Palm House vs Phuket International vs Oakwood

[davidjg]

I'm looking for some up-to-date info on the primary education programs at these schools. They seem to be the only three reasonably priced international schools. I've read through some older posts but looking for any recent info if possible. I currently have kids in local schools but looking at options for my oldest as she will be turning primary school age shortly and thinking about transitioning her out of the local system.

[stevenl]

My kid is at Palm House, I'm happy with it, a friend of mine has his kids at Oakwood, and he's happy with that.

If possible I would avoid crossing Chalong Circle to take her to and from school.

BTW: Palm House new schoolyear starts again this Monday.

Any specific Palm House questions I'd be happy to answer.

Edited August 27, 2014 by stevenl

[davidjg]

My kid is at Palm House, I'm happy with it, a friend of mine has his kids at Oakwood, and he's happy with that.

If possible I would avoid crossing Chalong Circle to take her to and from school.

BTW: Palm House new schoolyear starts again this Monday.

Any specific Palm House questions I'd be happy to answer.

Assuming you looked at all three, why did you chose PH?

[steelepulse]

Where is Oakwood, never heard of it nor did I see a website for them. OP, what side of Chalong circle are you on, north or south? If north, there's also QSI, Headstart and Kajonkiet International.

[davidjg]

Where is Oakwood, never heard of it nor did I see a website for them. OP, what side of Chalong circle are you on, north or south? If north, there's also QSI, Headstart and Kajonkiet International.

Sorry, I meant Oak Meadow. http://www.oakmeadowphuket.com/

I'm on the North side. Headstart seems to be the next bracket up price wise. I can't seem to locate fees for QSI on their website. Any ideas for first year of primary? Isn't Kajonkiet a local school?

[steelepulse]

Gotcha. Kajonkiet has 3 different schools, the Thai school, the English school which teaches Thai curriculum , and their international school which I believe is trying for some sort of English accreditation. If you're north of the circle, getting to Palm House would be fine, but going back will be mired in traffic getting to the circle.

[stevenl]

My kid is at Palm House, I'm happy with it, a friend of mine has his kids at Oakwood, and he's happy with that.

If possible I would avoid crossing Chalong Circle to take her to and from school.

BTW: Palm House new schoolyear starts again this Monday.

Any specific Palm House questions I'd be happy to answer.

Assuming you looked at all three, why did you chose PH?

I had never heard of Oak Meadow when we started at Palm House.

I see the International School mainly as a Russian school, he had his best friend going to Palm House (son of the owner), I live in that part of Rawai, and for social contacts I value a school close to home highly.

Headstart is a price bracket up, QSI etc. even more, Kajonkiet International is a factory in Kathu.

If living on the other side of the circle I'd choose Oakmeadow. Of the 'better' Thai schools I think Darasamuth is worth looking at.

[davidjg]

My kid is at Palm House, I'm happy with it, a friend of mine has his kids at Oakwood, and he's happy with that.

If possible I would avoid crossing Chalong Circle to take her to and from school.

BTW: Palm House new schoolyear starts again this Monday.

Any specific Palm House questions I'd be happy to answer.

Assuming you looked at all three, why did you chose PH?

I had never heard of Oak Meadow when we started at Palm House.

I see the International School mainly as a Russian school, he had his best friend going to Palm House (son of the owner), I live in that part of Rawai, and for social contacts I value a school close to home highly.

Headstart is a price bracket up, QSI etc. even more, Kajonkiet International is a factory in Kathu.

If living on the other side of the circle I'd choose Oakmeadow. Of the 'better' Thai schools I think Darasamuth is worth looking at.

Oak Meadow would be the most convenient as it's also on the way to the other kids' schools in Phuket Town.

Thanks for the feedback. In any case, i'll definitely check out both PH and OM.

[Blindside]

My kid is at Palm House, I'm happy with it, a friend of mine has his kids at Oakwood, and he's happy with that.

If possible I would avoid crossing Chalong Circle to take her to and from school.

BTW: Palm House new schoolyear starts again this Monday.

Any specific Palm House questions I'd be happy to answer.

Assuming you looked at all three, why did you chose PH?

I had never heard of Oak Meadow when we started at Palm House.

I see the International School mainly as a Russian school, he had his best friend going to Palm House (son of the owner), I live in that part of Rawai, and for social contacts I value a school close to home highly.

Headstart is a price bracket up, QSI etc. even more, Kajonkiet International is a factory in Kathu.

If living on the other side of the circle I'd choose Oakmeadow. Of the 'better' Thai schools I think Darasamuth is worth looking at.

Sorry Steven, from an educational point of view I am going to have to differ with you on the KIS (Kajonkiet "Factory" comment).

