zahra:

Hi all,


I understand that chij conduct religious lesson for their pupils. For non-christrian are they able to opt-out? TIA

Only Catholics are required to attend catechism class. The rest of the girls will attend life skills class during the same period. There is no need to opt out; I think it's by default.

Hi,


My daughter is in P1 this year and also takes the school bus. I understand that the price was raised beginning of this year, but I was already quoted the raised price so did not feel the pinch. Was a bit :yikes: when I receive the notice that they are increasing the price again next year. Hope it will not continue, but anyway I understand that prior to the raise this year, for the past few years there was no adjustment?

A couple of things to note about the school bus. The price is averaged out to be paid in 9 months instead of 12, so upfront it seems more pricey than others but if you work it out for the whole year I think it is reasonable. My only gripe is that they don't offer one way rate for nearby locations.

Coz my girl is still young, so I've decided to stick with the school service for now. Hopefully I can switch her to taking public transport when she is older. :evil:

My daughter is in P1 this year.


No regrets choosing this school because it is a very good fit for my daughter, and we all love the environment.
The school emphasises on a holistic education. So far they have been doing a fair amount of character/values building - my daughter comes back and shares about what they are taught during life skills, assembly, etc - so this school does take character education seriously. From the interactions my girl has had with her seniors, and my own observation of the girls, I find that most of them are very well-behaved, which I take as a sign of the school’s excellence in character building. Of course my girl has had unpleasant experiences from time to time but that is part and parcel of being in a school environment, and the instances have been few and far in between compared to the positive experiences she has had.
I cannot speak for the school in terms of academics; if you look at the past stats for the school within the old school slides, the scores are quite decent, but they may not be up to some people’s expectations. My personal feel when comparing the work she is doing at P1 with the work some of my other friends’ P1 kids are doing, is that the school moves at a relatively slower pace for Chinese (but which suits my daughter because she doesn’t go for any Chinese enrichment class and she picks up Chinese slower). I think the English is decent standard, Maths prob about average. But eventually at upper primary I suppose they level up with other schools because I also know another girl from last year’s P6 who went to MGS. If I don’t remember wrongly the top student went to NYGH (saw her pic in the newsletter from last semester).

Overall if you are looking for a balanced and loving school environment, I would highly recommend this school. If you are looking for a school that is academics-focused, then this may not be the school for you.

Hi LitTheo and racheltham,


Nice to "meet" you! So happy to know another two more mothers, at least we will not be complete strangers at orientation!

Hi litTheo, i just received my orientation letter from the school yesterday. I know another mummy here also received hers yesterday. Can watch out these few days, maybe they are sending in batches?

Hi all, any 2014 parents in 1 Faith?

meremortal:

av8trxx:

Dimsum - there are tons of countries who do not discriminate according to the nationality of the children registering for a place at a public school in their adopted country. Off the top of my head, Australia, USA, England and Canada - just to name a few...

I dunno about the other countries, but Australia requires foreigners to pay about 4-6k a year if they attend a public/government school - which is why most foreign students opt for private schools as it is not that much more to pay and you get better facilities.

I was surprised that we let foreigners study at our public schools without a similar scheme like Australia's!

Foreigners do have to pay school fees but it is a fraction of what international school costs - believe it is about a few hundreds as opposed to a few thousands. So our local schools are still attractive to them.

Kaydenmama:

Ok the 2nd reason is 2nd choice sch has lot of foreigner or INternational students. Due to the location and I oso some were send over to spore and study but parents. My concern is these IS psle may not be an impt exam in their life result in the teachers not willing to teach them since a matter of time they leave spore. Will dis pull down the standard of the sch. I did called sch recently and ask if next yr has hw many sc, pr and is. They did breakdown on the number so far ok but will dis affect the moral of the teacher if overall has more IS.

Hi kaydenmama,

What kind of international students are you talking about? Because if you are referring to ASEAN, Indian, prc international students, I think these students work far harder than our own scs, and they regularly score well unless English continues to be a huge hurdle for them (but from my own observation their sheer grit and determination usually overcomes this. Maybe they still wont speak well, but writing and reading will not be a problem.) so if these are the international students you are referring to, the environment they will create will be more competitive, rather than more slack, and teachers should be more willing and motivated to teach them simply because they are willing to. In any case I would think environment affects a student more than it affects the teachers. And at the end of the day, every school has its share of good and bad teachers and there is no guarantee you will meet a good one.

Timduncan:

gvyong:

Hong Kah - 150 places, only 23 filled after 2C. In P2CS, 127 places avail, ZERO filled.


Worst pri sch in the nation? The principal should be sacked.

u need to understand the local geography first....the sch is at a boundary of Bt Batok n the other schools (Princess Eliz, Dazhong, Lianhua, Bt View, Keming, St Anth) have more than enough places, so naturally parents avoid Hong Kah Pri which over the years suffers fr a vicious cycle.

:goodpost: ! Just delving into the geography of the place more specifically, Hong Kah is also in an area where

1) not that much housing around, and the housing estates within walking distance are all mature estates;
2) within walking distance in the same area are St Anthony's (reputation and affliation) and Dazhong (spanking new school building).

If I lived in the area (which I do actually) and just wanted to choose a school within walking distance, the other two schools would almost naturally be ahead of Hong Kah in my choices, just purely based on the above factors. To me, Hong Kah is just an unremarkable school, no particular pull or push factors.

Low enrollment may only indicate that principal/school didn't do a good job at marketing. But then again, good marketing is not necessarily an indication of how good a school IS. If principal's performance came to be judged solely by enrollment figures, that would be really sad.

pinkdaisy88:

I did not go down to register today, intend to do so only tomorrow, so is it that you are guaranteed a place so long as they still have vacancies? Dun need to wait till results day or what if is over applied? Will there be a balloting? :xedfingers:

If number of applicants exceed number of vacancies, seats will be allocated according to citizenship and distance priorities and then the last category where no of applicants exceed no of vacancies will go for ballot. Exact same procedure as 2c.