教育王國

標題: GSIS vs KCIS [打印本頁]

作者: Pianokc 時間: 09-6-30 01:02 標題: GSIS vs KCIS

I thought this game was over and done with for my daughter and I.

Ok, like to hear from parents of both schools.

GSIS and KCIS- which one would you choose for your child?

Factors important to me:

1) Academic - high achievements
2) Discipline
3) Location (GSIS being on the Peak, and then 2 years later, we have to go Wan Chai if we choose GSIS).
4) School hours- terribly early for GSIS, but half day only, and KCIS is 9am-3:20pm.
5) Putonghua level- KCIS by far beats GSIS.

GSIS= the reputation
KCIS= strong putonghua programme

Please help me!

作者: melisa 時間: 09-6-30 08:58

GSIS.

作者: Yau_Cheung 時間: 09-6-30 09:05

hi Pianokc,

Do you get an offer from GSIS?

原帖由 Pianokc 於 09-6-30 01:02 發表
I thought this game was over and done with for my daughter and I.

Ok, like to hear from parents of both schools.

GSIS and KCIS- which one would you choose for your child?

Factors important to me:

...

[ 本帖最後由 Yau_Cheung 於 09-6-30 09:11 編輯 ]

作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-6-30 13:47

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作者: leschelems 時間: 09-6-30 16:12

I like the pratice of KCIS delivering a strong Putonghua programme. Just one question. Do KCIS pupils learn Putonghua as a native language, second language or foreign language?

原帖由 Pianokc 於 09-6-30 01:02 發表
I thought this game was over and done with for my daughter and I.

Ok, like to hear from parents of both schools.

GSIS and KCIS- which one would you choose for your child?

Factors important to me:

...

作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-6-30 16:30

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作者: leschelems 時間: 09-6-30 16:48

This is a discussion on GSIS vs KCIS.  Why did you bring up KCS?

It is certainly not wise to choose a IS solely based on a Chinese programme.  But it could be one of the important factors to consider for parents.

All parents do not want their kids to ignore Putonghua.  As you mentioned, the "final Chinese standard a student studying in IS is mainly depended on the student's own capability as well as his/her family support and expectation in Chinese learning." In case of a parent preferring a more balanced bilingual capability, KCIS could be a good choice.

原帖由 wisekid2007 於 09-6-30 16:30 發表
We are talking about KCIS but not KCS. It is 100% sure KCIS teaches Chinese (or you mean Putonghua) as a second or foreign lanugage, just like most of other ISs. In fact, you can't find the difference ...

作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-6-30 16:59

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作者: leschelems 時間: 09-6-30 17:18

You can take my question literally, or see it as a contrast to different teaching approach in HK.

I reckon parents value contrast and difference to figure out what fits our diversified educational needs. That's why we keep on coming back for information, rather than adopting a go-and-see-for yourself approach.

I have no objection to your point that "in upper primary and secondar in most of the IS are more or less the same." It's just that linguistics and pedagogy studies tell us that learning a language at a young age makes a crucial difference to a learner's proficiency. I guess KCIS has a niche advantage to suit some parents needs.

原帖由 wisekid2007 於 09-6-30 16:59 發表
I bring up KCS because of your STRANGE question: Do KCIS pupils learn Putonghua as a native language, second language or foreign language?

How can an international school in HK will teach Chinese as ...

作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-6-30 17:26

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作者: leschelems 時間: 09-6-30 17:38

I am not against GSIS. It should have its merits. I only want to find out the relative advantages of different schools.

Here I found another commonality between us. I also believe that there are better choices other than KCIS for some parents, not all parents. Also I have to reiterate that I reckon that Chinese curriculum could be one of the important factor. I emphazied the potential importancy, not urgency nor a supremacy.

Btw, when linguistists say young, they mean younger than what you have mentioned.

原帖由 wisekid2007 於 09-6-30 17:26 發表
***It's just that linguistics and pedagogy studies tell us that learning a language at a young age makes a crucial difference to a learner's proficiency. I guess KCIS has a niche advantage to suit so ...

作者: thankful 時間: 09-6-30 17:50

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作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-6-30 17:54

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作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-6-30 17:59

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作者: leschelems 時間: 09-6-30 18:02

I also thank you for your sharing the opinions of yours and other IS parents.

原帖由 wisekid2007 於 09-6-30 17:54 發表
I respect you have your own view. I am also just expressing my views although not everyone will agree with me.

