Pat's Schoolhouse

[Koolmama]

Hi insider,


Actually what i heard from ex-Odyssey parents was that the old Odyssey at Tanglin was terrible!!! Apparently staff turnover was very high, it was badly run, too profit-oriented and many parents withdrew their children from the school as they were not happy with all the problems at the school.

Btw, Odyssey is owned by the same company as Pat's Schoolhouse. However i've had a very good experience with Pat's at Halifax and just wanted to point out that a number of our teachers (including my son's Chinese teacher, whom we loved very much) and even the Principal left Halifax to join Tanglin. A teacher that i know from Buckley, who is also very good, transferred from Buckley to Tanglin. In fact some of us parents were very sad when we heard last year that Ms Ada and the Chinese laoshi were leaving

Soo... I really don't think that it's the teachers that are the problem (unless there are alot of new teachers being hired in addition to these good and experienced ones that I mentioned) but probably just a teething stage due poor administration.

Btw, at Mount Emily where my younger child is joining, they stagger the entry of new children into January, Feb and March. In Halifax they did not have a practice of doing that because most of their kids came up from Baby Haven and were already used to being in childcare. Maybe that's why the Principal of Tanglin did not think of staggering the intake (but it could also be due to upper management as I noticed that when the principal of Mt Emily left and a new one came in, the district manager called and asked me if I could let my child come in earlier than March, because they had \"so many people wanting to enroll their children into the school\". I was actually a bit upset at her request 'cos the previous Principal and I had already agreed on starting in March and I felt that this district manager was simply trying to maximise profits, but at the expense of the children's welfare )

insider:

what I understand is before Pats, Odyssey was running pretty OK there. When Pats took over, I thought may be the old teachers will stay but it doesn't seem to be that way from the way I read it. Probably Odyssey brought all or most of her teachers to the new location.

If you are a very particular parent, then Pats Tanglin may not be suitable for you coz it is more 'western' in that it is OK for kids to cry, fall, learn, etc, as long as it is within safety zone. Large part of her customers are expats who can accept this philosophy (and more difficult for local parents).

If you are not in a hurry to enrol your child yet, you may wait for about another six months for them to get over their teething period of settling down logistics and relook at them again. Now it's still relatively new and so also not so fair to write them off straight away (of course, I know their fees are not low and parents do have higher expectations).

PS: Having said the above, the fundamental thing that the school has to observe is to keep within the children:teacher ratio that they committed to parents (your higher fees paid is largely due to this other than the expensive rental); otherwise, not worth trying...

[smurfy]

Koolmama:

smurfy:

wondering how's the new principal at mout emily??


miss teresa? miss theresa?

Hi Smurfy,

Yes it's Teresa Tay... and i like her alot!! In fact i find her even more approachable and easier to talk to than Tanya (not that i had any problems with Tanya - not at all - or maybe it's because she's small-sized and i'm also small-sized, so we can \"connect\" hahaha...

good good. she was a VP from serangoon branch. kekeke like her alot then oso. looks very witty n playful type.

[mtdt]

Koolmama:

Hi Smurfy,


Care to elaborate what some of these \"issues\" at Tanglin are?? Just curious

Btw mtdt you are not alone lah!! I have a friend whose 2 kids go to Whitley too She also said the principal was... abit.... erm...
But she likes it 'cos the place is brand new and nicely renovated lor...

koolmama - ask ur fren to join the forum leh. maybe our kids knows each other (since the sch is not big).

Principal - i hardly sees her.. and honestly i dun really care. personally i am only concern abt the trs as they are on the ground with the kids.. P is in the office!

[joanne_mas]

Hi,


I'm new in the forum. May I know what does the following meant?

smurfy:

kekeke itchy hands... changed to center based instead of year based.. since our questions are more center related...

Halifax
Koolmama - DS - 2004
gtgt - DS - 2007
Blurdaze - DD - 2009

Whitely
MTDT - DS - 2006

Mt Emily
preciousmoments - DS - 2006
Crystalbelle08 - DD - 2008
Koolmama - DD - 2008
shiyunu - DD - 2008

Serangoon
pummanuel - DD - 2006
Smurfy - DS - 2007
DC Mummy - DS - 2007
cookies_n_creme - DS - 2008

Tanglin
debpch - 2008
tinkerbell_lim - DS - 2008

I'm also currently looking for a playgroup or like part time class (those twice a week type) where parents can be allowed into the class cos my 2 years old daughter is very timid.

Any recommendations?

Many thanks in advance.

Joanne

[dardar63]

smurfy:

Koolmama:

[quote=\"smurfy\"]wondering how's the new principal at mout emily??


miss teresa? miss theresa?

Hi Smurfy,

Yes it's Teresa Tay... and i like her alot!! In fact i find her even more approachable and easier to talk to than Tanya (not that i had any problems with Tanya - not at all - or maybe it's because she's small-sized and i'm also small-sized, so we can \"connect\" hahaha...

good good. she was a VP from serangoon branch. kekeke like her alot then oso. looks very witty n playful type.[/quote]i met her when i went to view the school... she seems very nice and approachable. told me she was in serangoon for 8yrs.. i was thinking then that she looks so young..

[Koolmama]

Ha ha, don't think she has the time to join this forum


However, she just celebrated her daughter's 5th birthday in school a few days ago... i saw the photos on her Facebook... maybe you know who then?? *keke*

mtdt:

Koolmama:

Hi Smurfy,

Care to elaborate what some of these \"issues\" at Tanglin are?? Just curious

Btw mtdt you are not alone lah!! I have a friend whose 2 kids go to Whitley too She also said the principal was... abit.... erm...
But she likes it 'cos the place is brand new and nicely renovated lor...

koolmama - ask ur fren to join the forum leh. maybe our kids knows each other (since the sch is not big).

Principal - i hardly sees her.. and honestly i dun really care. personally i am only concern abt the trs as they are on the ground with the kids.. P is in the office!

[mtdt]

Koolmama:

Ha ha, don't think she has the time to join this forum


However, she just celebrated her daughter's 5th birthday in school a few days ago... i saw the photos on her Facebook... maybe you know who then?? *keke*

ooohhhh.... okok

[crystalbelle08]

Hi koolmama,


you have a pm. :lol:

[smurfy]

dardar63:

smurfy:

[quote=\"Koolmama\"]
Hi Smurfy,

Yes it's Teresa Tay... and i like her alot!! In fact i find her even more approachable and easier to talk to than Tanya (not that i had any problems with Tanya - not at all - or maybe it's because she's small-sized and i'm also small-sized, so we can \"connect\" hahaha...

good good. she was a VP from serangoon branch. kekeke like her alot then oso. looks very witty n playful type.

i met her when i went to view the school... she seems very nice and approachable. told me she was in serangoon for 8yrs.. i was thinking then that she looks so young..[/quote]hmm the good thing abt serangoon branch is that they have quite a few senior teachers. and it's like one big family there. the teachers will have their kids in the same school as well. in fact my boy's class currently have 1 mummy teaching in the same school. and his chinese n english teachers' children are oso in the school. oh miss teresa's son is oso in same class as my boy

[pancake77]

I vaguely remember some of you wanted to know the details of the school fees.

Here is the breakdown of the fees.

Registration fee: $321
Deposit: $1300
Monthly fee(extended full day): $1375
Enrichment courses in the afternoon (swimming, Fast track chinese + english, Cookery, Harmony(music)) $150

Plus GST 7%

Hope it helps!