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VT (graceblessed1)
New member
Username: graceblessed1
Post Number: 78
Registered: 2-2009
| | Posted on Monday, December 07, 2009 - 10:02 pm: | 
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Anyone sending their dd/ds to Holy Grace? I just want to know if you have any contacts on schoolbus beside the one recommended by the school for east side.
Pls share. TIA |
VT (graceblessed1)
New member
Username: graceblessed1
Post Number: 80
Registered: 2-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 09, 2009 - 1:54 pm: |
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or even arrangement for car pool, anyone? |
MommyUnited (mommyunited)
Member
Username: mommyunited
Post Number: 804
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - 11:39 pm: |
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Holy Grace std has gone down tremendously. My child just brought back a Chinese reader book without the teacher even teaching it in school! How can the principal blame this on the teacher? About 6-8 students have left K1 in the Jan-June period 2010... and 3 long-time teachers left within a term. Principal blames on teachers and said she hopes the old ones leave and she can start her new programme on the new staff.
There is now constant excursions out to various places, and that takes away 2 school days if ur child opt out. There is also a week long K2 student exchange programme in China for the kids..... and parent has to accompany? As it is, academically speaking HG has always been lagging behind many kindies, and this is making it worse. Check out their maths and English curruculum and you will find that the kids learn nothing! I can attest to the falling stds as I've an older child to compare this to. They used to hv a long waiting list.. now very easy to get into. Many parents went to complaint and principal wondered this out loud to her teachers. One teacher told her student's parent about it.
Principal's background is tainted, from NAFA kindy way back to her Masters degree programme! Her former classmate leaked out some stuff about her attitude during her lectures. I hv no confidence in this kindy anymore, and many parents say the same. |
MommyUnited (mommyunited)
Member
Username: mommyunited
Post Number: 806
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, July 15, 2010 - 3:43 pm: |
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Sorry, it's not 6-8 kids. It's 16 since the start of this year (now it's July). The numbers came from the office itself. |
TiggerEeyore (tiggereeyore)
Junior Member
Username: tiggereeyore
Post Number: 233
Registered: 7-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, August 07, 2010 - 8:05 pm: |
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hi
i happened to chance upon this.
A year ago, i also contemplated on sending my child to HGK. But like what MommyUnited has described, i have heard from fellow parents with children in the school that the standard has dropped by a lot.
(feel free to correct me if i m wrong) I heard there was a change in Principal & that led to an exodus of teachers leaving the school ... which also resulted in many students leaving....
A neighbour told me the class size is super huge.
Upon hearing this, i decided not to pursue .... in the end, i put my child in Bethesda Katong Kindergarten. |
MommyUnited (mommyunited)
Member
Username: mommyunited
Post Number: 839
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 05, 2011 - 1:21 am: |
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I chanced upon this today. Written by a mother who used to support the new ideas being implemented by the principal, Mrs Lim:
http://sg.theasianparent.com/articles/conflict-in-school |
dove88 (dove88)
New member
Username: dove88
Post Number: 1
Registered: 1-2011
| | Posted on Friday, January 07, 2011 - 8:48 am: |
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HI MommyUnited,
May I ask if your child is still in HG? I also chanced upon this article and feel rather concerned about the negative comments surrounding the principal. Do you know if the article is true, about the child not being asked to give the speech eventually? |
MommyUnited (mommyunited)
Member
Username: mommyunited
Post Number: 840
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, January 08, 2011 - 1:10 pm: |
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Hi Dove88,
Two mothers mentioned their kids being short-changed during the 2010 concert. Short-changed as in 'being told to rehearse their speech for concert, and then not called onto the stage'. It is true. Poor kids! Mothers are very angry, and who bothers to get so worked up if this did not happen to their children? Another mom has refused to make it known openly because she is trying to forgive the principal. This mom is a member of this church's congregation.
About the article, do you think it is true? If you hear it from mothers themselves, maybe you will dismissed it as a one-off complaints by mothers who are asking-for-the-sky standard from the principal. But if you hear so many complaints and proof of kids and teachers leaving in large numbers... would you believe? The article belongs to an online parenting magazine. They will never dare write it if it wasn't true. I heard from several mothers who were went to China, that the principal went shopping while the teachers were attending the kids in the China school. Shouldn't she be there to monitor her schoolkids, instead of making it an opportunity to shop? OMG! My kids, my friends' kids and a few others hv all left the kindy. We're now mostly in other churches' kindies. We back up our kids with outside Mandarin enrichment.  |
Tsh (dads4life)
New member
Username: dads4life
Post Number: 1
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 08, 2011 - 4:10 pm: |
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Hi MommyUnited,
After reading the article link provided by you to sg.theasianparent.com, I have posted my comments hereunder.
