Singapore Expats

Need some advice please.
We are coming from Germany and I have no idea if it is smart to put my kids in a normal singaporean school and what is the best timing of transfer? My husband's work begins on Jan. and we don't know if we should come all together.

My son is grade 9 here and my daughter is grade 1. Is there any entrance test to see which level they are in Singapore or do they automatically get accepted in the same school level as here? Would there level here even matter because Asia and Europe have diff. systems.

Please help.

We are a German family and just moved to Singapore at the beginning of this year. You are free to ask me for more information at [email protected]

The local school year starts here in August, I think. The kids are put into grades based on the year they were born (absolutely no exceptions).

As a foreigner, you will have last pick of local schools as places are allocated to locals first (which is fair enough). The best bet will be for you to decide what is more important: academics or all-round education, and where you are going to live. The most coveted schools (by locals) have very high academic standards. Actually it seems that expats are happier with the less academic schools as their kids don't face the same pressure.

So once you know where you are going to live, check the MOE website for a list of schools with vacancies. I have heard conflicting advice here: some say you can contact the school directly and ask to look around and whether they have vacancies. I guess you could do that anyway and see what happens.

Best of luck anyway.

Oh, I take it you know about the German and Swiss Schools? Sorry, can't offer any advice about these schools though - just the kindergarten, which I hear is excellent... Oh, I'm rambling. I hope this helps.

Thanks to both of you for your replies. chris, i emailed you some more.

k1w1, august? then, my kids seemed late for the semester. by the way, what do they mean by semester there and the after terms I II III IV? and academic VS all-round education? what does that mean?

sorry if i'm asking too much, it's just that i'm quite stressed when it comes to my kids.

Local schools and the Australian International School start their academic year in January-November/December. Rest of International Schools are Aug/Sept - June/July.

hey skye thanks! would you also happen to know what's with these terms I II III IV and all?

Check this out:

http://www.moe.gov.sg/schapp/frames.htm

Semester means half a year, and a term is half a semester. There are four terms in a year. Term 1 IS in January (sorry about that), and there are short breaks between terms, and about a month at the end of the semesters.

How old are your kids?

i have 3.
in germany, eldest is grade 9.
my second just started the formal grade 1 and i have a 2 yr. old.
the school kids are the ones i'm not sure about with timing and all.

if they enter school on the 3rd term, does that make sense at all? and they do have to take entrance tests right? how does that affect the school level?

hmmn, so now is kinda like the 4th term right? oh no, then we are too late

Hi Husticia,
You can start your communication process with the MOE before you come here.... i know a couple of friends did that. The test... results and admission is pretty quick if you are not particular about the school. You can do it either way check out the school first... check regarding the vaccancy and then decide to write/ not write the test or the test first.
Children born in calendar year 1999 start grade 1 on Jan 2, 2006. Check out with MOE about the options for your oldest. He should be in Secondary 4, writing his Olevels in Oct-Nov 2006.
mumbaigirl

hey mumbaigirl,
thanks for the info. will do so. but oct/nov. 2006 is much too late for us because we're supposed to be there early Jan or Feb.

oct-nov 2006 is the exam at end of year. he will start the year in jan 2006
mumbaigirl

mumbaigirl wrote:oct-nov 2006 is the exam at end of year. he will start the year in jan 2006
mumbaigirl

oh ok, you wrote oct-nov 2006 so that got me confused

thank you very much for this!