CDNIS VS KJS

gweiloproblems

Hi Everyone!

I was just wondering of your opinions in the above.

Under the assumption that we have received solid offers for Y1 CDNIS and KJS with School Fees not being a concern (My Company Pays), which school would you recommend us to join till she finally goes off to study abroad.

Any information / experiences you have would be highly appreciated. Thank you so much in advance :)

gweiloproblems

Thank you all for your advice. I understood the differences and will wait till an offer till making a concrete decision

964000

If I were you , living in Kowloon , I wouldn’t bother to travel to HK south for CDNIS over kjs/ KGV, unless you are very keen for the bilingual education. KGV has IGCSE could be a perk ( for academics ) . Crossing two tunnels are daunting as they are always the bottleneck of travelling and it’s hard to find play dates too. But I am not sure how bilingual is CDNIS, if you end up in non-native Chinese stream , I don’t think there will be any benefits over ESF Chinese levels.

mojai0109

If budget and location are not a concern , I will definitely choose CDNIS.  Nice campus with different facilities   bilingual.
But esf KjS is also a good school with a nice campus connected with KGV.  Really depends on what you are looking for

aurora0326

fredchang 發表於 23-10-13 14:56
May I know how much more focus CDNIS has put on academics compared to before or compared to other sc ...

Not sure about KJS.

For CDNIS,

Students only need to read after school for prep and EY.
Homework(we call it home learning) and Chinese assignments start from G1 and increase gradually year by year. For Chinese homework, usually we have it everyday except Friday. Project work may extend home learning time on occasions, and students in advanced Chinese classes are expected to have more home learning than others. And of course students need to read every day after school as well.

We are on old track so not sure about the new bilingual programme, but guess it could be more. For me, the amount of home learning is just right. In terms of academic focus, it is not just about homework. But I do feel that the curriculum is both rigorous and well balanced(at least for me).

fredchang

Adiezz 發表於 23-10-9 22:25
CDNIS has smaller class size, better facilities and more structural programs.
Its bilingual program ...

May I know how much more focus CDNIS has put on academics compared to before or compared to other school like ESF? For lower primary, assume it’s still almost 0 homework?

gweiloproblems

7jai 發表於 23-10-12 11:14
Again, depends on what you are looking for.  People like CDNIS because of their good facilities, goo ...

Thanks bud. I honestly didn't think I had to worry about school's forcing gender ideologies, especially after the recent developments in HK. This would be a complete deal-breaker for me too.

I was looking at IB scores between ESF and CDNIS and it seems their averages are only 0.5 points apart. Which I do believe is a big achievement for ESF considering that KJS+KGV is much larger than most International schools.

If I consider ESF, I will have to supplement mandarin learning at home. Me and my family already have online tutors helping us out with this already. I have heard from other parents that no matter which International school I send her to, school language learning will never equate to fluency.

7jai

gweiloproblems 發表於 23-10-12 10:50
Haha. I can't consider this at all as it's way out of budget / work constraints. Would be more feasi ...

..........

gweiloproblems

slowlyslowly 發表於 23-10-11 16:09
The funniest thing is that my friend moved from Ho Man Tin to Hong Kong Island. Unexpectedly, the s ...

Haha. I can't consider this at all as it's way out of budget / work constraints. Would be more feasible to hire private car to Wong Chuk Hang MTR everyday and use the free shuttle to school rather than move.

It seems from the KCM bus schedule that we are the 3rd last out of 8 stops before heading to school.

But as a consensus opinion of the group, if not for travel distance then CDNIS is the resounding choice compared to KJS?

964000

aurora0326 發表於 23-10-11 16:42
Yes, that's why I said that some areas in Kowloon may have later bus schedules and shorter travel t ...

Yes true, those living near Hung Hom/ Kowloon west are usually the last stop before crossing the harbour , hence the travelling time could be shorter than those living in HKI.

aurora0326

slowlyslowly 發表於 23-10-11 16:09
The funniest thing is that my friend moved from Ho Man Tin to Hong Kong Island. Unexpectedly, the s ...

Yes, that's why I said that some areas in Kowloon may have later bus schedules and shorter travel times than the Hong Kong Island area, such as Kowloon Station or Hung Hom, which have no more stops after crossing the tunnels and go straight to the school. Additionally, there are usually some changes to the bus routes every year, so even if you live on the Hong Kong Island, it is not guaranteed that the travel time can be as similar as the past years. The safest option may be moving to residential estates that form their own separate routes with quite a number of students, such as the Belcher's or those in the southern district which are quite close to the school.