I repeat here my view again and again as I see there are so many parents consider the i ...

作者: eaymom 時間: 09-7-1 08:58

Is your daughter accepted to GSIS?  What year will she be in? My daughter will be joining this coming August as well.

On your questions, I can't comment on all aspects as I don't have any personal experience.  But if Chinese is the subject matters, then I would say KCIS will definitely give you an edge on Mandarin in Primary School as GSIS won't start until Year 4.

Having said that, almost all, if not all, IS students get private Chinese tutoring.  So if I were you, I wouldn't worry that much as HK has a lot of resources for children to learn Chinese.

原帖由 Pianokc 於 09-6-30 01:02 發表
I thought this game was over and done with for my daughter and I.

Ok, like to hear from parents of both schools.

GSIS and KCIS- which one would you choose for your child?

Factors important to me:

...

[ 本帖最後由 eaymom 於 09-7-1 09:17 編輯 ]

作者: mattsmum 時間: 09-7-1 20:47 標題: 回覆 3# wisekid2007 的文章

I heard that GSIS accepted at least 2 stephenia last year.

[ 本帖最後由 mattsmum 於 09-7-1 20:51 編輯 ]

作者: Pianokc 時間: 09-7-1 23:59

Hi Everyone,

I really want to thank wisekid2007's comments and information throughout the forum for GSIS. I learned alot from you.

Unfortunately, we do not have the honour to send our daughter to GSIS. After the assessment, she didn't make their writing standard. I agree with their assessment completely.
I will try again next year with my daughter after we work on her writing. Local kindergartens DO NOT have this at all, all it asks my daughter to do is copy sentences, and this is MORE the reason I now know I must switch my daughter to IS, and after the assessment at GSIS, this is my target dream school for my daughter.

Her reading level was 95%, and comprehension was nearly perfect. Waiting for the report to arrive in our mail.

However, what I didn't appreciate was our assessment appointment was moved up last minute because the admissions secretary Ms. J said they have a farewell party at noon, so I rushed big time up to the peak with my daughter at 8:30am.... I definitely was NOT pleased with that. Had no choice, so did it anyways, but daughter was not feeling well too, fell car sick after the rush. Oh well, KCIS it is for us and I think it's not terrible at all.

My husband prefers KCIS because of the Putonghua. Although we have private tutoring since K1, it's still better to have that in the school. But if GSIS accepts my daughter, I will not hesitate to send her there.

I will keep trying.

THANKS everyone !

作者: nintendo 時間: 09-7-7 13:47

原帖由 wisekid2007 於 09-6-30 17:59 發表
**the location and the school hours are not even issues. **

Me too.

P.S. For information, I have heard that in the coming new academic year, there are 8 top DGJS P. 5 girls will switch to GSIS to s ...

DGJS has their problems.
There are lots of kids that would be leaving for other IS as well.

作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-7-7 14:21

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作者: leschelems 時間: 09-7-7 18:25

Somehow our dicussion goes off track. The caption is GSIS vs KCIS. Why don't we start another topic to pursue it? Or join the existing one?

原帖由 wisekid2007 於 09-7-7 14:21 發表
Hi nintendo,

You have mentioned before that you have relatives'/friends' kids studying in DGJS and you found there is a distortion of the values that is not acceptable.

Please consider to share wi ...

作者: ShatinIvy 時間: 09-7-14 00:28

I come across 2 parents from GSIS. They express their children's Chinese as failure despite they have tried various methods. They children refuse to use Chinese. They can barely read and write, but not in essay or letter by Chinese. How about your kid? Please advice.

原帖由 wisekid2007 於 09-6-30 13:47 發表
Regarding your five factors, my comments are:

1. If you are talking about academic achievement, I don't think GSIS will let you down or inferior to KCIS. There is no public exams for kinder or prima ...

作者: eaymom 時間: 09-7-14 11:51

GSIS is very clear that they won't teach Chinese until Year 4.  So parents need to seek private tutoring for Chinese separately.

For children in IS, it's unrealistic to expect that they can achieve the same level of Chinese as local school.  However, if the parents are committed and persistent through private tutoring, the children will be able to achieve an acceptable level of Chinese.  I have seen many of these cases with children from IS.

This is an issue with all international schools.  But if IS is the route we choose, this is the compromise we need to accept.

作者: Isaacmommy 時間: 09-11-10 17:57

If money is not a consideration, I would defintely choose GSIS and give the child private Chinese lessons.

