ICS kinder to their elementary

劉明

I'm struggling whether I should accept the offer from ICS for my boy for R1.

Personally I really love this school but I'm very worried how many chances their kinder kids are able to get into their elementary school because they keep mentioning they're not a real "full train" from kinder to elementary.  All of them still need to hv an interview.  Just like ESF kinder, no guarantee.

Since my son born in Oct, you know, that means when all the others are going to study their P1 in most of the IS at their age of 5.  My son will just start his R2 in ICS.  If he’s unable to get into their elementary, he may end up need to go back to local school and wait for the lucky draw….  Any ICS mommies can share your experience to me?  Tks.

newmama0724

After studying R1&R2(two years) in ICS, the chance is higher. But for those only attend R2 (one year only), many failed to get a place in the primary according to my friend(her kids are studying there). And if students' English is not good enough after two years of studying , the chance is slim as the school teach in English but not teach English(a teacher told parents this).  

原帖由 劉明 於 11-4-6 21:52 發表
I'm struggling whether I should accept the offer from ICS for my boy for R1.

Personally I really love this school but I'm very worried how many chances their kinder kids are able to get into their e ...

JTmom

Are you happy with your boy's existing kindergarten? Are most of his classmates staying in this school for K2? One thing you may want to think about is how attached he is with the existing school or friends. He may have a hard time adapting to a new school. You will feel very bad if he does not like going to a new school.

Also, if he is very quiet and does not like to talk to people that he does not know well, then he may not be in a good position during the P1 interviews. The admission interviews are done by the admission team from the elementary school and not the teachers in the kindergarten. It does not matter how much he knows if he does not answer the questions.

In the worst case that he is not accepted, there are other IS or private schools that you can apply for him as P1 students where he can continue to be an older boy in his class.  

Unless you keep up with his Chinese learning at home for the next 2 years, it will be hard for him to switch back to a local school even he is alloted one. Nowadays, local K3 kids write many Chinese words as part of their homework. Some even wriite diary in Chinese with single or a few sentences.

b.rgds,

原帖由 劉明 於 11-4-6 21:52 發表
I'm struggling whether I should accept the offer from ICS for my boy for R1.

Personally I really love this school but I'm very worried how many chances their kinder kids are able to get into their e ...

[ 本帖最後由 JTmom 於 11-4-8 09:41 編輯 ]

bunniesmama

Some actual data for you to consider.
- This year, 90% of ICS kinder kids are able to pass the assessment and are offered P1 places. This statistics has been fairly consistent in the past years as well.

- Oct child might be considered as "big child" in other schools, but definitely NOT in ICS. ICS's cut off date is August, NOT December. In my child's class, many turn 4 in the first semester in R1.

Some hearsay for you to consider

- For most ICS kinder kids who could NOT get into P1, there are two main reasons. 1. English proficiency, 2. Conduct. For English proficiency, their old principal told us that if the child is ONLY exposed to English for three hours in ICS everyday, then chances are the child would NOT have enough English proficiency to P1. This also applies to children who only started in ICS since R2 (the P1 assessment takes place in January, so technically the child only had a few months of exposure in English especially if the child was previously enrolled in a local KG). So as long as you are able to provide an English environment outside of school (e.g. read to them in English at home), most children would be able to pass.

- Conduct. Some children did not behave well (e.g. not following instructions) during the P1 assessment and therefore, were not given P1 places due to conduct issues. However, most of these children already had some conduct issues during their time in ICS so to be honest, I am sure it won't be too much of a surprise. However, many of those who were denied P1 places due to conduct are given a few more months of observation period. So ICS does go above and beyond to help their own KG kids to get into elementary as much as possible!

So bottomline - if you are targeting ICS Elementary, there is no better place to put your child than ICS kinder. Even though its not guaranteed, the chance is still WAY WAY WAY higher than ANY KG outside (even other IS/ESF/Billingual schools)

劉明

Thank you all mommies for giving me so many info.  They're very helpful!  

BTW, one last ?, when they do the assesment for the kids, will they give higher mark for am classes or they treat them all equal?  It's because my son only be able to get a place in pm class.

buu0605

Hi all ICS mommies and mommies with kids going to join ICS at R1 or Pre-grade 1, my boys are going to join its P1 and R1 this year.  May I know your ways to teach your kid Chinese / keep your kid's Chinese language standard?  

Is it possible or good to organize with classmates to form a small learning group so that they learn Chinese together e.g. from a mother each day and it take turns every day to do so?  My big boy is in K2 from a local mainstream kinder and I would like to keep up and continue his Chinese learning after joining ICS P1....Thanks.

luplup

Hi buu0605, so glad to see an ICS P1 mom here.  My son will attend ICS P1 in the coming Aug.  He comes from K2 of a local kinder too.  I also want to keep up with his Chinese standard.  Your idea is great.  Which district are you living in? I live in Tsuen Wan.

buu0605

Great to receive response!  I live in Homantin and will join the summer program in the last 2 weeks of July.  I've pm my email address to you for further sharing.