There was an outbreak of salmonella and stomach flu at the Kiddiwinkie Schoolhouse at Newton with some of the students being hospitalized. There is also an outbreak of stomach flu at the Kiddiwinkie Schoolhouse Orchard branch. My child is at the Orchard branch and I am reconsidering withdrawing as they seem to keep having more cases despite updating us that they have it under control.

With regard to the Straits Times articles, I can only go by my nephew’s experience and feedback from his primary school teachers. Maybe in his case, the reality on the ground turned out to be quite different from what MOE had envisioned for MOE kindergarten?

His kindergarten was situated in the same campus as the primary school. But it was in a separate building and fenced off. Based on my nephew’s experience, I don’t think that the proximity to the primary school building helped. I believe he struggled because what was covered in the MOE Kindergarten curriculum was not enough to prep him for the P1.

My nephew went to MOE Kindergarten and he really struggled when he went to P1. Because MOE Kindergarten is just 4 hours and cover the basics, there was not time to reinforce and practice what is covered so the child forgets. Also, the curriculum is not enough to help the child transition to P1. They do not teach writing, spelling, phonics, addition and subtraction while my nephew’s classmates already know. Felt so bad for him as he really had a hard time adjusting academically and felt demoralized. Even the primary school teacher say there is a big gap for children coming from the MOE Kindergarten as compared to those from other preschools.