ESF parents help!

starstar1688

my son is going to transfer to ESF WKS K2, he has just finished K1 at the other non-ESF kindergarden.  As he is a "small" kid, I plan to let he transfer to ESF K1, but ESF refused to put him in K1 as they go by strict age rule.  I'm very worried for the future ESF P1 interview, my son will be at great disadvantage if he just study in ESF for one year.  Can anybody advice?

popolung

since you choose to go for ESF stream, only you can help your kid. Go find private tutor (Native English Speaker preferable) for English private class (also interview skill), train him up in Pure English Environment. Soak him in English TV, DVD, Playground, etc, until he can respond in good English. Single way to go, add oil.

MITCHmama

Hi, starstar1688,
I had the same plan as yours before, and fortunately, my boy was taken by SJS for Year1 in the coming Sept. I actually paid for the deposit to WKS(K2 am) .....
Same as your boy, mine is an X'mas baby and is considered as very very young and not mature. He was in HK Pre-School before ....as I can suggest, your decission is good enough since WKS is in the ESF family. As they always mention they are not sure 100% taking in your son for Y1, but in my own guess, they sure do have advantage. At least WKS students must have a chance for interview, right? And I guess, they would "save" some seats for their "own kids" from WKS for the reference of the school.......or otherwise, how could they ask parents to put their kids in that school? Right?!
And now, what you can do more is ---->soak your boy into an 100% (or at least try your best) English world. Interviews at ESF is not difficult but they just have particular preferences on the kids they would like to pick, no worry!  Be positive! Good Luck!

[ 本帖最後由 MITCHmama 於 09-7-15 16:44 編輯 ]

kohuei

Hi Starstar, no need to worry too much. My boy goes to ESF TY and I remember his class teacher told me that if the interviewer feels that a kid (especially those who were born towards end of the year) is not ready for ESF Primary due to his or her maturity rather than English capability, then the ESF Kindy will let the kid stay for K3 and ensure they have an opportunity for interview in the following year.

So, just work closely with the class teacher to monitor your kid's progress and don't worry to much right now. His class teacher will inform you when the interview time draws near.

hkufrankie

Actually I know some ESF students who are from local kindergarten such as St Catherine, Victoria and Tsung Tsin. I think your child should be okay !
Also some ESF teachers will visit your child's kindergarten once and take note of each applicant.

原帖由 starstar1688 於 09-7-14 19:47 發表
my son is going to transfer to ESF WKS K2, he has just finished K1 at the other non-ESF kindergarden.  As he is a "small" kid, I plan to let he transfer to ESF K1, but ESF refused to put him in K1 as  ...

popolung

not true. should not think of other alternative before try your best first. There is no such thing called K3 in ESF kinder, and the kinder doesn't have the responsibility to take it. Pls train up your son's English first, this is the only goal. After that you can do whatever language you want.

Yau_Cheung

Besides ESF primary, I suggest you to apply other international primary schools as back up.

starstar1688

Thanks to every of you  for the useful information and encouragement.  If my son fails ESF P1 interview, there is no garanteed place to repeat K2 at ESF right?  We also have ICS R1 (=K1) offer, maybe it is safer to go this way.  After ICS K2, he can try to apply ESF P1.

oooray

原帖由 starstar1688 於 09-7-16 16:53 發表
Thanks to every of you  for the useful information and encouragement.  If my son fails ESF P1 interview, there is no garanteed place to repeat K2 at ESF right?  We also have ICS R1 (=K1) offer, maybe  ...

don't forget if you go to ICS, u will have a lower priority for granting an ESF P1 interview comparing to those from ESF kindergarten (4 ESF kindergartens account for about 700 K2 students) while ESF primary admissiion policy is more or less "first qualify first serve".

popolung

原帖由 starstar1688 於 09-7-16 16:53 發表
Thanks to every of you  for the useful information and encouragement.  If my son fails ESF P1 interview, there is no garanteed place to repeat K2 at ESF right?  We also have ICS R1 (=K1) offer, maybe  ...

If you have a place in ICS, go for ICS. ICS in some way is even more better than ESF according to some parents. So just go up with ICS for Primary & Secondary.

Also ICS count kids age like local school (cut off at end of Aug) while ESF cut off at end of Dec. And if I am not wrong ICS has K3 while ESF only have K2, so if you move back from ICS to ESF your kid may need to jump up 1 year.

Anyway good luck for your ESF interview too.

kohuei

Sorry for not making myself clear.

ESF Kindies have a class dedicated to big kids, and my son's class teacher actually referred to that class as "K3" within ESF TY Kindergarten.

My point is, if a kid is turned down by an ESF primary because of his/her maturity (NOT because of his/her English proficiency), then ESF Kindy will offer the kid a spot in "K3", meaning they can stay one more year in the Kindy and guaranteed to have an interview from ESF primary in the following year.

Of course English proficiency is very important, I agree. However, my original reply was just to let starstar1688 know that if she worries about her kid's "maturity", then she needs not to be over concerned.  Cheers.