ICS Parents

tommyzoe

I would like to invite all ICS parents to share anything about the school life of our kids here.

tommyzoe

For R1 & R2 kids, they are not compulsory to wear school uniform (ICS polo shirt). But, they preferred to wear ICS polo shirt, right? There are 2 color of it, red and white. Are red for girl and white for boy?

tommyzoe

Is there different in color of polo shirt in meaning? I mean, is boy definitely wearing white one?

tommyzoe

tommyzoe

I agreed with your view. We will let him to wear uniform too.

Thanks!

CherylMum 寫道:
tommyzoe,

You asked in another topic whether I will let my kids wear the uniform.  Yes, I will, so as to save the trouble of thinking about what to wear every morning.  And, wearing the uniform will give the kids a sense of belongings towards the school.

tommyzoe

I had ever struggled in choosing between main-streamed kindergarten in Kowloon Tong and international kindergarten. My son have been awarded both offers. It is very difficult to make a decision because both of them are good. At the start, I think that ICS's academic performance is not high compared with HK band 1 school. Thanks God! I got information from "lenglenma" that I have confidence to choose ICS that its academic performance is good enough. Also I think my son will get more things at ICS than band 1 school.

I choose ICS to my son that is a right choice. Do lenglengma think so?

tommyzoe

Agreed!
We are Christian family. I hope my son will be at ICS until finishing G12. Then he can go to a top univeristy. I know, if we send him to study at a famous kindergarten in Kowloon Tong, he may have a big chance to study band 1 secondary school. But he may not be really happy. He may lost something in the course of his development.
Lenglengma, which church you join now?

lenglengma 寫道:
tommyzoe,
Don't worry...ICS is definately a good choice for you son...and if you are a Christian, you would believe that it is also God's wish to let you son study in a good Christian school right?
lenglengma

tommyzoe

lenglengma,
Agreed with your points of view.
My son is already a happy baby. We let him to develop with his own characters & mind (of course good ones) in daily life. It is important that he is growing inside Jesus Christ! I don't want to see him losing happiness in one day if he goes into those band 1 school.
I believe that ICS should be a right choice for him. At ICS, he will not lose in academic development I expected. Also he can gain more that cannot be obtained from main-streamed band 1 school.
Do you meet any ICS G12 graduates who finished university education? Do you feel that they are smart?

lenglengma 寫道:
tommyzoe,
Please check PM.  
Also, even if your son ended up in those Band 1 local school, he will probably end up being those typical H.K. local kids.  I personally think, nowadays, they just don't know what they are doing.  They are not willing to express themselves, concentrate so much on material things, etc...
And...I know that at ICS you son will be happy.
I heard so many stories about kids after switching to ICS became another new happy person!
lenglengma

tommyzoe

This is also our concern previously but now we feel very comfortable in choosing ICS for my son. Nothing is perfect. But, I do believe ICS can be good place for my son. Regarding Chinese language we will be responsible for teaching to him.

amandalyy2002 寫道:
I heard so many stories about ICS.  My daughter is studying in local school.  My friend is PTA in ICS and she is highly recommend me to switch to ICS.  I'm only worrying about Chinese.  Seems they have Chinese lesson only half hours a day or less.  Will you guys worry the same as me?

tommyzoe

Thanks for lenglengma. These are very good points. I agreed with you.

lenglengma 寫道:
tommyzoe,
I don't know any G12 students, but i met some G 9 and G11 students.  They are very mature, and they know what they are doing.  They really enjoy school too.  I heard that in high school, they will work in "teams" instead of groups, meaning that they will be assigned in different teams in class.  That team will support each other and provide good team spirit in learning.  I think they need to do projects and assignments together and they have to learn how to work with one another as team.  
We cannot really say who is "smart" or who is not...I just think that being smart is really a nature issue, while being "good" is from an outside influence.
Being in a band 1 school doesn't mean he/she will end up being smart...because he/she may have very good results in exams, but it doesn't mean that he/she knows how to solve problems, how to work with other people, or how to be humble.  Sometimes the things that they think are quite "dead" too.  So..being smart, to me, is being flexible.  He/she can survive everywhere, and is independent, hardworking, able to express themselves, and willing to learn.  These are the things that kids can't really learn in local schools.

I am not worried about the Chinese standard at ICS.  I know they are thinking to have a more intensive Chinese program due to parent's demands.
As I said earlier....people can be really smart knowing one language.  It is usual for people to know one language.  Why do we have to stress so much on knowing so many languages?  Even if my kids can only speak English, I am not worried because there are tons of job for them to choose.  Look at all those foreigners in H.K., not all of them know Chinese right?  It is okay to know one language.  What is important is that they have the quality to suceed, not how many languages do they speak.
That's really what I think.
Lenglengma

tommyzoe

I hope more parents can think what important thing we should consider for our kids. I think that is holistic development. Lenglengma, I am glad to hear you that those G9 & G11 students know what they are doing and they are mature. Many band 1 schools cannot develop their students in these ways, to be honest.

tommyzoe

I had talked to Ms. Hoy, principal of ICS kindergarten, that you can still send R1 application even though there is a waiting list. ICS will see your kid if he/she is suitable for there.

play 寫道:
Dear lenglengma,

Thank you for your info.
I am quite worry about ESF reform and the staff's low moral. Besides, the TY kinder ESF is very far from my home. I live at Ma On Shan.

