i have applied Japanese IS for my kid today, when will have feedback??

Blythe_miki

any acknowledge letter to be send from school after they receive the application form??

any mom knows?? thx!

Fattymom

Hi! Blythe_miki,

Have u applied for the reception class or P1?  I'm going to apply for the P1, may i send the form to the school now?  I'm afraid it's too early.  Anyway, Good Luck!

luluonthemoon

Both of you,

You can send the application to JIS anytime you want! (But, of course, don't be too late.)
They don't normally send out the letter but will give you a buzz for the confirmation of the receipt as soon as the application reaches the school.
I have sent the application for my daughter long ago and they said we would hear from them around in April or May for an interview in the year that my child is supposed to start.

Blythe_miki

i have applied for the Reception Class for the year Aug/Sept 2007 , i hope i am not late as i think their waiting list are quite long....

which kinder. is your kid attending now?

Blythe_miki

thanks luluonthemoon, i will concentrate on my phone now

Fattymom

Blythe_miki,

My kid studies at Anfield.  It seems that we're looking for the same kind of schools.  Both of us have turned down the ESFTY offer.  I've called the JIS today, a lady said it's very difficult to join the school since P1 and she suggested an application for the Reception Class instead.  Therefore, I'll also apply for the 2007 reception class.

Fattymom

rainbowbb

Do parents need to know Japanese in order to study in JIS?

Fattymom

They offer "Japanese Section" and "English Section".

Blythe_miki

hi Fattymom

JIS have called me today, they said an interview will held next year for my son~~

ashleymama

Dear all,

I sent the application form in Dec 05 and was planned to apply P1 in the coming Sep/06. The school also told me that since the reception class will directly transfer to P1 so if reception class is full at that school year, it reduces the chance for us to go to P1 since only 25 students in a class. So I deceided to apply for reception right after chinese new year and we were offered an interview in Jan. Right after the interview we were granted an offer to JIS so my girl started at JIS in Feb. She really loves this school and JIS is well-known of its high english standard and I really notice the progress of my girl for just short time. The class teacher of reception class is also excellent. Due to the small size of the class, she realizes my daughter's strengths and areas needed to polish. And she is really to the point. I am glad that I made the best decision for my girl to JIS.
Parents do not need to know Japanese as JIS has an International (English) section for different nations of student. As I know JIS is an IB candidate school. Too many good points about this school that you should never miss it.

Ashleymama

luluonthemoon

ashleymama,

It's really good to hear from the immediate voice about JIS as we don't normally find JIS moms around.
I've known how well they've been doing and the current extra effort put into to be a successful IB school. Have you got any updates about it recently?
I would like you to correct me if I'm wrong but as I remember that the reception students do not join most of the after-school classes. Is that correct? But do you know what kinds of activities the school offers so far? Just a sports class? Any language class or something?
I believe that the reception class has hardly been full at least for the last few years. In fact, the average number of students is around 15 or less. Some teachers did admit before that JIS is not very competitive with other schools (kindergartens) for the reception as the tuition simply seems a bit too expensive and most of the companies that have supported the expats begin to cover the educational cost from primary section and exclude the reception.
One thing sitting in my mind is the only one class per grade. It should be the advantage for the children, but at the same time, would it be really good to stick to the same bunch of kids for 6-7 years? I know in int'l schools students do come in and out all the time. But with just one class, will it be interesting, say, when they have a sports day, school trips or whatever events? What if a child ever encounters any challeges handling their peers or the relationship with a teacher?
Well, these are all just within my mind and I still like this school a lot. But it just came to me when I previously visited the school and found that one of the teachers seemed a bit pompous and did speak to the visiting parents (not to the students' parents) in a bit flippant way.....

Fattymom

Dear Ashleymama,

Glad to hear that your kid is admitted by JIS .  May I know if your kid is fluent in English?  My son is 3 yrs old and he can understand English quite well; however, his speech development is a little bit slow.  I'm afraid if he can pass the interview How many kids in your class?  Is it full?  Could u pls tell me more about the interview?   .  As it's not a western int'l school, is the discipline stricter than other IS?  Many thanks.

Blythe_miki

hi  Ashleymama

i would like to know more about the intervirew, thanks~~~ what questions did they ask?

are there many chinese in the English Section??

ahk019

Hi Blythe_miki, luluonthemoon, Fattymom,

Understanding that there are not so many JIS parents here, so I'd like to share as much as I know:

1.  About IB PYP, the school conducts regular workshop but none of them match my own schedule.  I'll share if they do have notices in the near future.

