To book a tour at Global Star School, go to the admissions site globalstarschool.com, choose the campus closest to where you live or work, and submit the tour form for that location; the campus admissions team then contacts you to confirm a time. A tour usually lasts around an hour and covers the classrooms in session, the nap rooms, the kitchen and outdoor areas, and a conversation about your child's age group, the day and the fees.
The tour is worth more than it looks. It is the only time before enrolling when you can see teachers at work with real children, watch your own child react to the place, and ask questions face to face. This guide covers the practical side: when to book, what time of day to go, whether to bring your child, what usually happens during the visit, and how to turn an hour of impressions into a decision you can trust.
When to book, and which time of day shows the most
Book a tour as soon as you are seriously considering a start date, even if that start date is several months away. Places in a given class depend on how many children of the same age are already enrolled, and the earlier you see the school, the more options you have. If you are relocating to Ho Chi Minh City, booking the tour for your first week in the city is a sensible plan, because it lets you see the real commute from your new home.
The time of day changes what you will see. A visit between roughly 8:30 and 10:30 in the morning usually shows the bilingual circle time and the main activity of the day, when the Vietnamese homeroom teacher and the foreign or bilingual co-teacher are both in the room. A visit just before lunch shows how meals are served and how children are encouraged to feed themselves. Early afternoon is nap time, which is quiet and tells you little about the teaching but a lot about the calm of the building. Late afternoon shows free play and the pickup rhythm.
If you can only manage one visit, mid-morning is the best compromise. If you are deciding between two campuses, try to see both at a similar hour so you are comparing like with like.
Should you bring your child?
Under 18 months: optional, and often easier without. A baby or young toddler will not tell you much about fit in one hour, and carrying a child around while trying to ask questions is hard. Many parents do the first visit alone and bring the child to a trial day later.
From about two years: usually yes. A walking, curious child gives you real information. Where do they head first? Do they watch the other children or hide behind your legs? Do they try the slide, the sand, the blocks? None of this is a verdict, but it helps you picture the daily drop-off.
If your child is anxious in new places: Bring them anyway, but keep expectations low. Tell them simply where you are going, stay close, and leave before they are tired. A short, calm first impression is better than a long one that ends in tears.
Bring both parents if you can. Families often notice different things, and decisions are easier when both parents have seen the rooms, met the staff and heard the answers first-hand rather than in a summary over dinner.
Plan around naps and meals. A visit that collides with your child's usual nap or snack time will show you a tired, hungry child rather than a curious one. If your toddler sleeps at eleven, book for nine. Bring water and a small snack that does not make a mess, and ask before offering food inside a classroom, since other children may have allergies.
Tell the school in advance. Mention your child's age and whether they will come, so the team can plan to show you the class your child would actually join and, if possible, let them spend a few minutes in it.
What usually happens during the visit
Every campus runs tours in its own way, but the shape is similar. You are welcomed at reception, often asked to sign in, and then shown around by a member of the admissions team. Expect to walk through the classrooms for each age group, from the Tiny Star room for the youngest children to the Super Star class for five- and six-year-olds, along with the nap rooms, the kitchen or meal area, and the outdoor play spaces.
In the classrooms, you will usually watch quietly from the side for a few minutes. Teachers are working, so a short observation is normal; you should not expect a lesson to stop for you. What you can watch is how the room runs: whether the two teachers share the work, how children move between activities, how a teacher responds when a child needs help, and how the space is set up for the age group.
After the walk-through there is normally a sit-down conversation. This is when admissions explains the five classes and which one your child would join, the daily schedule, the parent app, how meals and transport work, the published fees for that campus, and the next steps if you are interested, such as a trial week or an enrolment file. Ask for anything important in writing, particularly the fee sheet and the list of documents, so you are not relying on memory later.
Five things worth watching that a brochure cannot show you
You can find a long list of questions for comparing schools in our guide to choosing a preschool in Saigon. During the tour itself, though, a handful of observations do most of the work. They are easy to miss if you spend the whole visit talking.
- A child who is upset. In any room of toddlers someone will be unhappy. Watch whether a teacher notices quickly, gets down to the child's level and stays calm.
- Who speaks which language. In a bilingual class, listen for whether English and Vietnamese are both used naturally during activities, not only during a short song.
- How children are addressed. Notice tone of voice, whether instructions are explained, and whether children are given small choices.
- The nap room. Look at how close the mats or beds are, how dark and quiet the room is, and how a child who wakes early is looked after.
