ahleo87:

Hi mummies and daddies. I would like to seek some advice before enrolling my child into a kinder. I’m offered a place in NYK, SJK and a Montessori. Anyone can offer any advices please on NYK? Like what’s the school like in terms of academic and character building and why will you enrolled your kid into NYK instead of other kinder?

I was offered both places in NYK and SJCK. So I can offer opinions on both schools from my personal perspective.

NYK is a no nonsense environment and high on discipline. Attended the parents' briefing before the start of school - we were not offered seats in an air conditioned auditorium like in SJCK, but made to stand in the open square like primary school assembly; and the principal addressing us like secondary school students. The teachers are mostly PRC who speak mandarin with lithe. Students were expected to be respectful to the teachers and the entire curriculum is in mandarin. Generally the materials used in class are quite innovative- they played games with well made paper toys etc and they expected parents to prepare show and tell boards (4 topics a year). Also they have tricycles for children to ride within their compounds; most schools have it. And they have music and cookery classes. PTC they give you a day and time and expect you to adhere to it.
Teachers have a lunch break btw AM and PM classes; whereas SJK is a continuous stretch for teachers for AM and PM classes.

In SJK, teachers are called \"aunties\". They don't address teachers as teachers; this I found out is they want them to view the teacher as less intimidating? The environment is a stark contrast to NYK where the children are nurtured and molly coddled as 温室的小花. Most of the curriculum is in English and honestly they are rather weak in Mandarin; which I found to be the same for most mission schools. The focus at nursery level is on play, with little attention to learning the alphabets After 1 year, they have not started them on writing yet. Their motto is they have a life ahead them for learning, there's no hurry to stress them now. Their focus is more on learning Christian values, encourage good behaviour and let them love going to school.

So, at the end of the day, you need to decide which strategy is in agreement with your personal values and parenting goals. They are good and bad in both schools. Some wants their kids to be independent, competitive and speak up in class- then NYK is more suitable. If your intention is to nurture a God loving, creative child who is more academically relaxed then SJK suits you better.

My DS is with St James Gilstead. One thing to note is the traffic around Gilstead is very horrible and the residents are not tolerant of parents slowing down their traffic flow. Hence, the principal keeps on reminding the parents to drop off their kids and not park in the school compound. The reminders get so often, and it can be irritating at times. If u are not sending in by sch bus n choose to pick up ur kid urself it can be a real issue. There’s no nearby public carpark for you and it can be a real far walk in.


Sch bus also has its issues. Even if u don’t stay very far from sch, the driver may pick u up at an earlier time than necessary. For eg if i send my kid to sch, 30 min is enough to beat the morning jam. But a sch bus will come to fetch ur kid at least 1 hour in advance because there r too many kids to pick up along the way. Plus they do not routinely check the students temperature on boarding the bus (my own observation). You can figure out the pros and cons yourself.

Last but not least, they change and update their uniform from pre-nursery to nursery. So after 1 year you need to buy another set of uniforms (because it’s a different style). There are a lot of miscellaneous fees involved. Not a school for the average Joe or low income family - just my humble opinion.

To sum it up, the initiative should not be started by a bunch of high SES parents who doesn’t understand the struggles of lower income families where an education is perhaps the only way to break out of poverty, besides the alternative way of marrying into a rich family.


It creates controversy. Aptly pointed out as a billionaire telling people that money is not important.

If you want the initiative to be successful, my advice is to find the right people with the right background to push it through. Otherwise, it is just hypocrisy in disguise.

Hi i have heard of lorna whiston from a friend.

R the classes gd? I was told there was a queue for the dragon year. So wondering if it is so.

Hi there, i stay at bishan ang mo kio area. My 2 year old going to playgrp this year. Anyone same as me?

I called Mindchamps at Sin ming for an enquiry some days ago. The staff who spoke to me couldn’t speak English properly and I had a tough time trying to understand what she was saying. I decided to give it a miss.

Did anyone of you have any recommendations for playgroup for 18 months ?