Let me make one point;

The true British and Welsh National Curriculum for Primary schools does not use text books. Teachers evaluate students according to their abilities and use differentiated lessons and activities to meet the individual needs of students while teaching the curriculum. Assessment is done using the APP system which is time consuming and requires a more than cursory knowledge of your students. It does not use testing outside of annual SAT tests which are optional in most years. In other words teachers use huge amount of resources (most especially time) to generate lessons, activities and assessments for students. KIS follows that system pretty closely. In terms of teaching and learning this is at the polar end of a being a factory.

Beating out lessons from textbooks by unqualified teachers is in the domain of factory schools.

I do understand that your comment probably is aimed more broadly than KIS.

However as an educator I cannot agree with the notion in an educational sense as it is simply not true of KIS.

I agree with you about the social contacts and proximity to your house, I think those are important considerations when evaluating schools.

Also, I have come across a few PH and Oak students in my time and I have also been impressed with those individuals.

[hansgruber]

Those schools in the south have no facilities.

PH is a villa converted into a school.

I'd pay the little bit extra for a better curriculum and facilities.

[stevenl]

Those schools in the south have no facilities.

PH is a villa converted into a school.

I'd pay the little bit extra for a better curriculum and facilities.

Nothing wrong with PH curriculum or facilities. We have had a discussion about this already before, the result was that you did not like the director and therefor feel the need to slag PH of. Things really don't change.

[stevenl]

Sorry Steven, from an educational point of view I am going to have to differ with you on the KIS (Kajonkiet "Factory" comment).

Let me make one point;

The true British and Welsh National Curriculum for Primary schools does not use text books. Teachers evaluate students according to their abilities and use differentiated lessons and activities to meet the individual needs of students while teaching the curriculum. Assessment is done using the APP system which is time consuming and requires a more than cursory knowledge of your students. It does not use testing outside of annual SAT tests which are optional in most years. In other words teachers use huge amount of resources (most especially time) to generate lessons, activities and assessments for students. KIS follows that system pretty closely. In terms of teaching and learning this is at the polar end of a being a factory.

Beating out lessons from textbooks by unqualified teachers is in the domain of factory schools.

I do understand that your comment probably is aimed more broadly than KIS.

However as an educator I cannot agree with the notion in an educational sense as it is simply not true of KIS.

I agree with you about the social contacts and proximity to your house, I think those are important considerations when evaluating schools.

Also, I have come across a few PH and Oak students in my time and I have also been impressed with those individuals.

True, my comment about Kajonkiet have more to do with the non-international program, where they do exactly what you describe: "Beating out lessons from textbooks by unqualified teachers is in the domain of factory schools." The teachers though there may be qualified but simply overworked.

I never considered KIS since just when I was looking they were changing locations, and no way would I make the daily commute from Rawai to Kathu twice.

[beechbum]

My little bloke (5yrs) goes to Kajonkiet in Kathu, not the 100% international which is the one higher up on the hill, the one he attends is 80% English curriculum and 20% Thai, he's absolutely powering ahead and enjoys it very much, the 1st term was about 60 odd thou and then on it's 51 thou a term.

The 100% inter Kajonkiet is aimed at students that will not be spending the majority of their academic life in Thailand.

We live in Chalong and it takes me about 25/30mins to get their each day.

He starts at 0830 and finishes at 1630.

[hansgruber]

Those schools in the south have no facilities.

PH is a villa converted into a school.

I'd pay the little bit extra for a better curriculum and facilities.

Nothing wrong with PH curriculum or facilities. We have had a discussion about this already before, the result was that you did not like the director and therefor feel the need to slag PH of. Things really don't change.

I tried to keep the director out of the topic but that's another reason yes.

The guy is a scumbag of the highest order.

The school is a villa. Not a school.

I guess you send your child there through being lazy to drive north. No other reason because the prices they charge are about on par with Headstart and Kajonkiet.

I want quality education, not some homeschooling Brit style.

[eezergood]

Those schools in the south have no facilities.

PH is a villa converted into a school.

I'd pay the little bit extra for a better curriculum and facilities.

Nothing wrong with PH curriculum or facilities. We have had a discussion about this already before, the result was that you did not like the director and therefor feel the need to slag PH of. Things really don't change.

I tried to keep the director out of the topic but that's another reason yes.

The guy is a scumbag of the highest order.

The school is a villa. Not a school.

I guess you send your child there through being lazy to drive north. No other reason because the prices they charge are about on par with Headstart and Kajonkiet.

I want quality education, not some homeschooling Brit style.

What do you think of KJ??

[stevenl]

Those schools in the south have no facilities.

PH is a villa converted into a school.

I'd pay the little bit extra for a better curriculum and facilities.

