Educating “BIg A” – Inventure Academy and Primus Public School
Picking a school for our oldest child was one of the most important aspects of our relocation to India. We really wanted her to land up in a school that she was happy in. She was in the first grade when we moved and had a fabulous experience in her US preschool and kindergarten. I knew the school in India would be different, but I hoped to minimize the differences by choosing a more “international” school.
Big A went to school at Inventure Academy for two years. We chose the school because it was a newer school that seemed to share our philosophy about educating the whole child. They had lots of emphasis on arts and music, sports as well as all the typical academic classes. There was a lot of talk about focusing on each child as an individual and catering the educational experience to each child. Class size was very good – about 20 or 25 in a class. She had very good teachers at Inventure as well. One thing I really appreciated about the school was the openness to parent involvement. During our two years a parentvolunteer program was started that had parents in the school reading with differentclasses or discussing books with different classes. I was fortunate enough to teach in a few of the older classes as well as 2nd and3rd grade. I think it is VERY rare in Indian schools for parents to be given that kind of access and intimate look at the functioning of the school. All the teachers and the administration were very open and friendly.
All that being said, Big A did have difficulty adjusting to the Indian system. First, the emphasis on uniformity of appearance was a shock to both of us. There were rules about hair and about nails. I couldn’t believe it the first time she came home and said she got in trouble because her nails were too long – they were just over her fingertips! Then there was the shouting. My daughter had never heard a teacher shout in her life. Yet in Indian schools it seems like the preferred method of addressing a class! When Big A heard shouting she assumed the teacher was angry or someone was in trouble. The truth was, more often than not, the teacher was simply trying to be heard and didn’t have enough discipline in the class. Taking Hindi was also a bit of a challenge. The teacher believed in language emersion and refused to translate or explain anything in English. My daughter found this very frustrating and said she spent the whole class period wishing she could jump out the window! I did talk to the school and this was modified.
I think the thing that led to us leaving Inventure was a feeling that there simply was no discipline at the school. I firmly believe in letting children have fun and express their creative side but in a school setting there has to be some discipline or there is chaos. During her first year at school my daughter broke her leg during a period after lunch when all the children in first through fifth grades were allowed to play in a concrete play yard with no teacher supervision. I was told that all the teachers were having lunch at that time! I was infuriated that a school that boasted about a fantastic teacher-student ratio saw nothing wrong with having no teachers responsible for that time period. After talking with everyone I assumed that problem had been addressed. However, again during the next year while I was at the school I saw children in the junior block running around wild because all the teachers had gone to a meeting on the other side of the school! That was really the last straw for me. Interestingly, Big A also asked to be transferred to another school. So we decided to try something different.
Big A is currently at Primus Public School. This school is also a new school. It was founded, however, by the same gentlemen who founded the very prestigious andsuccessful Indus School. The principle was the academic head at Indus. He has taken teachers from schools all around Bangalore. They also have a very good balance of art, music, sports and academics. I think the main difference so far is just a feeling of organization and discipline. I have been in the school and seen children having fun without being wild. There always seems to be a plan regarding supervision. Big A is also very happy and is topping all her subjects. The tuition at Primus is significantly less than the tuition we were paying at Inventure. I am sure it will have to increase but I won’t mind given the lower price it is starting at! They have cut out some of the bells andwhistles of a more expensive school – they don’t provide any meals or snacks – you have to send them from home. I don’t mind it and I don’t think most other parents mind it either.
We did visit a number of schools before deciding on Primus. There are schools to fit every budget, every parenting philosophy and ever locality. For us one deciding factor was the location. Anything that would have resulted in more than a one hour bus ride was out. After that we wanted a school run by people with significant experience in education and a good track record. Big A wanted a nice facility with good sports area. In Primus we found what we were all looking for!
Anu said,
March 6, 2009 @ 11:23 pm
Hi,
I have two kids, eight and five. I am planing to send them to Primus Public school this year.
Could you please give me some feedback about the school?
Thanks,
Anu
Usha said,
March 25, 2009 @ 2:44 pm
Hi
Thanks for such nice compilation of the info. I appreciate it.
How do yo think about Primus School now.
Please let us know how you rate this school now as your kid must have completed a year by now.
We are planning a R2I this May and actively looking for good schools in B’lore.
Please advice us.