I think GSIS is the top 3 IS in HK (if not the best).
My cousin graduated from GSIS, got 4As in his A-level and went to Standford Univ. Another friend I know also got 4As and went to a very good Univeristy too.

Isaacmommy

作者: Ruby1219 時間: 09-11-11 08:21 標題: 回覆 1# Isaacmommy 的文章

I agree that if Chinese is a major concern, GSIS is definitely out of question.
My son is now in Y.5 of GSIS. We love the school a lot despite its low level of Chinese (we are local Chinese) and high school fee (haha).

My son says that he would like to take French instead of Chinese in secondary (in GSIS, you can choose French or Chinese as third language to learn after English and German). By first response, me and my husband said "no way!". But after second (and third) thought, I think "why not?" cos GSIS's Chinese standard is so low and my son is not learning any thing more from it. We've been giving him extra private tutorial since he was 2.5years old. So, I think probably we will take French in secondary but supplement him with more private Chinese lessons.

Ruby

作者: thankful 時間: 09-11-11 10:04

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作者: eaymom 時間: 09-11-11 10:26

Thankful and Ruby1219,

My daughter is in Year 1.  She's getting extra lesson on Chinese outside of school.  By the time she gets to year 4, I think her chinese proficiency should be quite good.

What I thinking is whether the school can let choose either French or Chinese when they get to Year 4.  Since we are already getting private tutoring in Chinese long before my daughter gets to year 4, I prefer for her to starting taking French, if possible, instead of Chinese.  That will give her more years of French study.  When she gets to secondary school, we will add Chinese back.

My point is if they are going to pick up another language in primary school, they should have a choice of the languages.  I don't see there is a need to start Chinese in Year 4 since they are already proficient to a certain extent

Chinese would probably be more useful for foreginers who have not had exposure to the language.

Just my 2cents.

原帖由 thankful 於 09-11-11 10:04 發表
Yes, Chinese standard is low in the Primary. But once you go to the Secondary, the kids will be split into different groups. The highest group's Chinese is far from being a breeze. Even pupils from ...

作者: thankful 時間: 09-11-11 10:55

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作者: eaymom 時間: 09-11-11 10:57

Really? You can only do Chinese or French in Secondary? I thought Chinese is standard for all children starting year 4 and then they can add French when they get to Secondary. Not true?

原帖由 thankful 於 09-11-11 10:55 發表
eaymom,

Sorry, I don't know if the school would allow the kids to choose either French or Chinese when they get to Year 4. Perhaps Ruby1219 and others could help you on this.

But there is one thi ...

作者: thankful 時間: 09-11-11 11:20

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作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-11 11:23

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作者: eaymom 時間: 09-11-11 11:24

So if we decide to take French in secondary then pretty much the 3 years spent in Chinese (year 4, 5,6) will not be continued. Is that correct?

原帖由 thankful 於 09-11-11 11:20 發表
I remember asking this question when we were asked to make the choice and the answer was "no" - you can't take both. Perhaps other parents can verify my understanding or correct me if I am wrong.

作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-11 11:28

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作者: eaymom 時間: 09-11-11 11:32

If that is the case, it warrants the change to offer French as one of the choices in Year 4, in addition to Chinese. Since if the goal is to select French in secondary, there is no point to take Chinese in primary school. Parents will just have to supplement Chinese via private tutoring.

原帖由 wisekid2007 於 09-11-11 11:28 發表
So far as I know that starting from Year 4, you can choose either "Chinese language" or "Chinese culture" but not French.

For Chinese language, even starting from year 4, it will also be divided int ...

[ 本帖最後由 eaymom 於 09-11-11 11:33 編輯 ]

作者: thankful 時間: 09-11-11 11:40

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作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-11 11:44

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作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-11 11:45

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作者: Chole 時間: 09-11-11 12:35

Sorry, a bit of diversion.

I am planning to have my kid applying for GSIS. Do you think that I can go to the Open Afternoon this Friday?

Thanks.

作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-11 12:38

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作者: Chole 時間: 09-11-11 13:49

Good! I will go then.

Thank You!

原帖由 wisekid2007 於 09-11-11 12:38 發表
Yes, I think so.

There will be some performance and my boy will also participate in.

作者: Ruby1219 時間: 09-11-11 14:46 標題: 回覆 15# thankful 的文章

Oh really ?
But they do split into groups for Chinese even in primary wor (many IS do this, including RC where my son used to study in).
But if as you said even those from local school find GSIS secondary's Chinese as competent, I should reconsider this.
Thanks for your information.

