Schools in Samui - your experience / advice ?

[Anahech]

Good morning from old Europe :-)

We are considering moving from French speaking part of Switzerland to Koh Samui this summer for a year off. We have a 8 yo child who is currently attending a bilingual FR/ENG school. We want her to attend school in Samui, and trying to gather info re the different schools.

From what I found, there are 3 English speaking schools, ie

- International school of Samui

- Panyadee

- SCL International school.

Would any of you be kind enough to tell me what you know about these schools ?

Any advices ?

Knowing that our daughter speaks/understanf fairly good English but not 100% fluent yet (especially for reading-writing).

We are looking for a good school, with qualified teachers and content of good level, BUT also a place with nice people with empathy and kindness where she would learn but also feel good and feel supported, knowing that whe will face new country + new culture + new school + language that is not mother tongue. A place where she would go with a smile every morning :-)

Thank you in advance for sharing what you experienced/ know / heard about these schools (no matter how subjective it is !), it will be greatly appreciated :-)

[Anahech]

Anybody ? Any experience, advice to share ?

THank you in advance

[churchill]

Try this previous thread

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/607244-international-schools-in-samui-quality-education/

Also I believe there are now 2 additional schools .

http://www.lis-samui.com

http://www.samuitimes.com/new-school-to-open-in-samui-this-september/

My daughter goes to Oonrak , but I don't think the right choice if your daughter doesn't speak any Thai

[PoorSucker]

There is also a French school.

http://www.junglesamui.com/

[Anahech]

Thank you warmly for your input :-) So good to read feedbacks And thank you for the link Churchill, don't know why I hadn't find it

Tht been said, it is difficult for me to identify school A and B because I can see several more international schools in the areas. So I would guess ISS Chaweng and LIS Lamai, but not sure ...

@Poorsucker, Thank you - saw about the French school, but would rather keep her in an english speaking school, since she has been for 2 years now attending a bilingual school. This would be a great opportunity for her to master English.

@Churchill, I read with interest about Oonrak (thank you for the advice, I had missed this one), but will not go for this one for the reason that you mentionned: my daughter will already struggle with the level in English (she is not fully bilingual yet), so I don't want to add a burden on her with topics being taught in Thaï (others than specific courses to learnThaï which is great I think).

I don't feel good with ISS, since it is so expensive, so international and looks really posh ... I can imagine the kind of families choosing the school and this is just not what we are looking for

I am considering seriously 3 schools now: Panyadee, SCL and LIS in Lamai.

Would you have an advice at this point ? We don't want a competitive school, we would rather go for a school that cares about the kids. Moving to Thailand will be a major change for our child so we would like her to feel good in the school, get friends and have kind teachers.

I look forward to reading your views on this

Edited March 4, 2016 by Anahech

[churchill]

LIS in Lamai is a new school so I'm sure they will be doing their best ..

The little feedback I have seen has been positive .. but I would also be interested to hear other comments .. as this may also be a future choice for us ..

[Anahech]

Thanks. So if LIS is brand new, should I understand that the 2 schools mentionned in the previous posts were not ISS and LIS, but most probably ISS and SLC ?!...

Hard to follow

May I ask you what you would not envisage Panyadee and SLC for your kids ? Any reason (pm if easier !).

Another question: how full are the schools in reality ? I read on the previous post that you should book the post asap. But we are planning to leave this summer and decide about the chool upon arrival... Don't want to be answered that all schools are full :-( Should I really book now or wait and see ?

Thank you :-)

[churchill]

I think you can always find a space .. so not to worry too much .

For us my daughter has a Thai mother so Thai education and language are also important ..

But as she gets older and thinking further ahead a school that gives her options that are recognised by the UK system also need consideration ...

[Anahech]

Thank you :-)

I have spent time reading old posts, but difficult to rely on, since some of them speak about schools that don't even exist any more ;-)

Still hesitating between Panyadee, SCL and LIS in Lamai. Hopefully we'll get some more comments !

And will try and visit them asap.

Thank you for your contribution

[khunPer]

In your OP your forgot Oonrak Samui, EP (English Programme) school, like the others, apart from ISS that has "International" approval. Oonrak is going to obtain International certification from either later this year or next year, when they open Middle School; they will then offer two options, so you can choose EP or International.

If you are only staying for a shorter period, you mention a year off, it may be worth considering if you can find a school with minimal Thai curriculum, as that will be a totally different World – both language, letters and culture – for an Europen mainly French-speaking child, who is not going to stay in Thailand. ISS may have more focus on international and Panyadee on Oxford English.

My daughter 10 yo. in P4 is attending Oonrak Samui in Maenam, which we are extremely satisfied with. But half of the curriculum is Thai, including Thai culture. It might be difficult for a mainly French oriented child to attend a P2 level with heavy focus on Thai. I believe schools with official Thai-approval will include quite a number of Thai curriculum; that can both be a positive input for an European child, or a struggle as being so different. Oonrak for example also teaches Chinese as mandatory 3rd language.

