Singapore Expats

I am interested to send my son to Chatsworth East Primary 2, it get me the intrested as it do primary IB program and it has the cheapest fee, which I am hoping to use the saving into extra class for my son such as swimming and karate.

However, I read from other thread that a lot of people only send their kid to Chatsworth East because they are on waiting list in other Scholl such as UWC and Tanglin, where their fee is a lot higer.

So how is the Chatsworth East compared to other International School which charge a lot higher? Experience tell me that if something is cheap, there is always a reason behind it.

Wonder why Chatsworth east is one of the cheaper school and short waiting list?

Sorry, I don't know where you come from, but you think $18K a year for school fees is 'cheap'?

and liked the small and cosy environment.

nutnut wrote:Sorry, I don't know where you come from, but you think $18K a year for school fees is 'cheap'?

It is cheap compared to $22k+ for SJII and $25k+ for UWC and Tanglin.
I agree it is expensive compared to the $4k fee for local school, but what the chance of getting my son in a reasonable local school at this late of time?
So may be the question is, how is Chatsworth East compared to an un-full local primary school for non-PR which the fee is $4k only? And how it compared to other International School which school fee is above $25k+.

Want to know what others think, especially the people who put their kid in UWC and Tanglin and pay the fee out of their own pocket. Is it really worth the $7k+ a year + the long wait list.

Well, put it this way, my kids start at Chatsworth East in January, we were impressed by it this much. we looked at the other 3 schools in the East (CIS, Eton House and OWIS) but we never considered the UWC and Tanglin, probably cause we can't justify the additional cost and the waiting lists are horrendous.

Thanks, I think I will give a good visit to Chatsworth East when I arrive in Singapore next month, It is also a shame they do not doing daily Mandarin, wonder if there is any after school Mandarin class around for kid of 7 years old, as I believes Mandarin will become very useful when my child at his working age.

I may also try to push my luck on some of the local school is well, as $4k is far better than $18k if the different is small, as I always believe good parents guidance and external activates have a major part of being a open minded smart kid. The money saved will allow him to take extra class such as music, sport and social event. Or even allow him to visit different parts of the world.

I wonder what the worst I will be expecting from a bad local school. As we have been very careful so far to guide my son of becoming a good hearted and responsible person, to save money and risk my son to learn bad behaviour from his new friends is the last things I want.

yoman228 wrote:Thanks, I think I will give a good visit to Chatsworth East when I arrive in Singapore next month, It is also a shame they do not doing daily Mandarin, wonder if there is any after school Mandarin class around for kid of 7 years old, as I believes Mandarin will become very useful when my child at his working age.

I may also try to push my luck on some of the local school is well, as $4k is far better than $18k if the different is small, as I always believe good parents guidance and external activates have a major part of being a open minded smart kid. The money saved will allow him to take extra class such as music, sport and social event. Or even allow him to visit different parts of the world.

I wonder what the worst I will be expecting from a bad local school. As we have been very careful so far to guide my son of becoming a good hearted and responsible person, to save money and risk my son to learn bad behaviour from his new friends is the last things I want.

No problem getting enrichment classes! This is the land of after school lessons!!!

Also, the local kids in local schools are unlikely to drive your kids to drink and drugs! They are more likely to teach him Singlish and bad eating manners! Otherwise local schools are excellent! Speak to SMS in this regard, he is a great advocate of them.

Given a choice, I will choose SJI.

The Mandarin programme at Eton House is supposed to be one of the best of all the International Schools and the children have lessons daily (or at least they used to when my children were there).

Chatsworth is cheaper and I believe that is deliberate, not because they are an unpopular school - in fact they are becoming more popular if anything. The fees are going up soon - I'm not sure if they are on the website yet - they will still be one of the cheaper schools though.

Nothing wrong with local schools if you can get in one - large class sizes but a good education.

Primary school is $4,272 per year for non-ASEAN international students, sorry, I assumed you were from around here, in which case you'd pay $2,952. I don't think this is cheap, and just another reason I'm so glad we're PR's--my $51 per month is looking cheap now!

Granted, you also don't have to pay a security deposit or "handling" fee.

BigSis wrote:The Mandarin programme at Eton House is supposed to be one of the best of all the International Schools and the children have lessons daily (or at least they used to when my children were there).

Chatsworth is cheaper and I believe that is deliberate, not because they are an unpopular school - in fact they are becoming more popular if anything. The fees are going up soon - I'm not sure if they are on the website yet - they will still be one of the cheaper schools though.

Nothing wrong with local schools if you can get in one - large class sizes but a good education.

How do you know they are going up? Please advise if this is hearsay or from a reliable source as we've just started our kids

nutnut wrote:How do you know they are going up? Please advise if this is hearsay or from a reliable source as we've just started our kids

Because we got a letter from the principal about it a month or two ago.

It's for the August 2012 semester, not for this coming semester.

yoman228 wrote:

nutnut wrote:Sorry, I don't know where you come from, but you think $18K a year for school fees is 'cheap'?

It is cheap compared to $22k+ for SJII and $25k+ for UWC and Tanglin.
I agree it is expensive compared to the $4k fee for local school, but what the chance of getting my son in a reasonable local school at this late of time?
So may be the question is, how is Chatsworth East compared to an un-full local primary school for non-PR which the fee is $4k only? And how it compared to other International School which school fee is above $25k+.

Want to know what others think, especially the people who put their kid in UWC and Tanglin and pay the fee out of their own pocket. Is it really worth the $7k+ a year + the long wait list.

Mostly has do to with whether the school is non-profit or is expected to be a profitable company...

boffenl wrote:Primary school is $4,272 per year for non-ASEAN international students, sorry, I assumed you were from around here, in which case you'd pay $2,952. I don't think this is cheap, and just another reason I'm so glad we're PR's--my $51 per month is looking cheap now!

Granted, you also don't have to pay a security deposit or "handling" fee.

I am confused, and forgive me as I am trying to get my arms around this education thing for when we move next month. My 3rd grader was accepted to SAIS, my pre-kinder *(kinder in fall of 2012) is on wait list - am I reading there are other options - like LOCAL SCHOOLS??? I thought expat children HAD to go to International Schools, if they were not citizens of Singapore they couldn't attend the local school - am I wrong? I hope I am because I would love nothing more than to send my kinder kid to another school - SAIS is outrageously expensive and our company is paying for it but now I am feeling guilty as I thought it was the only option and no one from the company told us different??

Hi Michelle,

Yes, foreign students can enroll at local Singapore schools. However, local students are (understandably) given priority, so it can be difficult to find space at some schools.

You can either apply directly, or through the Admissions Exercise for International Students (AEIS). Check out the MOE website (www.moe.gov.sg) for more info.