Pinning down a school

[dont forget]

What sort of experience do children have at UWC if they do not find learning so easy?
The grapevine says these kids are not entered for exams thus making the statistics look better than they are

[Mo3]

The point I was making was that only two schools in Singapore offer IB from kindy through high school.  If UWC offers the international GCSE, then that shows that the have achieved a British qualification that holds a value for secondary education.  However, a couple of posts were incorrectly stating the qualifications of a couple of different schools and not recognizing the schools that did indeed have those qualifications.
As for sitting for medicine or law at Harvard, in the US, both degrees are post-graduate, so the accreditation of one's high school is not near as important as your undergraduate degree, coupled with MCAT or LSAT scores and GPA.  I'm sure it can't hurt to be from certain colleges or universities, but to each his own.  
I think the original poster asked about early elementary school, so I posted the IB information for lower elementary.  
If it's any consolation to the original poster, the responses to my queries at the school we chose not to attend were the same as yours.
IB is not the beginning nor the end of a schools ability to effectively teach your child.  However, I have been pleased with my kids' educational growth in this curriculum.  Still, it's good that you are visiting the schools you think you might like---Singapore has a lot of choice to offer in the area of international schools---something that isn't always available in other cities to which one can get posted.

[uwcparent]

No. They are entered for the IB certificate exams. My understanding is that the total cohort in that year group was around 300 students and so the balance took the IB certificate designed for those less able academically.

[uwcparent]

No3.

Yep you are right, Medicine or Law at Harvard were bad examples, but I think you get the point. But can you post some recent OFS IB results? It would have a bearing on this debate.

[UWC2]

Mo3 , I know what point you were making and I was agreeing with you apropos UWC. Hence the "yup"!

To the original poster, I agree the admissions staff can be offputting. Luckily they do not deal with your kids in the school.

To cynic, if parents sing the praises of a school what more do you want? Influences on character, ethics and conduct are very difficult to apportion. I guess most parents like to think that they teach the positive traits that their children exhibit. UWC certainly does its bit in building well rounded individuals. I would imagine many of the excellent schools here in Singapore do too. We can only comment on the school our own children attend.

[OFS parent]

as a parent of 2 at OFS, I asked about the diploma results last year - they were 89%. I also understand that they have an open door policy with regard to sitting the exams - apparantly they have had some students cross over who were not allowed to sit the full diploma at another school because their probable grades would lower the average. Whether that's true, I'm not sure

[hmmm]

Is it better for a student to be entered for and gain the certificate or fail the diploma and have nothing to show for 2 years?
Is it more ethical for a school to take the money and enter a student for the diploma when it knows the student is better served by taking the certificate?

[UWC2]

I think UWC makes the decision on whether to allow a child onto the IB programme at all based on the effort level of the child. There are regular assessment grades given in the middle school years both for effort and attainment in each subject. If the effort ones fall below a certain level that is when the meetings are initiated. I think IB is very rigorous and the child not the parents have to be up for it.

[Swottypants]

will the fact that a school does the IB really be that relevant for kids aged 9 and 6 given that the average stay in Singers for an expat is 2 years?

[UWC2]

Haha, you may be right. Though we thought we would be gone in 2 years and are still here 5 years later!
Still I think the discussion has moved beyond the original poster's request and is a useful resource for anyone who does a schools search on this site. It is a very frequently asked question and often gets few responses as a result.

[uwcparent]

Yep. I came for five and ended up in Singapore for fifteen, which is why when choosing a school for grade six or sevens the results of the seniors can be an issue.

Another point which might be relevant for some is UWC’s capacity to offer the boarding option. I know of a number of parents who faced a transfer whilst their children were in grade 10/11 and, as everyone knows, taking a child out of a school at that age when they are settled can result in problems. So the option to leave them at their school to finish off their high school education can be useful.