SWCK interview

YYFUNG

My child will go there for K1 interview (they say "informal meeting") this week.

Could anyone tell me how the interview went in the past years?

Usually when do the school send the acceptance mail send to the parents after the "informal meeting"?

Kind regards,
maria

A+BB

When is your child interview ? Mine is on today, maybe we can share after today interview.

I had called the school office before and they said actually the place is already confirmed unless there's any special need from the child, so they so called this as "informal interview".

502

I can't recall when will they confirm you the acceptance as it happended year ago for us!

But the meeting itself should be really informal.  Kid will be asked to play some toys and you will have a chat with the teachers.  Really friendly and cannot be named as an interview all.

BTW, I stronly recommend SWCK as it is a caring kinder.  Not only the teachers and staff but also the parents themselves are nice!  

原帖由 YYFUNG 於 09-1-11 18:57 發表
My child will go there for K1 interview (they say "informal meeting") this week.

Could anyone tell me how the interview went in the past years?

Usually when do the school send the acceptance mail s ...

slammama

Hi A+bb and yyfung,

may i ask if your child's K1 interview is for april intake or sept intake?

YYFUNG

Dear slammama.
It is SEpt intake.

Dear 502 and all other mama.
You 're right - They actually accept the child in advance as they have all the registration package ready for the parents.

Now it come to a difficult time - we have some other english schools not yet being interviewed.
(The others are in February.)
SWCK asks u sto confirm by 20 Jan.....
Today Starters also call us up.

Should I really pay for these two for "security"?

My taregt path for primary is either ESF or JIS(english section).
Kind regards,
Maria

A+BB

Hi YYfung,

I encounter the same difficulties with you since I still waiting for the ESF 2nd round. ESF still be my 1st choice since it had the priority for the P1 interview.

Do you ever had a school visit for starters? How did you compare starters with SWCK (enviornment and teachers)?

For myself, most likely I will paid the school fee for SWCK to hold the place first

YYFUNG

Dear A+BB,
You name indicates to me you might probably have two kids : )?

ESF has already offered us acceptance letter, and will visit the school in February.
It is very very likely we may turn them down.

Starters is good because my sister-in-law's daughter studied there 11 years ago and they could tell me what they knew.
I visited the school last year, and you could find my observation in PM . (please check PM box)

(A+BB, it is difficult for me to compare between SWCK and Starters becuase the time spending in SWCK was very short and the principal did not show us the class and the teacher of K1. When we visited Starters, Ms. Winnie did and explained things in details. She took us to K1 class and let (my) the child stay for a while and said hello to the K1 teacher - Mrs molton.)

SWCK is good - the atmosphere, however it is very far away from our homes. I applied for this just because it's considered as a back up.

However, there is a chinese new year in January 2009 and it delays all the school interviews to February (usually happened in Jan of the year). It makes those "targets" not confirm us before or at the sam e time as SWCK (ie. January)

The target of K1 to us is KBCK, YMCA and Starters. All are AM classes.
For safety, probably I may pay deposit for Starters.

(Starters called me up for April intake. I said coming in September, and the school asked me to reserve the seat - reasons are nearly full.)

To the worst case, if I make something wrong that miss all the school, I will let my girl stay in her current school (Bambino) - it is good though.

As long as it is pure English environment, I am okay. This prepares her to apply for JIS primary and ESF primary.

A+BB, when did you attend the "meeting" yeaterday?
It is supposed I should join 1pm group for AM class, but we could not make it. They we visited there at 2pm.)

Kind regards,
Maria

原帖由 A+BB 於 09-1-13 10:44 發表
Hi YYfung,

I encounter the same difficulties with you since I still waiting for the ESF 2nd round. ESF still be my 1st choice since it had the priority for the P1 interview.

Do you ever had a school ...

iristony625

Maria,

I have seen your thread concerning the acceptance of offer from starters.  If I were you, I will pay the deposit for safety.  

Regards,
Iris

原帖由 YYFUNG 於 09-1-13 11:53 發表
Dear A+BB,
You name indicates to me you might probably have two kids : )?

ESF has already offered us acceptance letter, and will visit the school in February.
It is very very likely we may turn them  ...

[ 本帖最後由 iristony625 於 09-1-13 12:05 編輯 ]

A+BB

Hi YYfung,

I think I attend the same section with you, at 2:00 pm but my son was admitted in pm class and still in the am waiting list.

We lived in HK island so I did not have much choice. My main concern for the SWCK is much far away and the school bus may not stop near our home. If he enrolled in pm session, my husband and I can't bring him to school but I think it's impossible for the helper to bring him to school though his younger brother is only 1 year old, it's too dangerous !!!

So the only thing I can do now is just keep waiting (the ESF, SWCK am sessiion) or maybe try starters. The worst case is just stay in his current school but the school did not have any connection with ESF , so headache now !!!

YYFUNG

Hi A+BB.
Dont cry...... if I turn down the offer of SWCK, you may have chance to go to AM class.

SWCK offers us Morning Session.
: ))
Maria

原帖由 A+BB 於 09-1-13 12:15 發表
Hi YYfung,

I think I attend the same section with you, at 2:00 pm but my son was admitted in pm class and still in the am waiting list.

We lived in HK island so I did not have much choice. My main c ...

502

A+BB,

No worry - The bus company serving SWCK runs most places in HK Island.  Of course, the price is not cheap!

It is a very nice kinder which I strongly recommend.

原帖由 A+BB 於 09-1-13 12:15 發表
Hi YYfung,

I think I attend the same section with you, at 2:00 pm but my son was admitted in pm class and still in the am waiting list.

