i suddenly changed my mind, anyone can share?

蜜蜜

原帖由 popolung 於 09-6-3 01:22 發表
study in any IS kinder, then also put your kid in waitlist of any ESF kinder. Somehow the queue may not be as long as you think, just try. Still have plenty of time to get within the term of K1. Teach ...

any comment on St Teresa's kindergarten?
http://www.teresakinder.com/html/our_mission.htm
any of ur schoolmates came from that kinder, 'cos the staff told me that they have lots of expatriate families and they normally go into international primary schools (such as esf, kellet school etc.) after K2. should i reserve a place for my girl in this kinder first, just in case there is no any other choice??

oooray

原帖由 蜜蜜 於 09-6-3 01:05 發表


in that case, u suggest me not to apply any other international kindergartens other than esf, and just let her study in SH and see if any chance of getting an interview when primary 1? but once my d ...

Just clarify my viewpoint:
A. In term of chance for interview, no difference amongst any non-ESF kindergarten (local or IS);
B. Once you have got an interview chance, your daughter english ability is a  must.
In term of "English exposure", I will say "ANY" real IS should be better than local kinder. Of course, choosing a good kinder will have a happy family life.
Of course ESF IS Kinder will probably secure your chance for an interview from ESF primary and also provide good English environment. That's why I asked u go to apply first.
If I were you, I would have considered moving to WKS for just 2 years if I could get an offer before August there. (I have been moving for my children and I will be moving again within 2 years for my children again!)
Echo again : I've fed up in "doing" traditional K2 homework with my daughter. I could not imagine what my family life will be (other than scolding her to finish the homework) if she stays in local stream in the coming years!

502

一點意見：

到底ESF 在滿足了Cat 1 / 兄弟姐妹 / ESF kinder 之後是否對local or non-ESF IS
kindergarten沒有分別，我們不能從它的標準看到.
不過以我的細仔爲例，
他們(SWCK)的孩子在報讀香港區的ESF小學時基本上都有Interview chance, 不過當然不排除部分可能是Cat 1 / 兄弟姐妹吧！


quote]原帖由 oooray 於 09-6-3 10:20 發表

Just clarify my viewpoint:
A. In term of chance for interview, no difference amongst any non-ESF kindergarten (local or IS);
B. Once you have got an interview chance, your daughter english ability is ... [/quote]

oooray

原帖由 502 於 09-6-3 11:08 發表
一點意見：

到底ESF 在滿足了Cat 1 / 兄弟姐妹 / ESF kinder 之後是否對local or non-ESF IS
kindergarten沒有分別，我們不能從它的標準看到.
不過以我的細仔爲例，
他們(SWCK)的孩子在報讀香港區的ESF小學時基本上都有I ...

Thanks for your sharing.
1. Someone said more ESF primary school in HK Island; less competitive - maybe true or not true...
2. Timing - competition in these few years are getting keen. A Parent with ESF sibling told me that last year some ESF sibling parents were struggled for not having an offer until the last minute.
This year, non sibling cat 2 parents i know (including me) is still on the waiting list.  
Wiil be glad to hear other parents sharing similar or different stories this year.

bvbaby

我個女係SH讀緊K1, 我都想佢小學入ESF不過見你地咁講機會都幾渺茫

502

Thanks for your sharing.
1. Someone said more ESF primary school in HK Island; less competitive - maybe true or not true...

------>It is probably true if you compare the number of places in HK Island vs. those in Kowloon / NT .

2. Timing - competition in these few years are getting keen. A Parent with ESF sibling told me that last year some ESF sibling parents were struggled for not having an offer until the last minute.

------>I also heard something about this.  For the cases I know, the siblings did got the interview chance but it was the English proficiency that ...

Of course, most schools would give them a second interview chance and most of them could get pass afterwards.

This year, non sibling cat 2 parents i know (including me) is still on the waiting list.  
Wiil be glad to hear other parents sharing similar or different stories this year.

------>Of course, non sibiling cat 2 applicants are not in a favourable condition.  So it is better to apply other IS as a back-up.

Onsen

Based on my observation of all the grade 1 parents at Bradbury, almost all of them were Causacians.  The non-white popolution only accounts for 20 to 25%.  That small percentage includes Indians and other races.  With many Caucasians children are still on waiting list, the chance for cat. 2 entrance is really small, in regard to Bardbury.  Please just be realistic if you are living in this area and believe that HK side would have more space (it has more expatriates too!).  Just a word of caution when many Caucasians are fighting for that limited space.  If I were you, I would never give up the chance for RC or DC and other IS for that matter.  Best of luck!

oooray

原帖由 bvbaby 於 09-6-3 12:40 發表
我個女係SH讀緊K1, 我都想佢小學入ESF不過見你地咁講機會都幾渺茫

no application no chance. So do apply in Sep.

oooray

原帖由 Onsen 於 09-6-3 13:38 發表
Based on my observation of all the grade 1 parents at Bradbury, almost all of them were Causacians.  The non-white popolution only accounts for 20 to 25%.  That small percentage includes Indians and o ...

From my experience this year, Year 1 in DC is also very full. RC probably be the last hope amongst ESF schools for those cat 2 non sibling non ESF kinder families in the coming years.
Of course, as Onsen said, do apply a few more other IS!

