Nanyang Primary

[cambriant]

Yeah, getting our sons into decent secondary schools is basically the crux of the issue, isn’t it? ACS is one notch up in that respect. But from what you have all said about Nanyang, it is a comfort that my daughter (who is 3 this year) will be going there.


My son is really into chess, so actually Nanyang would be a good fit for him since there’s a strong focus on chess. Our only concern is whether he will be so behind in the Chinese (since we don’t really speak at home) that he will just switch off. Do you parents feel that the school is doing a good job to keep the kids’ interest in Chinese? Especially for those weaker in Chinese? We recently signed up my son for Hanyu Pinyin, just to give him a legs up in Chinese, at least if he masters hanyu pinyin, it will be easier for him to read the text, even if he doesn’t know the chinese characters as well.

[cambriant]

Atan:


You mentioned that you have a friend whose son is ACS and daughter is in Nanyang. Do you know what she thinks of both schools? Whether she would prefer for her son to be in ACS or both kids in Nanyang?

Thanks!

[jtoh]

cambriant:

Yeah, getting our sons into decent secondary schools is basically the crux of the issue, isn't it? ACS is one notch up in that respect. But from what you have all said about Nanyang, it is a comfort that my daughter (who is 3 this year) will be going there.


My son is really into chess, so actually Nanyang would be a good fit for him since there's a strong focus on chess. Our only concern is whether he will be so behind in the Chinese (since we don't really speak at home) that he will just switch off. Do you parents feel that the school is doing a good job to keep the kids' interest in Chinese? Especially for those weaker in Chinese? We recently signed up my son for Hanyu Pinyin, just to give him a legs up in Chinese, at least if he masters hanyu pinyin, it will be easier for him to read the text, even if he doesn't know the chinese characters as well.

My view. Both ACS and NYPS are very good schools. NYPS strikes me as being more rigorous and I admire their ability to turn out the highest number of top scorers every year. ACS seems more relaxed. These are rather generalised views I know.

At pre-school, we don't know how able our kids are, whether they're going to be able to ace PSLE and get into a good school of their choice etc. Given this, I would choose ACS because the school caters to all levels of academic ability. Those who are very bright can choose the ACJS / ACPS GEP -> ACSI IB route. Those less able can do the ACPS/ACJS -> ACS Barker / ACSI (O level) -> ACJC route. So it makes for a less stressed schooling, knowing that they can stay in an affiliated school however they do.

Having said that, if your child is very motivated, a go-getter, then NYPS will be able to bring out the potential in him.

[cambriant]

Hi jtoh,


Thanks for your comments. You are totally right. I would like to think that my son is smart (which parent doesn’t?) but there is absolutely no way of figuring out how your child is going to perform in the formal education system, or at least Singapore’s education system. My son is probably more laid back and will do just fine in the ACS system. I would prefer him to have more of a rigorous system but not to the extent where its too stressful. I do feel like I’m asking for the sky. I would love for my son to be in a school where he can strive and feel that he can excel but also challenge him as well.

I would love for my son to be in Nanyang for the chinese immersion and the mixed school environment and also for its culture, but I’m a little concerned how he is going to fare with the constant testing.

[jtoh]

Hi cambriant,


I know. It's so tough being a parent hoping we're making the right decision for our kid. I would think that ACS would be able to challenge your son too, especially if he's in the top class or GEP classes. But of course their Chinese cannot be compared to NYPS.

[cambriant]

Hi jtoh


Yeah ACS will be fine. I just haven’t had enough information on the Chinese side for the school. Their forum is obviously not as active as Nanyang’s!

I would think being in Nanyang will inculcate the Chinese culture and morals to the child, which I feel is important. ACS is a good school too and will build character development. Somehow the feel of a boy’s school will be very different compared to a mixed school. Don’t you think?

[jtoh]

ACS is very strong in character development and imparting Christian values. I think for boys it doesn’t really matter if they’re in an all boys school or co-ed. At that age they’re the noisy and disruptive ones. It’s the girls who suffer in a co-ed environment bec the teacher spends time trying to quieten the boys before teaching can commence.

[cambriant]

jtoh:


are your kids currently in nanyang? and do you have friends in acs as well?

I would think boys learn differently from girls and being in a boy’s school helps that way. but then again, with them being so rowdy, its nice to be in a mixed school (to limit the amount of rowdiness since the number of boys are much less)

[jtoh]

cambriant:

jtoh:


are your kids currently in nanyang? and do you have friends in acs as well?

I would think boys learn differently from girls and being in a boy's school helps that way. but then again, with them being so rowdy, its nice to be in a mixed school (to limit the amount of rowdiness since the number of boys are much less)

haha! Yes, that's why i don't think it matters whether boys are in mixed or co-ed schools. I just pity the teachers because of what boys can get up to.

I don't have kids in NYPS nor ACS but I have friends and relatives' kids in both.

[thankgod]

let me chime in with my 2cents worth ... if its of interest to anyone


prior to enrolling my boy into NYPS ... we went through the selection headache of ACS or NYPS as well.

in the end, our decision was NYPS even though one of the missing factors is that we have all boys in our family and there is no affiliation to a secondary school. ACS triumphs in that aspect. Additionally, ACS is known to have a very strong alumni, partly because the boys get to spend alot of their growing up years together.

so what was the pushing force to NYPS then?

it was simply the cohort and mixture of students. we come from a largely (90%) english speaking background so its natural for us to worry about how the boys can cope with chinese. when we visited ACS and NYPS respectively, the telling difference was the fact that NYPS seem to have a better mix of students. meaning, NYPS seem to have a better mix of students from all backgrounds. ACS gave us the feeling of being among the elites. Its not my intention to offend anyone, its just the feeling that we got. As such, we ended with NYPS despite everything. NPYS for us ... can be summarized as follows:

PLUS - better mix of students from all backgrounds thereby eliminating the feeling of \"eliteness\"

PLUS - better mix of students from all religious backgrounds

PLUS - school motto (the 4 chinese words - pardon me but i totally forgot what they are :P)

PLUS - emphasis on chinese (which we felt was important)

MINUS - no visible strong alumi

MINUS - no affiliation to a Secondary for our boys