Moving to Singapore and looking for a good Secondary School
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I am shocked that even at UWC it might be necessary to supplement teaching with homeschooling or tutoring! They have a reputation of being the top international school. Is that just hype?
I don’t mind supplementing math, since I am sure there are plenty of great Singapore math tutors to rely on. This is what I do here in HK and we’re very happy with our tutor, plus I can teach math myself. However, I find it extremely challenging to find good English tutors, so I’d like the school to take over most of the teaching in that area. It is important to be immersed in the language to learn it well. I wonder if there are there any international schools in Singapore that stream English? Plus, which school might possibly have the best English program?
As for science, I have the same experience here. There aren’t quality science fairs to speak of in any of the international schools and the science lessons I have witnessed both in Elementary and Middle School are appalling, lacking both structure and creativity. I am not sure why that is, in particular since we are paying substantial fees to have our children go to these schools… -
Frankly, my friend (whose child is in UWC) were discussing with the other parents (of UWC) and they all are, kind of, arriving at the conclusion that the international schools here does not seem to provide the quality education they get in their home countries. I am in agreement. Hence, the consideration for local school.
BTW, did you apply to UWC yet? Their admission policy is not based on 1st come 1st serve. As they have more applicants than vacancies, they use a "holistic" approach to select their newly-registered students.
I find that in the US, the private schools publish the results of the standardized tests, the awards their students receive or the college acceptances - to "prove" their worth. However, in Singapore, I haven’t found an international school that have "proven their worth" in this manner. Instead it is usually how long their waiting list is??
Can’t really help you on the language part. The 2 schools that my son attended these past 2 years, I really can’t boast of their language program. I am comparing these to the US schools that my son attended. I think that checking out the American schools (SAS, ICS) is a good start. Good luck for your search. Hope to hear the outcome of your search -
I posted a reply on another message board, but thought I’d repeat it here.
I don’t have info on the other schools but here it is for SAS:
Our Gifted and Talented Education (GATE ) math program is an accelerated pull-out program for students demonstrating a need for extended math curriculum for the year. Identified students study the math curriculum one grade level above their grade level. There is one GATE math class per grade level and students are released from their regular math classes on a daily basis.
Our Math Enrichment program is designed to enhance classroom learning beyond the differentiation extensions in the regular classroom with lessons designed to deepen students understanding of grade level mathematical concepts . Identified students engage in rigorous problem solving with instruction, supervision and feedback by the enrichment teacher . In a regular schedule five day week, students will attend Math Enrichment twice a week and remain in their regular classroom for three math lessons.
Within RLA, grade five students are also eligible for screening for our RLA GATE Program. Identified students further develop their reading and writing abilities by participating in real world projects involving creative problem solving and independent and collaborative projects. These students are released from their regular RLA classes on a daily basis. -
Thanks for this info, playful mom. I had a chat recently with a grade 6 SAS mom and she pointed out that her gifted child had missed some of the core instruction going on in the regular classroom whilst participating in the gifted program. This the caused her to have some knowledge gaps. Is this a common problem? It sounds like GATE might be a new initiative?
Also, is there any streaming at SAS in addition to the strictly gifted program? At my child’s current school there are 3 different math streams beside the gifted program to cater to a variety of abilities… -
Hi playful mom I suppose u r a sas parent. May I know if sas uses the accelerated reader (by renassiance learning) or similar type programs? Also do they do class books at 5th grade? Lastly, what type of state-level or national-level projects do they participate in e.g. Science fair project, national history project. Oh, and what standardized tests do the students take? Thanks a lot.
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@singaporenew, If you son gifted in math, why you don’t try ACSIndependent ? this school is one of the best IB school in the world. Has CCA math olympiad, Gifted Class, and accelerated class of science. A principal Graduated from Harvard university.
Try to attend open house :
Date: Saturday, 19 May 2012
Time: 8.30am – 1pm
Venue: 121 Dover Road, Singapore 139650 -
Actually I am not a SAS mother. I am trying to choose a school for my child (5 yrs old) and SAS has been the most transparent about the types of acceleration they provide. They also told me they start streaming for all other core subjects at 6th grade.
I have asked UWC but was told there is no streaming, which does not sound right. If anyone has more concrete information?
I am not so worried about the education levels for P1-P3 but I wanted to get better info. about the academic rigor of the international schools once kids are a bit older e.g. 8 onwards. -
@yellowbelt, we’re not Singaporeans and what’s more, we’re Caucasian, so I am not sure the kids would fit in socially at ACS Independent. They have lived in Asia since they were born, mind you, and have plenty of Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean friends. Still: How many Western parents make the leap and actually enrol their children into a Raffles or ACS Independent? Are our Western children ever prepared enough to make that jump and not fail?
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I also remembered reading about a new school in Malaysia (very close to the border) that is supposed to be good:
http://www.marlboroughcollegemalaysia.org/welcome/
I have not looked into it because it does not have a rigorous mandarin program. -
Thanks, I contacted them and their curriculum is reasonable. However, how can we get our kids across the border to school every morning?
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