ESF Tsing Yi vs St. Catherine - how to choose???

jbread

It is a really difficult decision and i don't know which to choose.. My 2yrs & 3 months old  son can speak both cantonese and english. Luckily he got an offer from both ESF Tsing Yi and St. Cat. I like both...
just that one thing i am worrying is that what will happen if he can't get into the ESF primary school, will it means either i have to send him to England, or go to other expensive IS in HK? I am targeting 蔡繼友 and 陳守仁 for his primary school, and the ESF primary school of coz. I hope he can speak English & Mandarin fluently, cantonese i am not so worry as all of my family (apart from me) speak to him in cantonese.

ESF - will be strong in english and happy learning, nice campus
St. Cat - got offer for English/mandarin class, can get into local primary school, but i don't like the campus

We will most likely be sending my son to England for secondary  / university..

Dear moms, what will be your choice?

samsam123321

Esf".........

FattyDaddy

jbread 發表於 14-1-25 00:10
It is a really difficult decision and i don't know which to choose ...

Not that difficult, you just need to foresee which part of the world he will most likely be living in and choose accordingly. St Cat if it is going to be somewhere near China, ESF if it is not, you can't go far wrong.

fabei

I have the same concern as you...I plan to send my girl to UK for secondary school and my target primary school is CKY and ESF primary...I got offer from LH and ESF Tsing Yi...

jbread

fabei when will u make ur decision then? deadline to send the cheques n contract is 31st jan!!

Babybaby2011

原帖由 jbread 於 14-01-25 發表
fabei when will u make ur decision then? deadline to send the cheques n contract is 31st jan!!

Jbread n fabei: which kinders do your kids go for pn?

fabei

Babybaby2011 發表於 14-1-25 00:56
Jbread n fabei: which kinders do your kids go for pn?

I am ftm, no pn

jbread

my son is studying at the local kindergarten, in kln tong/shek kip mei. called the baptist oasis.
he will then be going to st cat or esf next yr. dont know yet...

fabei

jbread 發表於 14-1-25 00:38
fabei when will u make ur decision then? deadline to send the cheques n contract is 31st jan!!

I think I will make up my mind before next Wed...then if I choose ESF I will go to submit my cheques in person on Thursday...

fabei

FattyDaddy 發表於 14-1-25 00:30
Not that difficult, you just need to foresee which part of the world he will most likely be living i ...

Hi FattyDaddy, I just worry if esf primary school don't accept my girl where should we go...can't go back to local school and many other IS school fees are very high...

fabei

FattyDaddy 發表於 14-1-25 00:30
Not that difficult, you just need to foresee which part of the world he will most likely be living i ...

Hi FattyDaddy, I also want to know esf students 品行可以嗎？

FattyDaddy

fabei 發表於 14-1-25 01:23
Hi FattyDaddy, I just worry if esf primary school don't accept my girl where should we go...can't g ...

Besides ESF's Foundation Schools, if you are prepared to accept their Private Independent Schools (i.e. Renaissance and Discovery College), then the chances are quite good.

In the past, around 60% of ESF kindergarten pupils went on to a Foundation School, and another 20% to 30% of them ended up in one of the Private Independent Schools. But (and thats a big but), as a result of ESF's subvention being phased out, they are changing their policies so in future these figures may no longer hold.

Lets say you choose ESF kindergarten but unfortunately your child could not proceed to an ESF primary school 2 years later, there are still other international schools to consider, some are easier to get in compared to ESF. If worse comes to worst your child receives no offer from any international school at all, there is still the option of re-joining a local kindergarten at K3 and there will be one year to adapt your child back to the local stream.

So coming back to my original suggestion, try to foresee where in the world your child will probably be spending most of his/her life, if it is going to be Hongkong or the greater China area, then why bother going the ESF way with all it's potential hiccups while the St Cat or LH route is more straight forward.

hkparent

原帖由 FattyDaddy 於 14-01-25 發表
本帖最後由 FattyDaddy 於 14-1-25 02:46 編輯

The point to consider is not whether you will study in UK but whether you will work overseas in future. Chinese is important if you will go back to Hk for work.

steplovebb

Send the kid to ESF and learn Chinese outside

品格at ESF is OK
Don't think international school is so free that the conduct is not important
At school they are trained to be polite and caring ( I found the posters at the classroom showing these concepts)

fabei

thanks for all the advice.

if i dont want to pay the NR, is that mean the chance of gettjng primary school is very slim?

FattyDaddy

fabei 發表於 14-1-25 16:12
if i dont want to pay the NR, is that mean the chance of gettjng primary school is very slim?...

No, read my reply to you earlier, in the past, about 90% of ESF Kindergarten pupils did proceed to ESF primary schools (including the two PIS) without the need to buy NR.

But as I had also pointed out, ESF's policies are undergoing changes and how that will affect the admission rate remains to be seen. What is already known is that ESF is opening a new kindergarten in Tung Chung next year, so there will be an increase in the number of their kindergarten pupils without a corresponding increase in their primary school places,

vichuie

I like st cat a lot.  If you think Chinese is important, st cat shall be a good option.  Esf may not prepare her well on that.  

Good luck

MrsChikChik

If eventually you are sending her to UK, i think you should choose ESF as she can learn fluent english speaking there versus you will only be good at english writing if you choose St Cat.

alicebear

Hello Fabei, i am a ftm too, my girl is 15 months old now and our target is on ESF. As you didnt let your child go to PN, what have you been doing to teach him/her English? It seems quite difficult for me to provide such a good english environment to my daughter. Would you share your experiences and also advise what I should do now to prepare for entering ESF/ or IS schools? Sorry I am new here with the IS curriculum, thank you!

picture

if i were you, targeting UK secondary and university, I would definitely choose st Cat.  British curriculum is not inquiry based or active learning.  I have the impression that British curriculum is also ... "stuffing ducks", very traditional, tests, exams, homework, drlling...etc