Open House FAQ

 

Admission Process

The end in mind of our admission criteria and process is to ensure that those who are offered a place at Pathlight are right sited to benefit from our school's programme. Please refer to our website for more information on our admission criteria here.

Timely admission of applicants remains as our school's priority. Please click here for more details on the application timeline and procedure. 

You are advised to apply only to 1 school.

According to MOE, children with moderate-to-severe special educational needs or have higher support needs should apply to a Special Education (SPED) school. Children who have applied to SPED schools do not need to participate in the annual MOE P1 registration exercise.

If you apply/have applied to both Pathlight and a General Education School, you have to give up your child's place in the registered General Education school when you accept our offer of a place in Pathlight. No child can be registered in 2 schools.

We wish to highlight that our School Screening Assessment is to assess your child's suitability for Pathlight (based on our Pathlight school setting, autism-friendly pedagogies etc.) Our offer of a place in Pathlight should NOT be taken as confirmation that your child is suitable for General Education Schools.

No, Autism Resource Centre (ARC) and Pathlight School do not provide diagnosis or assessment services. Parents/guardians may obtain the relevant reports from any medical professional or psychologists (available at KKH, NUH or private medical professionals).

The end in mind of our admission process is to ensure that those who are offered a place at Pathlight are right sited to benefit from our school’s programme. Please refer to our website for more information on our admission criteria here.

The School Screening Assessment (SSA) provides additional information to us to better understand each applicant’s learning profile and support needs in a group learning environment. During the session, applicants will have the opportunity to engage in common classroom activities, including individual and group activities. This may involve paper-and-pencil tasks, working with manipulatives, as well as group chats and games.

We wish to remind parents that being invited for the School Screening Assessment DOES NOT automatically grant your child a place in Pathlight. Observations from the SSA will be evaluated alongside data provided by your child’s school, psychologists and other documents in the application pack to determine if he/she is suitable for Pathlight’s programme.

Admission will also depend on various factors, which include availability of sufficient physical and teaching resources, class suitability and overall school capacity.

MOE has set up the Multi-Agency Advisory Panel (MAAP) to provide a more seamless process for admission into SPED schools. This panel comprises specialists and professionals from the Ministry of Education, National Council of Social Service, Ministry of Health and the SPED schools.

Applicants who are assessed to be not suitable for the 1st choice school will automatically be referred to MAAP. The panel will review the learning profiles of the applicants and recommend alternate school placement options for parents’ consideration. Parents are advised to list their 2nd and 3rd choice schools as these will be taken into consideration by the panel when recommending alternate school placements for applicants.

Parents will receive a letter on the outcome of your child’s application to Pathlight School and the alternative school(s) recommended by MAAP. Representatives from the recommended alternative school/s will contact parents to follow up.

Parents can re-apply to Pathlight School at any time. It will be important to provide updated information for your child's school and any professionals working with him/her to support the application. For cognitive assessments, do note that the reports are valid for 2 years and your child should not be reassessed within one year of his/her latest assessment. 

School & Curriculum Matters

At the School Screening Assessment, the Admissions & Review Committee will review and make the recommendation:

  • If our school programme is suitable for your child
  • If suitable, then which programme (Primary 1 Foundation or Primary 1 Standard) will benefit your child.

The academic content of Pathlight's Primary 1 Standard and Primary 1 Foundation are similar to General Education School's Primary 1 curriculum. Both programmes provide a blend of academic and non-academic life readiness skills. 

In the Standard programme, the content is covered at a similar pace as in a mainstream school. 

In the Foundation Programme, the Primary 1 and Primary 2 syllabus will be covered in 3 years instead of 2.

P2 Standard P2
P1
P1 Standard
P1F

The additional time taken to complete the Primary 1 and 2 content in the Primary 1 Foundation Programme allows for:

  • More EXPLICIT and INTENTIONAL teaching of content vocabulary;
  • STRUCTURED SCAFFOLDING in breaking down content and delivering in bite-sizes;
  • More time for REPEATED PRACTICE to reinforce understanding and mastery of foundational skills;
  • More opportunities to strengthen and develop the ability to learn at the pace of a group. 

All Pathlight students are automatically exempted from taking Mother Tongue Language (MTL) as a subject. This is to free up white space for us to focus on life readiness curriculum.

Please click here to find out more about the implications of MTL exemption on students' PSLE scores. 

For Primary school, our typical class size is 10 to 14 students with 1 teacher and 1 teacher-aide.

Official school hours are from 7.50 am to 1.00 pm for Primary School and 7.50 am – 2.00 pm for Secondary School.

The School offers a range of CCAs from sports clubs to interest groups and the performing arts.

CCAs are introduced to students starting from Primary 3. These programmes are carefully selected for students based on the following 4 dimensions: Cognitive & Intellectual, Physical, Socio-Emotional and Contribution to Others.

All CCAs are conducted by qualified and specialised professionals who have undergone autism strategies training.

