School in Khon Kaen - KPBS

[Raivien]

I have just enrolled my son into the pre-K at KPBS and absolutely love it! He is only 2 years old so I am glad that he is receiving both Thai and English throughout the day as I don't yet know how many years we will stay here. The activities he participates in and the care he is getting is on par with that of any pre-k in the US or UK. 

 

What I don't understand is why the English program is so small. The quality of education is outstanding and the students seem so happy. The school goes all the way to pratom 6 and the core subjects are taught by native speakers... do people just not know about it or is there something i'm missing?  

[Alantct]

I have just enrolled my son into the pre-K at KPBS and absolutely love it! He is only 2 years old so I am glad that he is receiving both Thai and English throughout the day as I don't yet know how many years we will stay here. The activities he participates in and the care he is getting is on par with that of any pre-k in the US or UK. 
 
What I don't understand is why the English program is so small. The quality of education is outstanding and the students seem so happy. The school goes all the way to pratom 6 and the core subjects are taught by native speakers... do people just not know about it or is there something i'm missing?  

Which section is he in? You know their are two in the school. One full English programme section and one Thai programme with English classes. The full English programme is 5 times the price [emoji33]
By the sounds of it he is in the Thai class with English programme


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[Raivien]

1 hour ago, Alantct said:

Which section is he in? You know their are two in the school. One full English programme section and one Thai programme with English classes. The full English programme is 5 times the price
By the sounds of it he is in the Thai class with English programme


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He is in the English side. I'm surprised that they are considered expensive- their prices seem fair and far less than other 'international' schools. I'm not sure why they list as bilingual, rather than international, but if it's taught by natives it's pretty much the same thing out here (imo). The teachers - even the Thai teachers in the English side- have impressive experience and language skills. Not sure why other schools seem more popular. 

 

I haven't found much of a young foreign family crowd out here yet so I've nowhere else to inquire. 

[Hereinthailand]

I hate to sound negative but after teaching for 8 years in various schools and uni's here looks can be deceiving. The turnover rate in most programs are very high students and teachers both. Most schools provide a fun environment for the students and put on a good show for the parents but in the end if I had a child here I wouldnt waste any money on an english program. Lets face it if a parent cant be bothered to teach their children their native language at home then the thai english gibberish taught in schools here is what you will end up with. Oh yes and your child will never fail a class and prob get an A for every class, keeps that income rolling in for the school. I really laugh when thai parents spend the money on bilingual or international school and think their kids are learning english when they cant speak two words of it themselves to know any better. If I had a baht for every thai teacher with a masters in english who couldnt speak let alone write english id be retired now.

[Rc2702]

8 hours ago, Alantct said:

Which section is he in? You know their are two in the school. One full English programme section and one Thai programme with English classes. The full English programme is 5 times the price
By the sounds of it he is in the Thai class with English programme


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Hi, any info on this school would be extremely helpful.

 

1 costs?

2 location with KK

 

Great topic hope all info is kosher.

[Alantct]

I hate to sound negative but after teaching for 8 years in various schools and uni's here looks can be deceiving. The turnover rate in most programs are very high students and teachers both. Most schools provide a fun environment for the students and put on a good show for the parents but in the end if I had a child here I wouldnt waste any money on an english program. Lets face it if a parent cant be bothered to teach their children their native language at home then the thai english gibberish taught in schools here is what you will end up with. Oh yes and your child will never fail a class and prob get an A for every class, keeps that income rolling in for the school. I really laugh when thai parents spend the money on bilingual or international school and think their kids are learning english when they cant speak two words of it themselves to know any better. If I had a baht for every thai teacher with a masters in english who couldnt speak let alone write english id be retired now.

 

I have to agree fully with that mate.

Any "English schools " I have experienced here are a joke. My mates kids get taught at home and go to a thai school with an English programme (not full English scam option)

They are far better off learning Thai and concentrating on that so they can live here and fit in then at home they get the best education possible in English. They are also learning from very good apps on iPad.