Nothing wrong with PH curriculum or facilities. We have had a discussion about this already before, the result was that you did not like the director and therefor feel the need to slag PH of. Things really don't change.

I tried to keep the director out of the topic but that's another reason yes.

The guy is a scumbag of the highest order.

The school is a villa. Not a school.

I guess you send your child there through being lazy to drive north. No other reason because the prices they charge are about on par with Headstart and Kajonkiet.

I want quality education, not some homeschooling Brit style.

Number of things not correct in your post, but there really is no point here. Let me correct myself: there is nothing correct in your post.

[alansiporin]

First the disclaimer; I am associated with the school I will describe below.

Growing Minds Phuket started its second year on 25 August.

The schol,is located in two villas in Nai Harn.

Not all the great facilities of some of the international schools; QSI, Headstart etc.

But it has very small classes, three experienced and qualified teachers.

All instruction in English with most of the curriculum similar to American style.

No textbooks are used and lessons come from Internet and the experience of the teachers.

Excellent food included in the reasonable monthly fee.

OK, enough self advertising. PM me if you want additional information about Growing Minds.

[steelepulse]

Those schools in the south have no facilities.

PH is a villa converted into a school.

I'd pay the little bit extra for a better curriculum and facilities.

Nothing wrong with PH curriculum or facilities. We have had a discussion about this already before, the result was that you did not like the director and therefor feel the need to slag PH of. Things really don't change.

I tried to keep the director out of the topic but that's another reason yes.

The guy is a scumbag of the highest order.

The school is a villa. Not a school.

I guess you send your child there through being lazy to drive north. No other reason because the prices they charge are about on par with Headstart and Kajonkiet.

I want quality education, not some homeschooling Brit style.

Number of things not correct in your post, but there really is no point here. Let me correct myself: there is nothing correct in your post.

Actually, the school was a house that was for rent, and then the PH people added an additional building. I saw the whole thing as it happened.

[hansgruber]

Those schools in the south have no facilities.

PH is a villa converted into a school.

I'd pay the little bit extra for a better curriculum and facilities.

Nothing wrong with PH curriculum or facilities. We have had a discussion about this already before, the result was that you did not like the director and therefor feel the need to slag PH of. Things really don't change.

I tried to keep the director out of the topic but that's another reason yes.

The guy is a scumbag of the highest order.

The school is a villa. Not a school.

I guess you send your child there through being lazy to drive north. No other reason because the prices they charge are about on par with Headstart and Kajonkiet.

I want quality education, not some homeschooling Brit style.

Number of things not correct in your post, but there really is no point here. Let me correct myself: there is nothing correct in your post.

We agree to disagree once again.

[hansgruber]

Those schools in the south have no facilities.

PH is a villa converted into a school.

I'd pay the little bit extra for a better curriculum and facilities.

Nothing wrong with PH curriculum or facilities. We have had a discussion about this already before, the result was that you did not like the director and therefor feel the need to slag PH of. Things really don't change.

I tried to keep the director out of the topic but that's another reason yes.

The guy is a scumbag of the highest order.

The school is a villa. Not a school.

I guess you send your child there through being lazy to drive north. No other reason because the prices they charge are about on par with Headstart and Kajonkiet.

I want quality education, not some homeschooling Brit style.

Number of things not correct in your post, but there really is no point here. Let me correct myself: there is nothing correct in your post.

Actually, the school was a house that was for rent, and then the PH people added an additional building. I saw the whole thing as it happened.

Correct. An illegally high structure

[stevenl]

Nothing wrong with PH curriculum or facilities. We have had a discussion about this already before, the result was that you did not like the director and therefor feel the need to slag PH of. Things really don't change.

I tried to keep the director out of the topic but that's another reason yes.

The guy is a scumbag of the highest order.

The school is a villa. Not a school.

I guess you send your child there through being lazy to drive north. No other reason because the prices they charge are about on par with Headstart and Kajonkiet.

I want quality education, not some homeschooling Brit style.

Number of things not correct in your post, but there really is no point here. Let me correct myself: there is nothing correct in your post.

Actually, the school was a house that was for rent, and then the PH people added an additional building. I saw the whole thing as it happened.

So?

[stevenl]

We agree to disagree once again.

Actually I was surprised to see we agree on a lot of other things recently I even removed you from my ignore list.

[steelepulse]

Actually, the school was a house that was for rent, and then the PH people added an additional building. I saw the whole thing as it happened.

So?

What do you mean so? You stated that hansgruber had his facts incorrect, yet he said the school was a house, which it was.

[stevenl]

Actually, the school was a house that was for rent, and then the PH people added an additional building. I saw the whole thing as it happened.

So?

What do you mean so? You stated that hansgruber had his facts incorrect, yet he said the school was a house, which it was.

