From traditional school to international school?

miss_watson13

Hi,

My sister studys in a traditional school now. She has applied Harrow Int'l school and she got the offer. However, english is her second language and she speaks cantonese for most of the time. i am afraid that she wont be able to get along with the other student. another problems that raise my awareness is about the curriculum. She will be in form one in 2012 but Harrow offers her the place in year 8, which is equal to form 2. Though i learn that the course in int'l school is not as demanding as in traditional school. Should I let her to study year 8 instead of year 7. my concern is about the language. Are there any parents here can share their experience when their children change the school from traditional school to international school and any issue that i should be aware of?

Thanks very much.

peter_pan

Actually, Year 8 in international schools is equivalent to F2 in local schools.
Before 334, Hong Kong system follows the British system, ie 6 years primary school & 7 years secondary school (total 13 years).
Year 1 = P1
Year 2 = P2
.
.
Year 6 = P6
Year 7 = F1
Year 8 = F2
.
.
Year 13 = F7 - then university
Many people are confused because of the fact that British schools (& international schools) start at age 5 wheras HK local schools start at age 6.
That is the reason why some kids manage to jump one year when switching from local to UK / international schools.
The earlier the switch, the easier it is to jump one year.
Jumping from P6 to Year 8 should not be too much of a problem provided the kid's English is good enough.

miss_watson13

Thank you very much for the explanation :)

原帖由 peter_pan 於 11-5-9 18:00 發表
Actually, Year 8 in international schools is equivalent to F2 in local schools.
Before 334, Hong Kong system follows the British system, ie 6 years primary school & 7 years secondary school (total 13  ...

peter_pan

This is exactly what I said about people being confused by the age of entry to primary school.
If you continue with your extrapolation -
Age 17 = local F6 = Year 13
Age 18 = local F7 = 1st year university
As you can see, international school students enter university one year earlier than local school students and that's why age should not be used to equate the corresponding curriculum level.
Of course, things are going to change now that 334 is upon us and the local system is going to be out of syn with the British system. We will have to wait & see how this is going to affect the acceptance by British universities which provide 3 year courses as opposed to the 4 year courses provided by local universities under the new system.

原帖由 Kareese 於 11-5-10 17:35 發表
I don't know about Harrow Int'l School, but in ESF Schools :

Age 5 = local K3 = Yr 1
Age 6 = local P1 = Yr 2
Age 7 = local P2 = Yr 3
.
.
.
Age11= local P6 = Yr 7
Age12=   Form 1= Yr 8
Age13=   Form  ...

peter_pan

I am not pretending to be an expert.
But having gone through the transition from local school to UK school some 30 years ago & having my children gone through the same transition recently, I do know what I am talking about.
Kindergarten years are termed pre-school, ie they do not count towards formal education - so Year 1 & P1 shoule be the respective starting point.
HKAL may be harder than UK A-levels but they are perceived as being at the same level. Have you seen any local school kids going straight into Year 2 of UK universities after F7 in Hong Kong?
In a nutshell, my view is that Hong Kong students enter primary school 1 year late & therefore enter university 1 year late, while your view is that Hong Kong student enter university 1 year late because they study for an extra year at kindergarten.
Anyway, I am not going to get involved in a protracted argument  about this topic.
I have stated what I know - whether you agree with me really makes no difference at all!

kaplanmeier

原帖由 Jackeylwfd 於 11-5-11 10:59 發表
You are so wrong and don't pretend be an expert in front of me. You yourself are so confused by the curriculum in various places. Study more indepth and understand the differences first before making  ...

Excuse me.  British curriculum?  On the island called Great Britain, there are three countries, namely, Scotland, England and Wales.  The Scottish education system offers P1 (for children at age 4) to P7, followed by six years of secondary school and four years of university education.  Please, there' s no such thing as a British curriculum, and Great Britian belongs not only to Englishmen.

kaplanmeier

原帖由 Jackeylwfd 於 11-5-9 12:37 發表
From you description that your sister got admitted just because Harrow School needs a lot of students to fill up it's places

Jesus Christ!  Even Oxbridge accepted so many Cantonese speaking students from what you guys called local schools and so should I imply from this description (is it a description?) that they need a lot of students to fill up?  Come on.  Give me a break.

kaplanmeier

原帖由 Jackeylwfd 於 11-5-11 15:37 發表
It is so simple that Scotland does not follow the British curriculum and has its own system. If we don't call the system adopted at England and Wales British curriculum, then what should we call it? E ...

Yes, English curriculum and Welsh curriculum, of course.

Yes, sometimes people, especially American, mistakenly include even North Ireland when they use the word "British".  But sorry, what is your point?  For we Briton, British is of course the adjective for Great Britian (but not the whole UK or only England).  Are you an American?

kaplanmeier

原帖由 Jackeylwfd 於 11-5-11 15:45 發表
Jesus Christ! What is your point? Do you have any sense?

Whether Oxbridge accept so many Cantonese speaking students is totally irrelevant to the discussion in this thread.

Go to see what miss-wats ...

I'm sorry.  I'm totally lost.  What are you talking about?  I was simply trying to figure out how I could apply your argument to another scenario.  Did I say anything about the command of English of Hongkongers, in general or in specific?

kaplanmeier

原帖由 Jackeylwfd 於 11-5-11 16:01 發表
Go to Google search then you can find what is British Curriculum.

For example, the following is a comparision between British and Amercian Curriculum.

http://www.bisshanghai.com/index.php/edcuation/ ...

Interesting!  We can see how well Englishmen stole the word British.  Just like "British English" is in fact "English English", which is obviously different from Scottish English and Welsh English (and Irish English).  

However, in formal documents, I see only the term National Curriculum.  I don't believe they dare not claim the English curriculum the British curriculum.  Correct me if I'm wrong.

kaplanmeier

原帖由 Jackeylwfd 於 11-5-11 16:07 發表
You are lost because you don't see clearly what miss_watson13 has written. She concerns on the language ability of her sister becasue her sister is studying in a local school.

On the other hand, in  ...

I read it again but I didn't see if her sis's language ability did not meet the requirement of Harrow but still got admitted.  Anyone whose first language is not English may have the same concern as her, but why her concern would lead to a judgement of Harrow's standard?

And are you telling me that there are only a handful of good children in Hong Kong so that even Harrow could not get any?  You know, Harrowian is an identity, and I would be surprised if it would be for sale.