anyone got offer from TY ESF?

mouton

原帖由 Mom2One 於 13-01-31 發表
本帖最後由 Mom2One 於 13-1-31 16:54 編輯

According to a friend of mine whose child interviewed at ...

All ESF Kindergartens.  Once ED approved the paperwork, the kindergartens will send out contract to successful applicants.

FattyDaddy

> jolalee  Yes they did. Just wondering, on your applicant form, what language did the grandparents speak to your kid? I think I was too honest

Well in my case I didn't put anything because the grandparents are no longer with us.

Shrimpiggy

We got the offer too, but mentioned the email that AM and PM class will be assigned randomly later.

michray

shrimpiggy, congrats!

菠蘿媽媽

michray 發表於 13-2-9 01:12
To pineapple mama, did they mentioned you were on their waitlist before the interview/play? And you  ...

Actually, I haven't got any letter prior receiving offer letter.
For me, just very simple:-
1) on-line application
2) receiving  play visit letter
3) receiving offer letter

That's all.

By the way, I did mentioned my daugther can speak 1) English and 2) Cantonese. Actually, we cannot deny "can't speak cantonese", coz' my daughter studies in local kindergarten Pre-nursery class now :)

dsm

We received the offer letter from TYESF today, anyone knows when would we confirm am or pm class?
My son also got an offer from KBCK.... Fees for ESF is more than double to KBCK, if we are not targeting ESF primary, should we go for KBCK?

michray

jolalee, actually I got the offer fm kbck.

jolalee

dsm 發表於 13-2-9 19:25
We received the offer letter from TYESF today, anyone knows when would we confirm am or pm class?
M ...

Just wondering which primary schools you are targeting in that case? Would make a difference on your kindie choices...

dsm

回復 jolalee 的帖子

We tend to let my son in local school so that he can learn more Chinese. However, he has only got from ESF and KBCK. We did apply some bilingual kinders but he failed in all interviews. So we only have these 2 choices at the moment. Despite the priority of entering ESF primary, how would you compare these 2 kinders in terms of caring and academic ?

manfatcentre

原帖由 FattyDaddy 於 13-02-09 發表
> jolalee  Yes they did. Just wondering, on your applicant form, what language did the grandparents  ...

I wrote  parent also grandparent  are Cantonese speaker  but my kid also got  offer.  don't worry.

jolalee

manfatcentre 發表於 13-2-11 02:07
I wrote  parent also grandparent  are Cantonese speaker  but my kid also got  offer.  don't worry.



  ...

Did your child get an offer this year or in a previous year? Was he/she wait listed initially? thx!

jolalee

dsm 發表於 13-2-11 01:27
回復 jolalee 的帖子

We tend to let my son in local school so that he can learn more Chinese. Howeve ...

Wait, do you mean you plan to have him enrolled in a local school for primary onwards? In that case do NOT go for English medium only kindergartens, otherwise he will not be able to catch up to the local standards for P1 applications (both in Chinese and in Math).
Bilingual school is a good option but at pre-K level some of them expect children to communicate already with 2 or even 3 languages during the interview, which goes against the golden rule of giving a child ONE solid mother tongue between 0-3. If he fails the interviews it's not his (or your) fault, so don't beat yourself over it.

From what i know, ESF tend to be very free and teach via play. They can basically write their names only at K2 level as some IS does. As a joke, I always say ESF kindie kids usually go to ESF primary because their academic level would not allow them to go anywhere else. LOL. Anyhow, they do get interview priority for ESF P1 (for the last year) so that's basically the biggest plus. I don't know much about KBCK (in fact, i never heard of it before i see this thread) so i can't compare the two, but perhaps other parents can help.

FattyDaddy

> jolalee  Both sides? Apologies!  發表於 前天 16:58

Happy Lunar New Year to you, there was no need to apologize, it is not that unusual for grandparents to be no longer around.

I noticed you had also asked pineapple mum what she put on her application form. We will probably never know what criteria were used by the school when they were scanning the application forms to determine whether an applicant would be assessed for an actual place (as in pineapple mum's case) or just a place on the waiting list (as in your case), you suspected it might have something to do with putting down Cantonese as the grandparent's language, but I'm not sure if that piece of information really carried that much weight. Like you said, it could well be just a random draw within the respective categories since pineapple mum went even further than you in declaring her daughter knows Cantonese.

Shrimpiggy

that's why ESF removing the cat1 /2 is to as avoid such disputes.

jolalee

FattyDaddy 發表於 13-2-11 08:46
> jolalee  Both sides? Apologies!  發表於 前天 16:58

Happy Lunar New Year to you, there was no need ...

Yes FattyDaddy, true, both sets of my grandparents were no longer around when i was very young. I should not be surprised. I do wish that I get to know my grandparents betters, but it was okay that i didn't get a chance to. I am sure your kids will grow up healthy and happy :) Happy CNY to you too!!


I think you're right, it's a random draw within the respective categories, and it could even be possible that i'm in CAT 1 and not get an interview spot (like my Canadian-born high school friend who spoke no Canto to his daughter at all), whereas someone in CAT 2 does due to the draw. I am already very lucky to have been randomly drawn to be at the top of the waiting list (although i found out here that many parents are in the same situation as I am). Many don't even get the chance due to the shear number of applicants.
Anyhow, it's all gonna change next year, and I do agree that it should help ESF make it more fair for English speaking families. (I'm probably somewhere in the middle anyhow: both my husband and I are ethnic Chinese but native & near native English speakers). I do feel that non ethnic Chinese now stands a greater chance, although ESF cannot say that out loud in fear of being charged with discrimination... I wonder if they would be able to interview EVERY applicant, and if not, how are they going to determine who to and who not to interview?...

dsm

回復 jolalee 的帖子

We did not anticipate that our son would have failed in all local kinders (even the one my elder son attended) we applied ESF as contingency while we speak English most of the time. So we are now a little puzzle.

The principal of KBCK told me the 2 schools are more or the less the same in curriculum, perhaps it's true, just wonder how would the fees be so different.

田心

dsm. KBCK is subsidized by the church and if you have visited both schools, you should notice their facilities and that's the different.

jolalee

I wouldn't be surprised at the tuition difference given we're living in HK. Given KBCK has church background, I'd say moneymaking is not their priority. Churches also has many donors as well. Of course they'd also be spreading their faith to the young minds. If you're against religious beliefs then you may have to think carefully what you want your child's world view will be like. Personally i do prefer it.

In addition, you may need to enroll him in Chinese classes or maybe even another Kindie to keep up his Chinese, and later on math lessons.

mouton

You need to think about K3 class issues if you are going to apply main stream primary schools.

dsm

Yes, the differences on hardware are obvious (like buildings, facilities).  But for software ?(eg curriculum, teachers). Knew that ESF is playschool alike, I'm worrying KBCK is even more loose.

My elder son was luckily got into a bilingual kinder then went to local primary naturally, so he's got quite good foundation in both written and spoken Chinese (now he is in secondary school overseas). It seems things changed a lot and very difficult to get a place in a good bilingual kinder and primary and so on. Perhaps we might need to consider sending the younger son to 2 schools simultaneously (one local and one English). Again it's headache to find him a local one to connect with the locations where ESF and KBCK situated at this late stage.