Dear RainbowDove,


Yes, kindergarten is in chaos. Everyday you hear either this parent or another going to the principal’s office. Before new principal came in, during my older child’s years, the group of parents I hung out with (about 8 of us) never once talk nor worry abt the kindy. We only enjoyed each other’s company annd go for group outings after the kindy sessions ended with the kids. We didn’t even talk about Mandarin enrichment classes for our kids. Now, parents are looking for extra Mandarin tuition outside for their kids in this so-called "strong chinese based" kindy? Something is not right.

Note : Gym and Computer lessons are optional programmes to sign up DURING the 3-hour kindy time. You can choose not to pay. This is what REALLY happened instead of what the principal tells you:
- 2 parents witnessed their kids sitting and watching the kids who PAID do gym;
- kids who did not pay for computer classes end up doing their own things in class while the teachers complete their own work. The principal told me that the teachers engage the kids with revision!!! (???)

Rumoured 3 other teachers left.. one laoshi taught only for 2 terms last yr after replacing another long-time laoshi. Why?


Confirmed students who have left :
* 4 students in K2 (why final yr kids are being uprooted by parents?)
* A few more in Nursery and K1. Some parents were willingly forfeiting their 1st term's school fees and went elsewhere without starting the 1st day of the term. Why are these parents so desperate to leave? Just ask yrself. :siam:

Unconfirmed students who are not continuing on from previous yr : (how many? Why?)

Many other current parents are nervous, worried and are discussing among themselves whether their kids' are in good hands and whether the yr's form teachers will leave mid-term. Like one mother said, \"If you find no peace, leave or else you will constantly worry every month\".

According to principal, these are the Mandarin - English weightage. It is based on the time spent being exposed to the languages during the 3-hour kindergarten session, including meal time.


Nursery 80:20
K1 K2 70:30

This year alone, a handful of old teachers suddenly left the kindy. Ma laoshi, Miaoling laoshi, Mrs Koh, Chen laoshi and soon next year… some teachers are talking about leaving too. 2-3 teachers left within a single term (some within the month, and some within the week!). Chen laoshi is a pastor’s wife and cried when she heard the excuse given by the principal for letting her go.


Principal told us parents that all these teachers had issues…e.g. mental problem, quarrelsome, leaving to pursue studies, etc. But the thing is, all of them were teaching in HG before the current principal came in. They were excellent and very dedicated teachers. One or two of them went out of their way to do extra for the kids. One gave DVDs of the kids’ class-time at the end of the year free… at their own expense. Parents were pleasantly surprised to find it inside the kids’ bags.

When the old staff left, kids were stuck without proper relief teachers. Some days, they had an all-English day… some days an all-Chinese. These comments came fr the children themselves.

I understand from parents that all these teachers left due to bad blood with the current principal. Principal tells us that she is quite happy that these teachers had left so that she can bring in a new batch. Some of the new teachers are very young and inexperienced. 2 of them are pretty nice and seem serious in their jobs. One new laoshi looks exasperated all the time. Rumours had it that the principal was from NAFA and parents from NAFA kindergarten petitioned against her. One parent had her child labelled as autistic by the principal and he is not! The parents hit the roof! This year alone, many parents also took their kids out… which explains why there is no waiting list these days. Years ago, HG had parents queueing up from the night before registration day.

Academics - besides spoken Mandarin throughout the 3-hour, the rest of the subjects need home-support. This kindy is no doubt good for kids who do not speak a word of Mandarin at home… but be ready to supplement yr kids with extra enrichment outside. Gym lesson within school hrs must be paid separately, or else yr child will ‘do PE’ with their form teachers. 2 mothers told me that their kids who opted out of gym (by outside vendor BearyFun Gym) were simply sitting around watching ‘gym kids’ doing their exercise. I do not know how true this is as my child is a gym-kid, but these mothers are appalled. So please please do yr research and compare the work with other schools before deciding.

By the way, K2 kids hv the option to go to China for 1 week for cultural exchange. It started this year. Parents must go. Costs about $3k for parent-child pair. Those who opted to stay back… I do not know what they do for that week.