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標題: Are SJS & RC teachers caring and patient? [打印本頁]

作者: Fattymom 時間: 07-12-12 23:31 標題: Are SJS & RC teachers caring and patient?

I'm struggling about choosing SJS or RC and therefore I want to know more about those schools.  My first preference was definately SJS, however, both schools have been changing recently and so I've to think it twice.

RC is a very new school but it earns lots of good comment.  More and more parents (including foreigner) will apply this school and then the quality of their students will become better and better.  Further, my kid doesn't need to take any extra mandarin course.  On the other hand, I feel that their teachers are not so aggressive.  I went to the school tour and noticed that the classroom atomsphere was not so good.  Recently, a RC parent told me that her son's class teacher is so-so, not caring.  I know this may happen in any school.  But, I don't feel comfortable about it.  Any RC parent can give me more information and comment about the teachers?

For SJS, it is a well-known ESF school and very difficult to get in.  Recently, I've heard that there is conflict between the principal and the teachers, some parents are not satisied with the school.  Some students have switched to RC (i don't know the reason).  Any SJS parents can tell me more about the teachers?

PLEASE.....

作者: fitmum 時間: 07-12-13 23:40

原文章由 Fattymom 於 07-12-12 23:31 發表
I'm struggling about choosing SJS or RC and therefore I want to know more about those schools. My first preference was definately SJS, however, both schools have been changing recently and so I've to ...

As for SJS, yes, heard there's big conflict (unpleasant encounters) between parents and teachers against the principal who joined 3 yrs ago.
Overall, teachers are very good.  Luckily, I'm happy with all the class teachers of my boy for these 3 years and my boy has grown and developed in a very positive way.  Only heard of one mean teacher from other class so far.  The one thing I complain about is that almost no "free" after-school activities and this really doesn't help to bond the students with the school.

RC is managed by ESF so you should have confidence on it.  For the $you pay, you get so much Chinese and after school activities and heard also include a musical.  The money worths.  It wouldn't be a bad choice for this school if within your budget.

作者: Fattymom 時間: 07-12-16 10:11

Thank you fitmum

. Glad to hear that SJS teachers are good

You're right, RC provides more "free" after school activities and the strong mandarin class. On the other way, SJS has a well-established history. It's very difficult to choose

. Would u mind telling me more about their mandarin standard? Will all kids speak english after class? I also heard that there is a conflict between the principal and teachers and parents, do u think the principal will go in the near future? Sorry for so many questions

原文章由 fitmum 於 07-12-13 23:40 發表

As for SJS, yes, heard there's big conflict (unpleasant encounters) between parents and teachers against the principal who joined 3 yrs ago.
Overall, teachers are very good. Luckily, I'm happy w ...

作者: fitmum 時間: 07-12-17 22:01 標題: 回覆 #3 Fattymom 的文章

For SJS

1.  Mandarin class
Starting P4, daily Mandarin class but haven't heard of homework.  Chinese parents think it's not enough and most of them take classes outside.  Mandarin-speaking parents r very unhappy about the way they're teaching and still fighting for improvement (the way the separate groups).
2.  Remember your focus should be on Shatin College cause this is the real target of most people.  Their students tend to have good public exams result.
3)  Re the principal @jr, he got extended for another year (usual term is 2 years).  This means the problem is now under close supervision by ESF.  Hope this can be solved asap.  Lots of politics and you don't want to know about it.

作者: fitmum 時間: 07-12-17 22:12

原文章由 Fattymom 於 07-12-16 10:11 發表
SJS has a well-es ...

Re language, my son and his friends talk in English but can speak Chinese with others. Sometimes can hear Chinese on campus but very rare.
I think SJS has too many Chinese to develop a good English accent, unlike Clear Water Bay.

作者: Fattymom 時間: 07-12-17 22:37

fitmum,

thanks a lot! you're very nice

. Getting a place in Shatin College is a big advantage of joining SJS. I'm still thinking about it

.

Any other comment from SJS or RC parents?

原文章由 fitmum 於 07-12-17 22:12 發表

Re language, my son and his friends talk in English but can speak Chinese with others. Sometimes can hear Chinese on campus but very rare.
I think SJS has too many Chinese to develop a good Engli ...

