Sekolah updates

I'd made an appointment to view a school today so at 10am, Danielle and I trudged down our street to Oldridge Road. There are 3 schools located in the same compound on this street namely - L'ecole des Benjamins, Alderbrook Nursery and Lochinvar Pre-School Playhouse. I'd viewed Lochinvar last week and today was my appointment with L'ecole dB. Beth (the Aussie mum) sends Scarlett to this school and it's quite reputable it seems.

I was met at the door by Claudia, the school principal. V nice lady, v warm and inviting (or maybe she just wants another admission? Ok, shdn't be such a cynic). She showed me around, together with her school administrator, Sandrine. I was impressed by the sheer size of the school! L'ecole dB is located in a Victorian building and that adds to the charm of its surroundings. Take a peek: www.ecoledesbenjamins.com

The class size for the 2 YOs is set at 14 and staff to child ratio is 1:4. I thought that was quite acceptable. The children I saw seemed to be having fun and that's a good sign. But what I like best about this school is its excursions for the kids. On certain days, they will bring them to Balham Library for a story session or a walkabout in the park. Most of the teachers speak French and English and they converse to the kids in both languages. I raised my concerns to Claudia about it being perhaps 'a little confusing' for Danielle to be listening to French and English, but they assured me that kids that age don't question the differences in language or sound. They simply absorb everything. I also asked her whether there were other Asian kids in the school- there were. But mostly Eurasian. She told me that one boy here had a Singaporean dad and an English mum. And she's had Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese students before. After 20 min of touring the school, I was happy and satisfied with what I saw. Claudia passed me more information regarding the school and its fees, and after promising I'd have a good look through them, we said our au revoir(s).

Alas, we will not be able to send Danielle to this school as it is way too expensive for our (now) 1-income family. But it's ok, I prayed about it and comforted myself that school at this age is more fun than anything else. With that, I submitted my form to Lochinvar instead. The kids looked like they were having fun there too and that's important if it's interaction I'm after for Danielle... She starts in October 06 (3 times weekly) so in the meantime, I will cherish spending full days with her in Sept.

PS: Lochinvar can only offer PM sessions for Danielle now. That's from 12:30pm ~3pm. It will interrupt her nap routine but seeing that she is sleeping later these days (she slept ard 2:30pm today!), it might all work out! Pray for us. :)