ISF vs VSA, which one is better?

avaya

Both of them are relatively new.  VSA primary and secondary are a bit older than ISF.  Both focus on bilingual Chinese and English education.   VSA schools fees is cheaper than ISF.  Both have nice and decent school buildings and facilities.  ISF is still under expansion.   Any ideas?

HKTHK

I don't know much about VSA but believe there are VSA parents here.  Under what dimensions are you comparing the two schools?  What are the things that are important to you as a parent?

wenwan

My son studied in VSA for two years, what do you want to know.

HKTHK

回復 wenwan 的帖子

How would you compare the curriculum (English, Chinese, Math) and culture between VSA and CIS?

wenwan

VSA curriculum is good but CIS is a bit better. I guess VSA is a new school and they are still fine tuning their curriculum. CIS is more established and teachers are more experienced.

English: Both school doesn't teach English like local school ie they won't teach grammar. They will let the kids do lot of writing and correct them.  In VSA, my boy not only have written stories, he also wrote poems and even tongue twisters.  CIS method is more systematic, they will tell the kids to brainstorm first, do a mind map and then starts writing. Teachers will guide each students while they are writing instead of just correct it afterwards.  As for dictation, VSA does have dictation once every two weeks while CIS has no dictation at all.  CIS will teach student how to 'Read', I am not talking about phonics or simply knowing the words or the meaning of the words. CIS teaches the kids to pay attention to how the author wrote, what kind of vocabs he used, where is the climax, where is the twist and turn etc etc. The kids will have group discussion afterwards with the teachers. My boy love reading and writing even more than before.

Chinese: VSA derives the syllabus from China while CIS from Taiwan/China.  CIS syllabus is easier. Both schools have text books and kids learn vocabs and sentences structure from the text books. Both school have dictation; VSA will do it once a week while CIS is once every two to three weeks.  CIS have tests while VSA have no tests at all. VSA will also teach 唐詩，三字經，弟子規。VSA will not teach students how to write, they will ask the kids to write stories and journals and correct them afterwards.  But in CIS, they will teach them how to read and write in the same method as in English.

Math: Both schools teach Math through games.  VSA have used Australia and Hong Kong syllabus before but this year they switched to Singapore. CIS uses USA syllabus.  CIS teaches Math in both languages.

Culture: Their cultures do not differ much. Kids in both school are happy, energetic, well mannered, polite and gentle. Both schools emphasis so much in reading. They don't have a lot of homework and give the kids more time to read.  They encourages the kid to read everyday.   The only differences I can see is CIS encourages the kids to do a lot of sports, soccer, rugby etc etc.

HKTHK

回復 wenwan 的帖子

wenwan,
    Thank you.  This is very helpful.  For the benefit of other parents who are trying to understand and choose between these schools, I will also put down the info for ISF:


English:  Mostly self-developped curriculum with reference to UK and California standards.  Not sure if you would call this grammar but definition and usage of nouns, verbs, ... are specifically taught.  They do write quite a bit as well from journals to stories.  Reading comprehension strategies are also specifically taught.  There is weekly dictation.  There is also a weekly vocabulary list which is differentiated for students in the same class.  Everyone is required to read 15 mins a day in English and each week, a student will get a PM reader and also borrow another book from the library.


Chinese:  Based on China's curriculum with references to HK and Taiwan curriculums.  Text books are the same as those used in HK LS.  There is weekly dictation and students will be assessed after each thematic unit is completed (same as in English).  Recitation of 唐詩 starts in K3 and it is about 10-15 a year.  Chinese teacher will check recitation of each poem by each student.  三字經，弟子規 are also recited starting in FY.

Math:  Taught in both languages and follow US curriculum.  I think Chinese math are those that scaffold upwards while English math are concepts that might not necessarily built upon itself.

Culture:  I would imagine quite similar to CIS and VSA.  There is a fair amount of homework but students are still required to read 15 mins each in Chinese and English each day.  From what I can tell, a fair number of parents supplement Chinese (if they are not native speakers) and/or Math.  ECA are entirely optional but kids are quite active and most will play a sport and a musical instrument.   

HKTHK

If any CKY parents or parents of other school can put down theirs as well, it will be great since I think it will really help other parents to understand what actually happen in each school as opposed to the general external perception.

shadeslayer

原帖由 HKTHK 於 12-12-01 發表
If any CKY parents or parents of other school can put down theirs as well, it will be great since I  ...

