If you are not bothered with whether your child will be able to read or write by the time she finishes preschool, if you are not bothered about your child being emotionally neglected due to gigantic class sizes, if you are not worried about whether Teachers will be taking note/ care about your child’s allergies/ safety etc… by all means enrol in St James Gilstead. My child is already in primary school and I’m glad I pulled him out of the school early after noticing that things are not right.

Yes, you are right. A lot of people enrolled but not many kids eventually graduate from this school.

Patronsaint\" post_id=\"1831991\" time=\"1517554334\" user_id=\"140730:

Hi everyone - enrolling my kiddo in Gilstead for 2019. Heard recently that there were a number of parents who withdrew their kids from SJCK. Don't really know why and if that should be a consideration in enrolment. Please do share your thoughts about Gilstead and any recent happenings that might be helpful in my decision making. I am now also thinking BRMCK or Far Eastern. From the forums/elsewhere I gather the below info/feedback (declaration : I cannot vouch accuracy!)

St James : Happy kids, same food week in week out, less personal attention, parent culture not great(?), nothing said of p1 prep
BRMCK : less happy kids, good prep for P1 with Montessori pre/post school studies, less personal attention, 70% Chinese curriculum (is this true?)
Far eastern : Small kindy, loads of personal attention, bible focused

thanks to all responders in advance.

Anyway, I just did a headcount of my pre-N class group chat… more than half were gone… need I say more?


I’m happy that we are now in a better school. Only regret was that we weren’t decisive enough to pull my child out earlier due to our friendships (both me and my child) built over the years.

Looking back, all fears of changing school were unfounded as we remain in contact after leaving the school and still organize regular play dates.

Oh.. it’s rather surprising that a ‘dead’ forum is suddenly revived after my negative review of the school 🙄

Please do not send your kid to St James just because of the popularity of the school. It has grown too big and lacks thinking and human touch. Feedbacks were NEVER considered. Class sizes were enormous. To explain for the teachers lack of control over the children, the school kept using the same old excuse that it is for the kids to learn independence. My kid was there for 3 years. Not only he is far behind academically, he is also bad in self help skills. With such an huge class size, the kids were often left on their own. The kids played with pee and water in the toilets. And conflicts between classmates were unresolved and kids quarrel often. Parents also have their fair share of conflict with the school admin team. The school have simply grown too big and the admin have a take it or leave it attitude. Very often, we heard parents getting anxious after hearing the school has a super long waitlist. However, over the years, we also heard that parents who register in Dec can still get a place in Jan. Don’t be fooled. The school is just playing with psychology to lure more interest.