7jai

slowlyslowly 發表於 23-10-11 16:09
The funniest thing is that my friend moved from Ho Man Tin to Hong Kong Island. Unexpectedly, the s ...

..........

slowlyslowly

7jai 發表於 23-10-11 16:03
One option is to consider moving over to HK Island side.  That way you reduce time by a bit.  By liv ...

The funniest thing is that my friend moved from Ho Man Tin to Hong Kong Island. Unexpectedly, the school bus time has become longer!

slowlyslowly

gweiloproblems 發表於 23-10-11 15:51
This further reinstates the travel time problem. Thanks!

In my selected schools it seems except KJS ...

Yes. But if you can't go directly by private car / taxi and the distance is complicated, it will become even farther, which will be very difficult for the children.

7jai

gweiloproblems 發表於 23-10-11 15:51
This further reinstates the travel time problem. Thanks!

In my selected schools it seems except KJS ...

..........

gweiloproblems

aurora0326 發表於 23-10-11 15:22
Buses from To Kwa Wan/Ho Man Tin/Hung Hom to CDNIS takes approximately 30 to 50 min. However, the du ...

This further reinstates the travel time problem. Thanks!

In my selected schools it seems except KJS, all are quite far either in Wong Chuk Hang, Tai Tam or Peak.

According to their schedule, KJS bus will pick us from our home to school 37 Minutes before school starts.

aurora0326

gweiloproblems 發表於 23-10-11 14:19
From CDNIS Website:

1. All full day students are required to take the bus to school and home*. Half ...

Buses from To Kwa Wan/Ho Man Tin/Hung Hom to CDNIS takes approximately 30 to 50 min. However, the duration may vary each school year depending on the number of stops arranged by KCM along this route. In some cases, the pick-up time in the morning in certain areas of Kowloon may even be later than those in the Central and Western districts of Hong Kong Island if they are not too far away. The return journey takes about 40-50 minutes as well. Of course, at the beginning of each school year, there may be a chaotic period of one to two weeks due to new comers and new bus stops, or the KCM drivers who are not yet familiar with the routes.

EY students can be picked up by private cars, and for Prep year or above, you can take the free shuttle bus at Wong Chuk Hang MTR station. For those who live particularly far away from school, such as Fo Tan or Tseung Kwan O, the travel time can be significantly longer. The school does help parents communicate with the bus company, but there is almost no bargaining power since KCM has a virtual monopoly over the entire school bus industry in Hong Kong, especially for large-scale schools. It is believed that schools using KCM have many parents who are dissatisfied with it.

slowlyslowly

回覆 gweiloproblems 的帖子

Yes, CDNIS has a shuttle bus service, but you have to take students to Wong Chuk Hang first and then transfer to the shuttle bus. If you don't live on Hong Kong Island, you will indeed spend a lot of time in transportation, and CDNIS starts very early.
It should be much simpler if you choose door-to-door service, but Hung Hom is far away and there are not many buses in Kowloon. It may take a long time and may not arrive directly to your place of residence.
You have to consider whether it's worth spending so much time commuting to and from school, whether you still have opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities after school, and whether your time can accommodate it.
I personally think transportation is the biggest problem of CDNIS, because as someone said before, school buses are not very perfect yet.

gweiloproblems

7jai 發表於 23-10-11 14:13
Yes, traffic will be a big issue for you then as if you take the school bus, it will take at least 1 ...

I guess that is true. KJS would prove to be a lot easier in terms of commute.

gweiloproblems

From CDNIS Website:

1. All full day students are required to take the bus to school and home*. Half-day students (Early Years 1 and Early Years 2) are exempt from the bussing programme but are highly encouraged to take advantage of the bussing on offer.


2. Yes. A free shuttle bus service for Prep to Grade 12 students operates between the Wong Chuk Hang MTR station (near Exit A2) and the school campus. The Lower School bus departs at 7:25am and the Upper School bus departs at 8:20am. A return service is available for Grade 3 to Grade 12. Prep to Grade 2 students may also ride the bus down to the MTR as long as they are accompanied by the older sibling.

https://school.kcm.com.hk/cdnis/