Hi all, forgive the lengthy post, but hope you guys can advise on what would be the best option(s) for me ...


I'm living near Bartley / Macpherson area, and I am a Catholic High old boy. I had a \"Which option for the scenario\" question some time last year on whether to give up 2A(1) with Catholic High to go for Maris Stella instead due to distance (yeah I know, I threw in a red herring scenario in there as well).

But in any case, I'm actually not too worried about my son, and he won't be in Pri 1 so soon. I am however, undecided on what I should do for my daughter, who is 2 years older.

The Mrs is a CHIJ OLGC (and CHIJ St Joseph Convent) old girl. My understanding is that OLGC doesn't have an alumni association but from what I'd been reading my daughter would have a pretty much guaranteed spot under 2A(2). I'm not sure OLGC would be ideal for her though, because it is about 5km direct distance and a 7+km route from our place to the school, even further if we have to factor in other stops for school bus. On top of that, should it come down to having to fall back on the SJC affiliation (I know, probably thinking way too far ahead), the current location at Sengkang is going to be one hell of a commute.

I'm now trying to come up with possible alternatives, factoring in that her younger brother will most likely be going to Catholic High 2 years later.

The nearest CHIJ to us is actually Katong Convent, but even that is about 3.5km away direct distance, about a 5km route. I was considering this as an option seeing as primary and secondary will be at the same location and my understanding is that based on past years records there's a good chance of getting a place, but have been advised against it as 1 child going east and the other going west (with my home as base) would be a logistics headache.

There are a couple of additional factors I might take into consideration:

The kids' paternal grandmother i.e. my mother, lives within walking distance of Catholic High. Just exit from the primary school side small gate, walk out through the landed estate to the main road (i.e. the Whitley Secondary bus stop), cross the overhead bridge and it's my mother's estate. I do not rule out the possibility my son will go there after school or even stay there on weekdays if he does go to Catholic High, so I may start the same arrangement with my daughter. Just for reference, this address is just a bit over 1km from Ai Tong (1.0xx km actually) and just a bit over 2km from SNGS (2.1xx km actually).

The kids' paternal grandfather i.e. my father, is an active member of Paya Lebar Methodist Church. We also do not rule out the possibility of going the religious affiliation route to try for 2B at PLMGS - which is over 2km but less than 2.5km distance away from my place - if we do not go with a weekday / after-school arrangement for the kids at my mother's place and have them go back to our own home.

Based on all of the above, what would you guys choose to do for my daughter if you were me?

Hi all, new to these forums.


I’m hoping you guys can humour me on this - Given either 1 of the following 2 scenarios:

Scenario A:
You are a Maris Stella alumni but you live within 1km of Catholic High.

Scenario B:
You are a Catholic High alumni but you live within 1km of Maris Stella.

If you have a son, which school will you try to get your son into? Granted, the 2 schools aren’t really all that far apart, Bartley (nearest MRT to Maris Stella) and Bishan (nearest MRT to Catholic High) are just 3 stations away from each other, but for at least lower primary we’d definitely have to arrange for a schoolbus if we take the further option.

Which option would you take in each of these scenarios?