St Gabriel's Primary
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‘holistic’- This is exactly the word that I am hoping not to see and hear. It is such a over used, abused and subjective word.
It is a general word that people has been using to cover up for inadequency, imperfect and ‘hope for the best’ replacement adjective. At least, that is what is meant in my organization.
Yes, I understand it is intangible. It can be interpreted in many ways. Sorry for sounding so skeptical, but I am so so over this word.
Sorry for all the ranting, this is just my personal and humble opinion. We can agree to disagree.
More importantly, back to the school, so far, mixed reviews about the school I gathered. What is just as crucial is the parent’s support we give to the kids to supplement the curriculum. Hope to learn more and share more to educate ourselves better to give the best to our kids.
Cheers! -
Hi Jacsplace & Elliot,
Parent’s support is definitely very crucial in Primary School. Therefore, regardless of which school they go to, shouldn’t make any difference in this case.
But I feel that for children at this age, peer pressure is quite an issue.
Therefore, the kind of peers from different schools play an important part in our son’s primary school life, i gather.
For holistic education, I think it’s quite subjective. I know of schools which drill like nobody’s business so that their pupils will do well in exams, which is ultimately the PSLE.
And I also know of schools which focus on values/character building, etc, and really have pupils interest as core business.
Ultimately, it’s still up to the parents. What kind of education do you want your child to have. And therefore, which school to send them to according to your needs.
Anyway, I’m just glad that my son has gotten into a school, without having to go through balloting, which i totally cannot take the pressure. Hahaha… -
Holistic is overused because people don’t understand what it means so they just use it any old how. In my case, I am talking about one school that looks at a child as a whole: academically, psychologically and physically. This is true for St Margaret’s: they don’t push the girls to excel in only one area, but they encourage the girls to do well in all of them. Pushing and encouraging are two different things. Pushing means focusing only one thing and forgetting about the rest. Encouraging means trying to get pupils to do their best in everything. Encouragement is something that Christian schools are better at because that’s part of the basics of Christianity.
As for specifics about this school, my ex-colleague has two boys here, one in P5 and the other in P3. They are both happy here, no discipline issues. -
Hi jacsplace,
As long as my son is happy in school, behaves himself and can pass his PSLE and get into Express Stream, I’ll be a very happy mother already. Hahaha…
Does anyone know if we get the uniform, books, arrange bus transport, etc, all during the Orientation day? Or do we have to arrange prior to the Orientation day?
Getting quite excited!!! -
Hi jacsplace, you speak my mind. I want to be a happy mother to happy boys
See you ay orientation. Cheers -
Yup. Can’t wait to see you all at the Orientation!
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Hi all,
It has been a long time since I entered this forum and am surprised that it has recently become very active again.
eileenp, you can get everything you need during the school orientation. Books, uniform, shoes, socks, bus services etc.
My son is in P1 this year and so far is still enjoying school. The school’s emphasis is more on character building and holistic learning. The reason why I placed him in st gab is coz I do not want him to be stressed out in a school that is academically inclined and I want him to develop in his own pace. The school also places a lot of emphasis on parents’ involvement in the kids’ education. Like project work this June holidays saw P1 having to build a boat that moves in water with their parents using materials found in the home. I believe the dads were very involved in this project. The kids were then expected to do show and tell on the project, write about the project etc. It was definitely fun and interesting. I believe the emphasis then was not so much that P1s are expected to make a boat - how can anyone expect P1 boys to manage that - but more so about parent participation and bonding time with the kid.
From the last few posts read, the 2012 P1 parents seem very stressed up and hope that their kids are entering into the right school. To that I say, relax. I was the same when I was in your position. Which parent would not be concerned? Even if your kid entered a top school, you too will have concerns and stress even if it may not be the same ones. Try to let go. They are growing up. I believe you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how fast and independent these kids become after they enter P1. The school boys in the school have so far been very helpful and kind to my son. Hope this post gives you some relief. -
eetsc:
:goodpost: totally agree! Parents seems to be overly stressed and think if it's right or wrong choice to put the kids in the school they have chosen or allocated. it's more important on how parents can build a good foundation for learning and encourage them to learn with inquisitive mind.
From the last few posts read, the 2012 P1 parents seem very stressed up and hope that their kids are entering into the right school. To that I say, relax. I was the same when I was in your position. Which parent would not be concerned? Even if your kid entered a top school, you too will have concerns and stress even if it may not be the same ones. Try to let go. They are growing up. I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised at how fast and independent these kids become after they enter P1. The school boys in the school have so far been very helpful and kind to my son. Hope this post gives you some relief. -
Hi eetsc,
Thanks for the reassurance. I definitely hope my son will be able to handle P1. He still doesn’t read well and is a cry baby. Hahaha… Hope he can grow out of that soon.
Is the school bus service better already? I am planning to get him to go home by school bus. If it hasn’t improved, then I’ll place him in the school care. -
hi eileenp,
I live in punggol and so my son has to take the school bus to school. So far, everything has been okay with the school bus other than the other day, the driver left without even giving us a call. We have always been very punctual and always waiting for the bus, so it’s surprising that the driver didn’t even bother to just call us to find out what happened. My son waited for about 25mins before coming up with the maid and we had to take a cab to bring him to school. The other concern is the very early timing of the school bus. We have to be down at 6.10am every school morning so that means my son reaches school very early too. Other than the two mentioned above, I have no complains about the school us service.
My son also attends the after school care. He likes it there and has made many friends in there. No complains so far…
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