VSA vs. ESF

gowgowgow

which school is better? we plan to have the kids to attend overseas university so IB is preferable. the kids are still little. friends told me to choose ESF because they have more schools and better resources whereas for VSA, their Chinese should be better than ESF students. Please advise........

poonseelai

gowgowgow 發表於 13-6-26 10:43
which school is better? we plan to have the kids to attend overseas university so IB is preferable.  ...

Both are good and difficult to get in.  How old is your kids?  Both have kindergartens and if I were you I would apply for both and wait.  There are plenty of discussions here and you may do a search to dig out more.
VSA is bilingual and students use both Putonghua and Eng in classes.  It adopts PYP, MYP and then DP with English as the medium of teaching in MYP and DP.  ESF teaches Chinese as a subject in primary, if I am correct. Not all ESF schools apply PYP/MYP, and the following link will show status of each school.

http://www.ibo.org/school/search/index.cfm?programmes=&country=HK&region=&find_schools=Find

HKTHK

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Really depends on what you are looking for.  I think VSA will be stronger in Chinese and more local students.  ESF has different schools and there are some such as RC which is supposed to have better Chinese.  If I were you, I would go read some of the old thread of people comparing different schools and then figure out what are important to you first.  That would make comparing schools much easier.

HKTHK

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And of course, the big problem nowadays is getting in!

cyberphone

Both are good schools.  Depends on your living area as VSA Secondary is at Wong Chuk Hang.  If you are now living in NT, you have to consider to change to island side some years later.  VSA has 2 classmasters in each class, one Chinese and the other is overseas teacher to look after the class.

Please apply both and choose the school upon receipt offers.  It is hard to get enrollment offer.   

gowgowgow

Thanks cyberphone. I know I should apply them then see which one offers if my kid is that lucky. I live on HK island so both are considerable.

gowgowgow

HKTHK, I looked through a number of threads of VSA. The old ones have commented the school pretty negatively which I am concerned. The new ones are about how difficult to get in. It is normal at these years as the increase in number of age appropriate students wanting to find a space in better schools. Is there anyone whose kids are studying there now and experience otherwise? This seems to be a balance school in acquiring students in both Chinese and English.

HKTHK

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There are definitely VSA parents here though I am not one of them.  Maybe you can ask some specific questions and they can jump in.  I do find it odd that you are looking into both VSA and ESF.  Aren't they completely different in terms of curriculum and target groups?

gowgowgow

I am not sure if I know the curriculum for both schools. I had better do my research. VSA offer IB through train whereas some ESF schools for example Bradbury offer PYP, MYP too.

HKTHK, I am not sure if I understand correctly, do you mean the target group for ESF and VSA is different. Say ESF more prone to English speaking expats kids?

I really don't know enough

HKTHK

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In very general terms, yes, VSA is mostly HK families who would like their children to be bilingual.  ESF has many HK families but the focus on Chinese is as a second language.

irene_the_pooh

gowgowgow 發表於 13-7-8 17:24
HKTHK, I looked through a number of threads of VSA. The old ones have commented the school pretty ne ...

as a reminder, there is a new principal in VSA for just a few years, and i think that's why the school changes a lot, especially in these two years. and undoubtedly, it's getting harder and harder to get a seat in VSA!

as my kid is still in kinder, i know nothing about the schools, still in the process of researching. but i know that VSA is not an IS indeed!