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21Ckid

momo_cheung 發表於 15-9-24 13:49
Any comment on Kingston, especially i want to know...
1. the style of learning? learning through pla ...

1. It is play based learning. From K1 (3 year old class) onwards, the school adopts IB PYP.

2. YC focuses on mother tongue (cantonese) and its standard of english is quite behind the other 2. Victoria, depending on campus, but i heard the one in causeway bay is much better (and far harder to get in). English in Kingston should be enough for you to get through the interview of most other IS. But since very few parents are native english speakers, i would imagine the kids' english would not be comparable to those from say woodlands.

3. Some parents speak to their kids in english outside school, some in cantonese and some in mandarin (about 20% of parents are native pth speakers i guess). So it depends, when the kids get around, they tend to speak among themselves more in english than in cantonese. Because most Hk parents focus more on english, the kids are usually far better in english than mandarin though the schooling time is 50/50.

4. No idea at this young age yet. Certainly play based learning instead of mouth feeding.

5. Parents of Kingston are mostly local (more local than say anfield, esf , not even to say woodlands), though some have foreign passports, and quite a lot (i guess at least 1/3) will ultimately go back to LS system at different stages. The $100k would then be a bit wasted. Also, since location of the secondary school is not good, many parents will leave at various stages to through train schools, and would not move on to its own primary school.

21Ckid

momo_cheung 發表於 15-10-1 15:13
21Ckid, thanks for your kindly reply, appreciated you have answered all my questions. i am curious  ...

I mean 1/3 of those entering playgroup will go back to LS. A lot of families are undecided as to IS or LS when going into playgroup when kids are only 1 year old (or several months old when given the offer) and are concerned with the kids having happy childhood etc. As I said, most families are very local, and many will return to the conventional thinking that the LS route is more appropriate for their families. Some leave after PG, some after PN, some after K1 etc. Most to reputable local kindergartens or through train local kinders. Most families are quite well off, so the capital levy of HK$100k (or $72k at my time) isn't much.

In fact the primary school teaches in IB and wouldn't be pushy at all. It is a very small and cosy school in which the principal and staff knows the names of practically all students, and for parents bringing kids to school themselves, they know who are the parents of the kids too. I think it is good. But then, you see kids leaving every year to other through train IS every year since K1 up to Grade 5 and sometimes you may feel a bit upset if your child is seen as "not able to" get outside offer yet (even though you may have all the time determine to stay in this school).

21Ckid

Bearbearlight 發表於 15-10-3 21:18
Thanks for your sharing 21Ckid. Has your child stayed in Kingston for primary? What is your view tow ...

I will also look for a good through train school with Kingston primary as back up, same as most parents. I think the primary school is good, but as i said, you won't feel good to see your kid's classmates leaving every year and by year 3 or 4, perhaps all those from PG would have gone!

I don't know much about the secondary school, except its location is remote. Beside ICHK, Kingston also has several "special relations" school including creative secondary and hong kong academy and a jewish school (forgot the name), which as of now will in practice take anyone from Kingston if the student is interested. Of course, you never know if this relationship will change many years later.

The school had sent out a letter about a year ago indicating great hope in getting the new site in taipo, perhaps it was the front runner in the shortlist, but then probably circumstances have changed. The school is still very active in getting the secondary link up, otherwise students in kinder will only see primary as back up, and students in primary will leave mid way.

I will not consider YC as YC focuses on developing mother tongue first and most students without a good english environment outside school will lag behind other kinder IS in level of english quite significantly. That said, the quality of its education is very good as i heard.

21Ckid

Bearbearlight 發表於 15-10-5 22:29
Thanks again for your info. do you have any idea as to where do Kingston kids go if they chose to le ...

Quite diverse, esf, rc, harrow, cdnis, cis, isf, etc.

21Ckid

fanfanbb 發表於 15-10-12 12:19
Thank you for the useful information and detailed analysis. I am one of the users too and satisfied ...

Why would you want to get into PG for just a few months? While the PG of Kingston is good, I believe most others are similar. The primary reason to get into PG is to ensure through train to primary (and if you don't mind the distance, secondary too).

21Ckid

fanfanbb 發表於 15-10-13 17:12
Because we may relocate to other country few months after Kingston's PG starts. Spend additional 10 ...

I think people are willing to pay the $100k are mostly for the primary school backup. If you plan to leave before that, there is certainly no point to study in Kingston. In fact, if not for this, some parents may not even enrol PG, rather play at home. I heard quality of TT teaches varies a lot. So depends on luck.