Seeking advice on transferring my boy from a local school to an IS

nintendo

Unless you are applying for Year 1 or Year 7, applications to ESF is accepted year round. The situation is not as bad as some people always say on EK. Just apply and see how it goes.
The same strategy would do for other international schools. Just apply and see.
As you are in Shatin, you should also consider ICS HLY and may be even JIS. I am not very update with application procedure. But these are all good or at least decent schools.
I know some people prefer ESF for various reasons, but other international schools have also had students able to go to very good universities. No need to be too obsessed.
It is sometimes very unrealistic to be too picky, to be honest.
Regarding the age requirements, refer to the official website. http://www.esf.edu.hk/policy2013

bomani

nintendo 發表於 15-9-17 19:16
Unless you are applying for Year 1 or Year 7, applications to ESF is accepted year round. The situat ...

Very true.

Activehealth

Spiderdodo 發表於 15-9-16 16:31
Long story short, my boy was born in the year end of 2006, going to a P4 class of a government subsi ...

My boy just started Year 7 in ESF secondary school. In last 2 terms in Year 6 ESF primary, he had few new classmates from local schools and other international schools, even in the last month of Year 6.
My boy's friend form a local school applied for place in year 6 in January got a call from the school in April to have the interview in the view of entering in May, just 2 months before the end of the school year. The boy passed the interview but declined the place as ESF could not guarantee him a place in Year 7, as he entered in the last term of Year 6. But ESF promised to put the students in such cases in the top of the list for admission to Year 7.

Obviously, some one else took the place. All new kids just moved to Year 6 in the last 2 terms managed to move to Year 7 with my boy with no problems. Actually, they have more places in Year 7 than the total number of students from the feeder primary schools. It means that they have to take many non ESF students to fill up their places in Year 7.

To maximise your boy's chance of getting into ESF school, put his name down for Year 6 in 2016/7 and try to get  in even in the last term. If it's not successful, apply for Year 7 in 2017/8 then.

Good luck!

lovelyJade

Spiderdodo 發表於 15-9-17 17:11
$ is an issue or we wouldn't have put him to the local system in the first place.  I don't think i'l ...

My girl was born in 2006 too, and i hv just done transferring her from local sch to esf year 5 few weeks ago. I hv called SJS before, for y5 this year, the queue was about 3x long, no way you can get a place this year. I didnt applied this one in the end. The strategy is call the esf schs that you want and find out how long is the queue, see if you can borrow someones address for application. There is still space in peak sch and kennedy sch earlier.

FattyDaddy

lovelyJade 發表於 15-9-17 22:33
borrow someones address for application...

I've heard ESF has become more strict this year regarding proof of residential address, they're asking for two proof of address documents, a stamped copy of tenancy or purchase agreement plus a utility bill or bank statement ...

http://www.esf.edu.hk/policy2013#4.

lovelyJade

FattyDaddy 發表於 15-9-18 02:34
I've heard ESF has become more strict this year regarding proof of residential address, they're aski ...

Yes, true. New policy for this year

Radiomama

原帖由 lovelyJade 於 15-09-17 發表
My girl was born in 2006 too, and i hv just done transferring her from local sch to esf year 5 few w ...

It's not a matter of 'borrow', it's cheating.

Spiderdodo

nintendo 發表於 15-9-17 19:16
Unless you are applying for Year 1 or Year 7, applications to ESF is accepted year round. The situat ...

Thanks for your input which I find very useful!

random_dad

Spiderdodo 發表於 15-9-17 16:22
Got it!  I think I'll give it a shot anyway.  However, the worst scenario is not about losing the ap ...

If you don't mind spending the $1500 application fee for CAIS, I'd suggest you try.  There's a bit "more control" in the sense that you would know fairly quickly.  Applications before December, interviews in January/February, and you would know within a few weeks whether your child is accepted or not (or not accepted but on waiting list).  If academically your child is strong, and English is fine, there'a a reasonable chance at CAIS as it appears that the demand and attention is towards the K3 or P1 entry point.  I know of a few upper primary new joins this year, including one that joined well after the school year had started.  If I were you, I'd call CAIS admission and ask them what the situation was like last year at the specific grade level (i.e. whether there was a lot of people applying, how long the waiting list, etc.).  They might not tell you, but it's worth a shot in asking.

I'm sure you've considered the school fees if you've named ESF and CAIS explicitly, but CAIS is significantly more than ESF, both in annual fees as well as the ICN (aka debenture) or the annual capital levy.

Also, if the Christian component is important, then CAIS would be the preferred choice.  If, on the other hand, the Christian component is a negative, then ESF is better suited.

