ESF WKS vs. ICS

novicebama

My child has been accpeted to both ESF WKS and ICS in the coming fall. Anyone here knows the pros and cons of each school? I would just want to make an assessment of which school is more suitable for my child. Thank you.  

bunniesmama

Depends on what you look for. If you are Cat 2, and targeting ESF primary, then ESF WKS would be the natural choice.

ICS kinder is NOT 1-dragon to primary, but ICS KG kids do have priority for P1 assessment. If you are targeting ICS for primary, then ICS KG would be the natural choice.

In terms of the KG education itself, ICS is better than ESF. Smaller class size and more attention to individual children. ESF KG is also more of a 'free" school with less emphasis on discipline at this age.

My child also had a similar choice many years back. The ESF offer was tempting, but we took ICS anyways. Turns out, that year in our catchment area, close to 0% of ESF Cat 2 kids was considered for ESF primary in the first round because it was so oversubscribed by Cat 1. So it turned out to be one of the best choice we ever made.

novicebama

Thanks bunniesmama! My child will be a Cat 2 student in ESF so part of my thought is the chance of getting into ESF primary under such condition. I heard all sort of good things about ICS and I am tempted to go along with ICS, but I am concern about the cost and therefore struggling about whether my child should stick with ESF and at least try to get in to ESF primary (understand is preatty tough nowadays for Cat 2), since is relatively cheaper and there is no debenture requirment once in primary.

Are you satisfy with your child's experience in ICS so far?

bunniesmama

ESF also started implementing a debenture program since 1-2 years ago, but the debenture requirement is less than ICS. Re: tuition, currently the cost differential between ESF and ICS is roughly 25K per year at the elementary level.

If you are targeting ESF primary, you really should go to ESF kinder because otherwise, your chance is very slim if you are Cat 2. Similarly, if you are targeting ICS primary, going to their kinder significantly increase your chances for admissions to primary. If you go to ESF kinder, even if you don't get into ESF Primary, there is a good chance you could go to DC or RC, in which case, their tuition is similar to ICS.

Personally, I am very happy with my child's experience at ICS. But ICS is not the kind of school of all kinds of parents in HK. Its quite niche, whereas ESF is more "common" and "big road". So really depends on what you want. For me personally, students' conduct and discipline, and biblical education is very high on my list. Therefore, I would pick ICS over ESF. Also, my child is not the most "active" and "attention catching" kind of child and ICS's more nurturing environment is better and more appropriate especially in the tender and early years in elementary education. So it really depends on your child's personality and what's important to you.

JTmom

Novicebama, if your concern is about cost, you may want to know that the debenture of ICS is currently 190K but is in discussion to increase to 250k in the future. Also, you may want to pencil in a 5-6% annual increase in school fees. It is a good school and the teachers that I have met so far are great and very caring. My child's teacher this year, for example, is a good role model. She is very considerate and kind. Children just "caught" not "taught" acting kind toward others.

My friend's kids are studying in ESF and they do fine as well. In her home, she and her husband value highly family education (家教很嚴）so their kids behave well and are polite to the others. In fact, some other friends of mine put their kids in DSS, and their children are doing good academically and in terms of behavior. Parents do make a difference when it comes to educating your child. If you can spend a good amount of time with your child in guiding him and give him the best school that you can afford, you should feel good about it with no regret. Good luck!