Any "Pure" Hong Kong Kid being accepted by ESF Primary School ?

birdbird

原帖由 Mornington 於 09-2-6 02:35 發表
1) Student born in HK & holding both HKSAR &  foreign passport (by descent)

Mornington,
Your kid was born in HK holding both HKSAR & foreign passports. If you & your husband are also Chinese, I think you kid would be very likely classified as Cat.2. students under ESF admission priority. Local Chinese holding foreign passports are treated more or less the same way as ones with just HKSAR passports since the mother tongue of these children is still considered to be Chinese, in spite that they attend international kindergartens.

[ 本帖最後由 birdbird 於 09-2-6 21:53 編輯 ]

birdbird

From my experience and dicussions among some moms in these 2 years, the ESF P1 interview itself is actually not very difficult if the kids can communicate in English. The interview is to screen out kids who cannot follow class routines, instructions instead of picking outstanding students to fill the P1 seats.

What is more crucial in getting a place in ESF P1 is the interview offer! Local Chinese, regardless of what passports we hold, are generally classified as Cat. 2. In Cat. 2, students of ESF kinder & with siblings in ESF primary will have a higher chance to get the interview offer. For other Cat. 2 applicants, those study in real international kindergartens such as Montessori, Woodland have higher chances then those come from local kindergartens.

Another factor in consideration, as other moms mentioned, is the proportion of cat.1 applicants in the catchment. Cat. 2 applicants on the HK side usually have higher chances to get the interview than those on the Kln side. For Cat.2 kids in Clear Water Bay catchment, their chances of getting the interview offer or a place are also very low even they come from the ESF kindergarten since there are many foreigners in that catchment.

Finally, I'd like to talk about the 'mother tongue' of the kids. For a 'pure' local family with parents raised up in Hong Kong and kid born in Hong Kong, regardless of which kindergarten the kid is studying and that the parents claim in the application form that the kids know no Chinese at all, the ESF admission team will still consider that the kid is in Cat.2! It is not convincing that the kid has no exposure to Chinese in a Chinese dominated community. It also doesn't make any sense to the educators that a local kid cannot speak Chinese as his parents, living in their mother country/city, is supposed to treasure their own mother tongue. The kid's Chinese level may be low, but absolutely should not be zero! It is wiser to check the appropriate boxes regarding the kid's ability /learning progress of different languages in the application form.