Primary School Secondary School & Vocational Track
  • Choir
  • Dance Ethnic
  • Dance International
  • Track & Field
  • Infocomm
  • Theatre
  • Brass
  • Percussion
  • Violin
  • Woodwind
  • Animation
  • Chess
  • Choir
  • Coding
  • Music Ensemble
  • Performing Arts
  • Photography
  • Robotics
  • Runners
  • Scouts
  • Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
  • Videography
  • Visual Arts

Pathlight does not offer after-school care services. Parents would have to make their own arrangements.

Pathlight follows a school model and not a therapy model. We have a team of on-site therapists who work closely with our educators to support students to access learning. This team also develops school-wide programmes and supports.

Students who have specific therapy needs should continue with their external therapy sessions.

Pathlight tries its best to serve as many children as possible. We are guided by decisions that are student-centric and based on right siting to ensure that every child who comes to Pathlight will benefit from our school programme. It is thus not meaningful to talk about numbers. To date, we have been able to clear the applications for Primary 1 admission for the new academic year provided that applications are sent on time for us to process.

 

Our current school population stands at more than 1900 students.

The cohort distribution for 2023 is as follows:

Campus Address Levels
Campus 1 5, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 Primary 1 to 4
Vocational Track
Campus 2 (Main) 6, Ang Mo Kio Street 44 Primary 1 to 3
Campus 2 (Annex) 2, Ang Mo Kio Street 44 Primary 4 to 6,
Secondary School

This distribution is based on school deployment needs and better utilisation of the physical space in our various campuses.

Secondary school students attend lessons at our school partners daily, as part of our School Partnerships to promote integration. Our three school partners are: Mayflower Secondary School, Peirce Secondary School and Yio Chu Kang Secondary School.

More information on our School Partnerships can be found on our website here.

At Pathlight, our mission is to maximise the potential of every student in both academics and life skills. Thus, the School provides a holistic curriculum of mainstream academics and life readiness skills for students on the autism spectrum and related conditions.

Our unique features include:

  • A holistic curriculum offering both mainstream syllabus and non-academic curriculum.
  • All lessons are taught using autism-friendly pedagogy.
  • Small classroom size with structured group learning environments.
  • Strong on-site support from autism therapists.
  • Assessments and reports for access arrangements for national examinations.
  • School Partnerships for all Secondary level students to promote integration and prepare them for smoother transition to Institutes of Higher Learning.
  • Value-added signature programmes such as IT & Design lessons to equip students with critical digital literacy skills; Artist Development Programme and Dance Talent Development Programme to develop special talents.

Please refer here for more details on our curriculum.

Yes. As the School follows the mainstream curriculum, homework and assignments are essential in helping a child learn, as well as evaluating a child’s learning progress. As you may be aware, MOE has done away with some year-end examinations. The focus is on enhancing joy of learning and not rote learning. Pathlight is fully aligned with the strategic direction of MOE for schools. However, we have to retain examinations for some levels.

This is so that our students have more opportunities for timed practices. It also serves as a platform for teachers to take note of student's test-taking behaviours to collect evidence-based data to apply for access arrangements for national examinations. Examples of access arrangements could be having a familiar face preside over the exams.

Parents/guardians are strongly encouraged to work closely with the school to manage and monitor your child/ward’s progress in this aspect.

Should parents/guardians of students in Pathlight wish to transfer their child/ward to a General Education School, they may do so. They are to inform Pathlight so that MOE can get involved in the process. MOE will work with parents on the application and with receiving General Education School to assess if student is ready. If the General Education School has a suitable vacancy, parents will be informed.

According to MOE, children with moderate-to-severe special educational needs or have higher support needs should apply to a Special Education (SPED) school.

Should you place your child in a General Education School and decide to apply to Pathlight thereafter, please approach your child's General Education School to apply. Pathlight will not be able to receive direct applications from parents if your child is currently in a General Education School. 

The opening of the Tampines campus is slated to be in 2025, barring any delay. 

Decisions on transfer will be guided by overall vacancies, suitable class placement and proximity.

 

School Fees and School Bus Matters

The school fees are as follows from January 2023:

 

Published Monthly School Fees* 

Primary School, Secondary School & Vocational Track

Singapore Citizens

Singapore PRs

$150*

$350*

 

Students from lower income background who qualify for our school fees subsidy pay less than the listed school fees. 

 

* School Fees cover:

  • Student insurance

Yes, school fees subsidies are available. No student, if deemed suitable for Pathlight, will be deprived of an education because he/she cannot afford it.

Students who meet our school fees subsidy eligibility criteria, pay lower than the listed school fees, with some enjoying full waiver of school fees. 

In addition, students who meet our eligibility criteria will receive additional support such as:

  • Monthly bursary
  • Enrichment bursary of up to $150 per annum (subject to future reviews)

More details on school fee subsidy application will be provided upon offer.

The school has two outsourced school bus operators to serve students in Campus 1 and 2. Bus operators will be onsite during registration day. 

  Bus Operator  Contact Details
Campus 1  Woodlands Transport Services (WTS)  Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
Tel: 8138 2038
Campus 2 Main and Annex  Hock School Bus Service  Tel: 9850 6478

 

Should you have more queries, please contact Student Affairs: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Last modified on Monday, 05 February 2024 10:16