蜜蜜

thank you for ur opinions! this morning i called st teresa's kindergarten in stanley which is a kindergarten that hardly find a chinese. and they said they will let my daughter in for the coming year, and they claimed that every year, they do have students going to esf in primary ; the other option of mine is tutor time tai tam pm session, but the school fee will be nearly double of st teresa's, the staff of tutor time tai tam told me that 4-5 out of 2X got into esf last year.

any suggestions?

bohemian

Just be careful whether the "ratio" they provide are referring to Cat 1 kids or Cat 2 kids.  It makes a big different esp. if you mentioned that St. Teresa hardly has any Chinese.  

If I understand correctly you are a Cat 2 case looking to go to ESF / other IS, then I would choose IS kindergarten with good track record of getting esf interview for Cat 2.  The one that I know so far is SWCK, Woodland, Starters etc.  

If your catchment area is Quarry Bay School, then I know a few SWCK Cat 2 kids successfully got into QBS this yr.  I know it's a bit far from Stanley but it's a trade off.  Unless you have a back up plan for other IS primary.

But for sure, St. Teresa will give your daughter an excellent English environment to prepare her to interview other IS in future.

Good luck!

蜜蜜

原帖由 Pianokc 於 09-6-2 20:15 發表
Hmm, my friend's daughter is there, and they are from Canada. Very good comments so far.

Traditional- yes, SH is a very traditional school.
I don't know about the kindy, but the people I know who ar ...

i'm sorry, i could not quite get it, ur friend's daughter is there <-- where is "there"? st teresa's kindergarten?

蜜蜜

原帖由 oooray 於 09-6-2 23:49 發表

There are still many IS (other than) in Hong Kong. not too difficult to get a place from one of them if u strive for it. Send more application forms to those u can afford should be the best way;
If o ...

oooray,

i'd like to ask, anyother suggestions on IS in HK with simular school fees? do they need debentures? pls advise, thx!

siubosiumao

蜜蜜,

What a small world! I am also an SH alum.
However, we have decided NOT to send our girl to SH. You are right that SH girls has good English but by no means it can be compared to kids from other real international schools.

My little one actually got into Abacus but we declined the offer. Reason being, we were told that last year, NONE of the cat 2 students in Abacus got accepted into CWBS. Mind you that Mandarin speaking kids are considered as cat 1 kids (and there are lots of them in this catchment zone) and therefore chance is slim for cat 2 kids.

I suggest you apply to a kinder in a real international school and try to apply to ESF, either at P1 or later.

I agree with some previous comments regarding the academic standards at ESF. However, ESF schools generally have very large student population, and therefore, there are always some good students and some not so good.

St. Teresa sounds like a great kinder. I am sure your daughter will enjoy her time there!

蜜蜜

原帖由 siubosiumao 於 09-6-4 23:24 發表
蜜蜜,

What a small world! I am also an SH alum.
However, we have decided NOT to send our girl to SH. You are right that SH girls has good English but by no means it can be compared to kids from other ...

thx siubosiumao! i'm really impressed for ur support, 'cos these days i'm so confused and lost, not knowing if things that i'm doing is right or wrong, but now, having ur support, i think at least i can tell myself Charlotte will have wonderful time for the next 2 years. however, i'm just wondering u declined the offer in Abacus, so what's ur plan?

oooray

原帖由 蜜蜜 於 09-6-4 18:40 發表


oooray,

i'd like to ask, anyother suggestions on IS in HK with simular school fees? do they need debentures? pls advise, thx!

I was asking the same questions and then search the web (actually there are not too many IS school in Hong Kong).
After going through one by one, seems not too many can meet "no debenture & comparable tuition fee to ESF (relatively affordable for me)".
After screening out those (most of them are very famous, like HKIS, GSIS....) I cannot afford, I only find ESF (plus her PIS : RC & DC) is affordable and make me feel "comfortable".
Many parents talking KCIS. U can also have a look of their website and read comments from other BK parents!

foreverbb

How about RC & DC? Could they get the offer there?

原帖由 siubosiumao 於 09-6-4 23:24 發表
NONE of the cat 2 students in Abacus got accepted into CWBS.

siubosiumao

I don't know. but if you live in TKO/Sai Kung area, is DC really an option logistically?

RC and DC are both PIS. I honestly don't think ESF kinder kids have any advantage over other kids in these schools

siubosiumao

pls check pm

原帖由 蜜蜜 於 09-6-5 01:07 發表


thx siubosiumao! i'm really impressed for ur support, 'cos these days i'm so confused and lost, not knowing if things that i'm doing is right or wrong, but now, having ur support, i think at least i ...

oooray

原帖由 siubosiumao 於 09-6-7 22:00 發表
I don't know. but if you live in TKO/Sai Kung area, is DC really an option logistically?

RC and DC are both PIS. I honestly don't think ESF kinder kids have any advantage over other kids in these sch ...

extract from DC website. ESF kinder students do have priority for interview.
"The Collegeis currently looking at the enrolment of students who have applied forspaces in Year 1 and Year 7 for August. As with last year, the Collegereceived an overwhelming number of applications, particularly in Year 1where over 270 applications were received for the 90 available spaces.Luckily we have been able to offer interviews for all siblings andstudents at ESL kindergartens. Likewise, we received over 110applications for 30 spaces in Year 7. We are also looking to increasethe number of students next year in Years 8&9, and an advertisingcampaign for this has commenced. Any families who may be consideringthis option for their children are asked to please contact the Collegeby email [email protected] or phone on 3969 1000."