Lorna Whiston Pre School

[fayeV]

Hi,

my kiddo has started the first week at LW @raintree cove aka East coast. I must say I am a little disappointed with their teachers, even after considering that the first week is always a little messy.
Good and not so good -
not so good
1. no teaching assistant for younger kids - ratio 1: 5 kids for N1 (which is any kid borned in 2009) so they are averagely 2years 2 months to 2 year 9 months old. 10 kids in one class, they left 4-5 kids bawling and I (the parent) was helping the kiddos to clean the spit up due to prolong crying.
2. during sand play: the 2 teachers had their back to the kids, brushing off sand and cleaning one kid each, one of the kids walked off towards the road…the mother came back from BK and quickly grabbed her girl
3. Water play: the teachers were handling 1-2 younger brawling kiddos while the non crying ones started to play on the soapy floor and upset the tubs. they started fighting over the toys and would have easily slipped. However, the teachers are not aware.
4. most of the 4 hours are spent lining up to go to toilet, changing into different gear for activities and eating. about 30 mins are spent on reading the same book for the whole week and throwing balls.

good:
1. the place is clean and spacious, toilets are clean.
2. food is very good, both in variety and taste
3. lots of "excursions" for parents who likes to join in

I feel at the min, the safety of the kids are most impt, the teachers shouldnt be tasked with cleaning up esp for kids so young. finally, there’s something that dont agree with me: so many kids crying and the teachers went on singing and reading, ignoring and not even trying to comfort them worries me. They have the attitude - the crying kids will get used to it, just ignore them and carry on with the "work". Some will cry no matter what you do but its the fact that they didnt even try.
Spoke with the principal but no teaching assistant will be hired for the younger class. I am still in two minds to change…the fact is I came here to ask if there are any good full day montessori in the east near Pasir Ris?

[little bopah]

Hi, I’ve been through this and I think I have to share this with you. You will need to let go and just let the teachers handle them. It may be better if you don’t see all these things. The first few weeks of school is always not easy, the teachers will have to handle the crying kids and at the same time ensure lessons and schedules can run as planned. And trust them, they are right, the "crying kids will get used to it". It will help if the parents do not stay around. In many childcare centres, parents are not even allowed to step into the centre. My child has been in the centre since last year and I’m very happy with the principal and teachers. Trust me, once the kids ( I mean the entire class) settles down, they’ll find the lessons enjoyable and meaningful. But first of all, the parents will have to leave them to the teachers, being around sometimes make things worse.

[stardust25]

Wish to enrol my gal in LW@Winchester. Any idea what’s the waitlist typically like?


Understand from the sch that they give priority to toddlers who hit 18 months closer to the enrolment date for playgroup classes. My gal is borne end of the year which means she is at a disadvantage compared to those who are borne earlier. So am wondering if it’s any good putting her on the waitlist at all.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[tiguanmummy]

Hi fayeV,


I totally agree with you. My kid started PG this year and I was around for the first 3 days. It was a chaotic mess, out of the 7 kids present- 4 were bawling and the 2 teachers seemed overwhelmed. Even the principal had to step in to help out, together with another more experienced teacher. Thank goodness, all the crying did not affect my kid but got less attention from the teachers because their hands were full(literally- carrying the crying kids from 9-12.30pm) everyday!!!

During the 3 days i was there, i also noticed there was not much structure in the curriculum, the kids did not seem to know when lessons started and ended. They just continued to play with the toys until the teachers guided one by one to the mat. I assumed there would be a song to signal the start of lessons(so that the kids can identify and start clearing the toys) and a song to end the day. But unfortunately, I think there was none.

Also, the english teacher seemed very inexperienced and her grasp of grammar was not up to standard, for which i was shocked. This is Lorna Whiston after all, language skills are their forte!!

Lastly, my kid kept falling sick all the time(6x within 1 1/2mths). I do know that falling sick when attending cc is normal & no fault of the school but sometimes I do wonder about the hygiene level!

So me & DH decided to pull our kid out from school, maybe when older & stronger(health-wise), we'll consider cc again. For now, we'll go back to 2-3 hour programmes, 3x a week.

[honeybunny]

My sis is a pre-school teacher, and when I come across comment like these, it make me angry cuz I know what she go through. She is a good teacher, and she work hard, but it seems many parents in Singapore are too critical - instead of always finding fault, give the teachers a chance to settle the children, and give the school a chance to prove itself. All the preschool teachers in Singapore are trained in the same few institutions, so to say one lot of teachers in one school are good and another set in another school are bad doesn’t make sense.


I’m sure your kid will be fine once they settle in the school, but give them a chance! It often take longer than a few days! If you have confidence, they will feel more settle and will pick up your vibes. Good luck!

[dozzybum]

My thoughts: My 2 children started school at Lorna Whiston @ EC this year (in N2 and PG). Admittedly, it was rather chaotic initially especially on the 1st day, and even for about 1-2 weeks thereafter for the younger class (PG). But since then things have settled down to a nice routine and my children are enjoying their time in school. I find the teachers here very caring and are generally open. It is true that my younger one in PG has fallen ill more often in e short span of 1.5 months, but it is something I have come to accept (if not expect) (because my older one also fell ill frequently at that age although he was in a 2 day x 2 hour program). Understandably parents are concerned especially during the initial period of adjustment, it is really a period of adjustment for all concerned, including e child, e parents and e teachers. What I am happy about is that e teachers r patient n caring, n e children enjoy going to school. The teachers also do pay attention to the concerns we raise regarding our children, and we see improvements. I am also happy for my children that they now have an outdoor playground. :rahrah: Having seen my older one at CH previously, I believe that all schools generally do go through a chaotic stage initially. The important thing is how the teachers / school handle this period, and most importantly whether the children are happy after they have settled down. :grphug:

[siobhan76]

i wanted to enrol my son in lorna last year but we are now in uk due to a relocation. i was looking forward to enroling because i was very please with the environment and staff. now i heard the playground is also completed. so jealous for my boy.


even here in uk, with smaller groups and teachers earning a lot more, i think the problems are still the same. children crying, teacher look blur and cannot control, not enough hands to look after all the crying childrne. but same as dozzybum said, after a while the children will settle down. if all parents dont wait, then all schools will have only a small handful of children who dont cry and scream in teh beginning. but after a while, the cihldren settle then the teachers can do more and manage better. now my son is very happy here although sometimes still got some children cry here and there.

please keep posting info about lrona whiston because i hope to enrol my son when we come back to singapore but no confirm date yet.

[Thenun7]

Hi! I am looking around for a preschool for my 2 year old and Lorna Whiston is one of them. Can I find out if there are updates abt the East coast branch? How are the Mandarin classes? Appreciate any feedback from u guys.

[dozzybum]

I have found the Mandarin classes for both N2 and PG adequate. For N2 they learn words which are quite advanced by sight. I have found my boy more willing to communicate in Mandarin now. For both levels Mandarin is the core language on 2 days in the week, ie. the Mandarin teachers take charge on those days and instructions are communicated in Mandarin on those days. I find the Mandarin teachers for PG and N2 very good, they are loving and patient. However there has been a change in e PG Chinese teacher. I hope that the new teacher will be just as good. My girl does not seem unduly disturbed by the change in teachers so I guess it should be ok. Hope this would help!

[Thenun7]

Thank you so much for responding dozzybum. 2 days a week is quite a good proportion I think, or is this the norm? Sorry, am really a newbie and just starting to read up etc. Does it mean that maths is coducted in Mandarin as well?