I agree that you should not send your kid to St James just because of the popularity; but do send them because of the moral values they teach and for the caring teachers.


I do not think the school is playing with psychology (logically what would be in it for them then?) as the truth is, it depends which branch and which school year you want to register your child into. I can site further example like from my friend who managed to register her daughter last month, for next year Nursery year at Gilstead but was told the wait list at Leedon is 28 children.

Class size gets big in K2 year (2 teachers for 30 students) but isn't that the same for P1? Hence they have no issues transiting to primary school. For my child in Nursery year, class is 18 students for 2 teachers.

I am sure there are some teething issues with St. James branching out to Little Seeds preschools but that is exactly the feedbacks getting considered as there has been many parents including myself asking for a full day preschool service.
Also there has been some dissatisfaction in quality of year-end class photos taken this year so the school has taken the feedback quickly and a reshoot is taking place this week.

I have a child who graduated from St. James and is in primary school who is completely fine academically, in self help skills and independence. My other two children currently in St. James are the same.
St. James does not focus on academics as much as say, Brighton Montessori and MindChamps but what they teach I feel is more focused on habits, values and manners. So if those are what parents pursue for their children then St. James would be a great place to go to.

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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.

nafios:

Hello everyone, Thanks all for your time first.


I am SPR/<1km, qualified for Phase 2B and fulfill the parent volunteer scheme.

My question is, am I able to register under Phase 2B even though we are SPR? or still need to Q under Phase 2C (but our priority over those PR without PV qualification)?

Thanks thanks!

It would depend on what your child's status is. Whether he/she is a citizen/ PR/ or foreigner. If the child is a citizen or SPR, you are qualified to register in 2B.

Thelittleninjas:

I'm staying within 1km of Rosyth & will most likely be in phase 2c. Anyone knows the breakdown & if anyone had to go ballot within 1km for 2c? Dragon baby next year registering, super nervous already xo

Rosyth has always had to ballot for SC <1km in the past 12 years in phase 2C.

There are so many schools with more than 100 vacancies having to ballot for SC under 1km in 2C!! Schools like West Spring is conducting ballot for 132 places all within 1km for SC, Westwood 119 places, Horizon primary 117, Mee Toh 119, Punggol green 167, Rivervale 124, Seng Kang green 102, Riverside 107... Not only will the balloting take so long but how nerve wrecking it will be

sunnyicy:

Appreciate if anyone has update on HPPS SC < 1 km thanks

As of 10:30am it was
SC <1km 44
SC 1-2km 14

I guess SC 1-2km are willing to ballot for the last seat possibly, unless someone <1km shows up last minute.

HPPS vacancy 45


SC <1km 38
SC 1-2km 14

as of 11:20 on 27 Jul

tinywings:

phtthp:

[quote=\"zac's mum\"]
Ah, but did you know that people who pantang and don't want Dragon girl, they will either abstain, or use \"special techniques\" to get a boy instead? All hearsay. And all guesswork on my part.

What are some reasons why \"people pantang dragon girl\"?

Ladies, I gotten the data. The answer is...... 2012 dragon year has more girls then boys. This is a factor to analyse for those aiming for girl's school.

https://www.msf.gov.sg/research-and-data/Research-and-Statistics/Pages/Singapore-Demographic-Sex-Ratio-Males-to-Females.aspx[/quote]
I think data is for the total population of Singapore not for the babies born that year. Women live longer than men, hence there are more elderly ladies living hence the female population ratio is higher than male.

NardNegoy:

Hello everyone,


I'm new here. I'm thinking of sending my first daughter to SCGS in a few years' time. I would appreciate if anyone could help me with the following enquiries:

1) Does SCGS still have a parent volunteer scheme?

2) If my daughter is born in 2014, is there a specific year for application for the PVS?

3) If I'm in the PVS, and also stay within 1km, what are the general chances I'll get in? Have they historically had ballots for 2B applicants within 1km?

4) Any feedback from parents of kids in the school? How is the learning environment?

Thanks in advance for your replies, appreciate them.

2) Typically PV should end before the P-1 registration so for 2014 babies, you should look to apply sometime next year or early 2019 depending on the school's system.

3) Having done PV and if you stay in 1km, historically the chances are 100%
https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/singapore-primary-1-registration-school-balloting-history/

MumOfClara:

Hi anyone able to share experience ? Thanks

I've got a K1 child attending session 1 at Harding, and I've just registered my second child for session 1 for Nursery starting term 3.
At first I was not used to not getting daily/weekly/monthly updates from teachers which we used to get from full-day childcare center before. But now we, especially my husband love this school. So far the two sets of teachers, especially the main English teachers we had last year and this year were warm and very caring, and each time we pop by which wasn't too often, they were listening to us and giving us detailed feedback about our child. Our child also seem to like the school a lot and always runs to the school bus every morning. Unlike the very modern childcare my kids attended before, the Harding campus has a rather rustic feel to it which we sort of like as well.
The only downside, especially as full-time working parents is that the hours are short, and that there are school holidays following the MoE calendar! For working parents, I suppose the better option could be session 2 followed by enrichment classes at school which means the child will be in school 11:30~4pm. Oh, there are also enough holiday enrichment class options as well to keep the kids busy during long school holidays if that's anyone's concern.

Hi, I am reporting here as well. We have a dragon #1 boy, then a snake baby and a SG50 baby.

Currently doing PV at HPPS at the moment, and just to share the PV application journey with you, I want to highlight that sometimes schools don’t need your fancy skills and qualifications. They may only need someone who can commit themselves to come at a certain time everyday to be a traffic warden for example!