Singapore Expats

My wife and my 5 years old daughter will be joining me in Singapore in Dec 2006.
My daughter is currently in kindergarten in sydney. I prefer that my daughter completes her school before coming to singapore.

I am from australian and I am going to work in Singapore for 2 years in 2 weeks time; however, I do not have lots of money to pay for deposit initially such as rent and schools.

I had done some researches that in order to put my daughter in the private school such as australian school, I have to have at least around $12000 initially, including the non refundable fee, the first school term fee used as a bond deposit (will be refunded when we leave singapore upon sufficient notice). the first school term fee and the first building term fee.

Therefore, my plan is to enroll my daughter in a public school or semi private schools. However, my wife wants me to enroll to a public school where there are some expatriats from australia or other english speaking countries. Like me, these expatriats can not afford to put their children into the private school.

My plan is to register my daughter on the private school after 1 year in singapore. By then we can save some money for my daughter's private school

I appreciate if anyone can help me recommending such a public school
Please let me know the name of the public schools and their addresses.

We do not want the school to teach our daughter other than English as my daughter already speaks two different languages at home. we also worry if my daughter will speak with singaporian accent if she goes to public schools with no foreigners.

Thanks for your help

Public schools in Singapore are pretty brutal in the way they treat kids, both in terms of discipline and the sheer load of schoolwork. First grade shouldn't be too bad yet though...

Have you talked with your employer? Many employers subsidize education for expats' kids to a considerable extent, and just fronting a deposit shouldn't be a major problem.

The apartment costs you cite, though, seem unusually high. The agent's commission is usually half a month's rent (if rent is above S$2500, the owner pays this) and the security deposit is usually only one month, so your $2500 apartment shouldn't cost more than $5000 or max $6250 for the first month.

To begin with, schools in Singapore start the year that a child turns seven. By that reasoning, your child will have an extra year of kindergarten before staring int he local system. This is a good thing, in my opinion.

There are some fantastic local kindergartens around and she will have time to adjust to the culture and academic expectations of local schools before starting primary one. The children are all reading and writing by the time they start school here (and those who are aren't are very seriously disadvantaged).

Contrary to what Jptokal has said above, there are lots and lots of expatriates who are not getting schooling paid for by their companies, and simply cannot or will not pay the money that these schools are asking.

There are plenty of schools here with expatriate children attending. Try not to worry. The schools where expatriates go are not usually "top" schools - this is a good thing as they tend to be more open-minded and less "brutal", especially for girls.

Off the top of my head, these places would be fine (read: I would send my own daughter):

Tanjong Katong Primary school (recently nick-named "United Nations Primary") - (east)

Saint Margaret's Girls Primary School

Princess Elizabeth Primary School - (west)

You have a year to research and worry about it yet. But really, it's not a big deal. PM me if you want.

Thanks for all your replies. I am sorry for saying this but unfortunately, I do not get any valuable information from the moderator.

FYI moderator, I have lived in singapore before in 1994-1995 and 2002-2003 but at that time I was not married and my daughter was only 2 years. My current company will not pay my children's education or subsidize the bond.

I know from my past experience and my current agent that in singapore you need to put two months bond for leasing more than 2 years sometimes even for 1 year, plus 1 month commission. (Maybe, the commission depends on the agent you used..). If I choose a Service Apartment, I will save the commission but I still have to put two months deposit for more than 1 year lease.

I agree with k1w1 that International School is not always a top school , in fact from my experience, public schools are often better as they teach their kids to work very hard. I myself was born and studied my primary school in asian country, so I know how tough they are ...

What I am worried about k1w1's comment is that "schools in Singapore start the year that a child turns seven." I do not want to put my daughter in Kindergarten twice. She will be 6 years old next year and she should be in grade 1 as she is in kindergarten now.

I hope that I can register my daughter in year 1 .

You also recommend me the following schools:

Tanjong Katong Primary school (recently nick-named "United Nations Primary") - (east)

Saint Margaret's Girls Primary School

Princess Elizabeth Primary School - (west)

Are there any reasons ?
Do these public schools have expatriats ?

Thanks again for your information
Unfortunately, I only have 6 months to register my daughter in year 1 because my wife is not coming to singapore until dec 2006.

I only have limited time to do the research because of my work.

Someone recommends me ICS. It sounds good because it is a christian school but the tuition fee is very high and there is a registration FEE too.
I still need at least $10,000 and in the long run it costs more than if I put my child at Australian School in singapore. Again my problem is that I do not have lots of money initially for the bond etc.

I heard that there is a alternative for private and public school in singapore where you put your daughter at school for around $2000 per semester instead of free of charge. Does anyone know about this? Does this school have foreigners?

Cheers, many thanks for your information

[quote="epahgi"]You also recommend me the following schools:

Tanjong Katong Primary school (recently nick-named "United Nations Primary") - (east)

Saint Margaret's Girls Primary School

Princess Elizabeth Primary School - (west)

Are there any reasons ?
Do these public schools have expatriats ?

Ephagi, if you reread K1w1's post, you will find that she has answered your question already. There are some expat children in these schools.

Unfortunately, I'm unable to help with the second part of your question . However in my opinion, your child will not be disadvantaged by spending another year in kindergarten, if you do decide in favour of local schools due to the admission age criteria of 7 years. Standards in local public schools are high and the extra year will set the base for interaction and integration within the local system with her peers in a similar age group as K1w1 stated.

