請賜教！ ICS and other IS

my_kid

My son (born in Sep) will go to K2 (famous local kinder in Kln Tong) next school year. He speaks faily good english and school reports show most of his subjects, including english, in the 1st category (out of 5) this semester. His english teacher (a blonde lady) gives him very good comments to his english level.

Now we are considering to send him to IS - same reasons as most parents in this forum! Our initial targeted school is ICS. However, we realised recently (and disappointed as well) about the restriction of school age (cutoff by Sep 1). If my son wanna go to this school, this means he has to "defer" one school year (i.e complete K3 then apply PG1), which is not something that I wanna to happen. I think the kid will feel bad lateron why he has to "repeat" compared to similar aged kids.

I'd like to hear comments from other parents if you have any similiar experiences/struggles before? What's your view for taking only PG1 one year later for ICS. I'm considering to switch to an IS (with full train) next year (i.e after K2) and try to switch to ICS the following year as G1 student which in G1 there is no such restriction age cutoff anymore. Would it be a good strategy?

Alternatively, I'm considering to apply other IS now..:< as other IS does not have such restriction (e.g accepts kids born from Jan - Dec of the year).  I wish my son can go to a school with good
- discilpine english / academic results
- ok mandarin
AND "non-貴族" (don't wanna my kid to talk about money / 名牌).
- high chance to accept kid with my background (i.e. non-IS kinder)

Which one should I explore more? What about RC? SIS - I heard competition for Y1 place is intense unless you have connections.. any views?

Many thanks for your advice!!!
(I'm pretty unhappy / worried these days and hope you can shed me some lights here..)

Mighty

If ICS is really a school that you like, why care about so much that year you are talking about.  Unless you compare and complain about it all the time in front of your child, he will have no problem with it.  School is a life long journey.  To be a big boy/girl in class has lots of advantages.   I dont think both RC or SIS have any religious background.  For christian school, may be you can try NIS.

JTmom

If you are serious about getting into ICS, you should get comfortable with your son studying one year behind. And many parents choose to do so. e.g. In my kid's class, 20% of his classmates are born in Sep. And a total of 50% of the students are born in Sep/Oct/Nov or Dec. So, your son won't be alone. And I can see the benefits of being an older kid at least in the initial school years. They learn a lot more than the younger ones and with higher self-esteem as they can see that they can do more than others.

Trying to get in this school by PG1 (Pre- Grade 1) may not be as easy as you think. It is probably better if you study in its kindergarten. There is about 72-75 seats in PG1 and there are 60 seats in kindergarten. Kindergarten kids will have priority in interview. Outsider applications are more than 120 last year.

If you target RC, it is better to study in ESF kindergarten.

b.rgds,

原帖由 my_kid 於 10-7-5 22:01 發表
My son (born in Sep) will go to K2 (famous local kinder in Kln Tong) next school year. He speaks faily good english and school reports show most of his subjects, including english, in the 1st category ...

dtwy

Another choice is CAIS.
BTW if you really care about the year,  don't go to ICS because you will feel unhappy most of the time.

hoeve

'care about the year' ???? 唔係好明

原帖由 dtwy 於 10-7-7 22:43 發表
Another choice is CAIS.
BTW if you really care about the year,  don't go to ICS because you will feel unhappy most of the time.

[ 本帖最後由 hoeve 於 10-7-9 08:44 編輯 ]

BethMarc

I have the same concern as you as my son also born in Sep and I am thinking of ICS too. I think that it maybe an advantage for applying ICS when finish K3 because you can have the "lucky draw" in the same year, if the result not good, then you may choose ICS.  Another thing is I heard that most IS these years preferred big boys/girls.  Even your child born in August, they will not likely choose.  
My friend want her girl to go into CIS, her girl born in June, also defer one year.

beamom

I'm thinking to apply ICS for my Oct small boy, I think the altenrative is good - not to apply R class but G class if you are confident to on your kid's English level.  Knowing that their requirement on English is very high, so, I'd rather defer one year and try R1 for my son!

nataliepsc

My elder daughter is now studying at ICS PG1.  I'm not sure if the school has preference to "bigger" kids but my daughter was born in Mar.  We applied late Oct when she was still studying K2 at a very local school and she got interviewed in Feb 2010. The school completed its screening process quickly and within 2 days after the interview, we already got the offer - a very happy surprise, since my girl was very shy & I noticed that all the other candidates in the same time slot were sharp & bright & could speak fluent Eng.  There were only around 3 spaces available.  (ICS would first interview their own reception class students, then interview the children who have siblings studying @ICS, my daughter belongs to the last batch of unrelated applicants)

With my daughter studying there for 2 months+, I think it is a good school.  Her teacher is extremely caring, and with her kind guidance my girl had no transitioning issue at all.  The progress my girl made so far was also remarkable.  She could speak English fine but beforehand she was not able to recognize too many words.  Wihin a month she joined the school she suddenly could read by herself!  That was amazing!