For parents lacking the luxury of hiring a domestic helper or leaving their child with family members, choosing the right after-school student care centre can become a daunting task. You may be asking yourself a hundred and one questions:
“Does the student care centre offer a safe and conducive environment?”
“Would my child get appropriate support in their schoolwork?”
“Are nutritious, balanced meals served in the centre?”
“ Aside from homework/tuition, does the centre provide any other meaningful enrichment activities for the children?”
After-school care centres are safe spaces for students to be cared for and guided in their learning. this article, we will explore the key factors that you should consider when selecting a student care centre for your child.
1) Type of Student Care Centre (School-based Vs Community-based)
First and foremost, you’ll need to decide between enrolling your child in a school-based student care centre or in a community-based centre. School-Based Student Care Centres (SCCs) are located within the school premises and offer care and homework supervision to children of that particular school. Community-Based Student Care Centres, in contrast, are situated outside the school and go beyond just homework supervision. Most community-based centres offer extensive enrichment and even tuition programmes for your child.
One thing to note is that many school-based student care tend to have a long waiting list due to limited capacity. Thus, if you do intend to send your child to one located within the school, you’ll have to plan ahead!
2) Student Care Fees
The fees for after-school student care differs across the types of student care centres. For school-based centres, the fees are generally affordable and typically do not exceed $400 per month. In community-based centres, the fees may be higher, some charging even up to $1,000 a month, depending on the curriculum/ programmes offered.
Here at Dazzling Stars, we strive to keep our fees as affordable as possible despite being a community-based centre. At just $650/month, your child will be covered for tuition as the enrichment classes that we provide at our centre. The fees also cover full day stay during school holidays, and materials such as assessment books and practice worksheets.
3) Location of Centre
The convenience of
location is another deciding factor when selecting a student care centre.
Juggling work with family, most parents do not have the time to travel far to
send or pick up their children. Having a centre that is located close to your
home has that added convenience when you pick up your child after work.
Dazzling Stars is located at Blk 426
Hougang Ave 6, a short 5-minute walk
from Hougang MRT and bus interchange. The public carpark around our centre
allows car-driving parents for quick and easy pick-ups as well.
4) Environment of Centre
After a long day in school, it is crucial that children have a comfortable space to retreat to. Be it having a conducive room to catch up on their schoolwork or a space where they get to unwind with their friends. Unlike school-based centres that are usually situated in large classrooms, community-based student care centres usually provide a range of facilities for learning and play. As your child will be spending a lot of time after school, you’ll want to make sure that the space is conducive and beneficial for your child.
5) Meals
As the saying goes: “A healthy body and healthy mind makes for a happy and successful child.” After school student care providers vary in terms of the meal offerings. Some have in-house cooks with in-house kitchens while others cater food from catering companies. Depending on your preference, this would be a helpful tip in your search for that ideal student care!
At Dazzling Stars, while our meals are prepared by caterers, we do design our own meal plans and ensure that our children are being served healthy, balanced, delicious meals.
6) Curriculum & Programmes
Besides caring for your child’s after school needs such as food and adult supervision, another distinguishing benefit as to why parents send their child to an after school care would be that they offer homework help, academic support and other holiday/enrichment programmes.
7) Quality of Care
Finally, in choosing a student care centre, you need to be sure that the centre offers quality care. While this isn’t easy to discern, you can look at indicators such as their track record, quality of student care staff and extra services provided. Going for a School Tour will be a good way to gauge how the teachers are. Are they courteous, patient, and do they communicate well with you and the children? Is the centre overcrowded? Does the provider also have a framework to develop their staff, ensuring that teachers and mentors go through extensive training? These will be some important considerations as well!
Contact us for a complimentary school tour!
There is no better way to experience the educational philosophy of any student care centre than to look at the quality of the programme in action. An excellent student care centre allows potential parents the opportunity to evaluate the learning environment before making their choice.
If you reside within the vicinity of our Hougang centre and am looking for a student care centre for your child, do consider booking a school tour with us! Our staff will be happy to bring you around and answer any questions that you might have.
You may book a centre tour via the link below.
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