請教：int’l school VS private school

christineyhng

近10年有新多private school, eg. CKY, Creative Primary, YMCAprimary sch etc. 它們賣點是課程自主，結合本地和外國課程，活動教育，比傳統學校少測驗功課，英文為主要授課語言，但亦著重中文，師生比率亦較低，學費一般少於10萬。

至於國際學校，小學部可能以PYP或IPC為主，主要是英文，中文除了部份int’l school 如SIS, 大部份IS中文程度較淺。除了ESF外，學費一般10萬以上。

我仔仔現讀K3，在這一年間，去了不同學校INTERVIEW。最近，我想了很久也想不通，IS和private school 為什麼價錢上有這麼大分別?? 照計作為香港家長，我們都希望仔女能在校學好中文，理論上private school同時提供中英文訓練，又結合本地和外國課程，應該收費比IS更貴，但為什麼現實不是呢? 究竟有什麼重點我想少了? 能否賜教? 謝分享！

samsam123321

Deleted.

jolalee

People who emigrated from HK when they were very young / born abroad whose parents speaks Chinese (not necessarily Cantonese). 2nd generation Chinese whose family speaks more than one language, friends from around the globe with their own mother tongues. Ethnically Chinese does not necessarily equates to culturally Chinese.

That is why it is important to find an IS that suits the family. Glad to know kids who speak only Cantonese at home and grow up without cross culture barrier. May i know which IS? That's the type native Cantonese speakers should look for.

shadeslayer

原帖由 jolalee 於 14-03-08 發表
what if the parents themselves are not fluent in cantonese? (athough it is still considered their mo ...

Don't understand. If parent's mother tongue is Cantonese, how can they be not fluent. There has to be a dominate language family and friends use right?  In the case of ethnic HK Chinese, how can it be anything other than Cantonese?

I know some IS kids who speak only Cantonese at home and they all grew up without a language barrier with their families.

jolalee

shadeslayer 發表於 14-3-8 08:32
Yep, families have to define what they really need from a school and search the ones that provide s ...

what if the parents themselves are not fluent in cantonese? (athough it is still considered their mother tongue)

shadeslayer

原帖由 jolalee 於 14-03-08 發表
ISF is a great example. While many parents (including locals, overseas returnees and expats) rave ab ...

Yep, families have to define what they really need from a school and search the ones that provide such environment. Whether these needs are reasonable or smart is a different question.

One size cannot fit all.
I think as ethnic Chinese parents, the children has to be fluent in their mother tongue: Cantonese.

samsam123321

Deleted.

jolalee

shadeslayer 發表於 14-3-7 19:52
Like I said, it really depends on the parent expectation and the particular school  ...

ISF is a great example. While many parents (including locals, overseas returnees and expats) rave about ISF being a great dual language school with strong academic training, there are also those who simply refrain from applying due to the large amount of homework it is giving their students (which some parents love).

Yes, choosing which school is a very personal family choice. Also be aware that certain International Schools may be too 'expat' feel, and if the family does not have such lifestyle, the child will either have adaptation / social issues, or grow up feeling very removed from family gatherings (ie. all of the parents' relatives & friends socialize in Chinese).

samsam123321

Deleted.

HKTHK

回覆 christineyhng 的帖子

I will try to express my view another way.  Don't look at whether a school is an IS or a PIS.  As a generalization, these are not useful ways to look at the various schools in HK.  It is irrelevant since it is more a designation by EDB in terms of how they grant the school a license to operate.  As someone points out, only material difference is PIS requires 70% of students to have HKID so chances are they will have more HK ethnic Chinese.  Many IS and PIS offer similar curriculum and hire from the same pool of teachers.  Look at the specifics of each school instead.  

shadeslayer

ckwliu 發表於 14-3-7 14:37
回覆 shadeslayer 的帖子

Would be nice if you could tell us which PIS is a "perfect mix between the  ...

Like I said, it really depends on the parent expectation and the particular school  A perfect school for parent A may be a nightmare for parent B.
ISF is pretty good right?

christineyhng

多謝各位家長意見，讓我再一次認識IS.  我想我和好多EK mum一樣，在LS長大，對IS認識了解不深。IS呢條係不歸路，作為小女人既我，真係諗好多野。以前我細個，只有LS和IS，呢10年左右，出現了很多不同類型的學校，花多眼亂，有時我都十分迷惑。

好彩有EK，比我識到D媽咪，大家都好熱心。大家都說得對，大部份IS和PIS既分別，可能真係出係學校管理層身上，IS比較外國文化，用外國理念去RUN；PIS呢，感覺上有好多(NOT ALL)都係比較本地，本地家長，本地管理層，本地學生，就算請大量NET，學校都跳不出LS影子。如果是RC還好，因為under ESF，如果是其他富有LS色彩的PIS，我是有點擔心他們課程設計，Hybrid課程要做得好，其實好難，要學校有resources to support (money, teachers, mgt experience etc)。不是說本地不好，我自己也是本地學校讀書大的；而是我覺得最近本地教育好似病佐，跟我小時候已完全不一樣。我只問無能力(精神+心力)在現今本地教育下好好配合學校去培育我仔仔。

我只希望我仔仔可以保持對身邊事物好奇心，愛發挖，愛發問的特性，我諗LS OR富有LS色彩的PIS好難提供這樣的學習環境，希望IS是適合我仔仔。感謝大家！

lovecasey

回覆 joycheung801 的帖子

Would say RCHK is more an IS as it is operated by ESF but is named as a private school under the ESF term

joycheung801

How about RCHK? It's PIS under ESF, so what it is?

samsam123321

Deleted.

shadeslayer

PIS has a ED imposed rule of having at least 70% students with HK citizenship. IS has no such rule or in the case of Harrow, they have a rule of at least 70% non HK citizen.  However, this is complicated by the fact that many HK locals have foreign passports.

Still, PIS can hire international faculty and run IB, but the students community very often consist of mostly HK kids. Outside of classrooms, they tend to go back to Cantonese. They don't have the discipline to speak English or PTH. The predominate culture is therefore local HK.   The parents mindset are also tend to be HK style (whatever that is). As such the style of the PIS schools are normally somewhere between local school and international schools. That applies to homework, tests and exams, curriculum design, etc.

A good IS operates like a foreign school in HK. These years there are more local HK kids studying in IS but the culture is predominately international.

Is blending international and local education a good idea?

Depends.  Really up to the individual schools and the parents expectation.  Some PIS may be a perfect mix of east and west. While others are just an experiment without track record of success. So there is a risk there.  IS are normally more well established and mature with a clear track record. But of course not all IS are equal.