i suddenly changed my mind, anyone can share?

蜜蜜

my daughter is a sep2006 girl, she was accepted by sacred heart canossian kindergarten, but suddenly, i realized that i can afford letting her study in ESF (very sorry that before, i thought i can't afford any of the IS and so i didn't even check), so i strongly hope that she can get a place in ESF kindergarten in sheung wan, will that be too late? or any suggestion for me, so that my girl can easily get into ESF in primary? should i put her into an internation kindergarten first while ESF kindergarten not accepting her at this moment? or let her study in sacred heart and wait for ESF kindergarten? is that too difficult to get into ESF kindergarten for such late application?

[ 本帖最後由 蜜蜜 於 09-6-2 02:52 編輯 ]

蜜蜜

原帖由 nintendo 於 09-6-16 13:16 發表
I see that you are swaying from ESF kindergarten to just any international kindergarten.
And than ESF primary to just any international primary.
I would say that you really need to do more research ab ...

in fact, in case ESF primary schools not accepting my daughter, my back up is to put her back to SHCS, 'cos i'm an old girl and catholic. which is a very good local school, so definetly, i'll not put my daughter to any internation primary school. however, for kindergarten, as long as she is happy to stay, i think that's enough. going to kindergarten, the most important issue is to let the child to build up his/her own community and to learn how to deal with school life in future. i do not depend on any kindergarten on teaching my daughter any subject, but to teach her the most at home.

nintendo

I see that you are swaying from ESF kindergarten to just any international kindergarten.
And than ESF primary to just any international primary.
I would say that you really need to do more research about the potential target school.
"Just any international school" is not what parents should settle.
The edge of ESF is that they have good track records. Even with their 2 new PIS, although they are new schools, they are so far quite fine because the running of the school is still adopted from the "ESF model".
Parents should not be too deperate and just settle with any school which you hardly know, or even hardly heard of.
I am not say some of the schools suggested by others are not good, but I think you need to get to know more about the school before putting your child in it.
Do not settle with just any school, just because you want an international school so badly.
Good luck.

ACIC

Just to add a few more words, i.e. as I look at their website, they have a very strict policy regarding discipline, and they also have a range of activities for kids, I feel that the school life there is quite good.  Regarding how to maintain our child's Chinese level, we do flash cards at home with our child and we also let our child to attend Kumon but we intend to have a traditional chinese program.

ACIC

It's located at Lei King Wan.  I can't tell for sure if it's good or not.  But I visited the school once, the staff are very nice, and the school environment is good, facilities are very new.  Most of the students are Koreans and Chinese.  I went there once in the morning and observed the parents and kids before the school starts, most students are brought to school by their mothers or they come by school bus.  They have 1 to 2 class per grade in the English section.  And they also have Korean section.  I have good feelings about this school but I can't find too much information on the internet regarding this school.  Since my husband and I both feel the location, school fees and the environment fulfill our expectation, we decided to put our child there.  And highlights of their program are as follows:
KIS starts Reception at 4, (the Principal said they don't have space to have a kindergarten class),
KIS has Chinese and Korean to choose as second language, but they only have about 3 classes a week,
Their reception class is a full-day program.
We feel that a full-day program is quite a good immersion for our child.  And we also target ESF Primary too, but if our child fail to get admitted by ESF, we plan to have our kid to stay at Korean, as their school fees are affordable by us and the location is very favorable too.  The principal is very nice, so you may call up and see if you can arrange a visit to have a chat with their principal, or even sign up for their summer program and get a taste of how their school life is.  They have summer class for kids from 3 to above.  Hope this information helps.

蜜蜜

原帖由 ACIC 於 09-6-11 11:38 發表
I also "suddenly changed my mind" too when i have sent my son to KCS for K1 and then I applied KCIS R1 and Korean International School R1.  I got an offer from both school and I chose KIS before I got ...

Korean international school is it located at quarry bay? do u think it's a good school? 'cos korean international school is one of the other schools that i can afford in primary other than ESF. and it's location is good for us too. how do u comment on this school?

ACIC

I also "suddenly changed my mind" too when i have sent my son to KCS for K1 and then I applied KCIS R1 and Korean International School R1.  I got an offer from both school and I chose KIS before I got there offer first and it's a full day program so I think my son's exposure to English will be better.  Most importantly was, when I applied KCIS, they said I was on waiting list and there were 20 people ahead of me waiting for a seat and so when I got an offer from KIS, I paid the deposit.  After that, I got an offer from KCIS, and it was too late.  I heard KCIS is good too.

oooray

原帖由 siubosiumao 於 09-6-8 17:30 發表
That's for the data. That's good to know.

I guess I never really considered DC because its just logistically impossible....

DC is a also good choice if u are living in West side of Kowloon/NT. Brand new campus...
Even if living inside DB is not so terrible. Life is always give and take...u get some and u lose some. Right?

siubosiumao

That's for the data. That's good to know.

I guess I never really considered DC because its just logistically impossible....

原帖由 oooray 於 09-6-8 12:31 發表

extract from DC website. ESF kinder students do have priority for interview.
"The Collegeis currently looking at the enrolment of students who have applied forspaces in Year 1 and Year 7 for August. ...

oooray

原帖由 siubosiumao 於 09-6-7 22:00 發表
I don't know. but if you live in TKO/Sai Kung area, is DC really an option logistically?

