Any recent reviews of this school? It’s difficult to judge a school based on the past. My older kid was in what I thought was a very good preschool. I even recommended it to others. But suddenly during Covid things went downhill. Teachers left with no or lame explanations and they hired people who were not qualified to teach preschool kids. Another famous school that we visited before and that people said was very good, upon checking with my friend with kids in the school, she said things suddenly changed during one term and more than half of the teachers were fired suddenly.


So what’s good in the past may not be good now. What was wrong in the past could have been improved on with change in P and teachers. So if anyone has a current review of how things are like in SJCK Gilstead, please share!

zac's mum\" post_id=\"2029270\" time=\"1625473231\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=2029270 time=1625473231 user_id=53606]

ThinkEnglish\" post_id=\"2028863\" time=\"1625149267\" user_id=\"160699:

Dear all, I am facing a situation where my son has suddenly said he doesn't want to go to the school that we have chosen for him because of negative experiences with older kids from the primary school, e.g. the older kids taunting and chasing him.

He has told me that he is keen on SJIJ and that he likes to go to church so he wants to go to a church affiliated school. However, although we are eligible for 2B, we will still need to ballot. Also, we do not know anything about SJIJ other than it's a Catholic school and it's a popular school.

My son has some challenges in coping with daily events. He is a good and kind boy and his literacy and numeracy skills are fine, but he is easily distracted and rather hyper and loud at times. His current kindy teachers have not advised us to go for a diagnosis, but we think that he may need an AED's help in future. Hence, we do have some worries about applying for a school that may be taking in students with high focus and strong academic abilities.

Would any parent be able to share with me about SJIJ's pastoral care and AED services for the students, especially those with difficulty focusing or emotional challenges? Are the teachers and other students accepting of those who are different?

Hi my boy is not in SJIJ. Just sharing this recent news article which you may have missed. I’m not sure if your boy would benefit from this new pilot program by MOE called TRANSIT (or TRANsition Support for InTegration).

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/primary-1-students-behavioural-difficulties-transit-moe-14322192

If you go to MOE’s School Finder website, click Primary Schools, and then filter for P1 TRANSIT (social and behavioral needs), you will find this list of 37 primary schools that have AEDs who have been trained for this program. SJIJ (and a few other Catholic boys schools) is in this list. You may want to consider Eg. St Gabriel’s if no balloting at 2B is required for your home distance.

https://www.moe.gov.sg/schoolfinder/?journey=Primary%20school&q=*&fq=school_journey_ss%3A%22Primary%20school%22&fq=%7B!tag%3DspecialNeeds%7Dspecial_needs_ss%3A(%22P1%20TRANSIT%20(Social%20and%20Behavioural%20Needs)%22)&fl=*&sort=slug_s%20asc[/quote]

Thanks for the sharing! This is very helpful as I didn't know about the Transit programme for primary schools.

F3parent\" post_id=\"2029264\" time=\"1625470148\" user_id=\"165232:

ThinkEnglish\" post_id=\"2028863\" time=\"1625149267\" user_id=\"160699:

Dear all, I am facing a situation where my son has suddenly said he doesn't want to go to the school that we have chosen for him because of negative experiences with older kids from the primary school, e.g. the older kids taunting and chasing him.

He has told me that he is keen on SJIJ and that he likes to go to church so he wants to go to a church affiliated school. However, although we are eligible for 2B, we will still need to ballot. Also, we do not know anything about SJIJ other than it's a Catholic school and it's a popular school.

My son has some challenges in coping with daily events. He is a good and kind boy and his literacy and numeracy skills are fine, but he is easily distracted and rather hyper and loud at times. His current kindy teachers have not advised us to go for a diagnosis, but we think that he may need an AED's help in future. Hence, we do have some worries about applying for a school that may be taking in students with high focus and strong academic abilities.

