St Gabriel's Primary
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This is the Parents' Support Group for St Gabriel's Primary
Once you have gotten your child in this school, come introduce yourself to other parents in this school and network with each other. Share tips, on-going news and alerts and discuss issues pertaining to the school. -
Wow, there’s nobody here! My son is not in this school, but it’s one of three we’re considering when he’s eligible for the 2011 P1 registration exercise. Do hope parents of boys in the school will start joining this thread soon so we can all benefit from experience.
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Hi, anyone whose kid going into P1 at st gabs next yr?
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Both my boys are in St Gab’s Primary - the eldest just completed PSLE, the youngest in P1 this year.
My youngest son had problems adjusting to school earlier this year, and I was on the phone regularly with his class teacher. She was very understanding and caring, and found means and ways to help him adjust and to keep him occupied so that he does not have the time to be homesick.
There are also parenting workshops, maths & comprehension strategies workshops for the different levels. The school has Adam Khoo coming in to talk to the P6 boys, with 2 booster sessions during the year.
The principal, Ms Antonia Teng, actually sat down with the P6 boys one-to-one to discuss their PSLE targets - this indirectly motivated the boys to put in their best efforts too. I spoke to Ms Teng in November last year about my concerns regarding my son. Although she said she would speak to him about it when school started in January this year, I did not think that she would remember. But she surprised me by remembering. She knew my son by face even though he was not with me when I spoke to her. She told him of my concerns and encouraged him too.
Most of the teachers that my eldest son had during his 6 years there were all caring and very concerned of their welfare and dedicated to teaching. To prepare the boys for PSLE, their Chinese HOD (Ms Tan) actually started preparing the boys for their PSLE oral in January this year, and throughout the year this continued, until the actual Oral exams were over. There were the remedial and supplementary classes after classes as well. In fact, my son’s managed to pass his Chinese because of her dedication and faith in him. He just couldn’t passed his Chinese after P3, despite all the tuition, etc, but Ms Tan never lost her faith in him, taking him under her wings in P6 along with all the other weaker boys.
After the prelims, the subject teachers actually stayed back till 5pm on most days to give the boys extra lessons in all the subjects, then in September, there were classes on Saturday mornings too.
Hope this helps. The one thing I like about the school is the dedication of both the principal and teaching staff. -
Hi BlackVelvet,
Thanks very much for this very encouraging post. Please do continue to share your experiences with this school, particularly since you’re the only parent so far here able to do so!
Would you know anything about Tamil support? My son is learning Mandarin in kindy now but shows absolutely no interest in it. I finally got confirmation from his teacher recently that she’s completely given up on him (don’t blame her).
My husband and I are now wondering if we should make him take Tamil, since our daughter is taking it and could help him. -
Hi Jacsplace
Not sure about Tamil, but will ask my son to check with his friends. I’ll let you know.
Know what you mean about your teacher giving up. My youngest son had absolutely zero interest in Chinese, even in kindergarten, and one of the reasons why he had problems adjusting to Pri 1 was his fear and dislike of Chinese. He cried the night before and in the mornings. Whenever it was time for Chinese, he would tear. It was a very stressful 6 months. But his chinese teacher tried ways and means to get him to at least speak up, and he had shown slight improvements. He’s only now showing more interest in the language simply because he likes his brother’s Chinese tutor, and is willing to put in more effort. -
Hi BlackVelvet,
Thank you for the affirmation and very detailed and useful information abt St Gabs. I have been a little hestitant about the school as there was not much information/feedback from parents available. However, I really liked the environment and surroundings based on my sch trip there during the sch open house and as such decided to put my son there based on these positive vibes.
My son will be starting sch at st gabs next year and also attending the after schoolcare there. Do you have any feedback or heard anything abt the after schoolcare there?
btw, is it usual for pupils of St Gabs to have tution at home - am concerned abt the need for tuition in P1. Am so happy to hear abt your experience with the Chinese teachers too. That’s one of the push factor for St Gab - coz he does not seem to have a connection with Chinese and I am afraid I will not be able to survive the higher chinese pressure at other schs. So, it might not be a bad thing at all and might just be a blessing in disguise. Whatever it is, I did like the small school environment I see at St Gabs. -
Hi eetsc
My boys are at Morning Star too. That’s one thing good about St Gab’s - it is one of the few schools with an after school care within the school premises. Did you have a chance to speak to the people in charge at the open house?
The boys are broken up into 2 groups - the lower primary, and the upper primary. During study time - the people in charge would ensure that either the boys do their homework, or has some assessment to do, if not, they will have worksheets. If you tell them about any concerns you may have, or as in the case of my P1 boy, the person in charge of Chinese, Li Lao Shi, noted that he is weak in Chinese, so she gave him extra lessons after outdoor time.
I only had tuition for my eldest boy who’s in P6 this year. But having seen and heard so much about how good the Chinese tutor is, my P1 son wanted to start chinese tuition so he could improve. I’m not going to say “No” if he initiates it - he only started in October this year.
However, i’ve heard my son telling me that a few of his classmates have tuition at home.
The school doesn’t have official exams for P1s and only SA2 for P2s, but they do have regular tests and reviews instead of the CAs and SAs. -
Hi again Blackvelvet,
Your son is in Morning Star too? Cool.. looks like our sons will be in the same group next year at Morning Star then. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to speak to any staff at morning star as we were a little late and they were closed by the time we ended our tour of the sch during open house. But, the little communication I have had with the staff once during registration and once when I called in to enquire was pretty positive. The staff there speak pretty well which was one of my criteria for people who will be liaising most with my son. I have seen the way they speak to the students and to me, they seem pretty firm - but not to the extend of being fierce (which was a plus to me!). I left my contact with a staff there asking him to remember to call me when registration of the aftersch care starts - as he told me he will do since I called in in July to enquire and it was way too early for registration then. And you know what? After close to 4 months, he did call me again to tell me all that I need to bring for the registration and when I should do it to ensure a place! So pleased that he remembered and not lost my number.
btw, what are the school hours on a normal day? And do your sons take the school bus to and fro school? I stay in Punggol... and the last I heard was that they have sch bus for the morning but not for the evening to Punggol. If I require the bus to go in the evening to pick my son up, the cost would be very high. -
Hi eetsc
My eldest boy used to take the school bus when there was no after school care in the school. However, did not like the current bus service provider (if they are still the same). In my eldest son’s 6 years there, the school has changed 3 service providers! In the end, when my youngest started P1, I got them both into Morning Star, amidst their grumblings. But once they started going there, they were happy, especially when they get to play soccer during outdoor games.
School buses are provided after school at 1.15pm (school starts at 7.45am, but students have to be in school before that). There’s school bus after CCA at 3.15/3.30, and that’s it. But I could be wrong, since I have not been using their services for the past 2 years.