There is one major difference between CIS and VSA. Student mix.

musicien

Thank you all!

HKTHK

回復 shadeslayer 的帖子

In which sense?

shadeslayer

HKTHK 發表於 12-12-1 21:16
回復 shadeslayer 的帖子

In which sense?

To me, a more balanced mix of international students is an advantage.

CIS:
From CIS web site:

Happy, motivated, multi-talented and multi-lingual, CIS's 1,400 students come from over 1,000 families and diverse backgrounds. While about two-thirds of students are ethnically Chinese, they represent some two dozen nationalities with family roots in many parts of the world.


VSA/CKY, I believe almost all, if not all, are local Chinese.  VSA parents can confirm.


ISF: somewhere in between.

HKTHK

回復 shadeslayer 的帖子

I will let wenwan speak to the % of non-ethnically Chinese students at CIS.  It is tough to quantify at ISF as there are quite a number of mixed ethnicity children.

shadeslayer

HKTHK 發表於 12-12-1 15:50
回復 wenwan 的帖子

wenwan,

Culture:  I would imagine quite similar to CIS and VSA.  

xxxxxx


The history, faculty and student mix define the culture.  I don't know for sure but I imagine CIS is quite different from VSA or CKY.


It is not easy to get admitted to any of these schools.  If I have a choice and money is not a concern, CIS seems to be a much safer bet.

wenwan

Yes, CIS has more non ethnically Chinese than VSA. Not sure about the percentage but in my boy's class, there are 8 non ethnically Chinese or mixed race kids out of 22 kids.  In some classes, there are about 4 to 8 non ethnically Chinese kids.  In VSA, he used to have 3/4 mixed race kids out of 28 kids in his class.  Another interesting fact about student mix is that CIS has equal number of each gender, 44boys and 44 girls in each year band.

Regarding the ethnic culture, CIS is more westernized, there is no flag racing ceremony, no singing of national anthem but they will still teach Chinese history.  But in terms of learning culture, both schools are very similar.

avaya

Would it be fair to say CIS/ISF students are from relatively richer families while VSA are mostly from local HK middle class families?

wenwan

avaya, most of CIS families are rich but not like every one is as rich as Martin Lee or Victor Lee.  There are still a lot of parents who are not very rich but very reputable in their professions.

As for VSA, the majority is middle class to upper middle class but they still have very rich family like 羅傑成。

亞Boo

原帖由 wenwan 於 12-12-01 發表
VSA curriculum is good but CIS is a bit better. I guess VSA is a new school and they are still fine  ...

Wenwan, thanks for the detailed information. So, your boy switched to CIS after 2 years studied in VSA?  Any insights about the discipline of the kids in VSA? Some negative comments about VSA posted in forum before, true or not? Please share if you don't mind, thanks.

Starrynite

HKTHK 發表於 12-12-1 15:51
If any CKY parents or parents of other school can put down theirs as well, it will be great since I  ...

Are there any International Christian School (ICS), Renassiance College (RC) and Canadian International (CDNIS) parents who can chip in? Really appreciate it!

wenwan

原帖由 亞Boo 於 12-12-04 發表
Wenwan, thanks for the detailed information. So, your boy switched to CIS after 2 years studied in V ...

亞Boo,
Yes, my son switched to CIS after spending two years with VSA.  I don't see VSA kids have discipline problem.  The principal and the teachers do care a lot about the students discipline.  They might be naughty sometimes but they know when to behave properly.  For example, the kids are dead quite during assembly, those who speak improper language will be punished, teachers will also send emails or call parents to notify them.  Teachers know who are the bullies and will keep an eye on them all the time.  

All the primary kids are well disciplined.  Some secondary students might speak foul language but I guess they just represents the minority.

亞Boo

Wenwan, thanks again. Your comment is neutral and it seems VSA did improve a lot.  Based on your observation, how's the language ability of the kids there?  Good? Fluent in English? Eager to learn or just keep playing around? Sorry for keep asking as my little one got the P1 offer from VSA finally and it's important to know more about this school. Thanks.

BTW, do you mind to share with us why you switched your boy to CIS instead?