Moving to Singapore with 2 school primary children

[anhembi]

Hello

I am trying to get my head around of moving to Singapore and I am a bit worried about the waiting list of the schools over there. We live in London and we are planning to move the next academic year when my children will be in Reception and Year 3. As we want to follow the British curriculum, we contacted Dulwich college, Tanglin and Dover. All of them with waiting lists of a year time, if so. Dulwich is the only one offering me spaces for my little one and priority for my eldest.

What do you do? As the application form fees are so high I really do not want to apply and then do not have the space. Are there other International British schools am I missing? What are your thoughts about that?

I kind of like Dulwich but it seems very far from the centre and also very expensive. Where do you live if your kids got to Dulwich? My eldest suffers from car sickness so the less he travels in bus the better! DH will be working in Downtown, another consideration!

Please could you recommend any groups/ websites/forums I can join. As we are in early stages of negotiations, it is kind of secret so joining Facebook groups cannot be possible.

Thanks!

sorry, I should say "moving to Singapore with 2 primary school children"

Singapore is a small place so whilst Dulwich does seem a long way out. It's really not so bad. It's a well regarded school with great facilities. Dulwich students live everywhere but somewhere along the Downtown line would be a good fit - have a look around Stevens, Botanical Gardens, Tan Kah Kee, Sixth Avenue mrt stations. Your husband can catch a direct train to work and kids can get 20 mins school bus to school.

Dover Court and Tanglin are more central. Lots of families will move over the Christmas period so the waiting lists will move somewhat.

Other schools to consider: Chatsworth, Nexus, Gems, GESS (German European School but they have English program. They have a new campus with great facilities). Invictus. All of those schools are likely to have places.

United World College is also worth a visit :) Places will turn up as international communities are so transient due to changing fixed period working contracts. Marlborough College in Johor (short hop across to Malaysia) maybe worth visiting too?

Thank you very much for your answers.
I have an answer from Tanglin we have potentially a space at least for one of them. It seems really appealing as it is central, British and good reputation.
Any thoughts about Tanglin? Where do you live? Can I walk my kids to school? Or take them in MRT? I read some post that is unbearable thinking that due to the heat. I am from Lima, so a bit resilient to those crazy temperatures and humidity (however living 10 years in London doesn't help! I think I lost my superpower)

Thanks for sharing your ideas!!

Tanglin is an excellent school. Nurturing, great facilities (though very much an inner city school - no real grass and dirt) and strong academic results.

School bus is your best option. I know it's scary and unknown but it's very popular here and is a well run system. Otherwise you need to drive them their yourself. The nearest mrt is still a decent hot walk away (and when it rains it's not a slightly inconvenient drizzle!!). There are some condos around One North or Buona Vista but have a look around River Valley, Bukit Timah and Holland Village for more options that are still close by.

The Interlace condo would be a convenient one as a pretty straight run to TTS.

Where will you and/or your Husband be working?

*Drive then THERE, not their!

Then there. Why do we not have an edit button?!

Tanglin is a really great school, established and not for profit with good facilities.
Don't try to walk your dc to school! I walked my preschooler to her kindergarten every day- 6 minutes of torture both ways it never got easier. Take advantage of the bus system - everyone does

Singapore is supposed to have the best education system in the world. All schools teach in English. The UK has introduced a way of teaching maths based on Singapore maths.
From next year, the cost of a state school for foreigners in Singapore will increase to approx £330 per month, less if you're a permanent resident.

It's hard for a foreigner to get a local place though. Less than 4% at the moment. The op won't get local places on arrival

Thanks everybody for your answers. Ok so I have to be brave and send my DC by bus. got it!
Now, local school is another subject. I can see it is very difficult to get in as @tomhazard said. Anyone (UK expat) with kids there?

Thanks @weewillywinkie very helpful.
At the moment the only one having a job is DH, he will be in Downtown, the nearest station I can see is Raffles place.

This is driving me crazy....if mum and dad work, how do you find the life-work balance? As my kids are still small I am a bit worried about that, plus all the forthcoming changes in their life!! I am SAHM at the moment but I have a profession and I would like to go back to work at some point. Any websites where I can potentially find local jobs?

Thanks again.

Don’t rule out likes of Chatsworth, Eton House, Canadian School. You can always put them on the waiting lists of likes of Tanglin for the future and depends how long are you planning on staying.

A few friends put their kids in local schools snd regretted it. Really depends on the child.

My DD went to local school but she went to a local kindergarten for a few years first with all Singaporeans so she was well prepared and friends with local children.
She loved it but she is very academic. The application procedure was hard for a foreigner and I only got through it with the help of a good Singaporean friend.
I miss her school very much and wish we had stayed longer but I don't think the system would have suited DS

Hi there

Tanglin has an amazing reputation here, it is unusual in being a Trust school. I know several Tanglin teachers and they are so dedicated and LOVE the school. One of my friends has her daughters there and said her kids leaving Tanglin would be what she missed the most about moving home.

Dulwich has amazing facilities and offers shuttle bus from central locations.

