anyone got offer from TY ESF?

FattyDaddy

菠蘿媽媽 發表於 13-2-4 10:51
Is this new arrangement is confirmed?

Yes it is confirmed, but the new arrangement won't affect your child who is applying for ESF kindergarten this year, it will affect those who will apply next year. In other words, if your child is accepted by ESF, he/she will be among the last batch of ESF kindergarten pupils to have priority in applying to ESF primary schools.

菠蘿媽媽

FattyDaddy 發表於 13-2-4 11:17
Yes it is confirmed, but the new arrangement won't affect your child who is applying for ESF kinderg ...

Thank you FattyDaddy, I hope my child can catch the "尾班車"!

konimama

Are u sure they will be the last batch?
Have u read the email yet?
It's saying that 2014/15 intake Y1 application.

ramen

konimama 發表於 13-2-4 11:55
Are u sure they will be the last batch?
Have u read the email yet?
It's saying that 2014/15 intake Y ...

If your child is from a non-esf kindie applying 2014/15 Year one, then the new admission policy will apply.

For children currently attending K1 at esf kindies or going to K1 this Aug 2013, the old system / esf prority still applies.

FattyDaddy

konimama 發表於 13-2-4 11:55
Are u sure they will be the last batch?
Have u read the email yet?
It's saying that 2014/15 intake Y1 ...

Yep, I read it, and it said the 2014-15 intake of ESF K1 (not Y1) will no longer have interview priority when they apply for ESF primary school Year 1 later on. The entire paragraph was referring to kindergarten children and following are the exact words ...

Children who attend an ESF International Kindergarten have in the past received priority for interview at ESF schools. Those children currently attending an ESF International Kindergarten in the 2012-13 academic year, as well as those who apply for and gain a kindergarten place in 2013-14, will continue to receive priority when they apply for a Year 1 place. When the new ESF admissions policy takes effect for applications for the 2014-15 school year, the interview priority will no longer apply.

konimama

Thanks Fattydaddy, I think I hv overlooked it. This email seems like driving me mad this morning though.

Well, the paragraph extracted from the email explained why no priority is granted from 2014:

"The reason for this change is that, with the increasing numbers of able, English speaking children leaving the four ESF Educational Services (ESL) operated kindergartens, and plans for future expansion, it is becoming less feasible to provide a meaningful priority for an admissions interview at an ESF primary school. "

Means expatriate not going to ESF kindie, then why they need to give the priority to ESF kindie then.
What do u feel about this? Racist.......

gorbb

Dear FattyDaddy and all,

Thanks for the information.

My kid is one of the candidates of 2013/14 K1 class at ESF WKS and she’s in Cat 2. If she can get a place at ESF WKS, should I assume that she’s one of the most beneficial ones from the change of admission policy as they can still catch the 尾班車 for interview priority and there will be no more Cat 1/Cat 2 differentiation by then?

Many thanks.

FattyDaddy

konimama 發表於 13-2-4 13:34
"The reason for this change is that, with the increasing numbers of able, English speaking children leaving the four ESF Educational Services (ESL) operated kindergartens, and plans for future expansion, it is becoming less feasible to provide a meaningful priority for an admissions interview at an ESF primary school. "
...

Yes, this is the paragraph that puzzled me as well. It sounded like the four ESF kindergartens are currently churning out too many pupils for their primary schools to take in, and that in future these kindergartens will only produce more (plans for future expansion), so their primary schools will stop giving priority to ESF kindergarten children.

This is just daft, if their kindergartens are churning out too many, surely the appropriate thing to do is either to cut down on their kindergartens or expand their primary schools, for most parents the biggest reason for sending their children to an ESF kindergarten is because they want their children to proceed to an ESF primary school, and if ESF kindergartens no longer have priority then there would be little point.

Furthermore, If they could use this kind of excuse today, then at some time in the future they could well say their primary schools are producing too many students for their secondary schools, and ESF primary school students will no longer have priority. The entire ESF organization might as well dissolve today with all their schools becoming independent with no priority given to any other school.

md23

gorbb 發表於 13-2-4 14:49
Dear FattyDaddy and all,

Thanks for the information.

