Singapore International School

mattsmum

a friend's kid just shifted to another international school after in SIS for three primary years, wondering if it is common for them to leave at P4 or p5

chanms

Students leave SIS after P3, mainly because SIS does not have a secondary school. This will be improved as the SIS secondary school will start in Sep 07.
Some parents found that SIS is not so creative as other international school. Actually, SIS is quite traditional.
Another reason is switching back to local school. Because SIS is in between traditional/local and international.

mattsmum

thank you, chanms,

they will have secondary school, where can more information be found? can't find detail in their web site. how many class do they have in form 1?

ckbee

hi all,
do you think it is hard to get in sis?  what's their criteria to get in? good english/mandarin? good performance during interview?  

besides sis, is there any suggestion for international school? (in terms of language proficiency, discipline, and reasonable school fee   )

thank you.

Thomastrain

Leisurefan,

Congratulation! Me too. Hope to meet U at SIS.

ultravox

Hi, we got the acceptance letter on Saturday!!!  So my daughter is all set, she will be going to the same school as her brother.......

Good luck to all.

evatsoihk

各位：

小女也被錄取了，本月29日去登記。

有緣的話，到時候見。

Good luck to all..........

Ivylove

Hello Echu,
I just saw your message.I hope it is not too late to tell you what I know about the P4 Science practical test.Both my son and daughter are with SIS but they are not in P4......BUT I overheard from the learning center where they go tution every week (many SIS students having tution there)
Last week,I saw some students from SIS were doing some water/magnets experiments etc in the learning center because they have a glass window on the class room door.I heard the teacher told the students to do the experiments and write down the developement of the process and said they will be required to do so during the test.Honestly,I was quite impressed by the teachers how they prepared the students.I feel that my children are in good hands.Good learning center in fact can contribute
in terms of assisting and help keeping up the standard of the students and the school.
I hope what I know can help,good luck.
Ivylove

Leisurefan

Dear Thomastrain and ultravox,

Congratulations, it's great that our kids could be schoolmates. I hope I can make it on the 27th cos I'm now working on a project. But my husband will definitely be there to register.

Ckbee,

From the experience of my friends' children and that of my own, SIS's PY interview is not demanding. I think it will suffice if your child can communicate in simple English, understand simple English instructions and does not speak cantonese in the interview. My friends who had kids studying there in the past said they would look at the child's potential rather than his/her abilities. So, I don't think you need to worry too much on how to train your child for the interview. I did not give my daughter any particular training for that day.

In fact, after a child has gone into K1, he/she would have attained a certain standard of socialization. For my daughter, she is studying in a local kindergarten with just two english lessons per week. All her spoken english came from Barney, Maisy, Tweenies and Hi-5, etc. I didn't buy her anything expensive for that. One of my maids speak fairly good english and we create an english-speaking environment for her at home, so I think that helps. Her spoken english is rather good, though not with a native accent yet. When I put her in english playgroups at 1.5 years old, all she got was continuous illness. So, I didn't let her join any playgroup till she's over 2.5 years old when I sent her to performing and visual arts classes in Kids Gallery. She love them so much. I do not prefer the idea of sending young kids to strictly english classes cos what they learn should be fun.

Having said that, the drawback is that my daughter ( a small girl ) could not reply questions in chinese when she went to interview for traditional kindergartens like SKH, Sacred Heart and St. Paul. And she only started to pick up more cantonese after she entered K1 with very loving teachers. Now that she's entered SIS, I would speak more cantonese to her. This is ironic, but when I see other children being able to converse with their parents in cantonese in such a cute manner, I do hope that my daughter could do that as well. Another thing is that I feel that it's also important for her to be able to communicate sufficiently with her grandparents!

I have said so much today cos I'm really relieved now that she's got a place. I hope that with this, it would be easier for her younger brother to join later. Learning is important, but I think discipline is too. That's why SIS is the only IS that I have applied for. All in all, as I said, don't worry too much. Let your child enjoy childhood and attend the future interview happily.

Cheers    

mattsmum

"the learning center", what is it?

NichoB

My friend told me there is very good in chinese and english.  Hope to enter for P2 too.

Anyshare for the interview questions ?

yyyy

各位：

小女也被錄取了，本月26日去登記。今日要fax返回條去confirm呀!

答一答問題先,憑記憶:

1. py是直昇到小一的
2. practical test是science科的實驗test,今年個女話p5的practical test很深, 她用了10分鐘去平衡把呎
3. 如果可以接受一般成績,應該不用去補習班,學校每科主科都有supporting class,老師會幫小朋友的

NichoB

My friend also told me that there are many howeworks and exes after school, we must keep eyes on them.

