Highgate House vs Montessori School of HK

Newton

It looks pretty good from the web....Any comments about this school? Besides, Montessori School of Hong Kong in Caine Rd, any thoughts? Look like the staff to student ratio is pretty good.

courtbas

Newton,

Did you visit the Montessori school of HK?  I remember they didn't allow any visit until the child is accepted.

Newton 寫道:
It looks pretty good from the web....Any comments about this school? Besides, Montessori School of Hong Kong in Caine Rd, any thoughts? Look like the staff to student ratio is pretty good.

Newton

Yes...I remember they have a visit day for parents and kids.

Have you heard any pros and cons for that school. My impression is pretty good except that it is not spacious. But given that the class size is very small, I think it does not matter much as long as the teachers are nice and kind.

courtbas 寫道:
Newton,

Did you visit the Montessori school of HK?  I remember they didn't allow any visit until the child is accepted.

courtbas

I heard the school was very good some years ago.  But in recently years, some parents whose children used to go there said the school is not so good anymore.  A lot of the good teachers left.  Some of the parents had some legal issues with the school because they refused to refund the school deposit after the child was properly withdrawn and given sufficient notice.

I never  had a chance to visit the school.  I was only able to get in touch with the school admin over the phone.  I sent in my application a couple of years ago and they never called me back.  Every time I touched base with them they always said that they have some spaces coming up in the next month or so and said they will call me back but they never did.

I didn't have a good impression overall.  It's hard to talk to a person.  I always hit the answering machine, even during school hours.  

Anyway, I have given up that school altogether.  But they may have changed.  Who knows they maybe a good school again.

If you want to send your child to a montessori school, Woodland is a good choice and Internaitonal Montessori School in Wanchai is excellent.  

Hope this helps.

Blythe_miki

Highgate House is high up on ThePeak, if it is a rainly day, it will be very difficult to send our kid to school....is it??  Do you think it will be very dangerous going up to the peak during that time?

Newton

courtbas 寫道:
I heard the school was very good some years ago.  But in recently years, some parents whose children used to go there said the school is not so good anymore.  A lot of the good teachers left.  Some of the parents had some legal issues with the school because they refused to refund the school deposit after the child was properly withdrawn and given sufficient notice.

I never  had a chance to visit the school.  I was only able to get in touch with the school admin over the phone.  I sent in my application a couple of years ago and they never called me back.  Every time I touched base with them they always said that they have some spaces coming up in the next month or so and said they will call me back but they never did.

I didn't have a good impression overall.  It's hard to talk to a person.  I always hit the answering machine, even during school hours.  

Anyway, I have given up that school altogether.  But they may have changed.  Who knows they maybe a good school again.

If you want to send your child to a montessori school, Woodland is a good choice and Internaitonal Montessori School in Wanchai is excellent.  

Hope this helps.

I think I got completely different experience from you in term of interacting with the school admin. The staffs have been quite nice and enthusiastic to me and I have been able to get hold of them most of the time. I was invited to visit the school and my son did not want to leave.

My major concern is the teacher and therefore would really like to know if the turnover of teachers there is really that serious. I think I might just call them to find it out.

I am also interested in Woodland Montessori in Wanchai  purely because of the primary school they have and my friend's son actually enrolled there. However, the outcome turns out to be not very good and he withdrew as well. BTW, I called them but they said the places have been filled up already and there is pretty long waiting list and therefore I give up this one already.

I think selecting Kindergarten is sort of like a lucky draw. You really need to hit the right school for your son to be happy and teachers are the main factor. As far as I know, some famous schools also receive quite a bit of complains about the quality of their teacher. So at the moment I don't really know............

Anyway, thank you very much for your help.

Any more experience with Montessori School of HK. Really like to gather more opinion before making decision.

Newton

Blythe_miki 寫道:
Highgate House is high up on ThePeak, if it is a rainly day, it will be very difficult to send our kid to school....is it??  Do you think it will be very dangerous going up to the peak during that time?

Oh...I never thought of this. I only read the information from their website and looks like the school size and teacher-students ratio is quite right. The classroom is pretty bright (never thought of what it is like on rainny day).

I wonder how students in GSIS cope with the bad weather as well.

Any thoughts?

Blythe_miki

for GSIS student, most of the students use school bus and the school is not so high up like Highgate House.

Newton

Coutbas,

The only reply that I have found on your question on Montessori School of Hong Kong from another forum is:

"My daughters went to the other montessori school and had a great experience (not woodlands, the one closer to botanical garden). The staff is very professional and my children loved going to school."

and it was dated on Aug 05. Besides, there has not been many teachers there. Therefore I do not quite get what "a lot of the good teachers left" means. I am utterly confused now....Is your information about the teacher's quality first hand from your friends who have children studying there?

