Your blog is really nice. Hope to see more updates about TIS.

Thank you

Rahimah

When we went to submit the application, they said they will call the kids for assessment in June 201. Will the assessment be really hard or simple and easy? Because my kids are very shy and they don’t talk too much in front of strangers. But when they are at home they are really naughty.and they will also check pencil grip during assessment. So I am really worried.

Hope you can advice me on this regard.

Thank you

Regards

Rahimah

From Ghita: Dear Rahimah, the languages they teach at TIS are English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and French, but your children are still small, so I wouldn’t worry about it. As long as your children do the expected classwork and homework, when they get to that age, they will do fine. I don’t think you need to worry about the assessment test, at that age it’s a test to assess their level of ability, but it’s not an exam. What you could do to prepare your children and reduce your worry about the assessment is to talk with them about it, in a simple language of course since they are so small, about what might happen during the assessment, role play with them about the situation to teach them to sit still and concentrate on a simple task, but don’t expect too much from them, as they are still very small, and the school understands small children and what they are and are not capable of at that age. To help you with ideas and to prepare yourself, you can call the school and ask them what they will be doing for the assessment. It’s very normal that your children are naughty at home and shy outside, if they stay like that, it’s a good thing, because if they behave in school, things will be easier for them. And don’t worry they will learn to overcome their shyness, especially in an international school, where the teachers understand them and will help and support their development. Good luck!

I am so sorry I haven’t checked my blog for a long time, hence didn’t see your enquiry before now. I probably wouldn’t have been so positive either if I had answered earlier, as it has been a year with a number of issues to be looked in to, but luckily for us parents who stayed put, things are now moving in the right direction and new developments are on the way and currently being implemented based on a survey the school conducted in the last term. Anyways it’s probably too late now, which I apologize for.

I wish you the best of luck in future and hopefully your son will do well in his studies in the school he attends.

Best regards

Ghita

I came across your blog while looking for reviews for Tenby. I have a brother who’ll be in year 10 next year and my family and I are looking for a good school for him to transfer to. It sounds like the school is rather good but I was wondering if there are any skeletons in the closet we should know about.

We’re also concerned, in particular, about the teaching standards. The current school my brother is enrolled in has a high turnover rate of teachers and it’s become rather worrying, considering that the next two years will be rather crucial.

Thank you so much for time.
Sincerely,
Beatrice

We are in planning send my 2 sons to TIS after 2 years when our house is ready to move in at SetiaEco Park. So, now I trying to know & understand more about this school. My eldest son was study in Chinese government e school for STD 3 & my little boy was 4years old & study at kindergarden now. Just wonder that the school still in good condition for all aspect as u mention? Coz I read your blog but some was posted on 2009.
I heard that the school now have long waiting list, some of them have to wait up to 3 years…I not sure how true is it?
We still have no time go to the school for more understand, but hope with your blog, we can know more before we view the school.
Really hope u can let us know more about this school recently.
Many thanks.
Rgds, Chooi Chin

From Ghita: Thank you so much for your kind compliments and feedback, which I truly appreciate. Yes, I didn’t write much last year, because of work commitments, but I am determined to write more this year, as I think it’s important to share and create a dialogue with other parents.

In regard to your questions, I think it’s true that Tenby International School has a long waiting list, so the sooner you are able to register your children, the better.

In terms of comparison between a government school and an international school, there is no doubt that you get a better education in an international school, which you also pay for. However I am always honest, and I can’t say that there isn’t room for improvements at Tenby, because there is, but having said that, I think the school has many positive things going on that my children are happy about and which they benefit from.

I haven’t met all my children’s teachers yet, but the teachers I know are wonderful, dedicated and committed people, who genuinely wish the best for our children and therefore treat them accordingly.

My children involve themselves in as many activities as they can, as this makes a difference to their school experience and keep them focused, activated and happy, which contributes towards a more positive opinion about the school.

I think parents have a big role to play when it comes to a child’s school experience, and parents can influence them a lot by our own attitude and opinions, both in negative and positive directions. Sometimes the negative things get to our heads, and we react accordingly, but we need to keep a balance and remind ourselves of the positive things too, otherwise our children will feel it and suffer, because they start to focus on the negative things, which then become their reality. Children need us to give them a positive boost when things may seem less attractive and difficult at school, and we can do that, because we have the ability to choose what we want to focus on. And sometimes things are not as bad as they seem to be, or maybe some things are bad, but then there might be good things too that keeps the balance intact.

The bottom line is that everywhere we go, we can find problems, faults, people we like less etc., but we need to ask ourselves whether we can live with imperfections, whether the school offers the minimum that we require for my children, and if we can accept that, we have a responsibility to make the best out of our children’s school years, but if we think a school doesn’t live up to our minimum requirements, it’s better to find another school.

Recently I visited another international school with less fees than TIS, because I think we should always be on the look out for comparison purposes, but even if I could save half the fees, the school in question didn’t live up to my minimum requirements, which were important to our family, hence it was not an attractive option.

