Ai Tong

[stardust25]

6musketeers:

stardust25:

Thanks all for the valuable perspectives and insights, most useful. Chiefly I am also wondering how good ATS may be to merit the long distance. My hubby felt he benefited from the values imparted during his pri school days (though I find him more kantang)..but that would have been more than 20 plus years ago. How is ATS like now? In what sense is it a good school? My own impression from attending a more Chinese-oriented JC is that generally students are more down to earth and reserved but given that my gal is rather shy, I wonder if going to a school steeped in Chinese culture may actually not be the most beneficial.

I'm thinking along the same line - how good is ATS to merit the distance? My hb is an old boy but he didnt quite benefit from the SAP primary school background, also more of a kantang type. My own impression of attending a SAP secondary school is that my rather kantang boy may not really enjoy the chinese culture and I'm truly worried about HCL for him.

Our situation:
Ai Tong - 5km away
Rosyth - 900m away
Is it a huge risk to give up 2A1 priority at ATS and go for 2C at Rosyth?

The kids are studying in a catholic kindy now and we like the teachings very much. Hence also exploring the option to send them to missionary primary schools. But we are not catholics. My hb is a baptised christian without denomination. Will that qualify under 2B for schools like SJI/St Gab, ACSJ or St Andrew's? All these are beyond 2km for us.

I have tried to read up on various forums but while parents of nearby schools have specific things to say about the merit of these schools e.g. curriculum, P, niche area, I have yet to hear anything concrete yet about ATS especially under the new P. Hence, am rather concerned.

As for the balloting considerations, have benefitted from the tips given earlier. So I may go for an almost sure bet place in ATS first and monitor the balloting results in nearby school under Phase 2C. Typically for my area, there's balloting even for those within 1km.

Take heart that though not the nearest ATS is 5km from your place. We are more than 12km away......and there's no school bus and direct public transport options.

[stardust25]

6musketeers:

stardust25:

Thanks all for the valuable perspectives and insights, most useful. Chiefly I am also wondering how good ATS may be to merit the long distance. My hubby felt he benefited from the values imparted during his pri school days (though I find him more kantang)..but that would have been more than 20 plus years ago. How is ATS like now? In what sense is it a good school? My own impression from attending a more Chinese-oriented JC is that generally students are more down to earth and reserved but given that my gal is rather shy, I wonder if going to a school steeped in Chinese culture may actually not be the most beneficial.

I'm thinking along the same line - how good is ATS to merit the distance? My hb is an old boy but he didnt quite benefit from the SAP primary school background, also more of a kantang type. My own impression of attending a SAP secondary school is that my rather kantang boy may not really enjoy the chinese culture and I'm truly worried about HCL for him.

Our situation:
Ai Tong - 5km away
Rosyth - 900m away
Is it a huge risk to give up 2A1 priority at ATS and go for 2C at Rosyth?

The kids are studying in a catholic kindy now and we like the teachings very much. Hence also exploring the option to send them to missionary primary schools. But we are not catholics. My hb is a baptised christian without denomination. Will that qualify under 2B for schools like SJI/St Gab, ACSJ or St Andrew's? All these are beyond 2km for us.

I have tried to read up on various forums but while parents of nearby schools have specific things to say about the merit of these schools e.g. curriculum, P, niche area, I have yet to hear anything concrete yet about ATS especially under the new P. Hence, am rather concerned.

As for the balloting considerations, have benefitted from the tips given earlier. So I may go for an almost sure bet place in ATS first and monitor the balloting results in nearby school under Phase 2C. Typically for my area, there's balloting even for those within 1km.

Take heart that though not the nearest ATS is 5km from your place. We are more than 12km away......and there's no school bus and direct public transport options.

[6musketeers]

floppy:

1. If you are not a Catholic, you don't qualify for Catholic schools in P2B, likewise for schools of the other denominations. If you husband is not under any denomination, he won't qualify under P2B.

2. I assume you have checked one-map and not merely use the distance from Google. One-map doesn't break down by absolute distance.

3. In any case, Rosyth will definitely ballot within 1km in P2C. You got to ask yourself whether you are happy with your options at P2Cs if you fail in the balloting. If yes, go ahead. If no, ATS would be the better option at P2A1.

Yup, have used OneMap. Aitong is definitely beyond 2km (approximately 5km by Google) and Rosyth is within 1km (close to 900m by Google). Was using the Google distance to discuss with my hb on school proximity.

Will likely follow stardust's plan. Register for ATS at 2A1. Monitor 2C stats for Rosyth, SJI Junior and St Andrews (we are considering these 2 missionary schools if really going that route) though chances seem very slim for all 3 beyond 2km.