Hans said "The school is a villa. Not a school."

The fact, yes fact, that one building of the school complex, where no lessons are given, once was a villa does not mean 'it is a villa and not a school'.

[davidjg]

For me, teaching standard is far more important than facilities, especially in the primary school years. It doesn't matter whether a school used to be an old villa, a farmhouse, a church or whatever. What is important to me is the quality of the teaching and curriculum being followed.

I'd be grateful if we could stay on topic here. Does anyone else have any first hand experience with sending their kids to any of the schools mentioned here with any positive or negative comments to add? Preferably without getting personal.

@hansgruber - I would be interested to hear your experience with PH and their director, although it seems that through PM might be better than out in the open.

[LivinginKata]

Time to sweep out the unhelpful trolls.

[eezergood]

I would like to get these opinions also, albeit I am a little early it would help us to plan for our next 2-3 years

[arby]

I have a son who will be 8 years old in a few months. He started out at ABC school which was fantastic and still is I have been told. He then went to Phuket International when he was 5 years old which our family liked ......at first.....The prices soared and the education faltered. I felt that he wasn't learning anything and we were paying approximately 200,000 baht a year, including the bus and incidental fees. We talked to many of the parents that we knew who had kids there and they felt the same. Last year we decided to take him out of there. I researched all the schools again including Palm House and Oak Meadows. We ended up moving him to the international (English) program at Darasamuth school. We visited the school twice before enrolling him and were very suprised.......and impressed by the 20+ farang teachers employed there for the Engllish program. We spoke to some of the teachers there as well as some of the parents and other staff. A nun who runs the school invited us in to discuss our son after he took his entrance exams and was very nice and fluent in both Thai and English. We enrolled him there and have been 100% pleased with the results so far. He comes home every day happy and seems to be learning a helluva lot more than he did at Phuket International school. another bonus is the fees are 1/2 the cost of Phuket International or any other international school. We pay 100,000 baht for the entire year which includes the private bus fees and uniforms, etc. My son loves it there.

[stevenl]

I have a son who will be 8 years old in a few months. He started out at ABC school which was fantastic and still is I have been told. He then went to Phuket International when he was 5 years old which our family liked ......at first.....The prices soared and the education faltered. I felt that he wasn't learning anything and we were paying approximately 200,000 baht a year, including the bus and incidental fees. We talked to many of the parents that we knew who had kids there and they felt the same. Last year we decided to take him out of there. I researched all the schools again including Palm House and Oak Meadows. We ended up moving him to the international (English) program at Darasamuth school. We visited the school twice before enrolling him and were very suprised.......and impressed by the 20+ farang teachers employed there for the Engllish program. We spoke to some of the teachers there as well as some of the parents and other staff. A nun who runs the school invited us in to discuss our son after he took his entrance exams and was very nice and fluent in both Thai and English. We enrolled him there and have been 100% pleased with the results so far. He comes home every day happy and seems to be learning a helluva lot more than he did at Phuket International school. another bonus is the fees are 1/2 the cost of Phuket International or any other international school. We pay 100,000 baht for the entire year which includes the private bus fees and uniforms, etc. My son loves it there.

Darasamuth would have been my choice as well if I did not end up with a very good agreement at Palm House. On top of that there is the distance to school, I really prefer a school closer to home for several reasons.

But they were my first alternative, agree with your assessment.

[eezergood]

I have a son who will be 8 years old in a few months. He started out at ABC school which was fantastic and still is I have been told. He then went to Phuket International when he was 5 years old which our family liked ......at first.....The prices soared and the education faltered. I felt that he wasn't learning anything and we were paying approximately 200,000 baht a year, including the bus and incidental fees. We talked to many of the parents that we knew who had kids there and they felt the same. Last year we decided to take him out of there. I researched all the schools again including Palm House and Oak Meadows. We ended up moving him to the international (English) program at Darasamuth school. We visited the school twice before enrolling him and were very suprised.......and impressed by the 20+ farang teachers employed there for the Engllish program. We spoke to some of the teachers there as well as some of the parents and other staff. A nun who runs the school invited us in to discuss our son after he took his entrance exams and was very nice and fluent in both Thai and English. We enrolled him there and have been 100% pleased with the results so far. He comes home every day happy and seems to be learning a helluva lot more than he did at Phuket International school. another bonus is the fees are 1/2 the cost of Phuket International or any other international school. We pay 100,000 baht for the entire year which includes the private bus fees and uniforms, etc. My son loves it there.

Darasamuth would have been my choice as well if I did not end up with a very good agreement at Palm House. On top of that there is the distance to school, I really prefer a school closer to home for several reasons.

But they were my first alternative, agree with your assessment.

Is this a religious run school? Or just has people of the cloth running it?????