50k a term for bad pronunciation and Thai English is a waste.

 

 

 

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[Alantct]

Hi, any info on this school would be extremely helpful.
 
1 costs?
2 location with KK
 
Great topic hope all info is kosher.

They are a great school for the Thai program but as useless as all the others imho for the full English programme. I see the kids and they are clueless. As the poster above mentioned with this school and all the others your kids will never fail a class and will never get bad marks on homework. If your kids are Falang all the other thai kids will copy their work and nothing will ever be said. It's just the way it is so save your cash.
It's 13k a term for Thai programme with basic English classes or 47k I think for English programme which is a farce


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[Rc2702]

Just now, Alantct said:

 

They are a great school for the Thai program but as useless as all the others imho for the full English programme. I see the kids and they are clueless. As the poster above mentioned with this school and all the others your kids will never fail a class and will never get bad marks on homework. If your kids are Falang all the other thai kids will copy their work and nothing will ever be said. It's just the way it is so save your cash.
It's 13k a term for Thai programme with basic English classes or 47k I think for English programme which is a farce


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Alan thanks I am sorry to ask but how long is a term? How many terms each year?

[samsensam]

5 hours ago, Hereinthailand said:

I hate to sound negative but after teaching for 8 years in various schools and uni's here looks can be deceiving. The turnover rate in most programs are very high students and teachers both. Most schools provide a fun environment for the students and put on a good show for the parents but in the end if I had a child here I wouldnt waste any money on an english program. Lets face it if a parent cant be bothered to teach their children their native language at home then the thai english gibberish taught in schools here is what you will end up with. Oh yes and your child will never fail a class and prob get an A for every class, keeps that income rolling in for the school. I really laugh when thai parents spend the money on bilingual or international school and think their kids are learning english when they cant speak two words of it themselves to know any better. If I had a baht for every thai teacher with a masters in english who couldnt speak let alone write english id be retired now.

 

truth in what you say, just have a look at the materials used by the teachers, foreign or thai, if they dont use a quality text book the lessons often lack structure, clear learning objectives, graded language, coherence, relevance to age, i could go on. some schools use a quality text book but dont bother with the listening exercises, or skip chapters. the moral; dont go on appearances check the quality of teachers (experience/qualifications), ask to see lesson plans, curriculum and check the quality of the teaching materials.

[Rc2702]

Just now, Rc2702 said:

Alan thanks I am sorry to ask but how long is a term? How many terms each year?

3 per year 39k a year?

 

 

[Alantct]

Alan thanks I am sorry to ask but how long is a term? How many terms each year?

 

Just found the full details

 

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[Raivien]

10 hours ago, Rc2702 said:

Alan thanks I am sorry to ask but how long is a term? How many terms each year?

The majority of the students are half farang at least.. and the ratio is 1:6 -1:3 in pre-k.. to me, that is worth the cost. 

 

Pre-k and kinder scares the hell out of me because it's usually 1:10 or more and that is just appalling. My partner and I are both from the U.K. So we hold schools as close to the standard we expect, but of course nowhere in Thailand is perfect. My son is only 2 years old so I can't do much teaching at home... we both work full time and only get 2 hours with him before bedtime but the teachers put a lot of effort in teaching him English.

 

The teachers in the pratom levels are American and British and I know the p3-6 teacher has something like 9 years experience (and not all in Asia!) 

 

Perhaps there is just too much competition around. I can't find any faults myself but I do wish they had more kids in the English side. 

[Rc2702]

Just now, Raivien said:

The majority of the students are half farang at least.. and the ratio is 1:6 -1:3 in pre-k.. to me, that is worth the cost. 

 

Pre-k and kinder scares the hell out of me because it's usually 1:10 or more and that is just appalling. My partner and I are both from the U.K. So we hold schools as close to the standard we expect, but of course nowhere in Thailand is perfect. My son is only 2 years old so I can't do much teaching at home... we both work full time and only get 2 hours with him before bedtime but the teachers put a lot of effort in teaching him English.

