Any "Pure" Hong Kong Kid being accepted by ESF Primary School ?

chaonngy

Dear bbtung,

  Thanks for your information! Could U mind to tell us that Cat2 students are more difficult to enter ESF Primary now? especially KJS!

Thanks a lot!

原帖由 bbtung 於 09-2-10 13:30 發表
Dear all,

My whole family ( i.e. my husband, my daughter and me ) are all born in Hong Kong and held HKSAR passport. We don't have any foreign passport.

My daughter was accepted by Kowloon Junior Sc ...

oooray

Your comment sounds realistic.
Your tips for interview are good but the first problem we are encountering now (as a parent of ESF Year 1 applicant this year) is not the performance of interview, but is the low (or no) "chance" for interview as a Cat. 2 applicant.
What I learnt is that there are so many Cat. 1 applicants this year (also in the recent years). Here the possible reasons:
A. more expats who did not go to ESF system before (HKIS, GSIS, ...) apply ESF now due to economic reasons (less expensive tuition fee;
B. "Clever" local parents pretend to be a Cat. 1 applicants (then get a chance for interview in the first round) by declaring their children do not speak Cantonese [I believe ESF tends to believe what you declared in the application form. There is no point for them to "investigate" languages proficiency for so many applicants]. Although it is immoral, I believe quite a lot of people are doing this[ Of course, % of success is another issue]. "Traveling by Shortcut" is from the "gene" of Chinese people (I'm a Chinese, too)
For Kindergarten, there is no interview at all so that they should 100% rely upon what you filled in the application form.

As a local Chinese (no matter u have a foreign passport), it is our destiny to be a Cat. 2 parents. It is the rule of game. As long as you join the game, u need to follow it strictly (unless u are thinking of immoral tricks to be a Cat. 1 applicants)

原帖由 bbtung 於 09-2-10 13:30 發表
Dear all,

My whole family ( i.e. my husband, my daughter and me ) are all born in Hong Kong and held HKSAR passport. We don't have any foreign passport.

My daughter was accepted by Kowloon Junior Sc ...

bbtung

Dear oooray,

"Clever" local parents pretend to be a Cat. 1 applicants (then get a chance for interview in the first round) by declaring their children do not speak Cantonese.........  Ha Ha Ha !!


This is a very very old treats for over tens years. It could be traced back to 1984. I understand that all CHINESE ( i.e. there is a Chinese Surname like CHAN, Chen, HO ,WONG, Lee and etc shown in their passport or birth certificate) will be in the Cat 2 even the mix. ESF do not believe what you declare in the application form at all for many many years.

Cat 2 is for the kids studied at the real international kindergadens in Hong Kong with a Chinese Surname.

Please note that the teachers and management of ESF are of very high quality ( not so simple minded !!!).


bbtung

[ 本帖最後由 bbtung 於 09-2-10 16:35 編輯 ]

bbtung

Dear chaonngy,

I don't think that there will be so many Cat 1 student to fill up the P1 seats.

The difficulty for cat 2 student is your kinder is not a real international kinder.


bbtung

原帖由 chaonngy 於 09-2-10 13:51 發表
Dear bbtung,

  Thanks for your information! Could U mind to tell us that Cat2 students are more difficult to enter ESF Primary now? especially KJS!

Thanks a lot!

maumiu

hi bbtung,
Thanks for your advice but I just wonder how about the kids say a word in Mandarin?
As we know even ESF kinder also have Mandarin class.  So will they fail the kids if he just say /show their understanding of Mandarin?

原帖由 bbtung 於 09-2-10 13:30 發表
Dear all,

My whole family ( i.e. my husband, my daughter and me ) are all born in Hong Kong and held HKSAR passport. We don't have any foreign passport.

My daughter was accepted by Kowloon Junior Sc ...

bbtung

My understanding is Cantonese.

原帖由 maumiu 於 09-2-10 16:44 發表
hi bbtung,
Thanks for your advice but I just wonder how about the kids say a word in Mandarin?
As we know even ESF kinder also have Mandarin class.  So will they fail the kids if he just say /show th ...

s_s

其實係depends咩 catchment area先岩!
cat 2 or even 講緊pure hk family都可以入esf school, 大都在少cat 1 的area

clearwater bay school係一個好例子, 佢地大部份的學生都是老外, 或者mom or dad係外國人, cat 2 學生如我地, 真係連interview都無chance.
我現在唯一可做的, 就係報year 1 時要搬屋, 搬去比較少cat 1 爭的地區, 入佢地個catchment area.

