One World International School opens
The 44th international school opens in Singapore to offer foreign-system curricula to students aged three to eleven.
One World International School, started by Mumbai-based businessman Nishant Garodia, will be headed by Noel Hurley, who was for seven years the principal of the Australian International School’s primary section.
The school will place more emphasis on parent-teacher relationships. Find out more about what the school has to offer here.
Read more about this new international school below.
International school opens in the east
PARENTS disappointed by the delay in the opening of United World College’s Tampines campus will draw some cheer from this: Another international school is opening in the east.
Called the One World International School, it opened last week with places for 450 pupils aged three to 11. Secondary-level students join the school next year.
Its campus – at 696, Upper Changi Road East – used to be the premises of the former Siglap-Changi Community Centre.
On Monday, the United World College said that its upcoming campus in the east would not be ready by 2010 because the construction boom had made it difficult for it to find suitable contractors.
One World International School has become the 44th foreign-system school to open here, and the first to occupy a former community centre.
The school, started by Mumbai-based businessman Nishant Garodia, will be headed by Mr Noel Hurley, who was for seven years the principal of the Australian International School’s primary section before he moved over in June.
The school will offer the Cambridge International Primary Programme, the model used by many international schools, Mr Hurley said.
Only two pupils aged four and five have been enrolled so far, but Mr Hurley expects the places to fill up quickly over the next few months.
He said, “More expats will move in at the end of the year, so we expect more students by early next year.”
The school’s six teachers and four support staff have been busy getting the place ready.
About $2 million has been spent retrofitting the campus. The shell of the community centre has been kept, but its interior – formerly a mix of very large or very small rooms – has been revamped to produce a different configuration.
The community centre’s former squash courts are now airy classrooms with high ceilings; four storerooms have been combined into a big music room, while a pantry is now an art room. All rooms have new windows, carpets and a fresh coat of paint.
All in, the school has 16 air-conditioned classrooms, and its library has a shaded outdoor reading area.
School fees are $20,328 a year at the primary-school level, and $17,652 a year for nursery or kindergarten level.
The new school is opening at a time when demand for places is increasing. The Government recently released new land parcels for up to four schools.
The Singapore Land Authority said that since last year, three former community centres have been converted into office or other uses. It has opened up more than 40 state properties for educational uses since April last year.
Mr Hurley said of his school, “We want to ensure this will be a quality school with an emphasis on parent-teacher relationships. No matter how fancy the building or how many computers you have, the key to success is the relationship with parents, staff and children. We will focus on that.”