Pat's Schoolhouse

[eyktay]

smurfy:

eyktay:

Thanks for sharing mummies! Truly appreciate the frankness. So seems like PG years are for investment for a place in PSH....sigh.....very ex lei....sob sob.

for me, I started in dstory club... \"existing sTUDENTS' get priority for playgrp kekeke.

The iMath progs start in Nursery or K1?
Hmmmm, PN half day also not cheap lei....

[omgmum]

empressplace,


Totally agree with you. Like you, I was debating btw CH and PSH, and in the end, chose the latter because of the bilingual system, and CH didn't have phonics.

The English at PSH is okay, although I still have to say that CH's spoken English is better, maybe cos the teachers don't really have the Singlish accent.

Now having another major headache; I have to find another centre for dd when she goes to nursery next year. Cos Halifax is full! It was one of those Wah Lau Eh moments! Especially now that dd is quite nicely settled in Halifax.

And I thought that I'd only had to go through the whole searching for preschools ordeal only once! Have to start worrying about logistics and what-nots again.

The worst is that the schools near my area- Buckley, Claymore and Mt Emily- seem to be very popular too. Was going to bathe my dog but now totally not in the mood!

[crystalbelle08]

smurfy:

eyktay:

Thanks for sharing mummies! Truly appreciate the frankness. So seems like PG years are for investment for a place in PSH....sigh.....very ex lei....sob sob.

for me, I started in dstory club... \"existing sTUDENTS' get priority for playgrp kekeke.

hahaa...Smurfy, u are not alone....
Heard a few cases already.
Tink that is the best path to get into the popular Pat's.
If u dont have siblings to pull string... :rubhands:

[crystalbelle08]

omg mum,


I am abit confused :?

Yr dd is settled in Halifax, why cant they let her proceed to Nursery next year in Halifax?
Thought existing students in the same school has the top most priority?

[DesertWind]

empressplace:

If we are not even happy with what premium chains provide, imagine what it is like further down the price range.

Hi empressplace,

I used to think like this too hence at one time was shopping along the premium names you mentioned. I was hoping for the price they charge I would get better quality like good teachers and good cirriculum etc. In fact I have put down a deposit and most eagerly registered with Pats but later on changed my mind did not follow-through.

It is not the fees because I definitely can afford to pay. But I was remembering the small teacher-children ratio they had when I first read about them in the newspapers long ago (many years back already). But when I visited them, small class ratio is certainly not for now. The K1 or K2 groups were huge!

Secondly, when I spoke to one Chinese teacher, she was new to Pats and hence I wondered how much of training and philosophy of Pats. she can implement? Furthermore, the time-table looks good but somehow I seriously doubt whether they actually implement all of them.

During the visit to the Pats branch nearest to my home, I saw that the main gate control was terrible! The metal gates were unlocked and visitors who left would usually leave it unlocked. Furthermore, the lock was too low and kids can always open it and step outside right onto the road. The kids playground was also just inside the main gate and it was a great possibility that the kids could just step outside the unlocked gate. I wrote in almost immediately to the P but got no answer.

Of course not all Pats branches are like this and there are many excellent ones around judging by the long queues. But I won't have the chance to find out simply because I got turned away immediately upon enquiry.

So I got to look for alternatives and got to change my mindset on those \"lower down the price chain\". But it is not as bad as I thought. Actually I find that kindies that charge lower fees may not be due to hiring \"lower quality\" teachers or have lousy premises. It can be due to church affiliation whereby they have already obtained fantastic lands long ago and since they own the premises, need not charge parents astrocious fees to cover rental.

Many of these church-based kindies have got teachers who speak really well plus they have an extra touch of love for kids from their religion. Plus they could have other voluntary help from the church so that they got cleaners/ cooks hence it is one area they can save too? Or public kindies could be heavily subsidized by the garmen hence the fees are lower.

I don't mean to talk badly about Pats or seems like sour-grapes to existing mummies here but to give my 2-cents worth just because I was, at one time, seriously considering sending my kid to Pats.

[Augmum]

After scanning thru the recent postings, seems like pats’ children to teacher ratio has increased overly the years.

during my gal’s year (k1 or k2), the number of kids did not exceed 10.
of course, that was several yrs back as my gal now is already attending secondary sch.

But since the demand is more than the supply, i guess the way is to try to "squeeze" in more children in 1 class,
which would def results in parents’ unhappiness and complaints.

[arielle08]

hmmm…Whats the student ratio for Pats @ Raffles?

Is it lower than the rest to justify the 1.7K fees they charging?

[empressplace]

While we may be unhappy with Pat’s high student: teacher ratio in K1 and K2, the fact is that church kindergartens or other kindergartens may have even higher ratios. So if class ratio is a major concern, it is not as if we have many better choices out there. Even international school kindergartens at even higher prices have very large class sizes.


Some church kindergartens, especially Catholic churches, do have large grounds or land owned by the church. There is definitely less need to charge higher prices to cover rental.

In terms of curriculum, however, I don’t think most of them are as up to date as Pat’s. Pat’s Schoolhouse has dedicated curriculum specialists and there is economy of scale.

I have heard that Pat’s teachers are regularly sent for training. With the rapid expansion in recent years, I am not sure if they are still able to maintain standards by selecting good teachers and keeping them up to date with regular training. With the stand alone kindy or preschool, I think there is not enough economy of scale to have the same level of support/resources.

Anyway, past performance is no guarantee of future performance and parents just need to be vigilant about school standards and not just blindly believe in the good reputation of a preschool. We should get together with parents of classmates to make sure we know what is going on in school and make constructive and reasonable suggestions where necessary as a group. Preschools largely rely on the testimonials of parents to succeed and no matter how popular it currently is, it still needs to maintain such goodwill to continue to prosper in the future.

I think there is definitely room for even more premium preschool offerings in Singapore. Hopefully the established chains would be able to respond better to the market demand.

[DesertWind]

empressplace:

In terms of curriculum, however, I don't think most of them are as up to date as Pat's. Pat's Schoolhouse has dedicated curriculum specialists and there is economy of scale.

This is true, and such \"Head Office support\" will contribute towards overheads and hence the premium fees that Pats charge. It is like a mini-MOE if you will.

I don't think we disagree with each other at all, empressplace, and I tend to agree with most of what you are saying.

My last comment is that if mummies are able to go to those really well-established Pats branches with very seasoned & experienced English and Chinese language teachers, that is great! Otherwise, if due to vacancy or logistics issues you got to go to new branches, just open your eyes big big and take off those rose-tinted glasses. Observe and look before you commit less you got disappointed and start complaining at the forum here.

Caveat Emptor - Buyers Beware.

All the best and have a great school-holiday ahead!
:celebrate:

[omgmum]

crystalbelle08:

omg mum,


I am abit confused :?

Yr dd is settled in Halifax, why cant they let her proceed to Nursery next year in Halifax?
Thought existing students in the same school has the top most priority?

Eh, no. Kids with siblings at 9 halifax, or kids who have been in halifax since infant get priority over other existing kids. They only have space for these 2 groups of students; the rest must go to the other branches. My gal belongs to this group of other existing kids.