- The arrival and pickup point. Picture yourself doing it every day: where you park or stop, how children are handed over, and how busy it gets.
Write down one or two sentences on each straight after you leave. These small observations are what you will remember least and need most when you compare.
Questions specific to admissions to ask before you leave
Questions about teaching philosophy belong to the wider choice of school. These are the practical admissions questions that decide whether the timing and terms work for your family, and the visit is the easiest moment to ask them.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is there a place in my child's class for the month we want? | Availability is by age group; a waiting list changes your timing. |
| Which class would my child join, and when would they move up? | Class placement depends on date of birth and the school's rule for moving up. |
| Can we do a trial week, and what does it include? | Duration, full or half days, meals, nap and any charge vary. |
| Can we have the full fee sheet for this campus? | Published tuition is a starting figure; meals, transport and annual fees are billed separately. |
| What documents do you need, and do foreign papers need translating? | Preparing everything at once avoids delays in the start date. |
| Who will be our contact after enrolment? | Knowing who answers questions about fees, pickups and health saves time later. |
If an answer depends on the month or the year, ask when it will be confirmed and by whom. A clear "we will confirm this by Friday" is more useful than a vague figure given on the spot.
Touring when you are still abroad or have only just arrived
Many international families start the search before they land in Ho Chi Minh City. That is sensible, but a preschool is hard to judge from photographs, and the real commute cannot be tested from another time zone. A practical approach is to do the first round remotely: read the admissions site, write to the campus you are considering, and ask whether a short video call with the admissions team is possible to go through ages, availability, documents and the fee sheet. That conversation narrows the list without asking you to commit to anything.
Then plan the in-person visit for your first week in the city, before you sign a long lease if you can. Seeing the campus and riding the route at drop-off time can change where you decide to live, and it is far easier to choose a flat near a school than to move a child across the city twice. If timing is tight, ask whether the tour and the start of a trial week can be scheduled close together.
Children who have just flown across several time zones are rarely at their best on a tour. If your child comes along in the first days after arrival, keep the visit short and do not read too much into their mood. Jet lag, a new climate and a new home are a lot for a small person; the trial week is a fairer test than a tired first look.
After the tour: the 48 hours that decide it
The day after a tour is when impressions start to fade and the decision gets made, often without much thought. A little structure helps. Within a day or two, sit down with your partner and compare notes on four things: the commute at the time you will actually travel, the room your child would join, how the teachers handled real moments with children, and how your child reacted. Add a line on anything that worried you.
If one of those worries is a question rather than a deal-breaker, send it to the admissions team in writing. Clear, written answers on fees, availability or the trial week let you compare schools on facts rather than on the energy of the person who showed you around. If you are comparing campuses, a second short visit at drop-off time can settle the commute question quickly.
Do not feel pressured to decide on the spot. A good school expects families to think it over, especially for a child who has never been in a nursery before. If you are leaning towards enrolling, the natural next step is a trial week, which lets your child try the routine before you sign anything.
One more habit helps: keep your notes for every school or campus in the same simple format, in one place you both can see. When the choice narrows to two, the deciding factor is often something small that one of you noticed and the other did not, such as how a teacher knelt down to speak to a crying child, or how long the queue of motorbikes was at pickup. Written down, those details stay available when you need them.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
How long does a school tour take?
Plan for about an hour, including the walk-through and the conversation with admissions. If your child comes along and settles into a classroom for a while, it can run longer. Leave some margin so you are not rushing the questions at the end because of a parking meter or a nap.
Can we visit without booking?
It is better to book. Classrooms are working spaces and the admissions team needs to plan who will show you around and which class you can observe without disrupting the children. Booking through the admissions site also makes sure the right campus team has your details and your child's age.
Can we see the class our child would actually join?
Ask for it when you book and again on arrival. Seeing the room, teachers and age group your child would join is far more useful than seeing whichever class is nearest the entrance. If that class is out or napping, ask whether you can come back briefly at another time.
Is it rude to take photos during the tour?
Ask first. Many preschools do not allow photos of children for privacy reasons, which is a good sign rather than an inconvenience. Photos of empty spaces such as the outdoor area or nap room are often fine with permission, and notes work just as well for comparing later.
Should we tour more than one campus?
If two campuses are similarly convenient, yes. The curriculum is the same, but buildings, outdoor space, the commute and the feel of each team differ. Seeing both at a similar time of day gives you a fair comparison before you choose where to do the trial week.