2. After-school activities: As far as I could remember, the “art & craft” and swimming do accept reception kids, maybe taewando too. Yes, there are more sport-related classes (e.g. soccer, hockey, swimming, rope skipping, karate)   The school has been trying hard to introduce more activities with different variety for the past 1 to 2 years , such as “Mad Science” and “Modern Dance”.   Sorry, no language class.

3.The question (one class per grade) from “luluonthemoon” is really a good question: During 1st year, it's true that my daughter mainly mentioned names of her classmates only.   However, her social life has improved thru different crossed-grade and crossed-section (there are about 800 students in the Japanese section v.s. the 100 something students in Int'l section) functions.   E.g. swimming gala, cooking class, ESL class, Halloween parade, Open day and etc.)

4. I think there are around 15 kids in reception.  Though P3 and P4 classes already reached the max. class size, i.e. 24 to 25,  I think they will not allow reception to reach the max as younger kids need much more attention.   As average, there are half or less than half Chinese in each grade.   

5. Parents can stay with the kid during the interview.   The principle is a very nice gentlemen who will ask questions about daily life.   He will show the kid a picture book (e.g. Spot ) and test his/her vocabulary and conversation.   
6. I don't know how to compare if JIS is more discipline.  But all the kids I've met are polite and friendly.

Fattymom

Dear ahk019,

Thank you for your information    Are u satisifed with the school?  Which school is your girl planning to go after gradulation?  Will they have mandarin class everyday?  May I know why do u choose JIS?    Thanks again.

Fattymom

Blythe_miki

thanks ahk019,

actually i am still think between JIS and FIS (French Int'l) as FIS have secondary section and their result is very good.

ahk019

fattymom,

Yes, we all like the school and my younger son will be in reception later in aug.  You know,  I almost submitted an application form to Shatin Junior but after having a very serious discussion with my husband last week, we decided to keep our girl in JIS.   I'd like to share what we've discussed in more details here as I do believe some mums have the same headache too (though the final decision making is different according to different parent's expectation)...

I know shatin junior is a very popular int'l school (with high school is the most attractive point) and the waiting list is long.  Our original idea was to submit the form and line up in the queue first..then it will be very ideal if she can be admitted by its high school 3 year later (day-dreaming ? ).  However what about if she can be admitted earlier?   JIS is already our daughter's 2nd home: she loves the teachers, classmates, the school environment.. And we, we chose JIS at the beginning because its good teacher:student ratio and its high english standard.  (Our daughter's english really improved alot).   We even moved closer to the school.   So, how come we switch her to another school after we made our every effort to put her in this school and she finally settle down and get good progess?   

If I'm correct, reception class does not have Mandarin until they are P1, every 35 minutes everyday using traditional Chinese.

Blythe_miki,

Just for curiosity, French Int'l is located in Happy Valley while JIS is in Taipo,  it seems that location is not your concern ?

Fattymom

Dear ahk019,

Thanks again .  It's very kind of u to share with us your feelings.  It's really a headache for parent.  Before, I also wanted to send my son to SJS.  Recently, I've turned down the offer from TYESF kinder.  I've the same conclusion as yours.  My son has settled down well in the current kinder, it's better for him to stay rathen than to move to another kinder.  That is the reason that I choose JIS.  ahk019, could u pls tell me about the rountie of JIS?  Am I greedy?

Blythe_miki

ahk019,

Location is really not my concern, as i live in Tung Chung, both Tai Po and Happy Valley are far and it take an hour to arrive the school.

As i know FIS also have high standard of English as there are not much chinese student.

i have discussed with my husband few days ago and he prefer French Int'l becoz FIS have secondary section....but i like JIS as they are using PYP IBO and my son can learn Japanese at school, it's just abit pitty as they do not have secondary section :cry:  

ahk019

Hi Fattymom,

Excuse me, did you mean the daily timetable?  If yes, it's my pleasure to fax it to you.   PM me if needed.   Otherwises, I can roughly share the info here: the school day starts from 8:15 to 14:45 (13:55 on wed).   35 minutes for each session, one swimming class each week, 12:00 to 12:50 are lunch time and playtime.   

You can go to http://www.jis.edu.hk/~jises/index.html   which contains info for each grade including yearly calendar.  Hope I've answered your quesiton