小學讀際小學,中學時轉回傳統中學

nintendo

I want to add that a student might "追唔上" NOT because international schools are "slower" or "behind" local school academically. But that there will be problems with getting used to the language of instructions, teaching method, and the general culture around the school.
I must stress that international schools are quite advanced in certain ways academically and should not be considered not as competitive academically.

But certainly it will be hard for students to switch from an international school to a local school. All international schools have English environment and the general school culture is very western. Local schools have very local Chinese environment and they have very local Cantonese culture. Even though those local elite schools are teaching in English, the whole school culture is still local.
A student that have grown up or brought up under western culture might find it difficult to fit in.
So this is probably a fit-in problem, and not exactly merely language or academic problem.

Having said that, students usually have less fit-in problems when switchging from local schools to international schools because international schools are much more well prepared for students from other curriculum. International schools students are also less hostile and more friendly towards new students.

nintendo

原帖由 mow-mow 於 09-7-20 11:44 發表
Depends on what local chinese primary school you are talking about.
Many elite local school kids switch to international schools or go abroad between F1 & F3, and they don't have too much problem sett ...

Not depends on which school, but rather depends on the personality of the student.

I personally know someone from DXS that got into an international school and had huge problem fitting socially and academically. There was another case (a more remote friend's child) where a top student from a local elite boy's school who got very outstanding results at HKCEE that had problem fitting in academically with an international school running IBD program.

The former student (and parents) did not want to admit the problems and the kid suffered 3 years before transferring to a high school in England.
The latter student and parents were more open with facing the problem and quick in making a decision and switched the guy back to local school stream after a few months; and eventually got very good results in the local A-level.

It is hard to generalise and not everyone is willing to admit and tell others the problems they have at school. So parents need to prepare for the worst.

nintendo

原帖由 mow-mow 於 09-7-20 14:13 發表
In whatever situations, there are always going to be examples of failure or success.

That was exactly what I wanted to point out.
I have also seen so many local school students that ended up with nothing after a few years overseas.
So it is too dangerous to generalise that local school students have no problems fitting in. This is all I was trying to say.

nintendo

原帖由 mow-mow 於 09-7-20 14:13 發表
But I don't suppose those who managed to flourish at Eton & Harrow would have had problems at GSIS & CIS!

I totaly agree. But how many of those local schools students have the quality to go to these schools? It is quite dangerous to pick a couple of examples for the sake of proofing yourself.
Honestly, we all know better that many are probably not doing exactly well and only managed to get a place in "very average" schools overseas. I would doubt whether those students would even any chance with GSIS, CIS at all.
Thus, I am sticking to my views. Do not generalise. Whether from local school to international school, or vice versa, there would be bumps that students need to face.

[ 本帖最後由 nintendo 於 09-7-21 12:52 編輯 ]

nintendo

原帖由 mow-mow 於 09-7-22 09:10 發表
Actually, quite a few.
Most of the top schools in the UK take in elite local school students every year, obviously some more than others.

mow-mow,

You seemed to have misunderstood me.
I was trying to say that it is not possible to be so sure that local school students have no problems in fitting in an international school.

Of course, I know lots of UK top schools take local school students. I personally know a few.
But amongst the whole pool of students that go to study abroud, how many of them are in your "samples" of "local elite school + top schools", which you believed (and I do too), have no problem fitting in?

Well, not a big percentage.

Most are merely ordinary local school students, and then went overseas to very average high schools. Many of these local school students may even have problems with the local school English program.

Are you sure this majority can even get admission to GSIS or CIS you mentioned?

Discussion are of course in a way generalising. But we need to look at the situation as a big picture. It would only be conclusive if it is true for most. Hand picking samples from is not going to be a fair discussion.