Singapore Expats

I am looking for primary school for my son, who has a mild ADHD and tends to be a bit disorganized/unfocused in the class. Due to years of bad experiences at the previous school, he lost his confidence and was rather depressed at one point. He changed school last fall (and treated) and now he is happy and looks like gaining back his confidence.

Because of my husband job, we will be moving to Singapore next summer. We would like to send him to school where caring and nurturing. Also we look for a school where provides some support to settle him down. He doesn't need academic support (although ESL is needed as it's not his mother-tongue) but needs emotional support sometimes. He tends to be a bit anxious to new things and needs some attention/encouragement in the beginning.

Do you know any school you would recommend to a kid like him? Maybe a big school is a bit overwhelming, so a smaller sized school is preferred. We are open for any curriculum (IB, UK, US...) as long as he doesn't get lost (I think school which is structured suits him better).

Greatly appreciated sharing your experiences, opinions, comments!!

P.S. I heard Dover Court has caring/nurturing environment - if you have any experience with them, please kindly share with me!!

If it is a small school, then Hillside World Academy fits the bill, being only about 240 students from K-12 at the moment. We offer an IB curriculum, *BUT* you have to be aware that we expect the child to also study Chinese, which is about 40% of our language of instruction right now at the junior school. The emphasis on Chinese is a reason our parents like the school and also a reason why other parents avoid the school!

Disclaimer: I am the Principal of the school.

Newtospore wrote:I am looking for primary school for my son, who has a mild ADHD and tends to be a bit disorganized/unfocused in the class. Due to years of bad experiences at the previous school, he lost his confidence and was rather depressed at one point. He changed school last fall (and treated) and now he is happy and looks like gaining back his confidence.

Because of my husband job, we will be moving to Singapore next summer. We would like to send him to school where caring and nurturing. Also we look for a school where provides some support to settle him down. He doesn't need academic support (although ESL is needed as it's not his mother-tongue) but needs emotional support sometimes. He tends to be a bit anxious to new things and needs some attention/encouragement in the beginning.

Do you know any school you would recommend to a kid like him? Maybe a big school is a bit overwhelming, so a smaller sized school is preferred. We are open for any curriculum (IB, UK, US...) as long as he doesn't get lost (I think school which is structured suits him better).

Greatly appreciated sharing your experiences, opinions, comments!!

P.S. I heard Dover Court has caring/nurturing environment - if you have any experience with them, please kindly share with me!!

My friend's children are in Dover (elementary) and they like it very much. One of their children had some behavioural problems in the past, and changed a number of schools. In the end, they settled down in Dover and the child is doing very well and happy. They have ESL classes too but most children there are British and quite a sizable number of Japanese/Koreans.

Sensei Michael wrote:If it is a small school, then Hillside World Academy fits the bill, being only about 240 students from K-12 at the moment. We offer an IB curriculum, *BUT* you have to be aware that we expect the child to also study Chinese, which is about 40% of our language of instruction right now at the junior school. The emphasis on Chinese is a reason our parents like the school and also a reason why other parents avoid the school!

Disclaimer: I am the Principal of the school.

Thank you very much, "Sensei Michael"!
Your school sounds very interesting and I am sure learning Chinese will help him in future. My son has been in the multi-language environment, so I have to be careful with adding another language, though.... I will look into your school! Thanks a lot again!!

Just to add on to a previous poster, I have also heard good things about Dover school as well. In fact, there are a large number of good International Schools in Singapore, each with their niche offerings.

The Winstedt school has just moved into their brand new campus and it is a great school. Mainstream curriculum and super small class sizes. My son has gone for three years and we are extremely happy!

Hello,

Does anyone know a local primary school in Bukit Timah area which accepts students who are not Singaporean or PR?

Thank you!
Y

yukiko84 wrote:Hello,

Does anyone know a local primary school in Bukit Timah area which accepts students who are not Singaporean or PR?

Thank you!
Y

For admissions to local schools, you have to send your kid the AEIS, a central admission test held twice a year. You can find out more from the MOE website. If you clear the AEIS (a test of relative merit of the cohort, not an absolute pass grade, unfortunately), the MOE will give you a list of schools with vacancies to go to.

If the kid is going to Primary 1, you can register him in July of the previous year, at the P1 Registration Exercise in the target school, under Phase 3, the final phase after everybody else. I am quite sure schools in the Bukit Timah area are unlikely to still have places left at Phase 3.

Thank you for your detailed explanation and advice.

Y

We are arriving on the 24th and after looking at various websites I have decided to enquire at Aureus music academy. They have a number of locations, some with recital facilities. And they also offer piano rental, and teachers who come to your home.

Although they are a music school, teachers offer private lessons.

They have a website here:
https://aureusacademy.com

Hi. Does anybody know about a good violin school in Singapore for an 8 years old? I checked online and saw a few different ones. I saw this place called Learn Violin Lessons and it seems like they do the classes at your home which seems good for me for now.
Please share your experience if you have tried them before?

This is their website:
https://www.learnviolinlessons.net

AJAJ wrote:Hi. Does anybody know about a good violin school in Singapore for an 8 years old? I checked online and saw a few different ones. I saw this place called Learn Violin Lessons and it seems like they do the classes at your home which seems good for me for now.
Please share your experience if you have tried them before?

This is their website:
https://www.learnviolinlessons.net

Drop dead.

AJAJ wrote: ↑

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 12:13 am

Hi. Does anybody know about a good violin school in Singapore for an 8 years old? I checked online and saw a few different ones. I saw this place called Learn Violin Lessons and it seems like they do the classes at your home which seems good for me for now.
Please share your experience if you have tried them before?

This is their website:
https://www.learnviolinlessons.net

Checkout their new branch at chinatown. Just visited them for my 4 years old boy to learn violin. Impressed. They are called LVL Music Academy.
I also visited Synwin at Marina Square but they only sell violins. No classes there.