Nanyang Primary

[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

[cambriant]

hi thankgod,


Thanks for giving us your comments. So now that your kids are in nanyang, is it everything that you expected? How old are your kids if you don’t mind me asking?

I would love to visit ACS but haven’t had the chance to do so. I called them but was told there are no open houses for prospective parents. guess I just need to show up and pretend to be a current parent and just walk around the school? Or is it possible for us to schedule a formal visit?

Also, how’s your kids in chinese now that they are in nyps?

Thanks!

[thankgod]

@cambriant


my boy is now in P3 - surprisingly he has coped well with chinese. no notable additional attention given to chinese. we do the necessary TING XIE practising and such but nothing out of the ordinary. personally, i am slightly pleased with his chinese results.

NYPS is everything that we expected. his friends and classmates are a good mix of backgrounds but kids being at their age - the boys tend to mingle among themselves. this year in P3, they finally got separated from their original P1+P2 class and i'm pleased to learn that he is still keeping in touch with his former friends and classmates while making new ones. that's the way it should be. so far, i guess the experience with NYPS can be described best as being \"all-inclusive\"

ACS ... you know when is the best time to visit? P1 orientation. that's when you get to go around without any hassle. though we didn't do it during P1 orientation, i went around with a friend whose child is in ACS. got to look around and spend some time at the canteen etc.

In the decision making process as to what school to choose, we spent some time to look at the existing students. we were there to look at students arriving to school and leaving school ... and we were there in the canteen to look around as well. i personally feel that its important to understand the environment that you are getting your child into and if that equates to what we like.

having said all of that, i think we sometimes neglect to treat our kids as peers. i know they are young ... but take some time to show them the school as well. not necessarily inside the school but on the exterior - give them a voting right as well. after that its only fair that they get to vote, since they will be there for next 6 years. we did with ours and he voted NYPS and we took it into consideration as well.

don't worry too much about chinese and being able to cope with the studies. i think we sometimes under-estimate the abilities of our children. at this age, they are very adaptable and without trying, we worth know if they are up to it. its a tough decision to make, but i'm sure whatever the choice, it will be a collective decision and the family has to stand by it ... all the best!

[Atan]

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!

I will check with her when I get the chance. I only knew that she put her son in ACS initially due to affiliation. It seemed that her son's CL is not so strong (P4) in comparison with her daughter (P3 in NYPS).