Yes, from my understanding, your kid would be the biggest beneficiary of this policy.

FattyDaddy

gorbb 發表於 13-2-4 14:49
should I assume that she’s one of the most beneficial ones.

I believe the removal of the interview priority and Cat 1 & 2 differentiation will happen at the same time, so there won't be a case of a kindergarten pupil having the interview priority but not subjected to Cat 1 & 2 classification.

Shrimpiggy

原帖由 FattyDaddy 於 13-02-04 發表
Yes, this is the paragraph that puzzled me as well. It sounded like the four ESF kindergartens are c ...

who knows. the correlation of LS kindergarten and primary schools are not strong as those 一條龍 from primary to secondary. ESF may choose to adopt the train-through arrangement as those LS DSS to solicit the government to continue the subvention.  in fact,  the two ESF PIS provide 300 placement for P1, it is more likely the ESF kiddies will have ever strong bond with these two PIS.

LOVELYABB

FattyDaddy
In your view, do u think it will be beneficial / necessary to help my second child apply to esf kindy?
We have sibling priority and daddy is esf alumni.

jolalee

FattyDaddy 發表於 13-2-4 15:17
I believe the removal of the interview priority and Cat 1 & 2 differentiation will happen at the sam ...

[table=98%] "The new policy will put an end to the category system. Starting from August 2013, the admissions assessment process will be strengthened. The emphasis will be on the actual testing of the children’s English language proficiency, and on verifying the parents’ commitment to an ESF style English medium education through a parental statement and interview."

[/td][/tr]
[/table]

The cancellation of the category system begins this August, but kids in 2012-13 & 2013-14 still have P1 interview priority. I think Fattydaddy & the rest of us 2013 K1 applicants (Shimpiggy, Pineapple mom and myself) ends up within this historical 2 years window where the kids will not be penalized for knowing Cantonese while they still have the Primary school interview priority. This is really a game plan changing announcement for us...


[Please correct me if you see loophole in my deduction]

jolalee

Anyhow, anyone got an offer yet? I checked my mail box today but i only found announcements from other interviewed schools.

mouton

回復 jolalee 的帖子

Not yet.  

菠蘿媽媽

回復 jolalee 的帖子

Still waiting..
Only received a email from ESF to talk about the new policy.

Shrimpiggy

we are also waiting.

FattyDaddy

jolalee 發表於 13-2-5 02:33
The cancellation of the category system begins this August, but kids in 2012-13 & 2013-14 still have P1 interview priority

I believe Cat 1 & 2 and interview priority and non-selective admission will go together, you will either be under the old system or the new system, not a mix.

As I mentioned before, it is hard to say whether the new system is really better. In the old system, you know what circumstances would give an advantage because they are spelt out clearly, in the new system they just say they will admit those "who are able to benefit from an English-medium education" after a "rigorous interview".

It is rather like you saying to your child, "if you are polite and say please when you ask for something, then I will give you an apple", versus "if I think an apple is good for you, then I will give you one". I'm not sure which is better.

I'm inclined to think that ESF have simply taken a page out of the practices of those elitist schools in Hongkong. Theoretically they are open to everyone, but in reality they have their preferences and prejudices but they don't tell you about it. Many Hongkong parents put their kindergarten age children through all sorts of grueling extra-curricular classes to build up a portfolio of certificates for primary school application, and I woudn't be surprised to see tutorial centres offering "ESF面試精讀班" in a couple of years time.

konimama

No way~
ESF not take in any account of anything like profolio.
Their teachers are lazy that all vanished afterschool.
Work overtime? Maybe a myth to them

田心

原帖由 konimama 於 13-02-05 發表
No way~
ESF not take in any account of anything like profolio.
Their teachers are lazy that all van ...

I don't agreed with this statement. My son is attending Abacus and I always see the teachers stay behind to do lots of preparation work for the class.  Of course, they will go home if nothing to do. The class starts at 8:30 - 3:30pm and teachers has to be at school by 8 am, I think it's fair for them to go home at around 4.