我有個老外朋友佢地3個kids都在clearwater bay讀, 佢幫我問左個admission officer, admission recommend我最好apply另一些esf primary instead, 因為clearwater bay真係好多cat 1, 今年cat 2 有得interview不多於10%。

cat 1, cat 2, 分別在於識唔識講中文, 識唔識寫中文, 就算你有foreign passport, mom & dad 有填second language 係chinese or cantonese都一定係cat 2 啦!
一係你地就要扮到係一個中文字都唔識的家長, 拱個小朋友就有chance叫cat 1 囉!

如果真係cat 2, 就不如打聽下邊區少 cat 1, 起碼 cat 2 vs cat 2 , chance一定大過 vs cat 1 先啦!

tpoon

s_s

可以報幾間ESF小學咩?

原帖由 s_s 於 09-2-10 16:53 發表
其實係depends咩 catchment area先岩!
cat 2 or even 講緊pure hk family都可以入esf school, 大都在少cat 1 的area

clearwater bay school係一個好例子, 佢地大部份的學生都是老外, 或者mom or dad係外國人, cat 2 ...

popolung

原帖由 s_s 於 09-2-10 16:53 發表
其實係depends咩 catchment area先岩!
cat 2 or even 講緊pure hk family都可以入esf school, 大都在少cat 1 的area

clearwater bay school係一個好例子, 佢地大部份的學生都是老外, 或者mom or dad係外國人, cat 2 ...

1. The case with more cat 2 is like QBS (Quarry Bay)

2. You can write your kid can only speak Eng in the form, but can you ask your kid to pretend they only speak eng? This is the problem. And I heard from this forum said if the interviewer found that your kid can speak Cantonese they will fail your kid. So do you want to bet?

Anyway originally ESF is not designed for local kids to study, so if you want to get your kid into ESF, should be well prepared. For example, soak them in almost complete English environment, but how many local families can do this?

oooray

just my wild guess...haha...

原帖由 bbtung 於 09-2-10 16:30 發表
Dear oooray,

"Clever" local parents pretend to be a Cat. 1 applicants (then get a chance for interview in the first round) by declaring their children do not speak Cantonese.........  Ha Ha Ha !!


T ...

s_s

所以要搬屋囉!!
我家住西貢, cat 1 太多了!!

原帖由 tpoon 於 09-2-10 17:14 發表
s_s

可以報幾間ESF小學咩?

birdbird

From my experience and dicussions among some moms in these 2 years, the ESF P1 interview itself is actually not very difficult if the kids can communicate in English. The interview is to screen out kids who cannot follow class routines, instructions instead of picking outstanding students to fill the P1 seats.

What is more crucial in getting a place in ESF P1 is the interview offer! Local Chinese, regardless of what passports we hold, are generally classified as Cat. 2. In Cat. 2, students of ESF kinder & with siblings in ESF primary will have a higher chance to get the interview offer. For other Cat. 2 applicants, those study in real international kindergartens such as Montessori, Woodland have higher chances then those come from local kindergartens.

Another factor in consideration, as other moms mentioned, is the proportion of cat.1 applicants in the catchment. Cat. 2 applicants on the HK side usually have higher chances to get the interview than those on the Kln side. For Cat.2 kids in Clear Water Bay catchment, their chances of getting the interview offer or a place are also very low even they come from the ESF kindergarten since there are many foreigners in that catchment.

Finally, I'd like to talk about the 'mother tongue' of the kids. For a 'pure' local family with parents raised up in Hong Kong and kid born in Hong Kong, regardless of which kindergarten the kid is studying and that the parents claim in the application form that the kids know no Chinese at all, the ESF admission team will still consider that the kid is in Cat.2! It is not convincing that the kid has no exposure to Chinese in a Chinese dominated community. It also doesn't make any sense to the educators that a local kid cannot speak Chinese as his parents, living in their mother country/city, is supposed to treasure their own mother tongue. The kid's Chinese level may be low, but absolutely should not be zero! It is wiser to check the appropriate boxes regarding the kid's ability /learning progress of different languages in the application form.

popolung

原帖由 birdbird 於 09-2-10 22:20 發表
From my experience and dicussions among some moms in these 2 years, the ESF P1 interview itself is actually not very difficult if the kids can communicate in English. The interview is to screen out ki ...

quite a good and wise summary of what we have discussed these months! Yes, the conclusion is: it is not easy, but not impossible.

chaonngy

Dear bbtung,

Thanks for your reply!

