ESF (South Island School) / ISF / CDNIS / Vic or stay at local school

markBB

Helping my friend to post her question here:
My son is a P5 student of a top-tier local boy school, the school has its own secondary school and my son score is good enough to get into that. However the dilemma now is my son seems not too interested to stay at the local school system. We have done some school visits and he is interested at the above 4 schools.  But problem is we know very little about them, so can I get some advices here? Many thanks.

newdaddy

What part of local school that he doesn't like ? DSE? Reciting? or something else?
Anyway, in general, all 4 schools are nice schools but of different style.
IB results are good for all 4 schools (though ISF may seem to deteriorate a bit than last year but we have to take into account that many of the students went abroad and so did not take the IB there).
My personal opinion is that CDNIS, South Island are more "internationally oriented". ISF would have better Chinese and Victoria have more local students mix.
perhaps other parents can help to add more details to individual schools.

markBB

Her dilemma is to give up a good local school and step into an unknown area (Ib program) just because his son preference. She worried her son decision is immature. Her son said he prefers an English speaking environment and willing to give up the existing friendship.

Little about their background, both parents are professionals and educated overseas in U of Toronto (after completed secondary education in HK). No financial pressure and willing to pay for the ESF nomination right (passed the entry test and interview, now on waiting list for South Island School).

964000

markBB 發表於 17-7-21 17:14
Her dilemma is to give up a good local school and step into an unknown area (Ib program) just becaus ...

But what's the reason that his son is so fancy about international school?  He could still go to study in overseas if he likes to submerge in an English environment.

Activehealth

Deleted

markBB

964000 發表於 17-7-21 17:54
But what's the reason that his son is so fancy about international school?  He could still go to st ...

they will leave hk after grade 10 or 12, so still few years to go, so the kid just cannot wait. so seems ESF and CDNIS are better choice for them?

markBB

She said her son is fancy about the western culture after playing those online games (!) and now have many foreign friends. Her son is also interested in the wartime history and read 100+ books on this area. Thanks to the local school his kid's Chinese is good.

964000

markBB 發表於 17-7-22 10:47
She said her son is fancy about the western culture after playing those online games (!) and now hav ...

In that case, there is nothing much to lose if he can get to IS now. I bet he doesn't like Chinese too. But it's not easy to get into ISF cuz they need a high level of mandarin ( not Cantonese Chinese).

markBB

964000 發表於 17-7-22 11:31
In that case, there is nothing much to lose if he can get to IS now. I bet he doesn't like Chinese  ...

According to my friend, her son got the offer early this year but they decided to move the enrollment to grade 7 since the dad (old boy of the primary school) wants him to officially graduate from the current school first. So I bet his Chinese is ok. FYI, according to my friend, there was only a small section during the interview process, majority was still in English.  

markBB

how about CDNIS and Vic, any comment? I took a quick look at recent IB exam results, seems all these 4 schools are quite similar, however i don't know it's represtative enough for students changed from local schools.

964000

markBB 發表於 17-7-22 11:44
According to my friend, her son got the offer early this year but they decided to move the enrollmen ...

ISF is like in between local school and international school, if he likes really western style, maybe he will even like ESF and CDNIS better. In this case looks like the boy is determined 個心都已不在local school，if I were his parent I will switch him as soon as possible. 早轉早享受

markBB

964000 發表於 17-7-22 11:58
ISF is like in between local school and international school, if he likes really western style, may ...

Ha Ha, I actually said the same thing to my friend, the only obstacle is the dad, being old boy of the secondary school, he has a strong "情意結". And the other factor is they don't know much about IB so worry his son may not be able to handle the changes.

964000

markBB 發表於 17-7-22 12:03
Ha Ha, I actually said the same thing to my friend, the only obstacle is the dad, being old boy of t ...

Sometimes 父母情意結 is really a burden to the kids Concerning switching to IB, he better starts after p5 for ESF and Cdnis.

markBB

they are applying CDNIS, but heard very difficult. esp they don't have shortcut like nomination right. but consider the value of the NR, CDNIS is actually cheaper.

linrongyao

markBB 發表於 17-7-21 16:04
Helping my friend to post her question here:
My son is a P5 student of a top-tier local boy school,  ...

I would like to add my comments for your friend's reference.
If your friend's son is a Chinese,  I propose him to learn Chinese Language ( no matter it is Cantonese or Mandarin ) in his primary school before changing to English schools.  Chinese language is important these days owing to the rising up of China.  There are certain big corporations who need employees who know Chinese language because they are doing business with China.    Chinese language is not easy to be learned by foreigners.  It would be a pity if he loses the chance of learning Chinese when he is young.

I could remember my friend's son who migrated from Hong Kong to UK when he was in primary 4.  He forgot all Chinese after one to two years.

markBB

Very true, my friend said will insist to train her son Chinese, just in a more causal way.

linrongyao

if you type the wordings " UK jobs for Chinese " in Google search engine, you will find certain jobs that need Chinese language.

I could remember my nephew who was in UK to look for jobs after graduation. She applied for management trainee offered by Swire Group. She attended the test and found that she was required to answer in Chinese. Luckily, she still remember some Chinese and got the interview in Hong Kong later. She was told that the post was come from Swire Properties of China !

lui

markBB 發表於 17-7-22 12:14
they are applying CDNIS, but heard very difficult. esp they don't have shortcut like nomination righ ...

My friend's friend called the school, they asks them to go for interview immediately.

lui

linrongyao 發表於 17-7-24 16:53
I would like to add my comments for your friend's reference.
If your friend's son is a Chinese,  I p ...

我曾經也有這考量，從商的工種確有中文的需求。不過，其他很多工種是不需要。

markBB

lui 發表於 17-7-25 12:42
My friend's friend called the school, they asks them to go for interview immediately.

Also upper school?