Thought I might as well share with people in this forum too.
Thanks for the link.
Cheers.
***********************************************
Hi all
Am a father and my child is still at HGK.
My wife and I have been praying about what to do now in view of all the negative comments, postings and feedback.
Noting that the last posting by “Happier after HG” was just yesterday, I deem the matter is yet to rest and far from being blown over. Trust me, I know as I see the faces of the staff everyday while picking my kid.
I have the following concerns:
1. What is going to happen if the leadership (as in the Principal) of the kindergarten decide to call it quits now? What is going to happen to all the teachers and children (mine included) that remain with the kindergarten? Are we going to witness another round of unsettling, directionless period?
2. If my child is to change his kindergarten now, will a new environment be difficult for my child to adjust to? Pulling him out may not be the best option actually but the pressure is certainly mounting.
We do have many positive experiences with this kindy couple of years ago for my elder child. He is doing very well now in his Primary. I must say credits go to those very dedicated teachers but unfortunately, many of whom had left the kindy last year.
With my younger child now still in HGK and with all changes observed, my wife and I do feel rather uncomfortable and perplex lately.
While visiting the school, we sense there is somewhat a lack of cohesiveness among the staff of the kindy and this may be attributed to the evolving teaching methods, new cirriculums and perhaps further worsened by all the comments and postings made about the Principal and her management style.
I pray that the Board of the Kindergarten could consider Taking a Step Back, Be Still, Listen and Consider Going Back to Fundamentals whereby GOD is in focus…aside from Mandarin of course!
Hopefully, we could remind ourselves to have the “more of Him and less of me” attitude. I trust if that basic focus is aligned top down, God will make HGK turn around.
As the saying goes, “To Err is Human, To Forgive Divine”. Am glad to read that the Editor’s son has “forgiven his principal” (How gracious!! Am really proud of him. We should really learn from you.)
Meanwhile, we are praying and looking for alternative kindergarten that is suitable for our child but we are also praying that HGK will make a good comeback by letting God take the wheel.
I do hope for those Christian parents with kids in HGK to also consider praying for the kindy.
*********************************************** |
Sharon Tay (scookie88)
New member
Username: scookie88
Post Number: 1
Registered: 9-2011
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - 8:53 pm: |
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Yes, agree. Both my kids were from HGK. 2010 was a lousy year, so disappointed with the principal and her actions on getting rid of those good teachers and replaced with so many irresponsible ones who thought HGK was like some childcare, come and go without any committment. My son was in 2010 Miaoling laoshi class when she left suddenly citing poor health, but i seriously felt it was more like they counldn't stand the principal. Later they issued this letter http://www.holygrace.sg/Images/Download/HGK%20Board%20Statement.pdf
How can HGK say that it was keeping up it's standard. let's not even talk about the teachers and the teaching method. She even got rid of the bus driver whose father handed down the business and had been with HGK for decades. Then she also got rid of her assistant Mdm. Wong. Now the only good teachers left are Yang Laoshi and Fu Laoshi (she only helps out occasionally)
My son who was in K2 year 2010, his results was so badly managed, can't read, can't write well and had a long struggle this year 2011 at Pri 1. Luckily the Pri 1 teachers were all very dedicated and that helped a lot but it was a real big struggle for me as a parent and a working mum. My girl was in K2 year 2009. Hers was better.
You can really tell from the standard of the school thru it's graduation. When it was under Mrs. Loy, there were alot of singing and performance in Chinese poems, songs, etc....Nowadays, all are like pretty vases on stage, perform for the sake of graduating. No substance at all.
Really feel sorry for those at HGK now.
Mommyunited is really right. |
MommyUnited (mommyunited)
Member
Username: mommyunited
Post Number: 872
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - 12:01 am: |
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Hi Dads4life, consider putting yr child in other church kindies. My child has gone back to her Nursery kindy (Holy Trinity) as I found the HT's principal extremely dedicated to the welfare of the children. She is very involved in all aspects of the kindy, and I hv great confidence in her choices of books, excursion and direction her kindy takes on each year. Her readers are not merely for reading, but she selects those which also provides information! For eg, her Parachutes series book include "Dangerous Weather" which talks about hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. My child learns to read AND learns general knowledge at the same time.