Thanks
Usha
vijay said,
April 7, 2009 @ 4:43 pm
“School run by people with significant experience in education’ does not mean it will be the best school. Many schools in Bangalore are run by families that have been in the ‘Business’ of school for a long time. The quality of these schools sucks. There aren’t many great schools in Bangalore that balance discipline, academics, sports etc. However, if you do a little more search or research, you will find few star schools.
Menon said,
April 16, 2009 @ 12:05 pm
This made for refreshing reading – thought I’ll add my bit!
We were relocating to Bangalore and went looking around ALL the schools in and around Sarjapur Road for admissions into LKG & 1 st Grades for our daughters. We landed in Primus by default – We had been to all the other schools (vibgyor, Gear, Greenwood etc etc ) and decided to take a look at one last school – Prakriya – off Sarjapur Road. They are supposedly good in academics but we found children of lower classes were being made to sit on extremely dirty and dust covered floors. We were heading back when we saw this neat building right next door – Primus Public School! Since it happened to be on the way , and much against my wife and children’s protestations (it was waaay past lunch time) we decided to just take a peek – a peek that lasted the next couple of hours!
The first thing that hit us was the palpable ‘happiness’ amongst the kids we saw. We were welcomed in and the coordinator Ms.Radha patiently explained everything to us. She took us around every part of the school. We met some teachers, saw their facilities. All of us immediately commented on how confident the children we saw were – they were not timid or hesitant to interact – and seemed extremely cheerful and full of life! We saw quite a few expatriate children there as well. The founder member Mr. Vasanth , who happened to be around, then spent the next hour with us telling us about the philosophy and the ideals behind the school. We found the fees extremely reasonable too (40k per year).
Where were the children ? – they had hit their beautifully manicured play ground within five mins of our arrival and were having a whale of a time – it almost seemed like they had made their ‘choice’. (They have lovely, fully manicured grounds, with football, basketball, throw ball, cricket nets and I forget what else)
Was there a choice? – NO! We paid up on the spot (no admission tests)! So did this other parent who was only accompanying us – her children were already in Greenwood High – she pulled them out and put them here! On the way out we met another couple who were pulling their children out of Greenwood high and into this school.
We subsequently (and very very coincidently) met a couple of other parents who we were acquainted with, who had pulled their children out of Ryan International – and had been studying in this school for over two years – they were singing paeans of the school.
Too early to comment about the academics – but the parents of existing students tell us that the children have fun learning! As far as we were concerned that is exactly what we were looking for!
Anyone looking for a school in and around Sarjapur Road – this school is WELL worth a visit!
This will be the school to watch out for in the future!
Rdgs
Menon!
Vijay said,
May 7, 2009 @ 3:01 pm
hi,
thank you very much for such useful comments. I am searching for a school to my kid. Do you mind, if i prefer to be in touch with you?
Regards,
+ Vijay
Raj said,
October 2, 2009 @ 3:01 pm
Hi,
Very good post and I believe this sort of reviews will help parents looking for admission to their kids. Wanted to check with you how is your experience with Primus after a year since your Big A started attending classes there ?
Your feedback will be of great help as I am in the same process of finding a right school for my son.
Thanks,
Raj
mallika reddy said,
October 11, 2009 @ 7:19 am
Hi as you said the good thing about Bangalore is that we have schools to match every budget & philosophy. Primus is more on the lines of a traditional school in terms of philosophy & instruction with focus on academic excellence (although their results in the grade 10 exams doesn’t bare that out with only a handful achieved a merit or distinction. To their credit all students passed unlike that achieved by another new school in the area). In comparison most of Inventure’s students achieved a distinction. As a parent who moved her child out of Inventure because I confused their giving students space to express themselves & have fun while learning with lack of focus on academics …. I feel a bit silly!
Think Inventure is perceived as being relaxed about discipline because they give students space to express themselves as individuals. Understand from friends that Inventure now has a more structured discipline policy including clearly laid out expectations and consequences (positive and not so positive!). They also conduct monthly benchmarking & parent teacher meetings for senior school. I suppose the size of their campus creates security concerns for parents – but kids are largely supervised – kids being kids will run around, no matter what the instructions, consequences etc. Kids do get hurt with or without supervision.. And yes the sound levels in Indian schools & the tolerance of the Indian students relative to expats / RNRI’s is different. As you said Bangalore has a variety of schools and each school offers something different. Happy that you have found the right fit.