Would any parent be able to share with me about SJIJ's pastoral care and AED services for the students, especially those with difficulty focusing or emotional challenges? Are the teachers and other students accepting of those who are different?

i'm not sure about SJIJ, but i kno the ACS schools are very supportive of kids like your son

Thanks! Unfortunately we are not within 2km for ACS Junior. Good to know that it supports the kids well though,

Dear all, I am facing a situation where my son has suddenly said he doesn’t want to go to the school that we have chosen for him because of negative experiences with older kids from the primary school, e.g. the older kids taunting and chasing him.


He has told me that he is keen on SJIJ and that he likes to go to church so he wants to go to a church affiliated school. However, although we are eligible for 2B, we will still need to ballot. Also, we do not know anything about SJIJ other than it’s a Catholic school and it’s a popular school.

My son has some challenges in coping with daily events. He is a good and kind boy and his literacy and numeracy skills are fine, but he is easily distracted and rather hyper and loud at times. His current kindy teachers have not advised us to go for a diagnosis, but we think that he may need an AED’s help in future. Hence, we do have some worries about applying for a school that may be taking in students with high focus and strong academic abilities.

Would any parent be able to share with me about SJIJ’s pastoral care and AED services for the students, especially those with difficulty focusing or emotional challenges? Are the teachers and other students accepting of those who are different?

Make reading a fun activity. Read with different characters’ voices and not in a monotone. Be aware of your child’s level of understanding and adapt the text so that your child can easily grasp the meaning. Do not read word for word. Sometimes our kids may want to flip from back to front, or start in the middle of the book. This is okay. Do not discourage them as they are flipping through the book because they are interested in the story! When they learn from young that reading is fun, they are much more likely to love reading when they are older.

Hi, my wife is bringing our son for an assessment at a private clinic as he seems to have symptoms of SPD. The clinic she called charges $380 for a one-hour consultation. The costs will go up if the consultation runs over one hour, and if our son has to take additional tests. Would anyone be able to share what the total costs are like for a complete assessment?


Please pm me if you have any recommendations for private psychologists.

I do not think the costs are claimable but this is only my experience. I’m not sure if teachers from other schools have successfully claimed for taxi fare.

Teachers, and I think other public servants in Singapore, are paid fairly. I don’t have any complaints about that. A transport allowance is good to have but not a must have.


We do travel for work sometimes. Not just for staff improvement courses, but also for workshops where we are participating as presenters sharing our experience with other teachers. There are also cluster meetings, out of school trips to recce locations for school camps, etc. These are all trips that we have been paying for. To someone who is calculative, these may be regarded as additional costs incurred for which we are not reimbursed.

My wife works in the private sector and her company provides petty cash claims for all trips related to work (e.g. meeting of clients and attendance at trade fairs). But her job is not as stable as mine and she does not get bonuses every year.

It’s all a give and take. There are pros and cons in every job. Even without a transport allowance, the civil service provides a fair salary package with reasonable benefits.

floppy:

ThinkEnglish:

...
There are some private companies who offer transport claims for office-related events at other locations. When I have to rush for seminars and workshops in other schools and the timing is such that none of my colleagues can offer me a lift, I pay for my own taxi fare even though it's a \"work trip\".

Why can’t you claim?
I recall claiming for transport based on $0.60 per km when I drive (and $0.25 per km when I ride my motorcycle) for attending to events outside of school venue (long time ago).
These days claim should be done thru pac@gov? Hence, gov transport claim policy should still apply.

I don't think taxi fare can be claimed, as there is always the cheaper option of taking a bus. But as you know, sometimes it's impossible to get away from school earlier. I won't be able to reach the locations on time taking the bus or train.

c00klemum:

Recently just went for a birthday party, which i personally find it quite cool. Its a rock climbing place cater for young kids. My friend son is 5 years old, and had a spiderman party. not sure how much she spend but my kids enjoyed their first climbing experience. Didn't expect my 3yo son to reach the top though.


The place not very big but good enough to hold a private event. Can check them out! They are call My Little Climbing Room, located near Kovan.

Sounds like a great idea! Are there staff around to advise the kids how to climb, or are the kids expected to try climbing on their own with parental supervision?