MCS or DGJS- a parent's dilemma

JJJ

DBS is also strong in languages.

I have quite a number of colleagues from DGS and DBS. Those girls speaks excellent English, but you still know that they are local people speaking excellent English. But, for the boys, you really can't differentiate them from a "gwei lo". I am serious, many a time over the phone, I think I am talking with a "gwei lo" but it's actually my DBS colleage speaking!

Marymount is also as good as DGS, but this is within my small sample size of around 50 people.

Spkrs 寫道:
由 redapple 於 2004-12-06 11:57:32

On a more practical note, I was discussing about primary schools with my "tong" brother who is a barrister and he said that amongst the barrister community you could immediately tell who are the graduates of DGJS/DGS as their spoken and written english was so far ahead of people who graduated from other local schools. I am talking about graduates who are from the local schools/universities.

charwes

Hi JJJ,

I think all top-noded schools got a number of native English speakers, I have several friends who graduated from DBS can just speak so-so English (but they're outstanding in other areas), so I guess it happens that you've got a few native English speaking DBS old boys in your company, but it does not necessarily mean all the DBS graduates can speak like natives.

lamba

Spkrs,

thank you for your nice sharing which has further proofed that your preparation worked on your elder daughter and believe it will also work on her younger sister !

So no need to worry but just accept what she deserves !


Look forward to your good news at the end of this month !

JJJ

Hi Charwes,

No, those DBS boys who speak English like "gwei lo" are just ordinary HK people like you and me. My job has nothing to do with language capability, so I suppose my DBS colleages are just ordinary DBS boys.

Of course, we have no way to look at the whole DBS/DGS population and find out their mean English level.

charwes 寫道:
Hi JJJ,

I think all top-noded schools got a number of native English speakers, I have several friends who graduated from DBS can just speak so-so English (but they're outstanding in other areas), so I guess it happens that you've got a few native English speaking DBS old boys in your company, but it does not necessarily mean all the DBS graduates can speak like natives.

friendlyfanly

Spkrs,

The headmistress did accept some profiles. I submitted the profile along with the application form. On the interview day, I found the other extra-curr certs were also clipped with the school results during the registration.

Also, my daughter's classmate also told her mum that the headmistress was reading through her attachment too.

luckyman

Spkrs



Can you tell me was the headminstress looking for your husband when your daughter came out?


When is your interview (what date) ?


Are your daughter's K2 reports very good?


Where is your address stated in the application form?


What is your and your husband 's occupation ?


Are you working mom or not?


Which kindergarden do  your daughter study ?



Why I ask such questions is boz even your daughter perform very good in the interview, she may not success since her background.

so.san

Spkrs,

Can you tell us why you think the 10 points for old boys / girls will be abolished in 2006/7? You have some insider information? It is worrying you soooo much that you have to face the "dilemma"!

If I were you, definitely DGS if I can get in! MCS nowadays is different from before, why reap your daughter's chance off to get into the TOP school in HK, she may blame you when she grows up.

For your second daughter, there are so many other prestige schools apart from DGS and MCS, with your experience with your first daughter, you should be able to get her in good one.

Many former Maryknollers just don't send their girls back, this is the reality! Oh school, you love or not, there must be other considerations.

Spkrs

Luckyman

Can you tell me was the headminstress looking for your husband when your daughter came out?

She did not specifically look for my husband, but her gaze was at directed at us when she came out to receive the two children for the interview. My husband said that he noticed that she look at us up and down, left and right. I did not notice.

After the interview I had noticed that the Headmistress' look was only focused on my husband and I, and then on how my husband received my daughter as my daughter walked, with a huge smile on her face, briskly towards my husband who had bent down to give her a big hug!




When is your interview (what date) ?

On the first week of interviews



Are your daughter's K2 reports very good?

Yes I would say so, except for 3 items, everything was classified as grade A. The other 3 were classified as grade B but they are age related items. My daughter is youngest in her class and was just a few days over 4years 9months when she attended interview.



Where is your address stated in the application form?

Kowloon Tong



What is your and your husband 's occupation ?

Finance, we were both investment bankers, but now I dont work and he is self employed running a private fund.



Are you working mom or not?

I am a housewife.



Which kindergarden do your daughter study ?

I would rather not say now, but last year I heard that around 5 girls were accepted by DGJS from the Kindergarten that my daughter attends.

Msma

呢個當然dgjs 係要找返佢個type 的學生入學，家長背境可以話佔 8-9成因數。

你係菜販魚販的士佬但有幾個舖收租/ 十架的士收租，佢都唔會收你入讀架 !

佢覺你就算有錢都未必有文化能力栽培個小朋友嗎!咁我又唔反感佢的做法窩 ! 老實，你唔係佢地果類形家長同小朋友，入到去讀都要幾高eq 去適應架!