I still think about the chance to get a P1 seat in KJS? Is KJS or SJS has a higher chance to get a seat if I'm a Cat2 student that studying in ESF kinder!!!!

Thanks a lot!!!

原帖由 bbtung 於 09-2-10 16:38 發表
Dear chaonngy,

I don't think that there will be so many Cat 1 student to fill up the P1 seats.

The difficulty for cat 2 student is your kinder is not a real international kinder.


bbtung

maumiu

Besides, I also want to know the chance for RC. Is it still high for Cat 2 student in ESF kinder?

Thanks.

原帖由 chaonngy 於 09-2-10 23:04 發表
Dear bbtung,

Thanks for your reply!

I still think about the chance to get a P1 seat in KJS? Is KJS or SJS has a higher chance to get a seat if I'm a Cat2 student that studying in ESF kinder!!!!

Tha ...

popolung

原帖由 maumiu 於 09-2-11 09:13 發表
Besides, I also want to know the chance for RC. Is it still high for Cat 2 student in ESF kinder?

Thanks.

Yes, this is the case of RC for this year, but only you have better chance for interview. Admission or not still depend on your English Fluency as far as I know.

502

For ESF admission, the critical point is to get a chance for interview.  The interview itself, as mentioned by other parents here, is not difficult at all.  It is not aimed to "fail" the kids but just to re-confirm their ability to be taught in English.  ESF schools are the ones taught in English, but not teaching English!

So for parents who are not "genuine" Cat 1 in view of ESF, e.g. you are not gwei-lo, the tactics can be adopted, as per my experience, are as below:

1) Get a place in ESF kinder
2) Move to a catchment zone with more places (e.g. there are more ESF primary schools in HK Island comparing to Kowloon and NT)
3) Get a place in a "TRULY" international kinder which has good relationship with ESF primary schools.  But bear in mind that such relationship might be geographically restricted.  I heard a case that a kid with a HK side international kinder but failed to get an interview from KJS.  The relationship does not go that far!

oooray

原帖由 popolung 於 09-2-11 09:46 發表


Yes, this is the case of RC for this year, but only you have better chance for interview. Admission or not still depend on your English Fluency as far as I know.

I guess RC has interviewed all the applicants (total 350 were interviewed) but no idea regarding any priority for admission to applicants with siblings/from ESF/from non-ESF kindergarten; or simply offer place to 150 successful applicant merely depends upon children's performance during interview.
Unlike ESF School, chance for interview is strictly prioritize for category 1/2/sibling/ESF kindergarten and then random sequence (lucky draw)...

popolung

原帖由 oooray 於 09-2-11 11:10 發表

I guess RC has interviewed all the applicants (total 350 were interviewed) but no idea regarding any priority for admission to applicants with siblings/from ESF/from non-ESF kindergarten; or simply o ...

I believed ESF Kinder has priority in RC as they are both PIS under ESF.

But if RC interviewed all applicants, then it doesn't matter as it normally will look at the ability of children then rank them I believed after the interview.

And I think quite of lof of RC applicants have also applied other ESF and IS and are waiting for results too. So more vacancies will be released sooner or later.

oooray

原帖由 popolung 於 09-2-11 11:48 發表


I believed ESF Kinder has priority in RC as they are both PIS under ESF.

But if RC interviewed all applicants, then it doesn't matter as it normally will look at the ability of children then rank t ...

Yup! I heard quite a number of applicants applied RC this year as their 2nd choices (some of them with silbings in ESF schools; their experiences are that some applicants with siblings might not get an offer in first or 2nd round[that was supposed to be "almost guaranteed" in the past] until very late due to severe competitions last year).
I believe quite a number of places will be available when they get an offer from ESF schools...probably a good news to those in the waiting list of RC.