Now, I will contact the school of ICS and send application. TY again.

tommyzoe

Dear Lenglengma,
I think, we can understand the concern from "lay" if IB is better than SAT. If you have done some exercises in comparison between IB & SAT, please share with us.

lenglengma 寫道:
Dear Play,
If you are planning on sending you kids to the U.S. or Canada, ICS is definately the choice.  Yes, they said IB is reconized by all universities, but...始終無禁著數。Trust me...I went through it all myself.  It is better for your child to be in an American school instead, since kids need to take AP and SAT's at ICS.
Nothing for you to worry about in the future...it will be so much easier for you and your child.  Plus, you will get all those useful informations from those college counsellor at ICS.
ICS has debenture..other than that...no additional charges.
Lenglengma

tommyzoe

Lenglengma,
Thanks for your wonderful info.

lenglengma 寫道:
You cannot really compare IB with SAT because they are totally different things.  I know that IB is a curriculum while SATs are public tests that you need to take to let people in universities to determine whether or not you have the ability to get in.
If you are going to the U.S. to study....you NEED to take SAT's and TOEFL.  When they said the U.S. also accepts IB, it only means that they will recognize the curriculum, but students still need to take TOEFL and SAT's in order to get in...so...my point is:
If you are in an American Int. school like HKIS, AIS or ICS...your kid doesn't have to worry about taking the SATs cluelessly..because your kids will learned how to take the SAT's and get to practice at school.  If your kids attend IB school, then he/she will be quite clueless when taking the SAT's, since the IB doesn't have any courses on SAT's and AP etc.
Also AP stands for advance placement...ICS provides wide range of AP courses...the credit that you get from the AP courses can be used in University, meaning that in high school, you have already achieved University standards.  Therefore, if your kids take AP in High school, people at the university will be impressed because they know that your kid's level has already reached university's.  Also, since the AP credits can be used in university...meaning it will save you some money in university by taking less GE (General Education).  
However, an IB curriculum doesn't have AP...so...始終無禁著數.
Also, I am not sure about now...but this was what happened to me....I know that the British system (I am not sure if it applies to IB) does have a different grading system than the U.S's.  The problem is...in the U.K. system, a C is a quite okay grade...but in the states, a C is a bad grade.  Doesn't mean the U.S. standard is lower, it is just that the U.S. system tend to grade student easier.  So...if you are coming from a U.K system or may be IB curriculum...you get a C (quite good already), but if you take that grade to an American University...they don't understand what a "C" is all about..they are asking for "A's" and "B's"....therefore, I personally think that it will lower your chance of getting into an university you deserve.
YOu see...filing the application of the university doesn't give you any chance or time to explain about the differences between different curriculum and grading systems...etc...
Hope it helps...
Lenglengma

tommyzoe

Skytower52,
If your son is studying at main-streamed kindergarten with Chinese speaking, I think that ICS will recommend your son to R1 rather than R2. My son will be 3 in coming August. Mrs. Hoy told me that he is the youngest one in R1 class. She said that some kids who are 4 years old will also study R1. In the interview, they will test kids to recogize shapes, colors, matching, answer questions through a story, drawing and so and so. Just allow 1 parent to go with the kid. The test is last for about half an hour.
If I miss something, everybody pls. help to remind skytower.
I had been the construction site of ICS. It is a good location. Beside ICS, this is HKBU through-train schools. I think ICS will be very famous once the new campus is ready.

[quote]
skytower52 寫道:
Hi, lenglengma

多謝你的回應！

我仔仔而家4歲，如果今年9月想插班R2，請問係咪會比較難入？我諗而家讀

tommyzoe

You may try to contact ICS on 3156-1243 ASAP.

[quote]
skytower52 寫道:
Thanks, tommyzoe

我仔仔而家讀

tommyzoe

tommyzoe

Thanks lenglengma,
You are absolutely corrected! Thanks for your detailed info.

Skytower,

Planned capacity of R1 is 20 for am and 20 for pm.
Planned capacity of R2 is 30 for am and 30 for pm.
Planned capacity of P1 is 70.
So you may thing how difficult a kid goes to P1 of ICS from outside.

If it is not correct, everybody pls. update it accordingly.

lenglengma 寫道:
Dear Skytower52,
越早讀越好﹗你仔仔入讀R2應無問題﹐如果佢係讀開國際學校。但係ICS係8月中就開學啦。 我聽聞小學GRADE 1 已經有長長waiting list 啦。所以係kindergarten入讀會比較好。
P1係pre-first﹐之後就係grade 1.  P1已經係elementary既一部份。你仔仔入讀R2後並不代表可直升。係R2佢地會有一個正式interview(accessment test)先至可肯定比唔比佢上P1。  呢個interview係家長唔可以陪同既。考大概45分鐘。由兩個specialists去考。我知道如ICS 既R2學生唔合格﹐最多都係會叫佢留班。但如果外來新想入學既學生唔合格﹐就可能機會無甘高。所以你仔仔8月讀R2會著數D。
點解會甘嚴呢﹖因為一上P1就多野學啦﹐所以一D程度唔夠既小朋友會追唔上。
係呀。我都去過新學校地盤看過。地點很好﹐隔嚟又係浸會大學分校。交通又方便。
你可以去呢度看看新校舍D圖畫﹐齊齊幻想下小朋友係入面既情景 ﹕http://www.ics.edu.hk/ccc/NSB/Main.html

lenglengma

tommyzoe

tommyzoe