Singapore Expats

Nord Anglia Education has acquired Dover Court Prep in Singapore. Dover Court is a happy little school, but could certainly benefit from a little investment and more modern communications/technology.

The teachers have always been enthusiastic and effective, but I think held back by the owners.

Does anyone know anything about Nord Anglia and how they operate?

I visited the school and was impressed by the campus a while back. Swimming pool, huge football/soccer field, etc. Where exactly were they lacking in funds?

I didn't opt for this school (especially with ZERO after-school activities for P1), but overall it left a positive impression and I would still consider it in the future.

My concerns are less about upgrading the facilities but more about being more open to suggestions.

When they don't have enough room to accommodate all infants to have lunch at the same time, why don't they let year1 eat at 12.20 and year2 at 1pm, rather than giving these little children 20 minutes only to wash their hands, run to the lunch table, line up to heat up their lunch (if necessary), and finish and pack their lunch bags? My child comes home every day telling me there was not enough time to finish the lunch.

Things like using more technology in communications would be appreciated too. For example, the bus company can run a web page that shows the departure time of each school bus every day. On Tuesday it was the first day for ECA this term. No one told us when our child would arrive home by the ECA bus. We were expected to figure it out based on "experience". Then the bus was 30 minutes later than the "usual" time. They gave the usual explanations - first day, new children, new bus allocation, bus left the school late ........ I tried to be understanding but waiting 30 minutes was not fun. Unfortunately I'll have to continue to wait at the "usual" time because I don't know when they'll finish the slow adjustment of the initial chaos at the beginning of the term. If instead I am late to pick up my child, even by just 1 minutes, the bus driver just leaves her in the street outside our condo!

I have been very happy with the teachers but feeling that we are not listened to and nothing will change is not great,

My understanding is that the new owners intend to be far more responsive. They have already set up an email communication system, hardly radical in any other school but a complete no no at DCPS in the past. Also that there will be investment in catering, computers and a range of other issues.

Some of the teachers, having met Nord Anglia were extremely positive about potential improvements. I do hope it comes together well.

I think the future will be very bright for DCPS. Had we realised it was being sold on we might not have engineered the upcoming move for our son. They are already measuring up for physical building improvements (happened to be there the other day and met someone doing just this, clipboard and everything). Teachers have already (so we hear) been asked to provide wishlists. It's all sounding very good, I think. Not sure NA have any other schools in Sing though, to draw a comparison, but from what I hear they are well respected.

All good news I sense. Investment is needed in some of the older buildings, communal areas and sports and play facilities. They have the space to expand which helps. I think the key change will come at Senior School level where currently there is virtually no offering so DCPS is basically a feeder school for Tanglin, UWSEA, CIS etc who have massive Senior Schools with waiting lists etc.We have friends whose child is doing his GCSE's in a class of 4 !!

We have one at Dover and one at Tanglin. You can see the difference between a Trust School and one run as a commercial concern. No issues apart from that and very happy with teachers, pastoral care etc etc.

We attended the parents meeting held by Nord Anglia at the school last week. The new owners' reps sounded very switched on. They are prioritizing expansion of the Senior school, with the aim of adding IB or A-levels -- to be decided this June, I believe. Seriously good news, that.

Also, new sports complex in the works, IT improvements (yay!), and other infrastructure improvements. They like the Dover Court small groups, special needs, etc, so that evidently is not going to change. They seemed quite impressed with Dover Court academically but are going to pour in some money for infrastructure, tools, things teachers (at all levels) need, etc.

Of course, we all know it's early days yet, but if they stick with what they've said they will do, then we are very very happy.

Nord-Anglia also recently acquired the British International Schools portfolio in America and now run schools in NYC, DC and Houston to name a few. A friend of ours has just accepted a post there and said she was very impressed. By their commitment to SEN.

Hi
I would like some recent review of this school. Has the school changed in any way after being a part of Nord Anglia group? Any information will be much appreciated. Thanks

Dover Court International School has had a massive transition and in my opinion it has been poorly managed. They are over subscribed and aren't prepared for it. General education is good as the staff are excellent but resources are poor, old and limited. There is very little ICT provision and a very limited extra curricula. It just doesnt compare with other International Schools at the moment. It needs someone really dynamic to lead it ito that domain. If your child needs additional support then SEN is good but limited by poor resourcing. ESL is dreadful. Because of the over subscription ESL children are taught seperately in classes of 18-20 regardless of their level of need which means that they miss all of their mainstream teaching. My advice is ask lot of questions nd ask for evidence t support answers. Speak to the staff personally and privately. I feel that Dover Court will catch up but right now its a poor realtive amonst the international community.