wood) since birth. Even after joining the school for a good period of 6 months, she doesn’t get very sick at all. But recently, the bout of flu virus keeps coming back to attack her (I think a slightly different variant each time).
I really like the arrangement of the child bringing home a book to read every week. I just had a notice from the school that they are going to increase the frequency to 3 times a week! Personally, I believe that the love for books must be instilled since young. Afterall, we all gain our knowledge primarily through books and reading.
For me, phonics is good to know but not as important. I know many parents will disagree with me on this point. But hey, I am a tradionalist. I didn’t grow up knowing phonics and I can speak and write well.
When I see the various school initiatives, I think they are all very good. But I also try to imagine the kind of work and effort that the teachers need to put in to get the initiatives going (on top of all the normal school work load) and I shudder. The teachers must be really busy. I do salute these very teachers who hang on and stay to teach purely because of passion. -
My kid has been attending Lorna Whiston Pre-School for the last 3 years, and in fact they do teach phonics from Nursery 2, but it is not a separate programme, but is integrated into their language curriculum. In any case, English is not a phonetic language, so phonics is only part of the picture. They also do phonics workshops for parents - yo should check it out.
The school is fogged once a week for mosquitoes and the teachers also put on repellent each time the kids go out to play… what more can they do…we are staying in the tropics!
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