[cediafan]

Originally Posted by Raja

#cediafan
My wife and son confirmed that class sizes are approx 45-50.
This has not been a problem for us. What are the class sizes in other schools? Do the numbers increase as the years increases?

Class size in Vibgyor is 25 and Victorious is similar, but fee for these schools is much higher.

[rajeshvin]

Cediafan, my daughter and son both are studying in Bishop's C0-Ed School, Kalyaninagar, my daughter is in 5th std and my son is in 1st std, we (especially my wife) are very much satisfied with school.
My daughter is studying since 2004 (1st batch at Kalyaninagar) and my son since 2008, we never faced any big issue, as mentioned by Raja class teacher plays important role apart from overall reputation of school, I found overall teachers are good, there are few exceptions, not in terms of talent but approach of teacher but it can be sorted out by speaking with concern teacher or taking little extra effort at our end.
What I didn't like about school, they do take test on every tuesday and friday apart from regular exams, it keeps children occupied throughout the week (I don't know it is same with other ICSE schools) but I do maintain balance between their study and play.
The fee is around 24K per annum, even nowadays getting admission in Bishop's School is difficult, the ratio of selection is around 10:1. I'll sugeest do appy for 3 - 4 good schools for admission.
If you need any further info do PM me.

Thanks,

[cediafan]

Originally Posted by rajeshvin

The fee is around 24K per annum, even nowadays getting admission in Bishop's School is difficult, the ratio of selection is around 10:1. I'll sugeest do appy for 3 - 4 good schools for admission.
If you need any further info do PM me.

Thanks,

Thanks! I intend to apply to Bishops once the forms are open.

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by cediafan

Thanks! I intend to apply to Bishops once the forms are open.

Any idea when the admissions to Bishops start?

[cediafan]

Originally Posted by mb_jg

Any idea when the admissions to Bishops start?

Some colleagues were telling me that they will start sometime in Dec. Not sure though. I keep checking their website everyday..

[S_U_N]

Thank you cediafan for starting this thread! It could not have come at a better time.
My son will be 3 in March 2012. Currently he is in nursery @ EuroKids. We put him in late (around September). The teachers say he doesn't pay any attention and does not sit at one place in the classroom.
The fees per year is around Rs. 22000-25000. The Kalyani Nagar branch is more expensive at Rs. 25000-30000. Unfortunately I do not remember the exact figures, plus the fact that we paid September onward instead of June onward.
We had a choice of putting him in playgroup or nursery. We took the gamble and put him in nursery. Worst case we will have to put him in nursery again in 2012. This is due to the age restriction. Kids born 1 Jan onward will face such problems.

Based on reviews that I have read, Bishops @ Camp is very good. The Bishops @ Kalyani is OK - again I have no personal experience - it is merely hearsay.

I find annual fees of Rs. 30000 to be quite expensive, especially for nursery, KG etc. The international schools are even more expensive - and probably out of my limits.

I wonder why they are so expensive when education from the likes of Kendriya Vidyalayas is still considered better overall.

[mb_jg]

I have studied at Bishop's (Camp). Their staff is much better compared to the Kalyaninagar & Undri branches. Not many teachers like to travel that far!
I found out one of our neighbors works at Bishops (Camp). The admission forms will be online sometime in Dec.
I would love my boy to study there, the entire atmosphere still remains a good memory after all those years.

[S_U_N]

Thanks Manish.

@cediafan: I think one criterion for school selection is also the board on which the curriculum is based -e.g. State, Central (CBSE), ICSE, or something else.
For example, Bishops is ICSE and Don Bosco is SSC. (Just stating these names since these are the closest schools to where we stay currently.)
My wife prefers CBSE pattern and I don't know which are the good schools around Shastri Nagar/ Kalyani Nagar which fit the bill.

[nanduchitnis]

@ SUN > General thumb rule is this: Govt aided schools like St Vincents HS, Loyolas, St Ann, St Joseph and a few more really good schools, the fees are as per Govt prescribed norms. Very affordable.

Central Schools are also Govt aided hence fees are affordable.

Private Schools with no Govt funding but reasonable fees : Bishops, St Helenas and a few more. Older the schools fees are reasonable.

The new hi-fi schools that have opened up are very pricey and yes if not affilated to CBSE/ISCE/Maharashtra Board there can be issues later on.

In most schools which are reasonably priced the class may be say 40/50 students. The new hi fi schools have say 20 students now but what stops them from charging exorbitant fees and escalating the students to 40 per class?

My kids studied at Bishops/St Vincents/Helenas and we got good value for money. I did not put them in any coaching classes in 10th and 12th class like their other class mates. That left them with ample time to play sports, watch movies on VCR's go out camping for weeks and all sorts of extra curricular activities like Sailing, Windsurfing, Scouting the works. We spoiled them silly.

I myself studied in a Military School where empahsis was on all round development plenty of sports just enough academics to read and write English add subtract and stuff like that, and to hell with Newton physics. Our class teachers and Principal knew none of us will become Newtons. So why bother obout E= MC square.

Head Prefects were LEADERS, smart in boxing, horse riding, debates, elocution and sports. Real Leaders I say.

Getting 60 % was great. Anything more than that was considered substandard.