 

The teachers in the pratom levels are American and British and I know the p3-6 teacher has something like 9 years experience (and not all in Asia!) 

 

Perhaps there is just too much competition around. I can't find any faults myself but I do wish they had more kids in the English side. 

No chance, it reminds me of a post recently where a guy was asked to stump up 500k for a year in USA for his kid when all that will really result in is an improvement in English.  I firmly believe my boy will speak English thoroughly and benefit from a bilingual household. The costs seem reasonable I just need to find out which area it is based to see if it's a living friendly area etc.

[Raivien]

1 hour ago, Rc2702 said:

No chance, it reminds me of a post recently where a guy was asked to stump up 500k for a year in USA for his kid when all that will really result in is an improvement in English.  I firmly believe my boy will speak English thoroughly and benefit from a bilingual household. The costs seem reasonable I just need to find out which area it is based to see if it's a living friendly area etc.

Oh we lucked out on a nice apartment about 2 mins walk from the school. There's a moo baan 10 minutes walk away but I think they are townhouses where a two bedroom is around 25k/mo. I enjoy it here but I don't do bars.. the real downtown is about 10 mins on the songtaew but it's easier to get around when you want to. We have street food, tesco, a butcher and a vegetable seller all within about a 5 mins walk. 

 

Only issue is taxis not knowing where we live. Have to tell them Anubaan Prat which is the old name for the school and then we just walk or direct from there. I lived in CM and hated the pollution so I enjoy living next to a lake. Plus the school lets outsiders use their playgrounds on the weekend, which is not easy to find based on the other places we looked. 

 

Its on Baankok road- just past the university. 

[Hereinthailand]

4 hours ago, Raivien said:

The majority of the students are half farang at least.. and the ratio is 1:6 -1:3 in pre-k.. to me, that is worth the cos

How can a school make any money paying foreign teachers with that small class size ? Unless their salaries are peanuts or they are not qualified teachers in either case the first decent offer they get from somewhere else they will be gone.

[Alantct]

How can a school make any money paying foreign teachers with that small class size ? Unless their salaries are peanuts or they are not qualified teachers in either case the first decent offer they get from somewhere else they will be gone.

 

I can tell you first hand from what a teacher (not kpbs) told me about a school he teaches English in. He said that the school give him a programme to teach and they don't care how he does it as long as the kids look like they know what they are doing. He was also told that under no circumstances was he to fail a Falang kid and that if they needed "help" passing then do what it takes.

He also told me the crap kids just copy from the Falangs and the Falangs are to be made look good when parents are around.

He gets paid peanuts and has a degree that is of no use for teaching English to kids. The school only cared that he had some form of a degree and could work within there budget.

Don't fool yourself that these schools are as good as they appear. It's all fake.

 

 

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[Hereinthailand]

Excel is a teachers best friend for submitting grades here, with the right formula anything is possible.. It only took once for me to never fail a student again.

[jimmyyy]

Two of my three attend kbps on the english side, one in grade 2 other in kindegarden. Our youngest starts next semester.  Very happy with the school.  

[Hereinthailand]

Define happy for me.

 

[Raivien]

14 hours ago, Hereinthailand said:

How can a school make any money paying foreign teachers with that small class size ? Unless their salaries are peanuts or they are not qualified teachers in either case the first decent offer they get from somewhere else they will be gone.

They make their money from the Thai side. As far as I understand it they are still trying to build up their EP. The teachers are all very well experienced and qualified. Not sure about their salaries though. 

 

I just don't see why it's so hard for schools to get EP students. Apparently it's a problem for most of the schools around here 

[Alantct]

They make their money from the Thai side. As far as I understand it they are still trying to build up their EP. The teachers are all very well experienced and qualified. Not sure about their salaries though. 

 

I just don't see why it's so hard for schools to get EP students. Apparently it's a problem for most of the schools around here 

 

 

They are hard for them to get because many people realise the quality of the teaching is nowhere near as good as the charade they portray. Simple as that.

 

 

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