Is it good at ISF

HKTHK

In the interest of full disclosure, let me state a couple of facts first before I respond:

- I am a parent and my kids are at ISF.  You can say that I come with a certain bias but I am not necessarily wedded to the school.  You will have to judge for yourself but you have been forewarned- [the other facts deleted since spantan is gone and no need to respond directly to him]

In my opinion, ISF is a work in progress.  It is expensive like any other comparable international schools in town.  It is new and won’t have a good college placement record for years.  It is also not for every parents as it is more laid back than local schools.  As a school, I do believe it is heading in the right direction.

Have read this forum from time to time but this is my first time posting.  While I treasure some of the posts here, I find Spantan’s response here odd and at times downright irresponsible.  Many of his comments strike me as snide attacks colored by personal biases and naivete.  Here are my thoughts:

You may know your friend very well but hearsay is hearsay.  You are obviously entitled to your opinion but form them on facts and not what you heard from your friend.  Attacking a school based on hearsay is downright irresponsible.

Comparing your personal standards for colleges to placement for a whole school is comparing apples to oranges.  Even Andover, arguably the best private school in the US, only places 26% of its students to Ivy Leagues (http://www.andover.edu/About/New ... 0Matriculation.aspx).  Expecting a whole school to place at your standard is unrealistic if not laughable.

“In general, for such rich parents, if they want to find university placement for their kids, I don't think there is any difficulties and therefore the around 60 offers you mentioned means nothing important.“  Are you implying that rich parents can just buy their way into good universities?  Undoubtedly there is some truth to that at the billionaire level but for all parents at ISF?  Seriously?

On a more happy note, there are good reasons why I sent my kids to ISF and they are almost the same as kfy.  Every kid will know how to read, write and do math when they grow up.  But it is happiness, passion and curiosity to learn that makes them a complete person.  Out of my personal friends who sent their kids to ISF, over 80% of them went to an Ivy League themselves.  It will be great if our kids will have the chance to go to an Ivy League but that is not why we sent them to ISF, how we will judge the quality of the education or assess our children.  Life is about much more than sending your kids to a good college.  Stereotypical type A HK parent really need to take a chill pill and relax.

HKTHK

simpleway/bobbycheung, can you share a bit more detail about him?  Or did I just wasted 20 mins for naught?

funnymommy>  in my kids classes, there are several Eurasians and also some families who doesn't understand Chinese at all.  It is obviously more hard work for them and I think some of them use tutors.  The kids are adjusting though and while not the best in Chinese (those would be the native Mandarin speakers), they all acquire fluency.  English is pretty widely used as well.  All of them converse in either English or Mandarin and which language is being used depends on who they are speaking with.  Having said this, my understanding is that in the recent round of interviews, there was a test on mandarin.  You will have to ask parents who have gone through that though.  My kids are still in the lower grade and I think it is a good balance between inquiry learning and rote learning.  Rough to break it down to % but for example, there was a project day a month or two ago whereby students spend several weeks working on their own projects which they then share with other students and visitors on an open day.  Let me know if you have more questions.

HKTHK

回復 mesmerising 的帖子

Can you explain in more detail?  Are you unhappy with the curriculum (as in difficulty of contents) or culture (as in behaviors of students)?

HKTHK

Didn't meant to dig into your old story but just wanted to learn more where you were coming from.  Thank you for sharing.

HKTHK

回復 21Ckid 的帖子

Is that what the above poster is unhappy about?  I thought she was unhappy about behavioral problems.

HKTHK

回復 shadeslayer 的帖子

Tell me, which school in HK promise anything?  

HKTHK

回復 shadeslayer 的帖子

Let me ask you another question, Yung Kee is famous for its roast goose.  Does it serve other dishes?  Are the other dishes simply bad because they are not the "selling points"?

HKTHK

I visit the school several times a week as well and the behavior of the students are pretty much inline with what I would expect.  Kids are given more freedom relative to LS and they take advantage of it.  They run around and can be loud.  I would not consider that inappropriate behavior though since kids are kids.  There are some families that do suffer from the "princeling" problem, i.e. spoiled rich kids.  Luckily they are a small minority in the classes that we have been in and can be easily avoided.  Most families are professionals who really care about their child and their education.

HKTHK

回復 shadeslayer 的帖子

Then show me a school with a demonstrated track record and also evidence of bilingualism

HKTHK

回復 shadeslayer 的帖子

Obviously you are still missing the point.  But I really don't have to patience to toil through all the arguments only to discover a thick skull in the end.  Since you take all your posts seriously, as you said in another post, I would suggest thinking a bit more before posting nonsense such as "does the school promise bilingualism?"

HKTHK

回復 shadeslayer 的帖子

Criticisms come in all shapes and forms.  mesmerising resurrected this thread with some valid and reasonable criticisms and I thank her for that.    I even came to her defense when she was criticized.  As for your "Does the school promise this?  It is a bold promise" comment, it is simply childish, immature and uncalled for.  Bilingualism is a selling point, maybe even a major one.  But promise?  Are there any parents here who has received a promise from any school about specific results?  What promises have you received from your daughter's school?

You should also get your facts straight.  SIS has a secondary school now but it is even newer than ISF.  I also believe it is a good school.  But to follow your twisted logic, does being new mean that it is a bad school?  Why do you think it offers good bilingual education?  What evidence do you have to substantiate that (especially at the end of primary school which I assume you are referring to)?


I will let others be the judge but the immature comments and fallacy in logic are irritating to say the least.

HKTHK

回復 missq 的帖子

There are certainly wealthy families at the school and you will see your fair share of Hermes bags and 7-seaters with drivers.  I don't think it is all that different from other non-ESF IS (e.g. CIS, SIS, Victoria) in HK though.  You will also get some birthday parties at AMC and this does bother me a bit after several occurrences.  That is the extent of display of wealth that I have witnessed.  At the end of the day, I think it comes down to the education at home.  
As for mainland Chinese families, you will have to remember that these are not 雙非 families but rather those who are educated or have worked abroad.  Most, if not all, of the ones that I have come across are finance professionals or other professionals like lawyers.  Personally, I think the ones that cause the most headaches are rich HK families rather than the mainland ones.

Have you also thought about the fact that some LS, esp the good and famous ones, also have a disproportionately large number of affluent parents?