Decent Primary School In North Phuket

[simon43]

My 7 year old son has recently moved from Bangkok to Phuket and I need to enroll him at a primary school. The PIA in Thalang is beyond my budget.

Kajonkietsuksa or Darasamut school are possible choices, but are there any other schools to recommend closer to north Phuket/Thalang? My son needs a bilingual education, (he speaks fluent Thai and 'improving' English)

Thanks

Simon

PS - I'm aware of the previous threads about Phuket schools - I'm really checking to see if there is any updated information

Edited April 6, 2012 by simon43

[Peterocket]

HeadStart? I believe it is just behind Central Festival and has very good reviews from people I have spoken too. Not sure if you would class that as North or not...I do

[steelepulse]

Are you looking for a school where the primary language is English, or Thai, with one hour/day given in the other language? If his English is just "improving" having all subjects (except Thai) taught in English could be tough.

[markg]

You've not really given much information Simon.

Where do you see this kid being at, say, 21 years of age, and what is your budget.

Wholly Thai schools do not have a great reputation as I'm sure you know, however, they do churn out good Thai citizens, who can then take their places in Thai universities and eventually work in Thailand.

If you have any notion whatsoever of the child working overseas, then forget about a Thai school.

If you can afford it, send the child to an international school, not a bi-lingual school. Sure, he will struggle for one term with the language, but he will soon find his feet. After a year or so, he will be speaking, reading and writing like a native.

Now here's the kicker. At age 16, he could take his GCSE exams. Pass 5 of them and you can go to a Thai university. That's two full years early.

Don't fancy that? Let the boy study A levels for a further two years and then send him to an international university. A university in the UK is a similar price to many Thai universities.

Furthermore, with the world shrinking, UK universities are eying up Asia. Nottingham already has a campus in KL, and the University of Central Lancs is opening a campus in BKK in 2014. More are sure to follow. A student who has followed the Thai system will struggle at a UK university, My last uni regards a Thai Bachelors degree as the equivalent of A levels, for example.

So sit down, do some maths and some long term thinking and make your choice. Don't send a kid to a school just because it's near your house. Send him to the best school you can afford and meets your future needs - and move your house if you have to !

[simon43]

Markg - thanks for your response.

Although my son speaks little English right now, that's because he has been brought up in a Thai language environment. Like many young kids his English language skills will improve very rapidly once he is exposed to the language.

My budget is very small, unless that lottery ticket I purchased comes up trumps! The international schools are way outside my budget, but schools like Darasamut and Daorung are OK.

Moving house is not feasible because I live at my business - (airport hotels). But if the best school is further afield then it will simply need me to drive a little further

Simon

[stevenl]

In the end I decided on Palm House (Rawai), but for a while I was hesitating between Darasamuth, Kajonkiet and Dowroong. I would have chosen Darasamuth of those 3, the school and language programmes simply felt better than the other 2.

[bunta71]

sent you a pm

[badgerbailey]

sent you a pm

This always bothers me greatly, I always read through a thread hoping to get some useful information and it ends with somebody sending somebody a PM and that is the end of the thread, if you have any useful information regarding this topic then please share it for everybody. I am also looking for a decent school in the north of the island, and would also like some information. Why does it need to be private anyway?

[stevenl]

sent you a pm

This always bothers me greatly, I always read through a thread hoping to get some useful information and it ends with somebody sending somebody a PM and that is the end of the thread, if you have any useful information regarding this topic then please share it for everybody. I am also looking for a decent school in the north of the island, and would also like some information. Why does it need to be private anyway?

I agree with you it should be out in the open, but there are reasons for sending a PM. Self promotion e.g., or insider information, naming and shaming. Since both are not allowed on the forum the topic would be closed and the information deleted, so a PM is sometimes the only solution.

[bunta71]

sent you a pm

This always bothers me greatly, I always read through a thread hoping to get some useful information and it ends with somebody sending somebody a PM and that is the end of the thread, if you have any useful information regarding this topic then please share it for everybody. I am also looking for a decent school in the north of the island, and would also like some information. Why does it need to be private anyway?

I agree with you it should be out in the open, but there are reasons for sending a PM. Self promotion e.g., or insider information, naming and shaming. Since both are not allowed on the forum the topic would be closed and the information deleted, so a PM is sometimes the only solution.

Through the years this particular subject comes up again and again. It usually brings out a few <deleted> who have only negative, ill-informed, and contentious posts that evolve into personal attacks. I choose not to engage these keyboard warriors any more...

[Peterocket]

sent you a pm

This always bothers me greatly, I always read through a thread hoping to get some useful information and it ends with somebody sending somebody a PM and that is the end of the thread, if you have any useful information regarding this topic then please share it for everybody. I am also looking for a decent school in the north of the island, and would also like some information. Why does it need to be private anyway?