作者: sillymum07 時間: 07-12-18 23:36

Dear fitmum,

Can you tell me what "free"activities that RC can provide after school? Besides this, after reading lots of discussion about RC English environment, I found that some parents complaint that RC students spoke lots of Cantonese at school premise. Does it still a common phenomenon to see at RC after three months of English learning? Do the students in SJS look smarter that those in RC? Thanks for your sharing.

作者: fitmum 時間: 07-12-19 00:01

原文章由 sillymum07 於 07-12-18 23:36 發表
Dear fitmum,

Can you tell me what "free"activities that RC can provide after school? Besides this, after reading lots of discussion about RC English environment, I found that some parents complaint ...

Dear sillymom07,

Sorry that I'm unable to provide details re RC cause the info I got was from a friend whose son and my son went to the same kindergarten.  At that time, nobody was really willing to go to RC and considered it a school as "lower rank" compared to SJS.  However, through conversation with that mom, I think the kids are receiving nothing less than any other ESF schools but more (in Chinese studies).

Students can choose extra-cirriculum activities; unlike SJS, there's a big cut down on such since the new principal served.

Don't worry if the kids speak Chinese or English on campus.  Under such teaching environment, be confident that they will grow up with full understanding of English even they study abroad.

I hope some RC parents can answer your questions directly.  I just have a good feeling about this school.

作者: Fattymom 時間: 07-12-19 10:41

I think it's not fair to say SJS students are smarter than RC. Both schools are of high standard,however, RC is too new that more than half of int'l kinder parent will choose ESF which let us feel more "secure". Since there are quite a lot of local kinder students are admitted to RC, that creates a Cantonese environment natually. I heard from a RC parent that the school has started to encourage students to speak english even at the playground. I think it's lots of room for RC to develop and change. No one knows which school will be better after a few years. If u want to know more, why don't u join RC school tour. If u want to oberseve the students, u may go to the school around 2:40 at which the school day finishes, u'll see lots of RC students. At this moment, I prefer SJS to RC. What about u?

原文章由 sillymum07 於 07-12-18 23:36 發表
Dear fitmum,

Can you tell me what "free"activities that RC can provide after school? Besides this, after reading lots of discussion about RC English environment, I found that some parents complaint ...

作者: tweetybird 時間: 07-12-19 11:02

原文章由 Fattymom 於 07-12-19 10:41 發表
I think it's not fair to say SJS students are smarter than RC. Both schools are of high standard,however, RC is too new that more than half of int'l kinder parent will choose ESF which let us feel mo ...

我女兒就讀緊RC，我想說RC所有的課外活動都係要自費的，因為大部份都係由ESF Educational 統籌的。故其實我唔覺有免費的課外活動，什麼游水，溜冰，足球等都要俾學費的。但我覺得師資都幾好的，因為我女兒有join它們辦的游水堂。

當然RC有很多的免費Seminar和Talk給父母參加，而有一些學校自己攪係校內表演如音樂會呀，話劇等都係可以唔使錢去睇的。

作者: Ruby1219 時間: 07-12-19 12:59

Tweetybird,

I think what they mean by 課外活動 is the CAS provided by RCHK after school, instead of the ESF ones. Those should only start from Year 3 and most of them are free of charge.

Regarding the English standard of RCHK students, I don't know the full picture. But it's true that the students talk in Cantonese to each other most of the time. Again, I would say this won't worry me too much. Cos most of the time the kids are still using English on their school days. And in long term I'm sure they can master good English. I guess this particular concern for parents who joined RCHK from local schools. As they want their kids' English to be improved in a fast way. However, if you consider putting them in RCHK in long run, for at least few years; their English must be good at the end. And we know, kids learn langauge really fast.

Ruby

作者: JennyL 時間: 07-12-19 13:16

原文章由 tweetybird 於 07-12-19 11:02 發表
我女兒就讀緊RC，我想說RC所有的課外活動都係要自費的，因為大部份都係由ESF Educational 統籌的。故其實我唔覺有免費的課外活動，什麼游水，溜冰，足球等都要俾學費的。但我覺得師資都幾好的，因為我女兒有join它們辦的游水堂 ...