We lived in HK island so I did not have much choice. My main c ...

bakusensei

原帖由 YYFUNG 於 09-1-13 11:53 發表
Dear A+BB,
You name indicates to me you might probably have two kids : )?

ESF has already offered us acceptance letter, and will visit the school in February.
It is very very likely we may turn them  ...

Dear YYFung,

It's so great that you got the offer of ESF.

I really wonder if kinders other than ESF can still have any priority in ESF P1:
1) this yr, seems even many cat. 2 abacus kids are still waiting for the seat of Clearway Bay ESF;
2) owing to the financial turmoil, more and more int'l stream oriented parents change to ESF

so, if u plan to go to ESF P1, would it be "safer" to go to ESF kinder?

of course, if u r cat. 1, there won't be any concern.

SWCK is a v. gd school. i know a teacher there. she's v. caring.

marinachira

I still haven't heard anything from SWCK yet. May I know when your children's birthday are?

YYFUNG

Dear marinahira.

June 2006. But does it matter?

Kind regards,
Maria

原帖由 marinachira 於 09-1-13 17:06 發表
I still haven't heard anything from SWCK yet. May I know when your children's birthday are?

YYFUNG

Dear bakusensei.
we are classified into cat 2.....but I do not want ESF kindergarten (ours is TY) just bacause its inflexible system.
Pre-school education is critical to a child. I'd rather pick the school that can build positive core values in the child's mind.
It seems what I heard SWCK, KBCK etc are something like this. : ))
Kind regards,
Maria

原帖由 bakusensei 於 09-1-13 15:56 發表


Dear YYFung,

It's so great that you got the offer of ESF.

I really wonder if kinders other than ESF can still have any priority in ESF P1:
1) this yr, seems even many cat. 2 abacus kids are still  ...

marinachira

Thanks Maria.
I called in the school and said they are currently doing the Sep. intake and they keep on saying that the computer has broken down so she couldn't check the status of my daughter. But my daughter is born in late Sep so I think it is still not her chance yet.

YYFUNG

Dear marinachira.

I think they will have seats for you - there are still some more months to go.

(it is why they give us deadline for the seat confirmation - by 20 January so that they can invite more applicants after CNY.)

Do you have an alternative or a back-up?
: ))
Maria

原帖由 marinachira 於 09-1-15 14:41 發表
Thanks Maria.
I called in the school and said they are currently doing the Sep. intake and they keep on saying that the computer has broken down so she couldn't check the status of my daughter. But m ...

marinachira

Thanks for the reply, Maria.
May I ask how much do u have to pay for the seat confirmation fees? I am worried if it is like a few hundred dollars, everyone would pay 1st and that gives us no seats until the last minutes when they have to pay the real school fees. This has happen to all the local kindergardens.  
My daughter is currently at Victoria HH for the PN class and will promote to the CWB campus this coming August for the Eng/Putonghua class. However, my husband and I have always loved SWCK cuz it is just a few minutes away fm my home + the areas + the caring teachers. So, we are still very unsure about local/int streams. I am thinking, we love SWCK alot but it doesn't mean that we like the other int'l primary in HK. So, it is a 50-50 choice for us. what do u think? What is your choice for your daughter?
marinachira

原帖由 YYFUNG 於 09-1-15 14:51 發表
Dear marinachira.

I think they will have seats for you - there are still some more months to go.

(it is why they give us deadline for the seat confirmation - by 20 January so that they can invite mo ...

YYFUNG

Dear Marinachira.
: ))
The reservation fee for SWCK is $4050 (1 month school fee plus the art folder & the uniform).

To me and my husband, we are very clear that we pursue IS (non-local) stream since day 1 my daughter 's born.

Yes, SWCk is one. Among some others to be chosen, we give up this because of its accessibility. (we are the exception - we do not pay for it first : ))

Could you mind my telling you something about your case?

SWCK, and other non-local cirriculum kindergartens are using very different approcah to the children - for example, they will not require the childrenhood is full of homework, tests and examinations. In the eyes of the teachers and principals of these schools, PLAY is the #1 important. Knowledge thru play, experience thru play, social skills thru play, language skills thru play, motor skills thru play........

If you are "yes" to these and you dont mind people saying "oh no, only playing.......how do they survive in this competitive world?........", I can say non-local system will fit your family.

If you are still on the cross roads, Victoria may not be a bad choice. It is in the middle of being traditional and international.

It sounds Victoria gives you ary good offer. I know a lot of people may adore and be jealous of you - ENG/ PTH in causeway bay.

We are not using international school as a shelter.
We are really buying in the education system of non-local ones.
We really want my child to be VERY creative and VERY out-of-box. We know this aim cannot be achived in local school system.
We also are english-speaking familiy and really look for the right place for english-speaking children.
These are those reasons we pick the non-local kindergartens - and we want the pre-school can be CONSISTENT" with their primary and secondary learning.

Have you annd your husband think about your child's primary and secondary education? Think backward and you may know what you and your child really need.

Talk to you.
Maria

原帖由 marinachira 於 09-1-17 13:50 發表
Thanks for the reply, Maria.
May I ask how much do u have to pay for the seat confirmation fees? I am worried if it is like a few hundred dollars, everyone would pay 1st and that gives us no seats unt ...

YYFUNG

Hi marinachira - the reservation fee should be $4440 ($4295 for chool fee + $25 for art folder + $125 - uniform) Sorry I write it wrong in the above message.
:)) maria