I think the syslibas is same as singapore, right?

NichoB

My friend also told me that there are many howeworks and exes after school, we must keep eyes on them.

I think the syslibas is same as singapore, right?

ultravox

My son is in P2 right now and he rarely brings home much work or exercise.  He said he can finish them at school...... Also due to CCA,  kids are not given homework on MOnday & Wednesday,  But the school gives out lots of reading to kids each week.... and they are not easy, escpecially the Chinese story books.
As for the curriculum, the Chinese matches with the Singapore curriculum, I think math too.... not sure about English.
  

Leisurefan

Hooray, so it seems that all of us here are admitted.

I just wish that my kids can enjoy learning. I don't mind them having average results. Of course, it would be a bonus if they can excel.

Dear ultravox,

May I know what CCA is? Thanks.

Cheers     

evatsoihk

yyyy：

很贊成你第3點的説法。我之所以送女兒去SIS讀書，就是覺得它不像local學校那樣背負著要去補習社的壓力，但又比其他IS來説相對的嚴謹。

我喜歡小朋友在放學回家做完手上功課后，可以有自己的空間，我們可以讓他們做一些自己喜愛或者培養情致的事情，例如看看書、學習畫畫、練一種樂器、玩一種運動，這些都比去補習班“重溫”一次學校裏的指定課程要好。

------------------------
另外，我聼一個朋友說，SIS有第二次招生，他的小朋友（申請py1的）正在等第二輪的面試通知呐。

yyyy 寫道:
各位：

小女也被錄取了，本月26日去登記。今日要fax返回條去confirm呀!

答一答問題先,憑記憶:

1. py是直昇到小一的
2. practical test是science科的實驗test,今年個女話p5的practical test很深, 她用了10分鐘去平衡把呎
3. 如果可以接受一般成績,應該不用去補習班,學校每科主科都有supporting class,老師會幫小朋友的

chanms

For all your info,
my son never have private tutoring. He is now P6 and his academic performance is acceptable. Maths & Science are grade 1, and Chinese & English are grade 2.

SIS homework is accpetable too. He usually spend less than 1 hour to finish homework.

Yes, no homework for CCA (extra-curriculum activities) days.
He enjoys SIS life, and he spends his time to develop his interests!

One more point...
Once upon a time (around P2 or P3), a SIS form teacher told the parents not to check the assignment for the students. Because if parent amend all the mistakes, the teachers do not know what the students' difficulties.
For I'm a lazy parent, I keep this statement in my mind, I never check my son's homework.
Of course, he seeks our advice when he doesn't know how to do the homework.

As my husband and I good at Maths and Science, he did well at both subjects.

For science partisce paper, it is similar to the experiment test at local secondary school. The students have to do the experiment, and answer the obeservation, explanation and conclusion step by step.

ckbee

hello Leisurefan, hermoine and yyyy,

Thank you for answering my questions and give me more idea on SIS.

My son is still very small,13 months old, but I am kind of nervous mother, want to plan everything ahead, esp. his education path... I hope he will join SIS when he turns to be 4 years old and I hope I can say "thank you" to you in person one day!   

yyyy

PY1 READING PROGRAMME FOR ENGLISH AND CHINESE SUBJECTS

The above programme has been designed specially for our PY1 pupils, with the aim of fostering a love for reading in our young pupils. We hope to help your child improve on his/her vocabulary and reading skills as well as to develop him/her to be a lifelong reader.

Parents and the school need to work hand in hand for the programme to be effective. The details are as follows:

Two Reading Folders, one for English and one for Chinese along with a story book and a ‘Reading is Fun’ booklet for English and “读书乐” for Chinese have been given to your child.  Do try your best to spend about 10 -15 minutes reading together with your child every day.  It is important to have your child point to each word as you read as this will enable him/her to learn some of the high frequency words.  Once you have finished reading the book to your child, please write down its title and the date read. On completion of each book, please have your child return the Reading Folder, the story book and the Reading booklet to his/her English or Chinese teacher respectively. A stamp/sticker will be awarded for the parent-child effort.

Do keep in mind that reading should be fun and enjoyable. Please do not pressurise your child when he/she is experiencing difficulty with reading.  A book is often a good conversation starter.  Do ask your child questions, get him/her to think and predict, “What will happen next?” or relate the story to his/her own personal experiences.  

Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Chinese or English teachers if you have any concerns regarding the reading programme.

Have fun reading!