There is such a high churn in Singapore (and Employment passes are dwindling) so I wouldn't be as concerned about a waitlist as I would for schools in the UK. Personally I'd decide on 1-2 schools that feel right and go for those as the registration fees can be a bit ridiculous (I had to look into this for a client).

In terms of local schools, STEM teaching is world class, and there are lots of good things about it, but the teaching style can be quite different from the UK. What you make of that depends how adaptable your kids are/how long your staying etc.

What do you do work-wise, ahembi?

The good and fast public transport, school bus system, good domestic help, online groceries (RedMart = Ocado, more or less) makes Singapore one of the easier places for both parents to work. We have struggled though to find after school care - that seems to only exist at local schools. But plenty of expat families here have both parents working and most local families I know certainly do. It is certainly do-able, just stressful and chaotic, like everywhere else!!

Hi all, thank you for all this useful information.

@weewillywinkie I'm an architect by profession, so would ideally look for something related to that field. (Not necessary going back into practice). Thank god for Redmart! Honestly, replacing Ocado was one of my main worries!

Tanglin is obviously ideal for living near and commuting to downtown. Our main concern over Dulwich, GESS, Canadian etc. is that they seem far way. but as you said only 20min bus ride is not so bad....any comments about GESS and Canadian?

Now talking about money ....my DH is currently negotiating his pay package. Is it the norm for expat employers to cover schooling costs, would you say? I was doing the calculations and it is so expensive!!! The schooling bumps the costs incredibly!

thanks again....

I went to Dover Court and UWC. If you can get them into UWC - go for it, it's an amazing school!

Tanglin was just the meh token British school.

I wouldn't look at anything over the border in Johor, that's like saying you could live in Portsmouth and send your kids to school on the Isle of Wight.

Oh - and most international schools have their own private school buses which pick up and drop off from outside your door, not like putting them on a public bus over here

@frecklefox what can you tell me about UWC? seems very appealing! do you know about the differences between campuses? Dover campus seems very good and central but the facilities of the east campus are amazing! but it looks soooo far. I am a bit worried for long bus journeys as my eldest suffers from travel sickness.

Thanks again....

I used to work at UWC op until 2017. Happy to answer questions via pm.
It's an excellent school in every way! No where is far on SG- the east campus isn't as far as it looks on the map. East is smaller than Dover but also has great facilities - I worked at Dover

UWC prepares it's students for life anywhere in the world with a huge focus on community, extra curricular activities and personal development. I went to the Dover campus as it was the only one at the time, but I'd encourage anyone to send their kids there who could afford it!

Dear anhembi,

The good news is that there are no bad schools in Singapore.

To summarize: the consensus (it doesn't mean it is the truth) is that the 3 best schools in Singapore are the 3 non-for-profit schools:

• Singapore American School (SAS) following a US curriculum.
• UWCSEA following an IB curriculum.
• Tanglin trust School (TTS) following a UK curriculum till year 11 then 2 paths: A-levels or IB.

Dulwich College Singapore might become a great school but it is still a very new school and it is a for-profit school.

Comparing exam results:

TTS has the best results of any international school. TTS has better iGSCE and IB results than UWCSEA (both campus) which comes second results-wise.

UWCSEA is slightly more international than TTS but TTS is still very international: many of the 'british' TTS pupils are from mixed families or are kids who grew up abroad.
But it is true that TTS students native language is overwhelmingly English. Which is less the case at UWCSEA. I feel the level in English is higher at TTS vs other schools as a results. (And the level in foreign languages less good).

Regarding waiting lists: they are not as long as they used to be due to new schools opening. If you plan to stay in Singapore a long time (> 3 years), I believe it is very doable to put your kids in another school first and then switch to TTS when spots become available. If you plan to only stay 2/3 years then it might not be worth it.

Both UWCSEA and TTS are fantastic schools. Dulwich might end up being great as well and our friends with kids going there are very happy. But as a TTS parents, I cannot tell you strongly enough how happy we are about TTS.

I hope it helps.

I went to Tanglin from 10 years old.. feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I loved it!

@Kim1313 thank you very much for your message. I will contact Tanglin to see if the wasiting list has moved.. Ideally we put them in the school together and we keep them in until we come back. The problem is that we do not how long is the post!
@tomhazard Do you think that UWCSEA english level in the students is reflected in the academic results? How difficult is to get in? Please feel free to pm if needed it.

We are shortlisted TTS and UWCSEA as they both centrally located. We also like to visit Dulwich and GESS. We are planning a short visit soon! fingers crossed!

my apologies. I saw this relatively old post just now as I am frenetically looking for more information on schools in Singapore. My children have just got offers from UWC. We are still in London, but will move in a couple of months. So far, my interaction with staff has been very positive and pleasant, and I like the school's mission, but I am a bit worried about academics. My son is currently in y9, will start y10, and my daughter is in y6, will start y7. If we were to move back in 2 years, will he be prepared enough to switch to A-levels if IB doen't work for him. My son is still very immature, and it is hard to see what will work for him. My daughter went to a very good prep here and was offered places at selective schools. I hope she will have a somewhat similar academic experience in Singapore. Many thanks!