Yeahp

Why don't you try applying CAIS for your kid? The school is expanding so there should have more chances for getting in at any grades

Spiderdodo

lovelyJade 發表於 15-9-17 22:33
My girl was born in 2006 too, and i hv just done transferring her from local sch to esf year 5 few w ...

Hey, that's very helpful!  Tks! I don't need to borrow any address proof though.

Spiderdodo

Activehealth 發表於 15-9-17 21:28
My boy just started Year 7 in ESF secondary school. In last 2 terms in Year 6 ESF primary, he had fe ...

Now, that's a piece of very useful intelligence!  Thank you!

random_dad

Yeahp 發表於 15-9-18 09:43
Why don't you try applying CAIS for your kid? The school is expanding so there should have more chan ...

They're growing at the K3 and P1 intake, and they're not growing at the higher grades until the students move up naturally.  For a lack of a better description, like a cow moving through a snake.  So while there are 5 classes in Grade 1 (for example), there's only 4 at Grade 4 and 3 at Grade 7, which is roughly how long ago they started to increase enrollment.

Spiderdodo

random_dad 發表於 15-9-18 09:41
If you don't mind spending the $1500 application fee for CAIS, I'd suggest you try.  There's a bit  ...

Yeap, CAIS has always been in my plan.  Good advice on finding more about enrollment trend from the school!
I've checked both websites, and found that the fees are more or less the same.  Didn't know that CAIS' were significantly higher.  Maybe I should double check on that one.

random_dad

Spiderdodo 發表於 15-9-18 09:53
Yeap, CAIS has always been in my plan.  Good advice on finding more about enrollment trend from the  ...

CAIS ICN @ $400k (anticipated) or $25k/year (anticipated) once the new campus is in use.  School fees are roughly $30k/year more than ESF +/- depending on year.

Another note on CAIS...  Because there are more passport holders, there's more of a tendency for kids to leave the school for overseas, particularly at higher grades, whether as a parent's job relocation or simply returning to their passport issuing country for further education (i.e. as an escape from the HK system).  As such, my guess is the turnover at CAIS is higher than average.  On the other hand, your non-passport holding status will put you in a lower priority depending on the situation.

Spiderdodo

"CAIS ICN @ $400k (anticipated) or $25k/year (anticipated) once the new campus is in use."

I don't quite understand this part of the equation.  Could you elaborate?

random_dad

Spiderdodo 發表於 15-9-18 10:06
"CAIS ICN @ $400k (anticipated) or $25k/year (anticipated) once the new campus is in use."

I don't  ...

New school campus in construction at Butterfly Valley, anticipated occupancy date 2017-2018 academic year.

Those that are current students have had a chance to purchase ICNs @ $200k or $250k depending on when they opted to purchase.  New intakes will either have to purchase a refundable $400k ICN before occupancy, or be subject to a non-refundable $25k annual capital levy.  ICN refundable in the year after the student leaves school or after 1st year of occupancy, at the price paid and only back to the school.  Amounts are estimated, as they have not firmed on the amount, but should be reasonable close, as they've already increased the ICN significantly.

This capital amount is significantly higher than ESF.  That being said, I wonder out loud how long ESF can hold their tuition and capital levy at the current levels as the government funding to them winds down.  For me, that is the biggest variable for someone looking at entering ESF, because what they are committing to and anticipating in costs now may not be anywhere near the same in a few years.

Spiderdodo

random_dad 發表於 15-9-18 10:38
New school campus in construction at Butterfly Valley, anticipated occupancy date 2017-2018 academic ...

Ic, I wonder if HK's IS school fees are among world's top.

Spiderdodo

random_dad 發表於 15-9-18 10:38
New school campus in construction at Butterfly Valley, anticipated occupancy date 2017-2018 academic ...

I've just checked the page and still have some queries. It talks about the most recently purchased price of an ICN at HKD 250,000, but not the new intakes for HKD 400,000.  I wonder, wouldn't every parent opts to purchase the ICN if the anticipated value will go higher and is totally transferable? Why would someone pay a non-refundable levy of 25K  if you will finally get your money back?   

random_dad

Spiderdodo 發表於 15-9-18 11:25
I've just checked the page and still have some queries. It talks about the most recently purchased p ...

Some reasons:

- Maybe your child will be entering Grade 10 in 2017-2018 and you'll only be staying for a few years.
- Maybe you plan on moving back to overseas to continue your child's education in a few years.
- Maybe you're on an expat on a short term employment contract.
- Maybe your employer pays for your children's tuition as part of the benefits package, and corporations can only buy the CCN at a much higher price.
- Maybe you don't have $400k free cash flow.
- Maybe you are an investment expert that can earn more than $25k/year on a $400k investment (6.25% return).

Every person's situation is different.  I know many parents that did not opt for the ICN.