My husband, my son and I had an appointment to meet with the principal of an (affordable) international school today. It's the one that's very far away from our home.
We arrived very early because we wanted to walk around to observe the classes in session. Luckily they were kind enough to let us in early. In the end, we were there for 2+ hours!
We loved the very green setting that the school is in. The moment you turn off the highway, and go past their school gates, you’re greeted with lush greenery. I don’t mean beautiful landscaped gardens but natural, local trees here and there, many oil palm trees, vegetation...feels like being overseas. You definitely don’t get that in KL/PJ schools.
I was impressed with the cleanliness of the toilets, both at the canteen and at the main building. It reflects well on their attitude towards hygiene. Their small swimming pool was clean too as were the classrooms and common areas.
Kids in general seemed happy and well behaved in their classes. We were pleasantly surprised to see the level of enthusiasm of the kids in Mandarin class. They were so eager to be picked to go up to the whiteboard to answer the question.
My son was clearly happy with the place. He happily pointed out the football field. He happily walked around the library. He was happy to see the small kids in the computer room. He wasn’t cautious the way he was in the two other international schools we had visited in the past.
Normal kids who plan to enter Year 1 will not go through an assessment, but disabled kids will. Sigh. I can understand her point of view but I still would rather not have him assessed. The principal said that it’s not purely academic and is not formalised. As part of the assessment, they may even want to see how he copes in a classroom setting.
From what I heard from another parent, if he can’t sit still (not wander off) for an hour during the assessment, he’s very likely to be disqualified....and that really worries me. But I shall put my trust in God.
I didn’t state that my son needs a shadow aide, but they are open to it should he need one based on the assessment. I truly hope that by the time he enters Yr 1, he’ll be independent enough to not need one. I do not want him to be labelled by other kids. It’d be good to start fresh in a new school, without a shadow aide. That refuels my motivation to work on his gross and fine motor skills, and self care of course. I’ve a one year timeframe!
The classroom setting is simple and not fancy like the really expensive international school I visited. This one has a whiteboard in front, tables and chairs for kids and somewhat monotonous. In the expensive school, teacher uses a computer to teach, with the screen projected up on the wall! The expensive school also seemed to have more resources at their disposal lying around in the classroom itself (crayons, story books, maths equipment, art stuff etc) – it seemed more fun, colourful, inviting and pleasant. I think that’s important when you’ve to spend close to 6 hours cooped up in the classroom.
The classrooms are a little bit cramped (perhaps because tables and chairs are adult sized) compared to the expensive school (kid sized colourful furniture). But for the Year 1 class, it was more spacious even though they also use adult-sized furniture. Yr 1 classes had small-sized tables and chairs at the back of the room, which is good cos they are still rather young. Yr 1 kids are 5-6 year olds.
We haven’t submitted our application form to the school yet. They need medical report from doctor, CV of parents amongst other things!.
We’re hoping to visit a private school in Subang next week which accepts shadow aides. I still prefer to have him in an English medium (ie international school) but now that the govt has announced an earlier entry age for Primary 1, we may consider private schools. And that means more research on my part : )
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