Starter School

AngelPSChan

is it good and easy to learn English?

gab

AngelPSChan: No Cantonese/Mandarin is taught at school. The facilities are a bit old but the staff at Starters School (Wan Chai campus) is friendly, caring and has patience with the students. The learning environment is good. Teachers are native English speakers. So far, my son enjoys his school life at Starters very much and is so excited to go to school every morning. He never attended nursery class elsewhere before K1 and we can see his social skills improved tremendously in the past month. Even though there are no text books, he has learned a lot in class through play.
You can enrol your kid to join its summer school in July or August, or afternoon English class to give it a try first. But to be fluent in spoken English, you should consider having a family member speaking English with the kid at home.

kakiki

hi gap,

請問starter 會唔會好多親子活動, 因我地100%chinese英文麻麻地, 驚到時我地講中文個個家長講英文會唔係咁好, 我問佐老師, 佢地話好多日本人同韓國人都讀佢地, 英文都係麻麻地, 叫我地唔洗驚, 如有雖要佢地可以幫我地翻譯! 又擔心個小朋友讀完佢地英文未係好好, 考唔到int'l school, 又考唔返local school, 到時兩頭唔到岸. 不過佢地又話讀完佢地考int'l 一定掂, 唔知係咪真, 不過佢地個校舍真係......好似細d同舊d, 你會唔會幫你小朋友轉or 一直讀上去呢.

momom

kakiki 寫道:
hi gap,

請問starter 會唔會好多親子活動, 因我地100%chinese英文麻麻地, 驚到時我地講中文個個家長講英文會唔係咁好, 我問佐老師, 佢地話好多日本人同韓國人都讀佢地, 英文都係麻麻地, 叫我地唔洗驚, 如有雖要佢地可以幫我地翻譯! 又擔心個小朋友讀完佢地英文未係好好, 考唔到int'l school, 又考唔返local school, 到時兩頭唔到岸. 不過佢地又話讀完佢地考int'l 一定掂, 唔知係咪真, 不過佢地個校舍真係......好似細d同舊d, 你會唔會幫你小朋友轉or 一直讀上去呢.

Hi gab,

I am interested in starter school but I also have the same worry about as kakiki.  
Would you say more about your kid?
If he just speak English in the school, will he be fluent enough in English to get a place in international primary school (my perfer to ESF).
Also do you know what is the difference between ESF kindergarten and starter?
Thanks,
momom

momom

kakiki 寫道:
hi gap,

請問starter 會唔會好多親子活動, 因我地100%chinese英文麻麻地, 驚到時我地講中文個個家長講英文會唔係咁好, 我問佐老師, 佢地話好多日本人同韓國人都讀佢地, 英文都係麻麻地, 叫我地唔洗驚, 如有雖要佢地可以幫我地翻譯! 又擔心個小朋友讀完佢地英文未係好好, 考唔到int'l school, 又考唔返local school, 到時兩頭唔到岸. 不過佢地又話讀完佢地考int'l 一定掂, 唔知係咪真, 不過佢地個校舍真係......好似細d同舊d, 你會唔會幫你小朋友轉or 一直讀上去呢.

Hi gab,

I am interested in starter school but I also have the same worry about as kakiki.  
Would you say more about your kid?
If he just speak English in the school, will he be fluent enough in English to get a place in international primary school (my perfer to ESF).
Also do you know what is the difference between ESF kindergarten and starter?
Thanks,
momom

gab

Hi kakiki: So far for my son's class, haven't had any 親子活動 yet, unlike other local kindergartens I know. Don't worry about 親子活動, you will have many more chances communicating with English speaking teachers and other parents when your son is attending int'l primary school in the future.

My son has been attending Starters for 3 months now and is quite happy to go to school everyday. If you are looking for a nicer campus, I think ESF Sheung Wan would be your choice though. We have no plans in transferring my son to a different school during this school year.

You can enrol your child in Starters' summer school  afternoon phonics class to expose him to an English kindergarten environment to see if he likes the school.

I think to be fluent in spoken English, you should have at least one family member speaking English to your son at all times, to provide a semi-English environment. You have to decide whether you think whether Chinese plus local curricculum OR English plus a different learning environment (in Int'l schools) is more important to your child when choosing which kindergarten to enrol. Just my two cents.

gab

Hi momom: What would you like to know about my kid? He speaks English well before entering Starters.

I think depending on the child, it could be more difficult for him/her to be fluent in spoken English if school time is the only time he/she gets to practise English.

Which ESF Kindergarten do you plan to apply for? There are other topics in this forum regarding ESF Tsing Yi. Sorry I don't know much about other ESF Kindergartens but ESF Sheung Wan has a nicer campus for sure. I think its students gets some sort of priority in getting an interview with ESF primary schools, as per ESF website, but we choose to give up its offer and let our son stay in Starters.
Hope this helps.