I agree with you it should be out in the open, but there are reasons for sending a PM. Self promotion e.g., or insider information, naming and shaming. Since both are not allowed on the forum the topic would be closed and the information deleted, so a PM is sometimes the only solution.

Through the years this particular subject comes up again and again. It usually brings out a few <deleted> who have only negative, ill-informed, and contentious posts that evolve into personal attacks. I choose not to engage these keyboard warriors any more...

It would be a good to see a clear price comparison for all the major schools....

[seaeagle]

While I wouldn't recommend Kajonkiet for purely the reasons of 'Thai standards', you do say that International Schools aren't possible for you. In that case, I think Kajonkiet have a 'branch' of their school up in Cherng Talay. Geographically, that should suit you.

Maybe some members up there can confirm the school location, or otherwise.

[badgerbailey]

While I wouldn't recommend Kajonkiet for purely the reasons of 'Thai standards', you do say that International Schools aren't possible for you. In that case, I think Kajonkiet have a 'branch' of their school up in Cherng Talay. Geographically, that should suit you.

Maybe some members up there can confirm the school location, or otherwise.

My daughter goes there now, this is not primary but nursery, after K3 they need to find an alternative. For me I think this school is okay, I am quite happy with the way things are run here, I understand that things are not so great in the main Kajonkiet.

[HongKongPhooey]

There is definitely a market for a small, reasonably priced International school in the Cherng Telay area, something similar to Palm House in Rawai. I'm sure there would be enough people to fill it. If you take the PIA and BIS out of the equation as they are top end, then the next nearest I believe is Headstart, which is way too much of a trek for people that far North.

[steelepulse]

>>Palm House

A friend of mine went to their opening party and reported that one of the teachers there was starting her first teaching job and had just gotten qualified to teach. Not saying this is good or bad, just that this particular school which is not cheap, didn't do a rigorous vetting of qualified teachers.

If you're up North, for a thai curriculum I'd probably go with Darasamut as I've heard it's got a good English programme and would be closer than Kajonkiet.

[LeungKen]

As a suggestion, perhaps send him to local school then do added extra classes after school hours.

I help raise one boy and do this. along with talking English to him all the time (but then we do play & swim etc together a lot)

Best of Luck Simon - you can only try your best.

[simon43]

LeungKen, thanks for the good advice. I do speak English with him all the time, and he seems unfazed when I switch to Thai to speak with his half-sister. At his young age he will rapidly improve his English language skills if I maintain this

Simon

[steelepulse]

>>It would be a good to see a clear price comparison for all the major schools..

Here's a comparison of int'l schools

PIA

British

QSI

Palm House

KJ International

HeadStart 2011

HeadStart 2012 - 2013

Entrance

130000

140000

50000

30000

30000

Endowment

100000

100000

50000

30000

30000

Nursery

185000

260000

213000

192000

192000

K1 - K3

304000

304000

213000

192000

192000

G1 - G3

390000

391000

360000

216000

228000

210000

228000

G4 - G5

444000

436000 - 460000

360000

216000

239000

228000

239000

G6 - G8

498000

535000

360000

246000

246000

246000

G 9 - G10

545000

360000

264000

270000

G 11 - 12

560000

360000

283000

300000

[steelepulse]

Can't edit for whatever reason, so above chart really isn't readable.

[LivinginKata]

Can't edit for whatever reason, so above chart really isn't readable.

I guess you copied a tabulated table. You need to use the full edit option and retab everything, also need to realign. Plus a bit more tidy up.

[steelepulse]

Can't edit for whatever reason, so above chart really isn't readable.

I guess you copied a tabulated table. You need to use the full edit option and retab everything, also need to realign. Plus a bit more tidy up.

Actually it was a c & p of a table. Didn't know that this particular software wouldn't be able to handle it. Anyway, bottom line was that Headstart and KJ int'l were the cheapest for int'l schools at a mere 240K/year..

[steelepulse]

Last I checked Chalong was no where close to the North of the island, nor is it even in the center like the ones mentioned above. Good plug though!

Edited April 27, 2012 by LivinginKata
'plug' removed

[leonpeng]

There is a new school opening called Oak Meadow. Here is there website, www.oakmeadowphuket.com

My son goes to their kindergarten program called smileykidz. They are pretty reasonable priced.

[stevenl]

Good to see another option.

I would not classify Phuket Town as North Phuket though.

[Hostile17]

oak medeaow has some pretty good prices but how can they offer any quality for barely 30k per month? the administrators are working for free? They're not buying a new benz every 3months like at other schools?

Edited May 5, 2012 by Hostile17