但dgjs 只係頭個批 (rank 全級1-40) 係會好超班(但老實，好多係用$浸返來的，大部份 並唔係天資過人) 至於其他都係平常小朋友來，唔會比其他學校叻d。

出面d地區名校 如油天，協和d叻人同佢地比係一d都唔輸蝕，好多升中入到dg 仲成績好過好多dg小學上的學生架!

點解 ？地區學校入去讀果d，自知不足，奮起發力嗎 !



  

WaWaMom

Thanks Spkrs for sharing! You were really well-prepared for the interview.

Sorry to say that but it seems that you are training your daughter to fit the school instead of finding a school to fit your daughter's character.

Just to share different point of view, I am not intend to raise any conflict in BK.  

cowboymama

Spkrs,

Maybe another perspectives that you can consider in this dilemma:

1.what is your daughter's feelings towards DGJS, especially after interview? Despite stressful experience in preparing the interview, would she be longing for studying in DGJS after having a positive experience/dialogue with headmistress. Listen to your daughter's voice and feelings and sometimes they may lead you to the right path.

2.you said,"I did not want to have my younger daughter go through the same experience". Apart from taking care of your daughters' emotion, what's your gut-level feelings towards the whole process of preparing your daughter for DGJS interview. Before you can be rational to make a right choice, you have first to attend to your feeling aspect too. Sometimes our gut-level feelings would interfere us in making right choice.

Just share some of my thought.
Regards.

cher_mummy

我都有同感 :cry:    

WYmom

WaWaMom 寫道:
Thanks Spkrs for sharing! You were really well-prepared for the interview.

Sorry to say that but it seems that you are training your daughter to fit the school instead of finding a school to fit your daughter's character.

Just to share different point of view, I am not intend to raise any conflict in BK. mrgreen:

I also feel the same with WaWaMom.  As parent, I also want my girls to join DGJS, but I will consider if my girls like the school with the culture of "always be the first", and if their characters fit in the culture.  I think every school has its own culture and pros and cons, so I would rather find a school which fits my girls best, considering all aspects of characters, interests, abilities, academic results, special skills, etc.etc.   

哈里波特

I agreed with Msma, 某年DGS其中三名10A生, 都係油天舊校出品.  前年, 全港小學模範生選舉, 油天新校一男生打敗兩萬幾個精英, 成為冠軍.  呢個男仔, 文武雙全, 成績又好.  你話, 屋企少 d 家底, 都唔能夠樊樊掂啦, 你估唔駛$$$$咩.

就係我個侄女, 牛頭角地區名校, 入去 St. Paul Co-ed. 自知不足, 所以好努力, 考試全班10名內, 好過d直升個d細佬.

當然, DGS 收, 我都想.
總之, 先天後天啦.

Msma 寫道:
呢個當然dgjs 係要找返佢個type 的學生入學，家長背境可以話佔 8-9成因數。

你係菜販魚販的士佬但有幾個舖收租/ 十架的士收租，佢都唔會收你入讀架 !

佢覺你就算有錢都未必有文化能力栽培個小朋友嗎!咁我又唔反感佢的做法窩 ! 老實，你唔係佢地果類形家長同小朋友，入到去讀都要幾高eq 去適應架!

但dgjs 只係頭個批 (rank 全級1-40) 係會好超班(但老實，好多係用$浸返來的，大部份 並唔係天資過人) 至於其他都係平常小朋友來，唔會比其他學校叻d。

出面d地區名校 如油天，協和d叻人同佢地比係一d都唔輸蝕，好多升中入到dg 仲成績好過好多dg小學上的學生架!

點解 ？地區學校入去讀果d，自知不足，奮起發力嗎 !



  

Spkrs

I would like to share further views with other parents on this forum and also specifically reply to a few.

An analogy which I use is:- I consider children to be sponges, they spend their formatative years absorbing information, like a sponge absorbing water. You can leave the sponge out of the water in which case it dries out or keep it immersed in water, cold or warm, cold water being an environment where parents are just looking for success or warm water where parents care and nurture their childrens learning. Also children learn by copying their heroes. Their heroes are their parents! Not teachers, not relatives, not anybody else, but their parents! We just need to show the better side of things to our children, show them the positive light!

With this in mind, it is hard for me to make judgements as to finding a "best fit school" for my daughter. How can one ascertain the criteria allowing for the conclusion of "best fit school". Best fit shool for me usually concludes as the school being the best, now this is easy to quantify.

Che:- "spkrs, what extra-cirricular activities does your girl have?"