Holy Trinity prepares the children for Pri 1 without making schoolwork stressful. They impart a LOT of general knowledge to the students right from preN level onwards. After my son's bad K2 experience in HGK in 2008, I decided to enrol my younger daughter in Holy Trinity in 2009. But I made the mistake of taking my daughter out of Holy Trinity at the start of Term 2, and put back my girl back to HGK for the latter's Chinese curriculum (bcos HT's Chinese was only 33% emphasis). Within a term in HGK, I regretted. By the end of 2nd term, I knew I was completely wrong in transferring her to HGK. In Term 3 August, I put her back on HT's waiting list. HT now has a waiting list... everyone in Tampines knows how dedicated its principal is. To make up for the Chinese emphasis, my girl attends a tuition class conducted by HGK's former teacher1! Yes, a former teacher at Holy Grace itself who left bcos of the principal. We have a large handful of kids under this teacher. My daughter has no problem in Chinese now. In fact, both her Maths and English are equally strong too as Holy T is very serious in preparing its students for P1.
HT is a good kindy I feel. Some parents hv an issue with the fact that the student population has a lot of Filipinos. To me, it doesn't matter. The kids are very cute. It's good to expose my child to other nationalities, and learn about diversity of cultures! At least she knows the world is not populated by just Chinese. Haha!
Other good kindies are: Pasir Ris Bethesda church and possibly Good Sheppard (at the front of Lagoon View apartments) |
happymummy (happymummy77)
New member
Username: happymummy77
Post Number: 2
Registered: 12-2011
| | Posted on Friday, December 30, 2011 - 8:31 pm: |
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hi mummies,
I am lost in trying to look for a decent school in the East as I am new to the East. thought of Holy Grace cos of the Mandarin emphasis but hesitant on hearing all this. please help with some advise.... |
MommyUnited (mommyunited)
Member
Username: mommyunited
Post Number: 873
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, December 31, 2011 - 1:24 pm: |
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Holy Trinity church is very good. Principal is very committed, and most teachers hv been there over 5 yrs or more. All parents (in particular me, who has the unfortunate experience of seeing and comparing 2 different kindies) think the yearly concerts are very impressive. My daughter did a proper tango dance... which my older child and this current child did not even dance to such orderly and hard performances before in H. Grace. The principal Mrs Tan also does mission work in Cambodia, and helps raise funds for the remote villages' teachers' education. I was so grateful to this kindy that I wrote them a cheque equivalent to a term's fees as gratitute for the kindy's dedication to my child's ed.
If you want yr child to be strong in Chinese, enrol yr child at BERRIES @ Tampines Mart. Yen laoshi is good. Put yr child for a trial class (S$15) and ask yr child if he enjoys it. My girl did, and ASKED me to enrol her despite already taking a private tuition from an ex-laoshi from Holy Grace Chinese kindy! |
happymummy (happymummy77)
New member
Username: happymummy77
Post Number: 3
Registered: 12-2011
| | Posted on Monday, January 30, 2012 - 7:11 pm: |
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Sigh...holy grace is really that bad uh...seems like I have to think hard about it.. |
June (princessgx)
Member
Username: princessgx
Post Number: 681
Registered: 4-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - 1:55 am: |
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Any new updates on Holy Grace? I'm contemplating transferring my kids over from a CC because for 3 hours instead of 4 for half-day, the fees are much lower. My kids can't speak Chinese well and it's made worse by the fact that the PRC Chinese teachers speak English to them.
I visited the school and had good vibes about it. For N1 and N2 now, it's 100% Chinese. My neighbour's child is in N1 now and she commented that the teachers really love the children. The kid is so happy he doesn't want to go back.
Everything looks good so far. Their enrichment programmes are affordable and seem to be of good quality too. Apart from the negative ratings online that are making me a ittle scared, I wanna put my kids there. I don't want it to be the wrong move because my kids love their current school and the elder one is sad about leaving his frens. I don't want to put him thru that again. |
June (princessgx)
Member
Username: princessgx
Post Number: 813
Registered: 4-2009
| | Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2012 - 9:53 pm: |
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Update... I visited the school again and decided not to put my children there when I saw how the "outdoor" play was conducted. For the afternoon class, the sun is burning hot at that time, so the children are allowed under the sun for about 10 mins, for the rest of the time, they will be indoors at the "void deck". The "outdoor" play session was lifeless, systematic and boring. I couldn't imagine my kids being amongst this group of very bored and sad children. I thought of the fun outdoor play sessions they had at their CC, and decided that this is not the right environment for us.
Also, I caught the assistant teacher, which was an "ah lian" looking local, speaking (not too good)English to the 100% Chinese class group. Kinda defeats the ideology of having a 100% Chinese class cos they tend to switch to English when the kids don't understand, same for all other schools I've viewed. |
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