Starters School - Wanchai

Yau_Cheung

hi parents,

Any child study in Starters?  Please share here.  Many thanks.

YYFUNG

Dear Amosmother, Dear Gab.
It sounds both of you are very satisfied with Starters Schools.
I have been told by my sister-in-law about this school because her daughter studied there 10 years ago and had a happy and positive development.
She now studies in ESF KGV secondary.
My husband, my daughter (20 mos) and I visited the school.
I expects it 's small before I go but it is actually smaller than I think.
HOWEVER, I find the atmosphere is very cosy.
Ms. Winne is taking care of us. She is warm and caring as she really spent her time playing with my daughter.
She 's patient. She heartfelt likes the children.
She leaded us the tour.
We watched the class of Primary 1, upper kindy located at 1st floor. The situation is normal, just as ususal. Space is packed and you feel that a taste of children centre. (If you were brought up in hK, it was somehow similar to the kindy we studied when small).
I observed there 're 20-25 students in every class, 2-3 adults.
The students 're very attentive.
We then went to Mrs Malton's class who is the class teacher of lower kindi.
Yes I admitted there are full of children - guessing >20-25.
BUT the students are properly behaved.
They saw my little one and they were not shy and went play with my daughter.
The students talked to Mrs Malton from time to time and they were talking politely.
Mrs Malton gave us an impression of "nice and warm person".
She has a very welcoming smile and face.
The assistant in that class looks very kind.
In this class, I feel like a family.
Back to the 1st floor again, we sat on the chair.
There's a class lining up and walking to the playground, passing by us.
The staudents behaves lovely and nicely - they said hi, they said baby.
I looked around, and I reckoned that it was just like a neighbourhood school. Very down-to-earth, not fussy.
They do not demand so much from the parnet involvement, etc.
Starters seems they focus what the children need.
I at that time talke to myself and my husband " okay, we go ahead with Starters".
It seems fine BUT I then have a concern:
Will they be not as competitive as those studying in large-scale school (like Kingston, SWCK, Anfield)?
Will the place of school too small for children physical development?
Will the school organise activties for students? For example, picic, field trip, school concert, parent/ teacher conference.
Will the school principal have connections with some international schools and make positive comments etc?
Will the school principal talk to the parents regarding the school selection for P1? What is the support from Starters?
I may expect too much from Starters, BUT I really want to learn from your experience.
It is because both of you are actually experiencing, not hearing.
Looking forwrad to your inputs.
Maria (wing-wing mama)

原文章由 Amosmother 於 07-11-6 18:32 發表
Similar to gab, my son has studied in Starters since he was 2y8m old and now he's in upper kindergarten in Starters.  I myself and the boy are very content with the school.  He attended morning class  ...

小仙女Mummy

THX, mamis..it's really helpful!!

YYFUNG

小仙女Mummy
The website of Starters cover
the answers to your questions in details.
click the link:
http://www.starters.edu.hk/intro.htm

LittlePigmom

No, only 3 year old class & 4 year old class

原文章由 小仙女Mummy 於 07-11-12 22:14 硐表
hello there.
may i know, Starters have class for children 2 yrs old , and when to apply? how about the charges? THX a LOT..

小仙女Mummy

hello there.
may i know, Starters have class for children 2 yrs old , and when to apply? how about the charges? THX a LOT..

Amosmother

We plan to let the child to go to IS, too, so sorry that I've no such experience

原文章由 cheque 於 07-11-11 15:18 硐表
Dear Amosmother,

Can I share your past experience?

Many thanks.

Best regards,
Cheque

gab

Cheque: I suppose you can always apply for local K2 / K3 while going to or after finishing two years at Starters at your own discretion.
For my case, we never planned to send our son to local schools and have applied to ESF primary school only.
I do know that a few of my son's classmates are attending both Starters in the morning and a local kindergarten in the afternoon session, like SKH (Central), SHCK, St. Stephen's Girls K2 and KC so as to brush up their spoken English skills, and for some, in case they don't get accepted by ESF, the child can still go back to the local school system.

原文章由 cheque 於 07-11-9 11:15 硐表
Dear Amosmother & gab,
Would you mind to share your opinion and past experience too? Your information may definitely useful for me too.
Many thanks.
Best regards,
Cheque

[ 本文章最後由 gab 於 07-11-9 17:50 編輯 ]

LittlePigmom

My plan is similar as you.
I plan to send my son to study 2 years in Starter and change to local kindergarten for K2 & K3 and go to local primary school.  
My friend's girl also try this and it's okay for her daughter who is studying K3 in local kindergarten now.  Her English and Chinese are very good.  Surely Oral English is much better tim.

原文章由 cheque 於 07-11-8 17:02 硐表
Dear Amosmother & gab,

Many thanks for your sharing the past experience that studied at Starters School.

There is one thing I worried about it. Through I read all the act, your children will study a ...

Amosmother

Similar to gab, my son has studied in Starters since he was 2y8m old and now he's in upper kindergarten in Starters.  I myself and the boy are very content with the school.  He attended morning class all along and, starting this Sept, the Tue + Thur Phonics afternoon classes.   As he loves very much to attend the afternoon class (especially the lunch time with his school fds), he attended afternoon classes everyday starting from Nov.

As compared with some other int'l/local schools, Starters does quite little to keep parents fully abrest of the curriculum/class activities in lower kinder.  To me, the monthly newsletter, occassional notes on special class activities, and a termly meeting with the class teachers and parents are good enough to get to know what the child is doing at school.

In upper kinder, I really appreciate the school a lot in giving a folder to parents over the weekend for some class handbook/photos/reading material on phonics.

I'm actually quite amazed by my son's development in Starters.  As I didn't teach him any phonics myself and he just studied phonics at Starters, I was very astonished to hear my son pronouncing the sounds of letters at home.

BTW, I've never heard of a teacher named Illa at Starters before.

Happy to share more if I can.

gab

oh definitely! Same with learning Chinese in local school, parents still have to practise writing with the child and read to them at home. Simply relying on the teachers at school is just not enough.

原文章由 LittlePigmom 於 07-11-3 11:06 硐表
So home education and support is also very important for improving their English skill.

LittlePigmom

So home education and support is also very important for improving their English skill.

原文章由 gab 於 07-11-3 00:31 硐表
He can write his name, alphabets and numbers, and minimal reading on his own after finishing K2.  He recognized lots of commonly used words through reading time at home.

gab

He can write his name, alphabets and numbers, and minimal reading on his own after finishing K2.  He recognized lots of commonly used words through reading time at home.

原文章由 LittlePigmom 於 07-11-1 21:34 硐表
Want to know whether your son can read/write some English after studying in Starter School for 2 years.
I know that oral should be no problem for studying in Starter School.

LittlePigmom

Want to know whether your son can read/write some English after studying in Starter School for 2 years.

I know that oral should be no problem for studying in Starter School.

原文章由 gab 於 07-10-29 00:21 硐表
Hi Cheque:
1. Yes, my son completed two years in Starters.
2. Bradbury School
My son's two am classes have around 25-29 students, also with 1 teacher and 2 teaching assistants.  To us its 1:10 ratio i ...