GESS - International School

My feedback is specific to the Pre-School section and I would not recommend sending any children here. Our child has been attending the pre-school here since Mar 2019. The major concern has to do with the lack of integrity. Our child came home with rashes on her forearms since returning to school after the circuit-breaker. We checked with GP and identified that it could be the sand from the sandpit in the school that might be causing the eczema to act up. But on one of the days one of our child's classmates had thrown sand at her face and body which caused a major eczema flare up. I received a call from the first-aider informing us that our child was experiencing an allergic reaction and that they were applying ice and antihistamine cream on her. But we were not told that this was a result of sand being thrown at our child. During pick-up after school, I deliberately made sure that I was one of the last parents so that I'd have some time to chat with the teacher about the eczema. We had enough time to chat and at no point during this conversation did the teacher mention that another child had thrown sand at our child, and that was the trigger for the eczema flaring up. Shockingly, it was my child who told me this while driving back. My wife called the teacher after school to ask if what our child was saying was true and it was only then that it was made known to us about this incident which was the cause the allergic reaction. According to the teacher she was aware of this incident, and another teacher had attended to our child, changed her clothes and brought her to the first-aiders. Surely, the adults in the room would have known this incident and surely one of them could have informed us sooner. We can't help but wonder why this crucial piece of information was withheld from us? This is important so that we can respond appropriately and give an accurate narration of the events to the doctor. When we asked the teacher, she said she had intended to tell us about this incident later in the day and the focus of the conversation during pick-up was simply on what the school had done to treat the problem. Does not make sense and utter lie! The teacher did not tell me anything about the treatment; it was the first-aider who had given me a comprehensive run-down on the phone. The teacher went on to say via WhatsApp message: "to be honest.. I'm not quite sure the throwing of the sand would have caused the reaction all over her body.. other kids have been playing in that sand for the past 2 weeks now and no one else has had any reaction.." Really? So much empathy and care. Hypocritical also because this teacher herself told me that she thought that the sandpit was not cleaned since Circuit-Breaker and that she's informed the School Management to clean or change the sand in the pit. Another parent also told me that her child has been having eczema reaction since returning to school after circuit-breaker. We had highlighted this to the teacher who brushed this off lightly. This is not the first time this teacher has not told us about injuries that had happened in class and we had to find out ourselves once and from another parent whose child had bitten our child on another occasion. Coincidence? We also inquired what the school had done with regards to the boy throwing sand at our child, particularly since the teacher told us that particular child has been a "handful" in class. The Asst Head of Pre-School replied with a sweeping statement that the school "always respond to incidences small or large in age appropriate ways, as we see Preschool as the place where children learn about socialising with others, how to behave and treat others within a learning community". Really? Is that what you say to the parents of a child who was bullied in school? In consultation with our doctor who specialises in paediatric allergy and immunology, we decided that we should withdraw our child for one semester at least and allow her to heal. But the school will not refund the fees for the semester, even with doctor's memo. So much for compassion.

The school is really cool and the people are really nice there are really cool places to go when you need to be calm

kinda miss this school. i still remember the old campus, such a shame i had to move away

The school is a very big and nice school, the teachers are trained well. My family is smart, because we all went to the same school GESS!!

I really liked this school. It was the best I've ever been to. The people are so friendly and nice. The teachers really know what they're doing and I'm glad I already had the opportunity to learn Englisch at the age of 6.

This school is problematic and does not know how to deal with problems and does not make the school environment safe i personally thought they didn't really combine both german sec or euro sec and the fact that they hated each other showed that since there isn't a lot of diversity in this school since it mainly has german students so feedback is just don't separate the sections because they will hate each other.

This was a lovely home for my three children until the school became very commercial / business after got new General Manager. I very sad that due to my family job situation not clear, this General Manager ask me to pay for next semester but no want help my family because maybe my husband lose job. We pay 45000 SGD but no know if can study next semester and school no want help. I very hope new principal can make school better because now no good.

horrible school, teachers do not care about the students, they are horrible, disrespectful... don't recommend coming here. If you want your child to be mentally unstable , then come here but teachers will be rude and think they have the power to disrespect and undermine students … also of different colours