But people’s opinions, focus and requirements are different, hence what I think is positive in Tenby may not be the same in your opinion, so it’s difficult for me to say that TIS is a good school, as you may find parents with other criteria that think otherwise, because the school may not meet their expectations, hence you need to talk with other parents too.

I wish you the best of luck with your new house and move to Setia Eco Park. I hope you will be very happy there and at Tenby, once your children start school.

From Ghita: It’s Tenby International School in Setia Eco Park, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor.

I’m in the midst of picking a school for my daughter & chanced upon your blog. It provides a great insight to Tenby’s approach & principles of teaching. I visited Tenby today & is happy with what I saw but nothing beats an existing parent’s views of the school…thank you! However, I read with great concern about your son’s previous school. Would it be convenient for you to disclose the name of the school as I’m considering other schools too? Thank you.

From Ghita: I am very sorry for the late response, which probably comes too late already, as I am sure you have found a school for your daughter. As with any school, there are positive things and negative things and in my opinion a school should never stop trying to improve and evolve and I would not be honest, if I tried to hide that now I feel that Tenby should start looking in to areas not focused on earlier or implemented yet, since the school is now at full capacity and all operational matters and staff in place. I regret not being comfortable in disclosing the name of the other school on my blog. I wish you all the best of luck.

I was indeed very impress with your blog and shared it with my daughter too. I must agree that true happiness comes from within and one must be happy with himself or herself b4 anything else. Though my daughter is going through some tough time in school with some of her friends humilating and insulting her, I still believe she is a strong person and the best gift GOD has sent to us. I must say that parents should educate their child to respect other children and not teach them to bad-mouth others. Like my daughter believes, LET THEM TALK MUM. It is only for a while. Sooner or later, it will stop. She is indeed a champ in sports and education and a great sunday school child.

From Ghita: Dear Kiran, I am glad you like my blog, thank you. I haven’t been active for a while, because of too much work, but I intend to write whenever I can. I think your daughter sounds very strong, but I have taken it one step further with my daughter, as I have bought a good book that teachers children to stand up for themselves and their friends in an assertive way that don’t keep the fighting going but to be respectful while still feeling empowered by being able to say something back to the bully(ies), so it can stop. Ignoring and waiting it out don’t always work. I know this because I was bullied in school all my life and I never learned to stand up for myself during my school days, tried to ignore it and the bullying continued. Only by speaking up assertively will you get the respect you deserve, and I intend to teach this to my daughter until she can do it. I agree with you that parents have a responsibility to teach their children to treat other people nicely and what’s right and what’s wrong to say and do. Parents can’t just leave that up to children to figure out, as values and manners need to be talked about and passed down the generations to ensure that children behave properly and treat others with respect and kindness.

I came from the local government secondary school, I remembered during our PE lesson, me and other classmates either changed our clothes in the class or used the washroom, but we are in the girl school. Not sure about the co-ed school.

during the primary school, we usually have our PE lesson in the morning, so most of us will wearing our PE shirt and pants first, then wear the school uniform, which is easier to removed.

From Ghita: Dear Emmon, thanks for sharing. Tenby students also wear their PE kit to school if they have PE in the morning and then change afterwards to their school uniform, as it makes sense and doesn’t waste any time.

Unfortunately this is the situation in many schools I’ve visited. Sri Cahaya, Beacon house was so too, not to mention of national schools where the stinking smell reaches out of the washroom. I’ve even seen a kindy where a child was sitting on the toilet bowl crying for help to be washed when the teachers were busy with all other stuff. I lose all hopes on regular schooling when I see these kind of things. But Tenby is quite a good school. My daughter loves the school.

In India most private schools have a cleaner stationed in the primary washrooms just as in the shopping mall wash rooms here in Malaysia. I suppose here it would cost rm750 extra to have one so.

Hopefully the school will take care of these small things as it is a really nice school.

From Ghita: Thank you for sharing and I am glad to hear your daughter loves the school. I am not aware of the gym arrangements, as my children do other sports, and about the toilets, yes, it’s important to have clean toilets, as especially girls won’t use the toilets the whole day, which is not healthy for them, if they think it’s dirty and smelly, but as you mention, you have addressed it to the school, which is the right way to go about it.

However you may want to write a friendly email to the school regarding your concerns and suggestions, as it would be easier for the school to address the issues, when in writing, as I can imagine that the Principal receives many such comments throughout the day, but won’t be able to remember everything, as she has so many other obligations and things to do on a daily basis. How about you write to the Operations department rather than the Principal, as I would think the toilet issue is an operation and maintenance issue, hence the Principal is not the right person to approach regarding this.

Perhaps you could call the school and ask for Mr Lim’s email address, as I think he is the first entry point before Mr Chua, who is the Chief Operating Officer in charge of the operations and maintenance of the school among other things.

Thank you!