蘇浙國際幼稚園跟英基有何分別?

lureen

Both sch follow the british curriculum. However, I have no knowledge of the differences in teaching method. One thing though, KCIS has more hours of Mandarin teaching than other ESF schools. Otherwise, should be pretty much the same as some of the teachers are ex-ESF teachers. This int'l sch is a through train sch, from kinder to secondary. The main (chinese) section is separated from this int'l section in admin, but they share the same facilities eg., playground, sch hall etc. All children have fun and at the same time discipline. It's the same everywhere in int'l sch. No interview for kinder. Sch fees should be $5000. Please do check up both KCIS and ESF website for more accurate info. See if this helps.

lureen

KCIS accepts all who applies, until all classes are filled.  No special criteria, so far. Since, both are int'l schools, then it will be the same in terms of  freedom and discipline. You can always see motivation and encouragment in the classrooms but not restrictions.  Of course, there is always a guideline and bottomline, eg. no hitting or fighting or kicking or any unfriendly/impolite act. You may say that KCIS has better discipline as some of the children also attend the chinese section in the afternoon and that the chinese section requires more discipline.

KCIS is a through-train sch, so have primary, secondary to move on after kinder, unless the parents have chosen other pathways for the child.

The fluency of both  languages is  O.K., but this also depends on many other factors., eg other supportive training.

lureen

Lamsuetwai, nice to hear from you again. Did you and your child have a happy holiday ? How does your child like the Lett's worksheet ?

I shall be there for the picnic and hope the weather be good. Parents of KCIS seems to be the low profile people or maybe too busy to share.

It's a struggle to me at first  in choosing the paths (local or int'l). I think it's the same for everyone in this forum. Both my hubby and I, have concensus that our child will study abroad in his later years, so my idea is to find a school that can cater both languages well and can offer solid foundation.  One important thing though, we both do not enjoy the duck's feeding approach and the tiresome homework load/exams. We want our child to have more time for himself to think and play creatively and at the same time  learn from there. Languages is quite important in his early years so I have my kid study in an english environment with mandarin supp and further supp at home.  

There are othe local sch that do provide similar int'l style teaching which matches my mindset. It's because of the location that I have finally given up and choose to remain in KCIS.  

What about you ? Can you share too ?

lureen

BBCHU6,

1) whether int'l in the morning or afternoon is really up to you.  Both sections offer morning and afternoon classes.  There are roughly 4- 5 students taking both sections in my child's class before.

2) Some may be for the good of the children, so they can learn more discipline or independence or social life, they can also learn more in their languages, more english in one and more mandarin in another. Another reason will be for the benefit of the parents who has not much time taking care of the children.

3) the school feesshould be the two sums added together, roughly about $6500

4) the int'l section has mandarin teaching, 30 mins a day for 5 days in the kinder and 40 mins a day for 5 days in the primary

5) my kid is having fun everyday because no exam or homeworks to do. Only in the second year, some very simple chinese to write at home. Starting primary, a further little bit more. Discipline is always there,  all misbehaved child will be warned and guided, sometimes, will be punished with no playtime or standing by the wall or outside the classroom.

I knew a few kids, living on the Kowloon side, drove to study in this school.  

lureen

BBCHU6,

1) whether int'l in the morning or afternoon is really up to you.  Both sections offer morning and afternoon classes.  There are roughly 4- 5 students taking both sections in my child's class before.

2) Some may be for the good of the children, so they can learn more discipline or independence or social life, they can also learn more in their languages, more english in one and more mandarin in another. Another reason will be for the benefit of the parents who has not much time taking care of the children.

3) the school feesshould be the two sums added together, roughly about $6500

4) the int'l section has mandarin teaching, 30 mins a day for 5 days in the kinder and 40 mins a day for 5 days in the primary

5) my kid is having fun everyday because no exam or homeworks to do. Only in the second year, some very simple chinese to write at home. Starting primary, a further little bit more. Discipline is always there,  all misbehaved child will be warned and guided, sometimes, will be punished with no playtime or standing by the wall or outside the classroom.

I knew a few kids, living on the Kowloon side, drove to study in this school.  

lureen

Yes, there is extra work and some other activities going on.   Eng, math, chinese are all on his extra work list (usually 1 -2 subjects a day) but it all depends on the child's overall condition. Too tired or busy, then will leave the work for another day. Other extra physical/music activity classes are held on the Sat. The school fun activity is held only once a week, after school. Afterall, it's not too busy. I also try to arrange a nap if I can so as to keep his body in balance.

lureen

lamsuetwai, there is always pros and cons in these 2 different systems. If happiness is seen as the most valuable thing at this early stage, just let them have all the happiness that they can have. Once they get older, responsibility/discipline/pressure will come gradually and they shall learn to pick these up bit by bit. I suppose as they go to higher grades, they shall have better awareness in those areas.
Indeed some Int'l sch has better discipline training than the others. KCIS, so far, has done well in this area.