I followed the same formula for my kids at a time when parents were more stressed than their kids in 10th n 12th classes. Board Exams and all. Nonsense!!


I hate to see kids getting stressed out with home work and classes and get 99 % or else we die .....see waht is happening in New YorkWall Street protests 99 % Vs 1 %. I was there in NY when this was going on with my rascal son.

Once I was called to school because son was failing in 4/5 subjects in some crazy Unit Test. Ofcourse my son failed because Diwali vacations we went driving to Almora Nainitaal like Team Bhp members. Next day after vacation Unit tests. What will happen?

So anyway Teacher said " Poor results, your son this that blah blahblah." I said "Madam I pay money to the school to educate him. It is your responsiblity to ensure that he does well. I and my wife are not school teachers. What do you want me to do? See I am Armed Forces Officer, will you come if I fail to defend our country?"

She shut up. But son was shocked "Pappa you cant talk to my class teacher like this!" That too in front of her he said. He promised her better results and he did.
Lets face it I was red line ing on my report cards in school no one bothered. Kids did same. I survived and ate good, kids now grown up also eat very well now. Best restaurants in America.

My peers thought we were absurd parents taking our kids on long summer vacations when other kids were in summer vacation coaching classes.

Crap I said. Now they all saying I was right. Why ? Just because my son now works for Microsoft and daughter got full scholarship at some USA Univesity.

Trust me it is that simple.

The philosophy of team Bhp is the way to education for our kids too,what ever that means. Else why are we here? Have a blast !

Rgds

[cediafan]

@nanduchitnis - That is a very interesting perspective and I agree with most of it. When I was studying in the 90s, there were not a lot of opportunities. But these days you don't have to be an engineer or a doctor to be successful. Heck, I would be elated if my son turns out to be a tennis player even if he flunks 10th! That being said, we all like our children to be well rounded and that is the reason I am looking for a school which lays emphasis on these kind of things. And getting admission in Bishops/St. Vincent's is not easy these days. They are not transparent about their selection process and it is as good as winning a lottery. So I want to be prepared for Plan B.

@S_U_N - I don't really care about the board. I am from CBSE, a lot of my friends are from ICSE, my wife is from State Board and we all turned out well (atleast I would like to think so ) I like the international schools because they are stress free and kids have a lot of extra curricular activities. I firmly believe that playing a sport builds your character and I would like my kids to have the time to indulge in such activities. The problem is that there is not guarantee they will not keep hiking their fee. In a couple of years if I am unable to afford these schools I will be stuck as getting admissions in other good school is very difficult after Nursery/LKG.

mb_jg - I really like Bishop's Camp, but they do not have Nursery and admissions start at 4 years.

[WDM007]

@ nanduchitnis: Fully agree with you. I too have similar views, but my wife is opposite to this.

Anybody know good schools in Pimple Saudagar / Jagtap Dairy / Vishal Nagar area?

My son will be 2 yrs old soon.

[sajo]

The general tendency these days is to avoid Maharashtra state (SSC/HSC) boards. Even my colleagues at work are avoiding the state board like its the bubonic plague. Any particular reason for this ? I am vastly out of touch with these things.

[S_U_N]

@nanduchitnis: I appreciate the fact that you took time to write a detailed post. Thank you for sharing your views.
Overall, since my son is still not the right age for KG, we might put him in nursery again for a year so that he can gets more time for himself. I am exploring options primarily from research perspective and have identified two schools which are interesting:
1. Vikhe Patil MS at Lohegaon
2. St. Arnold, Kalyani Nagar
3. St. Patrick, Lohegaon.

Hopefully all these schools should be less than 50K per year in fees.

[WDM007]

Originally Posted by sajo

The general tendency these days is to avoid Maharashtra state (SSC/HSC) boards. Even my colleagues at work are avoiding the state board like its the bubonic plague. Any particular reason for this ? I am vastly out of touch with these things.

The syllabus of MS board is not at par with that of CBSE or ICSE. So, if a person from IT gets a good job offer at Bangalore or Hyd or delhi region. The child suffers a lot in that state's board. But if he is studying CBSE, the school transfer will not affect his studies much, as the syllabus will remain same in any state.

[ajay_satpute]

My daughter got admission to New India School in Kothrud last year. She was just about 2 year old when we filled up the admission forms. So naturally, she is one of the youngest in her class. But, these days securing admission to the school of your choice is so tough, we went ahead and got the admission done. Now, we don't have to stand in any queue(hopefully) for next 15 years.

The school is very good. The entire staff has migrated itself from the more popular Abhinav School to this school starting from the prinicpal, Meena Chandavarkar. All those originally from Pune might understand this point better. Fantastic bus service, even for kids as young as 2.5 years. We paid around 22k as fees and 7k for one-way bus service. One way because I drop my baby to the school in the morning.

The syllabus is based on State board and I have no particular reservations for CBSE or state board, so I was ok. Here's the official site link: Welcome to New India School

For your info, the admissions to the RC-1(playgroup) classes will begin in March 2012. The admission process is straight forward, fill up the forms, 1st round of discussion, no interviews of any sorts. If you are through, you will get a secret call and then 2nd round of discussions and you got it.