I think 課外活動 means the CAS activities. They are available to students from Year 2 (or 3 ) up free of charge. Different activities are available to different year levels. You would not be able to know what CAS activities there are all together because you need a password to log in to the network. And you would only be able to see what is available to your own child. I would not say the CAS program can please everyone since they are free and are lead by the school teachers. But so far, I think my children have had a good time.

The activities you talked about were organised by ESF. Those activities are available many ESF school and are open to all children from outside as well.

作者: sillymum07 時間: 07-12-20 00:11

Dear Jenny,

Can you tell me what CAS activities that RC offers to Y2 and Y3 students and which one does your child join in? The reasons why i like to put my child in RC are that I want her to be bilingual. I have some friends. Their children are studying in ESF and they speak wonderful English but have low Chinese standard and no motivation to learn Chinese. So, i think it is very important to have children learn chinese at the very early stage. At this moment, I think RC could do better, i'm not sure. Can any RC moms give more details on how their children are assessed? What areas are assessed? Compare with the classmates, some public exam or some special norm? Sorry for so many questions, just want to understand more how the assessments are done and can be used to help the children learn in RC.

作者: acdad 時間: 07-12-20 09:48

Dear sillymon07,

I have asked my daughter to create a chart on the CAS programs available to each grade.

There is no CAS for year 1 and 2 and there are 5 items for year 3, excluduing those marked (closed) from the very beginning before the student can register for it.

CHIN000002

Chinese Speech Competition Practice Yr3 (CLOSED)

JUNI000001

Orchestra B

PROB000001	Problem Solving
ROLL000002	Rollerblading
ROUN000001	Rounders (CLOSED)
SETD000001	Set Design for Pirates of Penzance’s
SWIM000001	Swimming Club (CLOSED)
TABL000001	Table Tennis (CLOSED)
TEST000001	Testing activity for demo only(Closed)
TOUC000001	Touch Rugby

原文章由 sillymum07 於 07-12-20 00:11 發表
Dear Jenny,

Can you tell me what CAS activities that RC offers to Y2 and Y3 students and which one does your child join in? The reasons why i like to put my child in RC are that I want her to be bil ...

作者: JennyL 時間: 07-12-20 11:54

If an activity was marked "CLOSED", it was an activity for for Term One (unless it says clearly that the activity would run throughout the whole year). Children were able to register for it in Term One. At least, my child was in Rounders in Term One.

Your list is not a complete list for Year 3. You have not included all activites for Year 3. I know that Year 3s can enrol in Traditional Cultures and Starfish Bay Club. There might be some other activities that I am not aware of. And from what I understand, Tough Rugby and Swimming Club are activities for secondary students.

原文章由 acdad 於 07-12-20 09:48 發表
Dear sillymon07,

I have asked my daughter to create a chart on the CAS programs available to each grade.

There is no CAS for year 1 and 2 and there are 5 items for year 3, excluduing those marked (closed) from the very beginning before the student can register for it.

CHIN000002 Chinese Speech Competition Practice Yr3 (CLOSED)

JUNI000001 Orchestra B

PROB000001 Problem Solving
ROLL000002 Rollerblading
ROUN000001 Rounders (CLOSED)
SETD000001 Set Design for Pirates of Penzance’s
SWIM000001 Swimming Club (CLOSED)
TABL000001 Table Tennis (CLOSED)
TEST000001 Testing activity for demo only(Closed)
TOUC000001 Touch Rugby

作者: acdad 時間: 07-12-20 12:21

JennyL,

Yes, U are right. Some activities are not available throughout the year.

My chart is incorrect. Thanks for pointing this out.

原文章由 JennyL 於 07-12-20 11:54 發表
If an activity was marked "CLOSED", it was an activity for for Term One (unless it says clearly that the activity would run throughout the whole year). Children were able to register for it in Term On ...

