Singapore Expats

We are thinking of relocating to Singapore next year. At the moment we live in HK and our children go to an ESF school. Is there anything comparable in Singapore? The International Schools I've looked at online are expensive! Do expats kids go to local schools at all? Appreciate any insight.... Thanks.

As far as Im aware expat children cannot go to local schools, so you dont really have a choice unfortunately. If Im wrong in this I hope someone will correct me, but I couldnt enrol my daughter and the waiting lists for International Schools can be quite long.

From the MOE website:

http://www.moe.gov.sg/corporate/students_foreign.htm

"International students who wish to study in Singapore are eligible for admission into Government, Government-Aided or Independent schools. Applications are accepted all-year round, subject to availability of vacancies."

So seems they can go to the local schools, but if I remember rightly have to wait at the bottom of the list for places as citizens/PRs are given first priority.

And therein lies the problem. Usually all the places are taken up before the 2nd ballot is even done. Only a few outlying areas are normally available. There are a couple though that have made a reputation for having a rather large contingent of foreigners.

i checked last year's balloting results from the MOM website and there were many slots left, even at the end of the balloting. you might not end up in the school in your neighborhood, though. but then, many kids who go to int'l schools also don't live in the vicinity of the schools.

some schools are more popular with the locals than others, but it could be that these schools may not be the best choices for expat children anyway. depends on what your expectations are.

this topic has been discussed many times here on this board. look for the thread started by boffenl. their daughter just started P1 in a local school.

We are relocating to Singapore in May from Melbourne with our 7 year old son who is in grade 3/4 here. I have spent so much time looking through all the schools and posts on this subject going back to last year. It is so hard to decide in a short period of time when you have to consider the waiting lists and having to pay to apply not knowing how long you will have to wait (in most cases) and other pros and cons of local or international. What do you do in the meant time home school??

Could anybody recommend some local schools that already have expat children there please?

My daughter attended local schools for 8 years starting from age 7.
It was not a matter of cost for us, but the differential was a huge plus for the savings account.

All her school friends lived nearby -- we lived in central SG, far from the International Schools.

She also benefited from the discipline (though she would never admit it) and the focus on basics.
Her study habits learned then are helping her now to handle college life.

She learned Mandarin quite well (though it was a struggle), since Mother Tongue was taught daily.
This was a big help when we moved to China.

She had her own creative streak, so the common creativity concerns were not relevant.
You need to decide what aspects of schooling will be most important. Where you live may also be an important factor.

Thanks for that Maneo. My little boy is one year above his age group here in Melbourne so I thought the local schools would be good for him, but it will be his 5th school 1x UK, 2 x NZ and 1x Au as we have moved around alot, so it is important to us that he settles in to a school quickly and we do not need to move him until we leave. As we are only looking to stay in Singapore for 2-3 years before going back to stay in NZ I am thinking maybe an International School might be best.

I have found that Chatsworth East International school is a small campus which would be good. Does anybody know if it is a good school? And the best area to live in that is not too far away?

Any one got any names of secondary schools that accept expat children. I have 3 of my children in local primary schools and need to move my elder child over from an International School to a secondary school.

There was an article in the ST last year (Sep/Oct) about local schools that looked more like International Schools.
The one my daughter went to (First Toa Payoh) turned out to be high on the list, but it's in central SG.

Maybe you could contact the paper and get more info.
Then again, there is MOE.

Frankly, many local schools in Singapore have become semi-international schools. Take for example this quiet and quaint local school, East Coast Primary School in Chai Chee, it has 40% of its population being foreigners and the foreigners are mixing very well with the local kids as well.

The most important thing is that the teachers in the school have already gotten used to the kind of high percentage of foreign pupils and they certainly know to handle the kind of group dynamics that coexist between the foreigners and the locals.

Now, how do iI know that? I have two educator-friends in the school and already I feel that their thinkings are really different from the local teachers. Perhaps, it is because that these teachers have long been interacting with the large number of foreigners in the school and this has brought about a perspective change.

Hope that helps..

any idea if there are such schools out in the west coast?

viajera wrote:some schools are more popular with the locals than others, but it could be that these schools may not be the best choices for expat children anyway. depends on what your expectations are.

Second this opinion.

katbh wrote:Any one got any names of secondary schools that accept expat children. I have 3 of my children in local primary schools and need to move my elder child over from an International School to a secondary school.

All secondary schools accept expat children. The problem is just whether there are vacancies.

we are also considering moving to SIN. And accidentally our 7-yr old daughter is also in ESF (yr 2). So let's keep each other posted. Can't PM yet (newly registered).