ESF primary school interview

alpham0m

My child went to one of the ESF Kindergartens and did not pass the first interview in January. His class teacher and us parents were shocked. We found out later that he did not follow instructions on the day of the interview. The interviewers weren't sure if he can cope in primary school and doubted his level of English.
Before the second interview, we told our son to follow instructions, while before the first interview, we just told him to have fun. Apparently, he had too much fun and did not follow instructions. In the end, he behaved and passed the second interview.

My point is, ESF primary does look beyond English proficiency, I think they do look for readiness too. Parents should prepare their kids and themselves for that.

homummum

hi, alphamom,

Thanks for your sharing. You have mentioned that "I think they do look for readiness too". Can u elaborate that more? Do you mean the interviewers would ask the kids about meaning and pronounctation of words?

Regards.

alpham0m

I am no expert, but I don't think they are testing academic ability. I feel that they want to make sure the kid is mature enough to access primary school curriculum to have a successful start at the school. Perhaps other parents with more experience can share.

Mighty

I would say "readiness for school".  Nothing to do with academic results but rather to see if your kid is ready for (emotionally) primary school education, is he responsive and if he understands English well enough for an entire English medium school.  So when you kid is being talked to, he should be able to respond (no need to speak perfect English),  and he shld understand teachers' instructions as well.