作者: JennyL 時間: 07-12-20 12:51

原文章由 sillymum07 於 07-12-20 00:11 發表
Dear Jenny,

Can you tell me what CAS activities that RC offers to Y2 and Y3 students and which one does your child join in? The reasons why i like to put my child in RC are that I want her to be bilingual. I have some friends. Their children are studying in ESF and they speak wonderful English but have low Chinese standard and no motivation to learn Chinese. So, i think it is very important to have children learn chinese at the very early stage. At this moment, I think RC could do better, i'm not sure. Can any RC moms give more details on how their children are assessed? What areas are assessed? Compare with the classmates, some public exam or some special norm? Sorry for so many questions, just want to understand more how the assessments are done and can be used to help the children learn in RC.ops:" />ops:" />ops:" />

I do not have access to the CAS database for Year 2 or 3 since my children are not in these years. I do not know what CAS activities they have. C stands for Creativity, A stands for Action, S stands for Services, and from what I noticed for other year levels, you would expect they have a bit of each type for everyone to choose from. But of course, if one CAS is very popular (usually the sports are very popular), then it might be difficult for the school to please everyone.

I cannot recall whether RC has ever claimed to be a bilingual cchool but I do not think home grown RC children can by truly bilingual. RC is a school that provide Chinese classes and that's about it. I know that a lot of students are going to outside Chinese classes. In my mind, "bilingual" means you need to be good at both. With the very limited time spent on teaching Chinese, and particularly the overall language environment and culture, I think it is very difficult to expect RC children to be really good at Chinese.

It is hard to tell what is going to happen in the future. All I know is that those that are good at Chinese now are those who joined halfway from local schools. Those who were from other international schools have relatively poorer Chinese. Not to mention that there are western kids and Chinese kids returning from overseas. It is hard to tell what will happen in, say, 4 - 6 years' time when the majority of students would be homegrown RC students. With much fewer students joining halfway from local schools, I think the overall "average" grades would not be as impressive.

There are other schools that claim to be bilingual that you might want to consider if you are into "high" Chinese standard. However, there is always a trade off. They do spend more time on Chinese and do have better environment for Chinese. But the English environment might not be as strong.

There are all types of assessments going on at RC (primary). And I think it is more or less the same in most international schools adopting a western curriculum. The children are assessed all the time, sometimes without parents noticing it: in fact, parents do not necessarily need to know about it. Assessment is basically a tool for the teachers to know more about the children so that they would adjust their teaching to help the children. Assessment may be anything. There are reading assessments, spelling assessments, writing assessments, math assessment etc. Just that they are in areas of relevance. Depending on the Year Levels and subject areas, there might be tests or exams, but they are all conducted for the purpose of either (1) testing whether a child understands what he has learnt (2) identifying the weaknesses of a child (3) "ranking" or putting children in different "levels" for more effective teaching. These tests or exams are not to make children feel bad, rather they are to help teachers and parents know the actual abilities of a child. If a child is behind, the teacher would try to give extra help. If a child is ahead, then the teacher might give him extra challenges. As with other ESF schools, the Year 1 entrance requirement is English. So children might be of different abilities. By putting children with similar abilities in the same sub-group, it will help teachers to teach more effectively. For example, a child might be best in reading and yet not so good in spelling. So he might be a Group One reader and a Group Three speller. He would be asked to read more challenging books and yet still struggle a little spelling simple words. Children are not to compare to others in a class. The are put into sub-groups for teaching purpose only. Smarter children might know whether they are in a "better" sub-group, but generally children would not feel bad if they are not in the best sub-group. They are compared to how they perform previously. They do follow some "standards" which, regretably, I have never really asked what those are. For example, I know that they have a quite standardised way of testing the reading level of the children. Generally, if a child is improving and developing at good pace, then it is a good sign. I think we all agree that almost all international schools adopting a western curriculum are looking for "steady progress" in a child. They might occasionally rank the students (mostly in upper primary) for incentive reasons. But generally, children are expected to "do better than they did last time" instead of expecting them to be the fighting to be number one in class. So, generally, the children do compete but they are competing in a very healthy and friendly atmosphere.

[ 本文章最後由 JennyL 於 07-12-20 16:41 編輯 ]

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