Best,
Ruby

作者: Ruby1219 時間: 09-11-11 14:49 標題: 回覆 13# eaymom 的文章

Only Chinese is offered in primary. No French.
And only Chinese OR French in secondary apart from English and German which are compulsory.
That's my knowledge about GSIS.
Hope it helps

Ruby

作者: Ruby1219 時間: 09-11-11 14:55 標題: 回覆 12# wisekid2007 的文章

Hi Wisekid2007,

Why i feel that you are more bragging than responding to my post ?

I just expressed that since my son has more advanced Chinese tutorial outside of school, I would consider 'better use' his school time in GSIS to learn French. If as another BK parent said GSIS's Chinese is much more advanced in Secondary, I would definitely consider taking Chinese for him at school. I never said schooling is no use.

Ruby

作者: thankful 時間: 09-11-11 15:19

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作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-11 15:40

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作者: Ruby1219 時間: 09-11-11 22:00 標題: 回覆 2# thankful 的文章

Hi thankful,

Thank you for your information. They are really useful for me.

Is your kid also studying in GSIS? What year ?

Best wishes,
Ruby

作者: eaymom 時間: 09-11-11 22:24

Thankful,

Do you know what PRC chinese textbook they use? Do you have the publisher and the book name?

thanks a lot!

原帖由 thankful 於 09-11-11 15:19 發表
Ruby,

In Year 7, the kids who are doing Chinese are split into 4 groups. But for French, there is only one group.

The kids in the highest group of Chinese are using PRC Primary 4 textbook. My unde ...

作者: thankful 時間: 09-11-12 00:12

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作者: thankful 時間: 09-11-12 00:57

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作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-12 10:13

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作者: thankful 時間: 09-11-12 11:36

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作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-12 11:50

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作者: cari 時間: 09-11-12 13:14

For the parents who have kids studying at GSIS, can you share you experience of how you prepare your kids in order to get into the school? I know that fluency in English is very important. I let my daughter to go to English preschool now but I do not think her English is as good as native speaker. What did your kids do in order to be better in English?

cari

作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-12 14:27

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作者: cuteb 時間: 09-11-12 14:29 標題: 回覆 52# wisekid2007 的文章

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作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-12 14:37

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作者: Ruby1219 時間: 09-11-12 15:19 標題: 回覆 4# cari 的文章

Hi Cari,

Same as wisekid, I did not 'prepare' my son to enter GSIS. We applied for the school when my son was in Y3, and I got the call for assessment just the day before, so actually we couldn't prepare. I think wisekid is right, you better put your kid into a real international kindergarten. My son studied in international pre-school, kindy and then primary school. Therefore he can fluently and confidently speaks in English, although I think his accent and grammar might not be as perfect as the caucasians.
Unlike local school, you can't prepare for international schools' admission assessments. But as long as your kid is willing to speak up and can speak proficiently in English, there should be no probem I think, for Year 1 assessment which little paper test will be conducted.

Ruby

作者: Chole 時間: 09-11-12 17:24

Dear parents,

May I pick your brains?

Ultimately I want my kids to go to UK university but would love them to leave as late as possible.  I see many local kids leaving at Form 3.  To me, I consider them very young.

Do you think that going to an international school will help?  Of course I have thousands of reasons to apply for GSIS but wonder if there is another one to convince my husband who didn't quite enjoy his boarding school life.

Appreicate your input.  Thank you!

作者: wisekid2007 時間: 09-11-12 20:49

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作者: Chole 時間: 09-11-13 17:39

Thank you wisekid2007!

My hubby & I went to the Open Afternoon today and tour around. The student guides told us that around 10% will leave GSIS to go to boarding school but most will stay and go to uni direct. Good! We are very pleased with the environment as well as the atmosphere. I love the art room in particular (art is my kid's favourite).

We dropped the application form too. Hope my kid could have the privilege to get in.

Thanks again!

作者: cari 時間: 09-11-13 23:33

Wisekid, Ruby,

Thank you for your advice. My daughter is attending Woodland now. She can speak good English but like Ruby said may not be the same as native speaker. But she is shy and sometimes not willing to talk to others. What activities do your kids go so they are more outgoing and willing to talk to the teacher during interview?

作者: eaymom 時間: 09-11-15 23:44

Cari,

There is not much you can do when it comes to personality. My little girl was extremely shy too. She's not the active nor the outspoken type which we all believed what GSIS was looking for. When we went for the assessment, we treated it more or less an experience. We didn't expect to get in.

