ESF has reinstated interview priority for ESF kindergartens

Mom2One

Just learned from another forum that ESF has resumed interview priority to ESF kindergarten for entry into Year 1.
The priority has been re-instated at #6, after teachers kids, siblings, nomination right etc.

Apparently the ESF Board made this decision on Jun 18 after taking into consideration that all ESF kiddies are IB world certified and it would be a more seamless transition for kids to go from ESF kindie to ESF primary.

The decision seems really sudden and I know of more than one family who turned down an ESF kindie spot earlier this year when they thought there would be no more priority and are now understandably upset.

FattyDaddy

Mom2One 發表於 14-6-28 21:03
Apparently the ESF Board made this decision on Jun 18 after taking into consideration that all ESF kiddies are IB world certified and it would be a more seamless transition for kids to go from ESF kindie to ESF primary ...

I think that is just an excuse, I suspect the real reason is they have trouble filling up their kindergartens this year. Judging from some posts in this forum, the kindergartens are making many last minute offers which is almost unheard of in previous years. This doesn't bode well at all for the new kindergarten they are opening in Tung Chung next year.

pppwong

原帖由 Mom2One 於 14-06-28 發表
Just learned from another forum that ESF has resumed interview priority to ESF kindergarten for entr ...

Good news for some, bad news indeed for others. Really annoying how this changes every year, hard for parents to devise a strategy or direction for their children!

jolalee

Honestly I think the previous policy with no interview priority given to ESF KG student is unfair to them since IB based curriculum does not teach the academics at an early age as strongly as, say, the British curriculum, hence it'd be more difficult comparatively for a child in an ESF KG to apply for other primary schools. I'm glad ESF reinstate interview priority for them now, but feel sorry for the parents who decline the offer earlier on, it really is ESF's lack of thoughtfulness throughout the whole policy change situation.

gigglelela

Does that mean esf students gurantee an interview? Or that simply means the kid has interview priority only?

alanckng

Well, my son will go to WKS K1 this year. It's definitely a piece of good news for me. But the pessimistic me wonders if they will change the the policy back...

sweetheartb

原帖由 gigglelela 於 14-06-30 發表
Does that mean esf students gurantee an interview? Or that simply means the kid has interview priori ...

Esf kindy children will be given primary interview priority (not guaranteed).

gigglelela

Which student would be given a chance for interview is determined by class teacher's normination?

FattyDaddy

gigglelela 發表於 14-7-3 10:42
Which student would be given a chance for interview is determined by class teacher's normination?  ...

Determined by how much money you pay the principal ... nah ... only joking, determined by a random number drawn against each application.

However you could buy Nomination Right, so paying money does help.

Birkin

原帖由 FattyDaddy 於 14-07-03 發表
Determined by how much money you pay the principal ... nah ... only joking, determined by a random n ...

I thought that only applies to non-ESF kindergarten applicants. Would ESF kindergarten students at least be given a chance to be interviewed under the so called "priority interview" system?

FattyDaddy

Birkin 發表於 14-7-3 17:04
Would ESF kindergarten students at least be given a chance to be interviewed ...

The random number applies to ESF kindergarten pupils too, in situations when they could not interview all ESF kindergarten pupils and have to decide who to interview first. Practically, every ESF kindergarten pupil will get an interview in the end, especially if they have also applied to Discovery and Renaissance College.

Mom2One

I think a lot depends on your catchment. For some ESF primaries, they were so oversubscribed by siblings that the school may not be able to offer interviews to all ESF kindie students.  I know for instance, in my son's ESF school, over 2/3 of the incoming Year 1 intake for this August 2014 are ESF siblings.  Of course some of these siblings are also ESF kindie kids so there is duplication, but it still seems unlikely that all ESF kindie applicants will get an interview, even with the reinstated priority.

FattyDaddy

Mom2One 發表於 14-7-16 11:47
it still seems unlikely that all ESF kindie applicants will get an interview ...

Yes it does depend on the catchment and the number of siblings which varies from year to year. On rare occasions ESF also perform some re-balancing by transferring some applicants from one school to another, it is rarely done but it is done. The best shot is to apply to Renaissance and Discovery College as well, then practically all ESF kindergarten pupils will get an interview with one school or another.

Mom2One

FattyDaddy 發表於 14-7-16 16:25
Yes it does depend on the catchment and the number of siblings which varies from year to year. On ra ...

Agree that between the ESF and PIS schools, most ESF kindie kids should have some interview options. (Arguably this works better for Kowloon/NT residents as I know v few HK island kindie kids who would apply to Renaissance or DC.) But although rebalancing used to happen in the past, all ESF primaries are now so over-subscribed (plus the addition of nomination places) that I don't think that is an option anymore.

FattyDaddy

Mom2One 發表於 14-7-16 17:31
Arguably this works better for Kowloon/NT residents as I know v few HK island kindie kids who would apply to Renaissance or DC. ...

Yes RC and DC do help in relieving the situation for Kowloon and NT. There is only 1 ESF kindergarten on HK island but there are 5 ESF primary schools on the island side, compared with only 4 covering the vastness of Kowloon and NT accepting pupils from 3 ESF kindergartens (soon will be 4 kindergartens with one opening in Tung Chung next year). In the past, international schools were mainly for expats and given that expats tend to reside on the island this was perhaps an appropriate distribution, but the increased demand for international school places today is not due to more expats coming to HK but more locals opting out of local schools, hence the distribution no longer coincides with the demand. This mismatch is even more pronounced with ESF secondary schools (3 on HK island and 2 on Kowloon + NT).