Beyond this carefree school life, I will request my kid to get involve with some community activities. Hope that he will learn something from this  experience.  Kids of this generation, mostly, are all living with great protections and wealth from their family. Unfair hardships are not often felt.

Other DDS/private schools is indeed quite difficult to get in. I have heard many who tried applying  and failed. I tried 2, one down and the other win. Still, finally, I gave up because of the location.  

Anyway, I think KCIS is still a good choice at this moment.

lureen

dear xxll,

my kid is in the primary already and may stay for the secondary.  The overall comment is good. Student quality is good and well disciplined, especially those who grew from the kindie. KCIS has the shadow of the main chinese section, though not that strict. I like the serious studying atmosphere in the school area. There is always some even better school in the area but at this moment, I think it suits my kid and that he is also enjoying.   Comments are more or less the same for most of the parents I met. Some even have all their siblings studying in this same school.

lureen

xxll, KCIS has the secondary section. Fee is 7K/m. For details, you may go to www.kcis.edu.hk

lureen

lamsuetwai,

I saw the mail too. It's good news, indeed. Only that it is at the diploma level and not running from the primary level. Some int'l sch and even some private local sch are running such dip. plan too. IB is popular these days. Personally, I like the philosophy of this approach. Let's see how well they can handle this.

lureen

xxll, isn't difficult at all. There is space for expansion. Go and have a visit at the school first to see more.

lureen

xxll, my kid has never studied in any other school so can't compare. He has always been very happy and so is his other classmates. From my observations since kindie, his classmates  are all very nice, well behaved kids. All came from beloved families. Kids often go play at their classmates house after school. Teachers and asst teachers are all very caring and responsible. Of course, 1 or 2 of them may seem to be  more outstanding. Some teachers are more like friends to us. Parents are welcomed to raise your concerns about anything and the office will often try to resolve. The office ladies are friendly too. I am quite comfortable with the environment and the practice of the school so far.

As I said once, there is always some even better school which has proven themselves academically. However, I am also quite concern about the language balance that the school can give to the kids. Also, the workload, the fees, the location, sch history, kid's comments are all concerned factors. I finally come to a conclusion of letting my kid stay in this school.

lureen

junmom, there is no exam in P1 classes.  The only thing tested so far is the simple spelling test, once a week. The thing they practice most during class time is the free writing. They spend a lot of time in reading stories and discussion. It's not tiring and stressful. It's all a learning fun.
Homework is mostly reading and few chinese writing sheets a week. Traditional chin is used.

It's never too late to move to IS. One of my kid's classmates was originally studying in the local P1 but changed over to IS P1 after the Christmas holiday. Kid's adaptive power is strong but at first find the complete freedom inside the classroom strange.

I had no idea what the interview is like but I can help you find that out later.

lureen

BBCHU6,

1) the ratio is 12:1, sometimes 10:1

2) the workload is low, very low. Compared with SIS, it's minimal

3) Putonghua will not be as fluent as in the main section but still be acceptable, extra practice will certainly be helpful, listening and oral. The teachers have divided the putonghua students into 2 groups. One senior level and the other general level.

lureen

junmom, from what I was told, the interview seems quite easy for P1. The headteacher asked the candidate about his/her name, age then do some numerical counting and shapes. Whole oral testing done alone. Then asked parent in for further chatting and inquiring on the parents views to move to IS.  Simple and easy. If the kid tested is attentive enough and will respond when asked, then shouldn't be difficult.

lureen

Junmom, P1 student in IS is just equivalent to K3 local system, so I guess this is the reason why the interview should be made simple. However, once going above the P1, written test would be carried out because this is a skill requirement by P2. I have no idea about the waiting list.

IB, as confirmed officially, will be available only at the diploma level, around F.6 level. Not avail. for primary and lower secondary. KCIS is an IS following the British national curric., teachers may or not be a foreigner, if not they are mostly ABCs. Local teaching system is only found in the main section of KCS. KCIS students are mostly SE Asians (HK, Taiwanese, Japanese etc.) and a few caucasians.

Cantonese may sometimes be heard around the school playground but  not too much as  many of them are keen to use english. Still, this really depends on the batch of student mix and the student himself/herself. Cantonese is not encouraged but is not prohibited because it's an official language in HK. Of course, english is still the only one language to use during class, except mandarin class.

ESF is always attractive to lots of parents. Wish you good luck in both.

lureen

junmom, the local system can't be used in the british system. Afterall, it's just a name for classification of level. British curr. has only 2 yrs of kindie and the local system has 3 yrs. So you will see that P.1 level is more or less the same as the local K3 level. You can study P1 at 5 yrs but in local P1, you must have to be at least 5 yrs 8 mth. Brit curr will go from P1-P6 then F1- F7. No worry, they all will get what they shall need to get into university.