Moreover as your daughter is still very young, a year doesn't make all that much difference. As a product of the local school system myself, I can assure you that language ability and accents are also determined to a certain extent by the family envoirnment in which one is raised. If your tenure in Singapore is a short one in the long run, the accent of your child will not be an issue you'll have to worry about too much, in my opinion.

All the best to you and your family.

epahgi wrote: What I am worried about k1w1's comment is that "schools in Singapore start the year that a child turns seven." I do not want to put my daughter in Kindergarten twice. She will be 6 years old next year and she should be in grade 1 as she is in kindergarten now.

Your child will be six when she starts school (unless her birthday is 1 January). Local kids turn seven any time in their first year at school. This is absolutely not negotiable, except under really extreme circumstances (I have a student, for instance, who speaks barely any English and the MOE have placed him four years below his age until he "catches up".)

Kindergartens are not like they are in most Western countries. They are very structured and most children will be reading and writing when they leave. If your child does in fact have to repeat another year of kindergarten, this will be the academic equivalent of the first year of school in Australia. She will not be disadvantaged by doing this at all.

epahgi wrote: You also recommend me the following schools:

Tanjong Katong Primary school (recently nick-named "United Nations Primary") - (east)

Saint Margaret's Girls Primary School

Princess Elizabeth Primary School - (west)

Are there any reasons ?

Yes. There are a number of reasons that I have "shortlisted" these schools. One of them being the fact that their staff and students are comprised of a number of nationalities. I have also taught students from all of these schools and I believe for the most part, their schools are doing a good job: the kids are happy, not pressured to the point of near-collapse, and are very motivated students. There are no doubt many more schools like this. There are also, without doubt, faults in every school - and every person's opinion.

epahgi wrote:Do these public schools have expatriats ?

Yes, hence the title of United Nations Primary...

I am not sure what background your family has, but Singapore as you know, is pretty multi-cultural. There are lots and lots of expatriate children in local schools here. I get the feeling you're really asking about Caucasian families though, of which there are fewer.

epahgi wrote:I heard that there is a alternative for private and public school in singapore where you put your daughter at school for around $2000 per semester instead of free of charge. Does anyone know about this?

Not at Primary school level. There are some "government-aided" high schools (semi-private) however.

If your daughter is already six, and will not turn seven until next year, you will be able to enrol her during phase three which will be around August/September of this year for 2007 classes. Places are given to local children first and then the remaining places are open for application from foreign kids.

All schools have foreigners.

If you want a school 100% foreigner, it is United World College.

What? Not all local schools have foreign kids. The only places that have ALL foreign children are the International Schools, of which there are plenty - not just UWC. The OP is not looking for that though.

epahgi wrote:Thanks for all your replies. I am sorry for saying this but unfortunately, I do not get any valuable information from the moderator.

Call me jpatokal, I'm not moderating anything here (and there's lots of us mods floating around).

FYI moderator, I have lived in singapore before in 1994-1995 and 2002-2003 but at that time I was not married and my daughter was only 2 years. My current company will not pay my children's education or subsidize the bond.

It would've been good if you had stated this useful info earlier then, as unfortunately my moderator mind reading helmet (see pic) has been a little flaky lately.

I know from my past experience and my current agent that in singapore you need to put two months bond for leasing more than 2 years sometimes even for 1 year, plus 1 month commission. (Maybe, the commission depends on the agent you used..).

If you're going to be in Singapore for 2 years as you said in your original post, why do you need a lease of over two years? My leases in Sg have been for one year, with an option to renew for another year (so total 2), and as stated the security deposit was always 1 month and the commission 0.5 months. Naturally the downside is that the owner may decide to raise the rent after the 1 year -- but this will probably be figured into the price of a 2-year lease anyway.

Epahgi, I have been reading the posts and am in a similar situation to yourself as in my daughter will be turning 5 this year (after the Sept cut off date) and has completed two years nursery education in a Scottish nursery. We are considering a move to Singpaore at the moment but I too am worried about the fact that she will be made to redo her second year and feel that she is now more than ready for formal education. Can you tell me if you have had any success in finding a school or have any further information that may be useful to me.
I have been slightly concerned about the word "brutal" being used in connection with the education of children, can you or anyone else for that matter, clarify what this actually means?

minkymoo wrote:I have been slightly concerned about the word "brutal" being used in connection with the education of children, can you or anyone else for that matter, clarify what this actually means?

It means that teachers can and do use physical discipline (caning) to keep kids in line. (link) Huge quantities of homework are assigned and tests involving regurgitation of The Right Answer(tm) are extremely important.

give me a break. just because of that michael fay's caning, everyone thinks that caning is a common thing here. yes, there might be a few who,for whatsoever reasons, whack the kids but they are not let off lightly by the school and the ministry of education. teachers here a good lot and tell me who goes to a school that does not give out homework. don't forget sometimes the parents are the guilty party cos' of the numerous tuition the kdis have to attend.

my kid is in primary 2 and she is having so much fun and she dislike holidays cos' she can't be in school. yep, she has homework (not a lot) and she still has time to play and watch x-men and in bed by 9 pm. i think a timetable really helps.

oku wrote: give me a break. just because of that michael fay's caning, everyone thinks that caning is a common thing here. yes, there might be a few who,for whatsoever reasons, whack the kids but they are not let off lightly by the school and the ministry of education.

Did you read the link? It's completely legal to cane kids in school. (Not girls though!) If your daughter is happy then great, more power to her, but Primary 2 is still pretty early in the grinder -- let's see how you feel a few years down the line.