RC and DC are both PIS. I honestly don't think ESF kinder kids have any advantage over other kids in these sch ...

extract from DC website. ESF kinder students do have priority for interview.
"The Collegeis currently looking at the enrolment of students who have applied forspaces in Year 1 and Year 7 for August. As with last year, the Collegereceived an overwhelming number of applications, particularly in Year 1where over 270 applications were received for the 90 available spaces.Luckily we have been able to offer interviews for all siblings andstudents at ESL kindergartens. Likewise, we received over 110applications for 30 spaces in Year 7. We are also looking to increasethe number of students next year in Years 8&9, and an advertisingcampaign for this has commenced. Any families who may be consideringthis option for their children are asked to please contact the Collegeby email [email protected] or phone on 3969 1000."

siubosiumao

pls check pm

原帖由 蜜蜜 於 09-6-5 01:07 發表


thx siubosiumao! i'm really impressed for ur support, 'cos these days i'm so confused and lost, not knowing if things that i'm doing is right or wrong, but now, having ur support, i think at least i ...

siubosiumao

I don't know. but if you live in TKO/Sai Kung area, is DC really an option logistically?

RC and DC are both PIS. I honestly don't think ESF kinder kids have any advantage over other kids in these schools

foreverbb

How about RC & DC? Could they get the offer there?

原帖由 siubosiumao 於 09-6-4 23:24 發表
NONE of the cat 2 students in Abacus got accepted into CWBS.

oooray

原帖由 蜜蜜 於 09-6-4 18:40 發表


oooray,

i'd like to ask, anyother suggestions on IS in HK with simular school fees? do they need debentures? pls advise, thx!

I was asking the same questions and then search the web (actually there are not too many IS school in Hong Kong).
After going through one by one, seems not too many can meet "no debenture & comparable tuition fee to ESF (relatively affordable for me)".
After screening out those (most of them are very famous, like HKIS, GSIS....) I cannot afford, I only find ESF (plus her PIS : RC & DC) is affordable and make me feel "comfortable".
Many parents talking KCIS. U can also have a look of their website and read comments from other BK parents!

蜜蜜

原帖由 siubosiumao 於 09-6-4 23:24 發表
蜜蜜,

What a small world! I am also an SH alum.
However, we have decided NOT to send our girl to SH. You are right that SH girls has good English but by no means it can be compared to kids from other ...

thx siubosiumao! i'm really impressed for ur support, 'cos these days i'm so confused and lost, not knowing if things that i'm doing is right or wrong, but now, having ur support, i think at least i can tell myself Charlotte will have wonderful time for the next 2 years. however, i'm just wondering u declined the offer in Abacus, so what's ur plan?

siubosiumao

蜜蜜,

What a small world! I am also an SH alum.
However, we have decided NOT to send our girl to SH. You are right that SH girls has good English but by no means it can be compared to kids from other real international schools.

My little one actually got into Abacus but we declined the offer. Reason being, we were told that last year, NONE of the cat 2 students in Abacus got accepted into CWBS. Mind you that Mandarin speaking kids are considered as cat 1 kids (and there are lots of them in this catchment zone) and therefore chance is slim for cat 2 kids.

I suggest you apply to a kinder in a real international school and try to apply to ESF, either at P1 or later.

I agree with some previous comments regarding the academic standards at ESF. However, ESF schools generally have very large student population, and therefore, there are always some good students and some not so good.

St. Teresa sounds like a great kinder. I am sure your daughter will enjoy her time there!

蜜蜜

原帖由 oooray 於 09-6-2 23:49 發表

There are still many IS (other than) in Hong Kong. not too difficult to get a place from one of them if u strive for it. Send more application forms to those u can afford should be the best way;
If o ...

oooray,

i'd like to ask, anyother suggestions on IS in HK with simular school fees? do they need debentures? pls advise, thx!

蜜蜜

原帖由 Pianokc 於 09-6-2 20:15 發表
Hmm, my friend's daughter is there, and they are from Canada. Very good comments so far.

Traditional- yes, SH is a very traditional school.
I don't know about the kindy, but the people I know who ar ...

i'm sorry, i could not quite get it, ur friend's daughter is there <-- where is "there"? st teresa's kindergarten?

bohemian

Just be careful whether the "ratio" they provide are referring to Cat 1 kids or Cat 2 kids.  It makes a big different esp. if you mentioned that St. Teresa hardly has any Chinese.  

If I understand correctly you are a Cat 2 case looking to go to ESF / other IS, then I would choose IS kindergarten with good track record of getting esf interview for Cat 2.  The one that I know so far is SWCK, Woodland, Starters etc.  

If your catchment area is Quarry Bay School, then I know a few SWCK Cat 2 kids successfully got into QBS this yr.  I know it's a bit far from Stanley but it's a trade off.  Unless you have a back up plan for other IS primary.

But for sure, St. Teresa will give your daughter an excellent English environment to prepare her to interview other IS in future.

Good luck!

蜜蜜

thank you for ur opinions! this morning i called st teresa's kindergarten in stanley which is a kindergarten that hardly find a chinese. and they said they will let my daughter in for the coming year, and they claimed that every year, they do have students going to esf in primary ; the other option of mine is tutor time tai tam pm session, but the school fee will be nearly double of st teresa's, the staff of tutor time tai tam told me that 4-5 out of 2X got into esf last year.

any suggestions?