As for whether we prepared her for the interview, no, we didn't at all. We are the lazy parents type who send their child to international school just to avoid heavy homeworks

The only thing I would say is that she speaks english at native level and she was a confident reader and writer(age appropriate) by the time she was assessed. And she learned most of that from her preschool (Woodland). We didn't hire a private tutor nor teach her anything at home.

Don't worry too much about the admission. Try not to put too much pressure on your little one. I think that was the best thing we have done with ours.

eaymom

[ 本帖最後由 eaymom 於 09-11-15 23:45 編輯 ]

作者: cari 時間: 09-11-16 16:04

Eaymom,

Thank you for your reply. You are so lucky that your daughter was accepted by GSIS. My daughter is going to Woodland too so that mean she is under good hands. We have applied for the 3 year old class, what would be age appropiate for a 3 year old for reading and writing? My daughter does not know how to write or read yet.

Cari

原帖由 eaymom 於 09-11-15 23:44 發表
Cari,

There is not much you can do when it comes to personality. My little girl was extremely shy too. She's not the active nor the outspoken type which we all believed what GSIS was looking for. ...

作者: eaymom 時間: 09-11-16 17:25

We didn't apply for Kindergarten because they only had one K2 class and all of the spaces were occupied by students promoted from K1 (we were latecomers and we missed K1). They didn't have any spaces for new students. So we applied for Year 1 and my daughter was assessed when she was nearly 5 years old earlier this year. She's now in Year 1.

原帖由 cari 於 09-11-16 16:04 發表
Eaymom,

Thank you for your reply. You are so lucky that your daughter was accepted by GSIS. My daughter is going to Woodland too so that mean she is under good hands. We have applied for the 3 yea ...

作者: Ruby1219 時間: 09-11-16 21:07 標題: 回覆 4# cari 的文章

My son joined English playgroup since he was 18 months old. And then he joined Anfield's prep-programme when he was 2.5years old and then Anfield's K.1-2. He did not need our company since prep-programme. He was born in March, maybe that's why he was more mature and calm. I think you can bring your kid out of home more and let her meet more strangers.

作者: Ruby1219 時間: 09-11-16 21:18 標題: 回覆 4# eaymom 的文章

Yes I agree with eaymom that you should take it easy, yourself and your daughter. Don't give her any pressure. Tell her that you and she would go have a look and chat with the teachers to see if shes like the school. Tell her that the teachers will talk and play with her in a nice & fun way. Plan and tell her that you will reward her with a treat or a gift after the visit (not an interview or assessment). And tell her something good about the school to make her like the school.
I told my son that GSIS is a very good and high standard school the night before the assessment, so that he (and I) won't be too upset if he fails. While, he was so happy when he got the offer and he was ready to join the school without too missing his previous school.

Good luck !

作者: cari 時間: 09-11-18 10:37

Ruby1219 & eaymom,

Thank you for all the nice advices. I will take my child to meet more strangers so she will be more used to the environment of meeting strangers and prep her in a positive way like Ruby1219 before the assessment. Wish me luck.

cari

原帖由 Ruby1219 於 09-11-16 21:18 發表
Yes I agree with eaymom that you should take it easy, yourself and your daughter. Don't give her any pressure. Tell her that you and she would go have a look and chat with the teachers to see if shes ...

作者: tamm 時間: 09-11-26 11:07

Hi

Can you share with me what questions they will ask during the GSIS P1 interview? What's the format? My child is scheduled to have the interview early next year. In terms of writing, what will they ask a 5-year-old child to write?

Thanks a lot!

作者: eaymom 時間: 09-11-28 06:46

I wasn't sure what questions they ask because my daughter wasn't able to retell what exactly she did in the assessment.

It was somewhere along the line of reading a book, finding out what was wrong in the sentences, describe what's happened in a picture and what she thinks will happen next, counting from 1 to 100 by 2s, 5s, 10s, etc.,

Based on what I heard, it's basically something a 5yr should be able to do. If the child had gone through preschool or kindergarten, these would be something they already learned.

原帖由 tamm 於 09-11-26 11:07 發表
Hi

Can you share with me what questions they will ask during the GSIS P1 interview? What's the format? My child is scheduled to have the interview early next year. In terms of writing, what will ...

作者: tamm 時間: 09-11-28 23:12

Thanks for the information - what about the writing part? Was it a group interview?

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