does anyone have experience with the ananias basc?

Hi babyblissnz! Another school you may want to contact is the Pei Tong Primary School in Clementi. They have quite an international composition, including kids from Aus, US, Canada, UK, Germany, Mexico etc. Call and ask to see the vice-principal (the Principal is new and usually very busy so it's the VP who deals with and even tours the parents). She is very welcoming.


There are great threads from expats' perspective on local schools at the singaporeexpats forum (http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/forum47.html). Have you checked those out? Indeed there are many expats who go through the local school route.

my opinion on this matter is probably less popular, but i actually prefer a childcare/preschool with a male teacher or at least, assistant teachers. this is because i think it’s healthy for children to be exposed to both genders during their early years. unfortunately, the early childhood years are usually dominated by females (even at home, babies and small kids spend more time with females). a good male figure in the preschool environment can help balance that out, which is important especially for boys.

don’t know if it will help your case but, i was able to get a copy of this form from the clementi community centre for the talentplus playgroup. it (the blank form) was free for anyone to take.


merlion, can share which centre this is? i’m also looking for a place in clementi for my toddler.

insider: may i ask which preschool you refer to as having filipino teachers? i’m currently looking for a preschool for my daughter; perhaps there is one in my area. if you’d rather not mention publicly, perhaps you can send me a PM? thanks!

filipinos nowadays do not speak spanish at all. i don’t see a problem having english teachers that are filipino. they use grammatically correct english (which isn’t necessarily true of native speakers) since english is the medium of instruction in the philippines. they do spell some words differently as they use american spelling rather than british spelling (color instead of colour, favorite instead of favourite, etc…) but i’m sure that for the highly educated ones that land teaching positions here in singapore, that shouldn’t pose a problem as they can easily adapt. they might have a different accent, but that is not necessarily bad. i would rather have a filipino accent than say, irish or american ala hannah montana accent. and besides, i think accents are also influenced by the home environment as well.


for me, what’s more important is how they interact with the children. at an early age, i think it’s more important for my child to have cheerful, friendly and compassionate teachers. as for academic qualification, i’m sure the MYCS or MOE will not allow them to work here if they were not qualified.

any comments on the character montessori at holland road/ming teck park? am considering this for my daughter. heard they are under new management, though, so was wondering if there were any changes (negative or positive)? does anybody have a child in this centre?

hi skyblue,


for starters, you can refer to the MOE page on admissions. as soon as you arrive, you can ring the MOE and ask for a list of schools that may have vacancies for your 9 and 7 yr old, who, i reckon, should be at P3 and P1 respectively. a child attends P1 on the year he turns 7. your 9 year old would have to sit an exam before he can get admitted. all these info are in the MOE website.

your 4 yr old would be at kindergarten (N2 or K1 level, depending on the birth year).

as for the mandarin, you may opt to apply for an exemption. if granted, your children can still attend the classes and perhaps pick up some of the language, but will not have to sit the exams.

i’m an expat myself, and we’ve enrolled our son at a neighbourhood school at clementi, not too far from tanglin. tanglin is pretty central, so you have many choices, assuming there are vacancies, and if you won’t have an own car, no worries, it is the norm to put kids on schoolbuses.

does anyone know of affordable parent-accompanied playgroups near sunset way? i know there’s playdays, but the rates are a bit too high…

you can inquire at preschool by the park at dunearn road (hua guan).