My daughter does not do any extra-curricular activities for the sake of getting into specific schools.
However she participates in two activities:
1. Swimming- I want her to learn how to swim for safety reasons. All children love playing with water, I just want her to be able to play in water with the knowledge that she can swim.

2. Piano lessons- My daughter is left handed. Left handed people are better at visualising than analysing. I wanted her to use her right hand a little bit more so that she can make more use of the left side of her brain for analytics. She is not there to learn "how to play the piano" but become a more rounded person.

Thank you for reading the above they are just some of my views. Please share you opinions.

WYmom

Spkrs 寫道:
I would like to share further views with other parents on this forum and also specifically reply to a few.

An analogy which I use is:- I consider children to be sponges, they spend their formatative years absorbing information, like a sponge absorbing water. You can leave the sponge out of the water in which case it dries out or keep it immersed in water, cold or warm, cold water being an environment where parents are just looking for success or warm water where parents care and nurture their childrens learning. Also children learn by copying their heroes. Their heroes are their parents! Not teachers, not relatives, not anybody else, but their parents! We just need to show the better side of things to our children, show them the positive light!

With this in mind, it is hard for me to make judgements as to finding a "best fit school" for my daughter. How can one ascertain the criteria allowing for the conclusion of "best fit school". Best fit shool for me usually concludes as the school being the best, now this is easy to quantify.

Che:- "spkrs, what extra-cirricular activities does your girl have?"

My daughter does not do any extra-curricular activities for the sake of getting into specific schools.
However she participates in two activities:
1. Swimming- I want her to learn how to swim for safety reasons. All children love playing with water, I just want her to be able to play in water with the knowledge that she can swim.

2. Piano lessons- My daughter is left handed. Left handed people are better at visualising than analysing. I wanted her to use her right hand a little bit more so that she can make more use of the left side of her brain for analytics. She is not there to learn "how to play the piano" but become a more rounded person.

Thank you for reading the above they are just some of my views. Please share you opinions.

I don't think my kids are just "sponge", I feel that they have their own characters, interests, talents etc.  They are individual beings, though they will be affected a lot by their parents and environment.  I see very different characters among my 2 kids, so I try my best to find a suitable school for each of them, I will switch if not suitable.  I will let my kids to tell if they like the school or not as much as possible.

I won't disagreed that DGS is the best girl school, but I just feel that you want to mould your girl into what you want more.  Have not heard you telling how your girl feels, and whether she likes the school or activities arranged by you.  I and all my sisters were arranged to play piano for many years by my mom, but none of us really like it when we grow up and we all stops playing after we become independent. That's why I don't want to repeat this on my kids.  

Your call.

Msma

Not only DGS can offer this environment!

All EMI schools or even CMI schools can offer this enviornment.

It depends on many factors : parents, schools, peer groups, neighbours, kids' ability........

Spkrs

由 WYmom 於 2004-12-10 14:17:13

wrote-

"I don't think my kids are just "sponge", I feel that they have their own characters, interests, talents etc. They are individual beings, though they will be affected a lot by their parents and environment. I see very different characters among my 2 kids, so I try my best to find a suitable school for each of them, I will switch if not suitable. I will let my kids to tell if they like the school or not as much as possible.

I won't disagreed that DGS is the best girl school, but I just feel that you want to mould your girl into what you want more. Have not heard you telling how your girl feels, and whether she likes the school or activities arranged by you. I and all my sisters were arranged to play piano for many years by my mom, but none of us really like it when we grow up and we all stops playing after we become independent. That's why I don't want to repeat this on my kids.

Your call."


Sorry if I am being hyper-critical or too pedantic. What I write are ideas that I believe in and I think worth sharing with the forum! You can disagree with the ideas but you seem to doubt my integrity as a parent.

Basically, I have not written anything about childrens' characters. I think you need to re-read what I have written. I was using a sponge as an "analogy" in relation to how children learn and absorb information! NOT that they were all sponges!

You mention piano lessons. I wrote,

-"My daughter is left handed.

- Left handed people are better at visualising than analysing.

- I wanted her to use her right hand a little bit more so that she can make more use of the left side of her brain for analytics.

She is not there to learn "how to play the piano" but become a more rounded person.

As you can see, she is not learning to play the piano because I want her to be able to play the piano. She is there using the lesson to improve herself mentally through better utilisation of her brain.

I do not mention anything about my daughters' characters here, because there is not enough room here to write about it. It will take too long. I would not expect anyone would be interested in reading over 100 pages regarding her character and the differences that differentiate her from her younger sister. On the other hand, I do have a theory regarding childrens' characters but that is another topic.

I must apologise for what I have written in reply, if it seems harsh, but I would like to get across the point I am trying to make. My postings are often long winded, but please try and "read between the lines" in what I write.

Thank you