Pat's Schoolhouse

[lovezac]

Hi,


I’m interested in sending my son to Pat’s at Siglap. How are the teachers there?

[JSK]

Hi, Just wondering if there are any parents of Aroozoo children who are interested in playdates. My children are in nursery and playgroup and it would be nice to meet some other parents to compare notes!

[zeroyee]

Hello,


My elder girl is in nursery level (nightingale )and another one in tots class (sharebear).

Your children in which class?

[JSK]

Hi! Mine are in Nightingale too. I’ve sent you a PM. Hope to catch up soon!

[Princiellie]

PSH @ aroozoo any comments? just wondering how long is the wait list?

[Still1]

Hi, i was considering Pat’s sch at ulu siglap but was told today there were 3 cases of HFMD this year. Is this normal? One of our consideration apart from a good curriculum is also to have a clean environment to play…


Can anyone share?

Thks.

Dad.

[Veyron]

Hi all, I am thinking of sending my kid to PSH at Lakeside, can I know how is this center compare to the others?

[pebblez]

Hi JSK and Zeroyee,


Great to see you ladies here. My daughter is also in Nightingale.
However, after half a yr at Aroozoo, sad to say that we are not too pleased about the teachers and the school. Wonder if you ladies feel so.

Aroozoo is large and the playground is great, facilities are also great, definitely no complains about the compounds. However after a few occasions, I find myself losing confidence with both the English and Chinese teachers, not their qualifications but their complacency

We only received the Parent's Portal after 3 months of wait, and alas, the portal isn't as updated as we hoped only in scattered bits and pieces and at 2-3 weeks long intervals each time. DD also didn't bring home any of her weekly work and our com books consists mainly consent forms, holiday announcements and thats it. We wonder if the teachers ever had things to say of DD's progress and we know little of what she did in school day to day mostly unless DD wish to tell us or they have a school wide excursion circular pasted inside.

The teachers are approachable but are generally brief about what they have to say. When we probe learning progress, most of the time we were offered answers like 'she's ok, just need to sit still' and they'll then direct us to the portal. Us being us we try to move along with the flow

We also felt that their programs with parental involvement were also very little, understand that the school just opened but so far we've only been invited to school once during mother's day celebration which was a chaotic affair

Much reservations came after the parent teacher meeting when Lin Lao Shi didn't seem to realize that she has missed out on some children and when DD was asked to read some simple words like 'head' and 'water' (something different to the usual 'hand', 'mouth') DD says she didn't know and Lin Lao Shi scrambled to say she 'thought' all the children knew because they recited the words together and assumed that DD knows already We were quite worried about the 'missing' out part and not the fact that DD didn't know the words.

We came to Pat's because of the raves about its curriculum but we haven't seen much of that coming forth. Perhaps due to lack of communication, perhaps they were taught but we didn't see it or perhaps it is not instant but my gut feel isn't feeling very well.

Sometimes she comes home with her rubber band still tied on her hair from morning even as she had her hair washed; the teachers did not have it removed before shower Sometimes she comes home with pretty dry skin as the teachers did not apply prescribed cream on her eczema patches

So far I felt that DD has not enjoyed school a wide % more than in her previous school, no singing songs she learnt at school or pointing out things she caught in schools during her conversations with us or simply telling us she likes school and that has sort of made us lose even more confidence in Aroozoo.

[jetsetter]

JSK, Zeroyee and Pebblez:


My child is also at Aroozoo, but not in Nightingale. Did you get the letter from Anita today that they are going to increase the school fees to $1660 for full day childcare come 2013? Reasons are: competitive salary packages for teachers; inflationary costs in education materials; increase in rent; and other operating costs.

Seems like we’re being forced to pay the new fee (they word it nicely as "one month’s deposit") by 21 Aug if we want to retain the place for our kid in 2013. What if we want to veto against that fee hike?

Anyone feel that the fee hike is not justified and that there should be greater transparency in how the school derived those forecasts? I need to feel the ground sentiments before I get to the media and the Minister.

Perhaps some of you would say, if you’re unhappy with the hike, there are always alternative centres like PCF and NTUC offering more affordable early childhood education and routine care services.

It’s not about the money. It’s a matter of principles. PSH needs to give me a good reason why it’s upping the fees in just 6 mths of its opening, when everything extra were paid by the parents (from iMath materials to school excursions to buying potted plants). Is it suffering from losses because the classes aren’t full? Is it planning to buy electronic pianos, which are conspicuously missing at Aroozoo, unlike LAP centre? How expensive can those weekly A4 FastTrack worksheets be, when the content had been developed years ago by PSH’s curriculum specialists? Is the in-house cook going on strike because PSH won’t increase his salary? Is it because the teachers are looking forward to their increment in 2013? Is it cos price of rice has gone up?

Consumers have a right to question why service providers including preschools are wantonly increasing their fees as and when they like it. There is no end to fee hikes. Someone must check on them.

[empressplace]

PSH’s fees for 2013 (including GST but before childcare subsidies)


Half Day Morning (7 am to 1 pm) $1284 (-$150 childcare subsidy = $1,134)
Half Day Afternoon (1 pm to 7 pm) $1070
Full Day I (7 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.) $1658.50 (-$300 childcare subsidy = $1358.50)
Full Day II (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.) $1819.00

A further 5% increase is anticipated for 2014.