How about school transfer? Do they facilitate that right after a certain phase or have to wait till the whole reg exercise is over?

[floppy]

6musketeers:

Will likely follow stardust's plan. Register for ATS at 2A1. Monitor 2C stats for Rosyth, SJI Junior and St Andrews (we are considering these 2 missionary schools if really going that route) though chances seem very slim for all 3 beyond 2km.

How about school transfer? Do they facilitate that right after a certain phase or have to wait till the whole reg exercise is over?

I would suggest that you consider more schools, especially those within 2km. To be honest, apart from Rosyth where you can participate in the ballot for within 1km, you are unlikely to have a chance for the other 2 as they will typically ballot between 1km and 2km, if not 1km. Hence, the only stat worth monitoring is whether your chances for Rosyth is within your risk appetite.

Transfer can only be done after the registration exercise is over. There will definitely be a long waiting list for the popular schools, such as those that you have listed. Immediate priorities are usually for those that were balloted out in 2B and 2C. Be prepared that your transfer, if accepted, will happen only after Primary 2 (or not at all).

[shenice]

I am in a similar situation as well…I stayed not to tao nan which highly chance to ballot in 2C especially my son born in 2012 the year of dragon. My hubby is alumni in ATS so to us it’s pretty straight forward but to travel from marine parade to bishan it’s too far and we don’t even own a car. I do not want to take the risk of balloting at tao nan cos the number of seats left is normally half of the number of applicants so very high chance wiLL not get into the school. But the thought of moving house to bishan is a big move n I love marine parade. Nonetheless ATS is a guaranteed to get in but I will put my son under waiting list for tao nan. I had called up tao nan to ask abt the waiting list in case anyone of u ar interested to know how it works. In case there is a place it doesn’t mean those who live nearby are given priority on the waiting list. It’s decided by the committee members who they wants to take in meaning they will access the kids based on achievements n results or whatever components which are beneficial to the school. So kids who live far away might get into the school. Deep in my heart I alr know that it’s quite low chance to get in even though we live nearby. My only concern is how well is ATS if under the new principal. Im not surprised to see a drop in applicants for P1 registration this yr as many parents might have some reserved with this new principal.

[phtthp]

shenice:

I am in a similar situation as well..


I stayed not to tao nan which highly chance to ballot in 2C especially my son born in 2012 the year of dragon.

My hubby is alumni in ATS so to us it's pretty straight forward but to travel from marine parade to bishan it's too far and we don't even own a car. I do not want to take the risk of balloting at tao nan cos the number of seats left is normally half of the number of applicants so very high chance wiLL not get into the school. But the thought of moving house to bishan is a big move n I love marine parade. Nonetheless ATS is a guaranteed to get in but I will put my son under waiting list for tao nan.

I had called up tao nan to ask abt the waiting list in case anyone of u ar interested to know how it works. In case there is a place it doesn't mean those who live nearby are given priority on the waiting list. It's decided by the committee members who they wants to take in meaning they will access the kids based on achievements n results or whatever components which are beneficial to the school. So kids who live far away might get into the school.

Deep in my heart I alr know that it's quite low chance to get in even though we live nearby. My only concern is how well is ATS if under the new principal. Im not surprised to see a drop in applicants for P1 registration this yr as many parents might have some reserved with this new principal.

Tao Nan, being a GEP school, is highly selective over choice of successful Transfer candidates.

Earliest possible vacancies to arise, will be at end of P2, not P1. Tao Nan school prefer to wait until the end of P2 : to look at Two years of candidates' (P1 + P2 results & desirable Cca that Tao Nan value), before considering taking in any Transfer student.

So, if you want to transfer your son / daughter from Ai Tong into Tao Nan, his / her chance will be higher : if the child perform well in (P1 + P2), both in academic + Cca.
As you may already know, for children born 2009 onwards, from P1 onwards : the students are encouraged to take on a Cca, leaning towards AL PSLE implementation scheme (from 2021, onwards)

If you fail to miss the opportunity to Transfer into Tao Nan, by end of P2, then the next available chance will be : by end of P3.
For that, by then, students would have already taken either one or two round of P3 GEP screening tests. Tao Nan will also look into whether students had cleared Round 1 GEP test or not, in considering students for Transfer into (P4 to P6) Mainstream.

above : concern Transfer into Tao Nan


When is the best time, to seek Transfer, across primary schools ?

The best time to seek Transfer, is at end of P2, not P3. Why ?

P2 : 30 students, per class
P3 : around 40 students, per class

When P2 go up to P3 :
due to the change in number of students from 30 to 40 kids thereabout, per class, that's when most vacancies are created, at the end of P2, entering P3, due to Re-org in the number of classes, and hence the Total number of students, at that level. The earlier u come in, the better.