Also have in mind that the Thai academic year is running from May to medio March, and therefore is different from the European. Check which of the schools – for example ISS – that may follow the European school year. Signing up for Thai academic year 2016/17 is now.

Most of the schools have a school bus service, if you don't intend to use that, it's worth considering school location compared to where you stay at Samui, as traffic in certain areas can be between quite hectic and jam in the morning and afternoon.

I wish you good luck with your "year off" plans...

[Anahech]

Thank you KhunPer for your reply, It is so good to read helpful feedbacks

I did study the Oonrak school following Churchill's advice above. My concern is the following: my daughter is not 100% bilingual and as such, she will be struggling to follow all classes in English (but we want to take this opportunity to boost her English as she is now in a bilingual school). Nevertheless, considering that she will discover a new country + ney culture + new school+ not in mother tongue, I feel that this will be enough on her 8 y.o. shoulders !! Considering that we plan to stay a year only, I won't envisage a Thai-English school, she will have enough on her plate :-)

That been said, if we were to stay after the 1st year (I don't think so, but my husband keeps the door opened !!), I may envisage such a school once she masters English. I would love her to learn Thai + Chinese seriously !

From what I read, the schools I am interested in are running from Sept to June, which is also what we are looking for.

I feel that ISS is a very expensive/posh school. We have such schools in switzerland, with very wealthy russian/ US kids and a state of mind which doesn't fit with ours... I may be wrong.

Panyadee looks good, but some people told me they didn't know about it. Is it an old school ? Have they really been running for 10 years or so ? Do you know pupils there ?

Also, would you have any inputs on SCL and LIS ?

Thank you in advance, this s very valuable for me

[Gulfsailor]

There may be some confusion about LIS and SCL. To the best of my knowledge SCL had a dispute with the owners of the property they used for their school. Subsequently SCL then moved to a new location last year, after which the owners of the old SCL location decided to start their own school to make use of the property, and this was named LIS.

"I feel that ISS is a very expensive/posh school. We have such schools in switzerland, with very wealthy russian/ US kids and a state of mind which doesn't fit with ours... I may be wrong."

Compared to the other schools on the island ISS certainly is the most expensive. Compared to other international schools in Thailand and the region it is actually quite affordable. The owner tried to bring it to a very elite level over the past few years, comparable to the best schools in Bangkok and Singapore. However, there is just no market for such a school on Samui, so that development was halted. Not many kids' tuition fees are part of a full expat package provided by a big company, like you'd see in Bangkok. Most parents are local working folk who have to pay the tuition fees themselves. In the past you would see quite a few exotic cars in the parking lot, but nowadays it's mostly small sedans, pickup trucks and SUVs. Heck, I live close by and most of the time pick up my daughter with an old beaten down motorbike. No one bats an eyelid. Of course there are some really wealthy parents, but they don't advertise it. The really 'posh' people who'd like to show of via their kids' school send the kids to boarding school in Singapore, Bangkok or Phuket.

My suggestion before signing your kid up to any school, is to plan a short trip to Samui beforehand and visit the schools, to get the vibe of each one.

[Anahech]

@Gulfsailor, than you very much for your input. Very interesting to understand the LIS vs SCL story, I was very confused with this one !!

And I put ISS back on the list since I received several comments agreeing with you.

You're right, next step is visiting, I am currently planning a visit in May-June to figure out which one would suit better :-)

In the meantime, any comments are welcome, others' experience are always good to read !

Thank you from rainy switzerland - we look forward to being in samui

[khunPer]

I agree with Gulfsailor about ISS and their fees, compared to other international schools. I know kids who has been attending ISS and both them and their parents have been satisfied; however, I cannot say if the school is worth the fee.

Panyadee was there when we looked at school for may daughter – must be some 6-7 years ago now – and seemed very attractive, but also very British. The main reason we choosed something else was, that Panyadee did not have a school bus service at that time, and as we live in Maenam that would mean half an hour car-ride each way every morning and evening to bring my daughter to and from school.

Apart from an international school – which I don't know how little Thai will teach – I think all other schools include quite some teaching in Thai language; probably your child will need some extra Thai lessons in the beginning. I presume the only way to avoid Thai, will be home teaching.

[Anahech]

Thank you for your message. I now look forward to visiting these schools and get a better idea !
For the moment I remain very interested in SCL & Panyaddee, I will see and visit ISS and LIS too and we'll make our minds - hopefully

Thanks again for your help (any other somments / pm are still welcome of course )

Cheers from snowy switzerland

[PoorSucker]

Cheers

Bring some nice cheese....