VSA vs ESF vs ISF

Yau_Cheung

My child will study K2 on Sep 07.  I want to select between VSA, ESF (Kennedy School) and ISF because all of them are IB schools.  If you child is studying either one, please give me some comment.  Thank you.

ngmom

Hi, I went thru that assessment sometime ago and have finally made my decision. You need to assess it against your own objectives and preference.
Apart from IB, do you prefer the school to offer students  small class size, Chinese language fluency, creative thinking etc. Obviously fee is also a consideration. It is best for you to visit the schools and then make your own decision.

Ngmom

502

Your kid is a 2003 one, like my younger one!

Actually we also went through the struggle among the above three and finally we decide to send him to ISF.  It really depends on the parents' preference in terms of school culture, languages proficiency as well as curriculum.  

原文章由 Yau_Cheung 於 07-7-23 23:40 發表
My child will study K2 on Sep 07.  I want to select between VSA, ESF (Kennedy School) and ISF because all of them are IB schools.  If you child is studying either one, please give me some comment ...

KenjiMa

原文章由 502 於 07-7-26 13:41 發表
Your kid is a 2003 one, like my younger one!

Actually we also went through the struggle among the above three and finally we decide to send him to ISF.  It really depends on the parents' prefe ...

What is the full name of ISF?

nintendo

原文章由 Yau_Cheung 於 07-7-23 23:40 發表
My child will study K2 on Sep 07.  I want to select between VSA, ESF (Kennedy School) and ISF because all of them are IB schools.  If you child is studying either one, please give me some comment ...

The language structures of the 3 schools are very different.

ESF : They are using mainly English and only very little emphasis on Chinese (ESF will be increasing Chinese classes though)

VSA : Claims to be a bilingual school, ie students are supposed to be strong (or at least have a balanced knowledge) in both English and Chinese, so we can expect 50/50 with English and Chinese.  

ISF : It is in fact not an international school. Plus, their main language of instructions would be Chinese for lower primary, so it would be even "more Chinese" than some local schools (elite local schools like Maryknoll and Good Hope School are 2 of the very few "English medium" primary schools).

I am not going to say which school I like more, since that would be my personal choice. There is no "better" choice, just a matter of personal preference. My choice of school might not suit your needs. Some people prefer the total English environment at ESF. Some people wants their children to be strong in Chinese from the beginning so they might prefer ISF. Some people wants a balance of both so VSA might be a choice.

Everyone has only 24 hours a day, and school time is more or less the same (6 - 7 hours). So needless to say, more in A would probably result in less in B. So you need to see what you want.

Yau_Cheung

Thank you for all valuable opinion.  I decide to apply ESF first because it has immense English environment and I'll let him to take extra chinese course.  Besides, ESF Kennedy School is near my home.  VSA is my second choice if he can't join ESF.