Once these end of P2 vacancies are snapped up fast, the remaining vacancies left, start to dwindle : getting lesser & lesser, as move towards end of P3 or P4.

Perhaps what one can do (for those seriously keen in Transfer schools) is :
- google the school website that u interested to transfer in,
- count the number of P2 classes vs the number of P3 classes, in that school keen in,
- compute the difference.

This can give u an idea, what's the maximum possible, feasible number of students, the school can absorb for Transfer, from the earliest time-frame, end of P2 to end of P5.
P6 : no Transfer occur, because in approximately half a year's time, around August, Your child sitting for PSLE.

Here, We use the adjective, \"feasible\" : because not all schools may want to fill up to the brim, with this number, especially if the school is very choosy & fussy, cannot find suitable candidates, because set high criteria, for Transfer. Every school, differs. After all, there is a difference, between highly popular schools vs. Unpopular ordinary, neighbourhood schools that parents sometimes shun, during P1 registration time at Phase 2C Supp, Phase 3.


How about the other way round, that is, Transfer into Ai Tong ?

Ai Tong, being such a popular SAP school : in the first place, who will want to quit ? And why would they want to quit ? After all, isn't every year, the balloting at Phase 2C for SC, less than 1 km, so intense ?

Usually, the ones who quit Ai Tong : are those who Transfer to either GEP schools, or to Affliated schools often like ( Catholic High Junior, Maris Stella, CHIJ St Nicholas primary.)

A couple of Ai Tong (girls & boys) had transferred successfully into above 3 named schools, for the purpose of affliation that attract parents, or for certain desirable competitive Cca(s), at end of P2, onwards.

Once they quit Ai Tong : vacancies then arise, for other outside students, to join in, as newly Transferred students.

At end of P3, there is a lot of both in and out Transfer movement going on, in this school (Ai Tong). Students offered GEP by MOE, will move out, thereby creating vacancies for others, to come in.

[shenice]

Thanks phtthp for your input. You knows the schools in and out! Just like what you said the staff at tao nan told me vacancies will only be available after gep cos there alot of student coming in and out and increase in number of students.


My son classmate mum whose elder daughter in tao nan told me most who got into gep will want to move out of tao nan n get into nanyang primary so it make sense why the admin lady told me higher chance will be during upper primary cos it’s such a hard school to get in and who will want to get out once they had a place there likewise for Ai Tong.
So other than academics he got to be in a cca which tao nan values. Do you think higher chance will be given to those in the same clan since standard shd be similar right?

[phtthp]

Tao Nan is a SAP school. (besides GEP)


doesn’t matter whether give chance to same clan, or not : because there are also students weak in Chinese, inside this same clan "Hokkien Huay kuan" related 5 set of schools, comprising (Chongfu, Ai Tong, Kong Hwa, Tao Nan, Nan Chiau) primary.

since Tao Nan (TN) located in Marine Parade : a lot of children from other primary schools (both SAP + Non-SAP schools) in the east, will also be keen seeking Transfer into TN, including those who had failed at balloting at Phase (2B + 2C), during P1 registration. As such, competition is very keen.They have no lack of receiving Transfer-in Application forms submitted.

for Transfer purpose -
Tao Nan school is particular over your child’s proficiency level of Higher Chinese.

If Transfer at end of P2 -
if (P1 or P2) Chinese weak : they won’t consider, even if kid’s P2 (Maths or English) are strong.
Why ?
because They don’t want a child to transfer into their school, later on to find it a struggle coping with Higher Chinese, over there in TN.

[shenice]

So if a child in a SAP school did well in higher Chinese he/she had higher chance of getting in? Am I right to say that?

[lee_yl]

shenice:

Thanks phtthp for your input. You knows the schools in and out! Just like what you said the staff at tao nan told me vacancies will only be available after gep cos there alot of student coming in and out and increase in number of students.


My son classmate mum whose elder daughter in tao nan told me most who got into gep will want to move out of tao nan n get into nanyang primary so it make sense why the admin lady told me higher chance will be during upper primary cos it's such a hard school to get in and who will want to get out once they had a place there likewise for Ai Tong.
So other than academics he got to be in a cca which tao nan values. Do you think higher chance will be given to those in the same clan since standard shd be similar right?

Really? For those who stay near Tao Nan, going to Nanyang is quite far.

Anyway, one of DH's colleagues did whatever he could, move house, PV etc. to get his children into TN. End of the day, his children didn't do too well in PSLE. I am not saying that TN is no good but getting into a branded school while parents did nothing to help child won't help.