Frequently asked questions

Full Day, Half Day (morning or afternoon) and Extended Day, so families can pick what fits around work and home.

Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm. We run all year round, apart from public holidays and six or seven staff training days a year.

We have five: Mountbatten, Katong Post Office and Tanjong Katong (Boscombe Road) in the East Coast, plus Braddell Heights and Lorong Chuan in the Serangoon area.

See all campuses and addresses →

Lucy Shaw founded Shaws Preschool in 1989, making us Singapore’s first play-based preschool.

A combination that’s hard to find in one school:

• Bilingual English and Mandarin learning, every day
• A weekly sports programme run by Shaws Little League coaches
• A play-based curriculum refined over more than three decades
• Daily outdoor learning and exploration
• A warm, genuinely international community of families

The result is children who arrive at primary school confident, curious and resilient.

All our teachers are qualified in line with ECDA guidelines.

One that teaches in two languages daily. At Shaws, children pick up English and Mandarin naturally through play, stories, songs and everyday routines rather than through separate language drills.

Yes. Shaws Little League coaches come in every week to run age-appropriate sessions — football, basketball, tennis, rugby and athletics among them — building coordination, strength and teamwork.

Because children learn best when they are doing rather than being told. Our play-based curriculum builds creativity, problem-solving, resilience and social confidence — all while preparing children for primary school.

More on play-based learning →

By working on academics and life skills together. Our graduates leave confident, adaptable and ready for what comes next — not just able to read.

We prepare children for both local and international schools.

East side: Tao Nan, Kong Hwa, Haig Girls’, CHIJ Katong Primary, Ngee Ann, Temasek, St Stephen’s, Tanjong Katong Primary, Opera Estate, Canadian International School and EtonHouse.

Serangoon side: Anglo-Chinese School, St Joseph’s International, CHIJ Toa Payoh, Maris Stella, St Gabriel’s, Australian International School and Stamford American.

Yes, from N1/N2 upwards. Options include Shaws Little League at the Cage, swimming at a local pool, art, Hindi and robotics. Costs vary by programme and all are strictly optional.

Enrolment consists of:

• A $500 non-refundable booking fee
• One month’s deposit for your chosen programme (refunded on withdrawal)
• One month’s fees in advance

For current monthly fees, get in touch — they vary by campus and programme.

• Uniform top — $15; uniform shorts — $15
• Mattress — $40 (full-day children only)
• Excursions — two to three a term, mostly already included in fees
• Readers — included in fees. Chinese readers run $30–$72 a year and English readers $45–$80, depending on level. Extra copies may be chargeable.
• K2 journals, diaries and exercise books — free, though lost or damaged copies are replaced at $2–$10.
• Optional activities — from N1/N2 upwards, cost varies.

Yes — one month from the date you enrol. If your child turns out not to be ready, you can withdraw within that first month and we return your deposit in full. After that, our standard withdrawal policy applies.

After the first month, we ask for two months’ notice, with the last day falling at the end of a month.

We need at least two months’ notice to try to accommodate a new start date, and the new date will depend on our enrolment schedule.

Please do. We receive visitors on weekdays by appointment, from 9:30 to 11:00am and from 3:00 to 5:30pm. Let us know what suits and we’ll schedule it.

Book a tour →

Twice a year, usually on a Saturday in March and August.

Details of the next Open House →

Everything is cooked in our own kitchen. No pork, no beef and no processed food, and the rice we serve is 100% whole grain. Vegetarian and no-salt options are available on request, and we check allergies with every family before a child starts.

• Just one adult should settle your child — more can be confusing or unsettling.
• Ideally the same adult across the settling period. You’re welcome to stay for a few hours or a whole morning during the first days.
• Three weeks or more is a normal amount of time for a child to settle fully.
• At the one-month mark we email you our observations on how it’s going.
• Once you start leaving your child in the classroom, we set up a WhatsApp chat so you can see how they’re doing.
• Before you join, we ask you to complete an ‘All About Me’ form so we can comfort and distract your child effectively.

We have a zero-tolerance policy, and we always work with both parents and children to keep our schools safe and happy.

We talk with children about the behavioural expectations for their age group, and work closely with parents if anything needs attention.

Both. Every classroom has ceiling fans and we open windows whenever we can, but on very hot days we use air-conditioning to keep everyone comfortable.

We can get you a quote from our long-standing bus company for one-way or two-way transport.

• Temperature, hands and mouth are checked on arrival each morning.
• Children with a fever or unexplained spots are sent home until it clears.
• Our HFMD record is strong — see the ECDA, MOE and MOH websites for context.
• Any case that must be reported under ECDA guidelines is posted on the school door and on our online communication portal.

24-hour PSI 91–191: outdoor activities cancelled, indoor physical activity reduced, and all children monitored closely.

PSI above 200: all indoor and outdoor physical activity cancelled, children kept strictly indoors with doors and windows closed.

PSI above 300: no outdoor activity at all, indoor activity scaled right down, children kept strictly indoors.

Regardless of the reading, if we judge the air to be poor we keep children inside. Any child with a respiratory condition, or who feels uncomfortable, may stay indoors at any time.