Moving to Singapore with kids and pets

[Alliesbee]

Hello!
My husband has just been offered a job with his current company in Singapore. This is all we know are the moment so trying to investigate what this would mean. We are in the UK atm with 2 kids (7yo twins), 2 cats and 3 dogs. The offer should be an expat package although we haven't seen it yet. Any advice is welcome but my big questions are around where to live and schools? Any recommendations? Anything to watch out for? Reading old threads I see that we need to make sure health insurance is covered. What else should we be looking into? Do we need a car??

singapore american school (SAS) is very good (even moving from the british system), as is tanglin trust british school, although from what I understand this is oversubscribed and so you may stand a better chance at getting into SAS. Woodlands is a popular area in Singapore for expats to live, and it is near SAS. The public transport system is very good, so i think you would be okay without a car personally. Woodlands itself has a train station for commuting. hope this helped a bit x

One of my adult sons lives there with his young family. You need health insurance. You can not have a car with going on the waiting list for a permit to buy one. The buses are really good. They live half an hour from the airport and the eldest goes to a Montessori nursery Apparently expats can’t get into local state schools so have to go private.
They have a wonderful lifestyle with live in helpers ( maids to us!)

I would be very cautious about shipping pets abroad. I have quite a lot of contact with the staff at airports' animal reception centres and I've heard a lot of awful stories of the conditions they can be subjected to on transit. I wouldn't ship any of mine in the hold.

I'd go in a heartbeat, I love Singapore, but I'd be really cautious about shipping pets.

Thanks for the responses. My husband's office will be in the south so I think Woodlands would be too far for us. Are there any expat communities towards the south?
3 of our pets are seasoned travellers that have moved with us from Australia to the UK. We used a wonderful company which we would use again so I'm more worried about finding housing that would let us have pets as well as having somewhere to walk the dogs.

Tiong Bahru might suit? its near ascensia international school (30 minute walk or 20 minute train ride) and located in the south.

There are expats everywhere! We live very central - DH's commute is around 35 minutes although a new MRT line is currently being built nearby that will reduce that to 25 minutes. We live in a small 3-bed apartment with two kids and one pet (also brought into Singapore). I would think with your number of animals you would need a house? But you don't mention budget.

Only because we don't have details yet! We are expecting some more information later this week so we can make a decision over Christmas. I'm expecting accommodation and schooling to be included in the package.

Thankyou, I'll check it out.

Waving from Singapore.
Am an international school teacher so have much much knowledge on this if you want to PM me. Expats are all over the place.
I would see which schools are your preferred and if they have any vacancies for your kids year then look at a accomodation and work commute. Nowhere is far in Singapore
I have a 7 yr old too

Hi All

I am new to this so please forgive me jumping in on this post but my husbands company would like him to consider a relocation to Singapore. I have started researching schools and my husband is visiting Tanglin, Dover Court and Dulwich College but I was wondering if there are any other British schools we should consider as the waiting lists for the above mentioned schools are really long. I have 2 children ages 6 and 7 and will be (Possibly) putting them into years 2 and 4 in September. Any help would be much appreciated.
I could also do with a heads up re areas but I guess that comes once you have got the schools?
Thanks in advance for your advice!

hi there. also sorry to jump in but i have been approached to work out of singapore and would take my hubbie plus two children. im very intersted in dover court for schools. but also im wondering how much salary i would need to live comfortably. does anyone have any advice please? id be very grateful as it looks as though i may need to ask for what i need (as this company has not started operations yet so doesnt have a precedent in this area!). thank you in advance!

General advice from Brit expat 5 years in to SG:

British schools: Tanglin Trust, Dulwich College and Dover Court are the usual suspects. All good schools, all will have waiting lists, particularly in the early years (reception - year 2). North London Collegiate is opening up I think Aug 2020 so a good option as more likely to have places. Marlborough College is across the border in Johor, Malaysia.

Other popular schools: UWC, GESS, Nexus, Chatsworth, SJI, SAIS (Stamford International) or SAS (Singapore American school)

Lower fee schools: EtonHouse Middleton, Invictus.

There is a Singapore Expat schooling Facebook group which is really helpful.

Budgeting: rent will be around $5500-$8000. Obviously you can go much higher but that's about the average. Tenancies are usually for two years. Condos tend to have pools, tennis courts, playgrounds - makes it easy to make friends.

School fees - around $8000/term (3 terms per year) but again you can go much higher or a little lower 😉

Popular expat areas are Bukit Timah, River Valley, Holland Village, East Coast. Rents reflect that these areas are more popular.

It's a really great place to be.

Adding - you don't need a car - public transport is very accessible and cheap, as are taxis. Having said that, we leased a car for the first two years and it was very helpful with settling in, learning my way around etc.

Foreigners can attend local schools but it's tough to get in as citizens and permanent residents are placed first.

Hi all - we are planning to move to Singapore in 2020 as well (we are currently in London) with our two kids (boy (7) and girl (5)). We were planning to move in April 2020 but my husband's firm has imposed an inter-office travel ban due to the corona virus so the timing of our move is now unclear … are anyone else's plans up in the air because of the corona virus?

We visited in December and liked both Tanglin and Dulwich. We didn't visit Dover Court but are considering that as well for my daughter. Any additional insights much appreciated especially on the differences between Tanglin and Dulwich. Which one has a more "normal" student body? I went to international schools myself and know that life there can be a bubble so would like to keep my kids in as a normal environment as possible.

One question - I don't think I would feel comfortable with someone living with us but is it possible to get live out cleaners and babysitters / nannies? I will be working part time (after a few months) so will need someone to help with the kids one or two afternoons per week.

Hi it’s always good to know I’m not alone in the uncertainty of a move. We are due to relocate in June in time to get the kids settled in their new school. We applied for Dover Court, Tanglin and Dulwich but waiting lists for our years meant that the kids would not start until 2021 so we have opted for Brighton college which opens in August - I’m waiting to hear whether the kids have got in as they had to do tests (only 6 and 7 years old) and then coronavirus depending we are due to take the kids out in March to have a look around. I’m not sure whether that is wise in the current climate as hubby as just had some work cancelled out there due to coronavirus!
Anyone on this thread with more insight I would really appreciate your thoughts!
Thanks

We were due to move in March but were stood down due to CV, but now due to fly on Monday. Our kids will start Dulwich (they are currently feral due to homeschooling with 2 working parents)!

We're moving there too - well husband and DD 12 at end of July and me and DS 8 end September. We're going into services apartments so we can look for accommodation when we get there.

Good luck to all us making the move :)