My expectation on the teachers is low - as long as the children love going to that school, I am pretty satisfied.

courtbas

Hi Newton,

Yes, I know the two pairs of parents whose children that went there.  The same situation with both parents.  The older one attended and it was great (this is probably 3 years ago).  However, they did not enroll their second child (both parents) because the good teachers that used to teach the older ones were no longer there and the school administration at the time was a huge mess.  They both had to take legal action against the school in order to get the deposit back (happened last year).  These two pair of parents do not know each other.  I just happened to know both of them and they shared pretty much the same story.

I think you have to trust your feeling about the school.  Things are constantly changing and the school might have improved over the past year.  Unfortunately, my experience has not been positive.

BTW, when I mentioned the International Montessori School in Wanchai, I didn't mean the woodland school.  I meant the one next to Pacific Place III.  Have you checked that one?

Newton

Hi Courtbas,

Thank you very much for your information. If it is possible, can you PM me the E-mails of that 2 parents. Would really like to ask them in details the situation.

Yes I mean IMS in Wanchai. I thought it is in the same group as Woodland.

JJsMama

Newton

Highgate House is based on Wardolf philosophy, which in practise, is almost the opposite of Montessori.  Beside considering the hardware (including the teachers, premise and location), you need to consider whether Wardolf is right for you.  You can write or call the school, and they will send you some background info on Wardolf.  The staff are pretty helpful.

My impression of the school is they really emphasize and practise learning through play (even though most school do preach it), and integrate a lot of 'natural' elements into their daily acitivities.   On my visit there, I saw the kids were really playing hard, and they all looked very bright eyed and happy.  But, as a parent who do think ahead into primary schools, I was unsure how well the kid would cope from a very free to a more structured environment.   

My friend's kid goes there.  After some initial adjustment, she is enjoying the school now.  Saying that, my friend will be moving her to a more mainstream kindergarten next year.

Newton 寫道:
It looks pretty good from the web....Any comments about this school? Besides, Montessori School of Hong Kong in Caine Rd, any thoughts? Look like the staff to student ratio is pretty good.

Newton

Thank JJsMama,

I did read something about Steiner's method. Deep inside, if it is not the HK education system, I will choose Highgate House for sure. I do prefer such kind of kindergarten that foster imagination and creativity of kids. Unfortunately, HK has only one Steiner's school and that school run for kindergarten kids only. I quite agree that the transition from a free to more structured environment may be shocking to the kid. Montessori may have the same kind of problem since daily activities look to me are also quite free. But at least, it occurs to me that it has stronger academic elements to address the need of  HK primary education system (both local and international) and it leaves us no choices other than Montessori which to me is at least a pretty good compromise between local and my ideal education in Hong Kong.

JJsMama

Hi Newton

I totally agree with you.    Before we moved back to HK, my son went to a Montessori school.  It's amazing to see the things a 2 year old is able to absorb, and how deep the learning goes.   I don't think conventional schools can match that.  Montessori is my choice if only I could find the right one in HK.  Judging by IMS's website, it is a pretty good choice.  I know their morning class is very popular, and it's easier to get a place in the pm classes.

As for Wardolf Steiner schools, the philosophy is attractive.   But in practice, I feel it needs to be executed very well to be truely effective and facilitate meaningful learning.

adebon

:wink:

prettymommy

My daughter started to go to Highgate's playgroup when she was 1.5 year old, and she successfully got admitted into CDNIS Pre-reception class. I like their teachers very much, very caring.

Newton

At the end, I visited all schools: Montessori school, woodland montessori , woodland and highgate. It takes me less than 5 second to see which one is good for my son. Below is my personal opinion.

1) Montessori School vs Woodland Montessori
Both schools are a bit commercial (but which one does not in HK??) in the sense that they can steer the curriculum for my kid's primary school admission. However, Woodland Montessori is a bit cramp. Many students are squeezed in a small campus. In contrast, Montessori School is a lot more spacious and teacher to student ratio is low. I guess some people concerns about Montessori School because they think the teacher is a bit green. Personally, I don't know why it is an issue. The teacher seems to me is nice enough to my kid. Weighed by the small class ratio so that kids can get more attention, I think Montessori School has higher chance to reach the goal of parents in HK. BTW, Montessori School of HK follow Montessori method much more closely and Montessori's teaching materials are widely used there. Therefore, I myself will choose Montessori School of HK.

2) Highgate vs Montessori
Well! When I visited Highgate, I instantly love that place. There has been many discussion about Steiner's and Montessori's method and as mentioned before, I buy Steiner's method much more since Montessori, at least    its implementations in HK, is more steep and like a training camp. In contrast, Steiner method is more gentle (may be too gentle for many people). I guess my kid will be very happy there because he loves constant interaction with people rather than academic pursuit. Therefore I pick Highgate. However, as many people mentioned already, Steiner's method is not everyone's cup of tea as there may be gap in proceeding primary education and additional tutorship may be needed for the kids.

P.S. After talking to many of my friends (all of them received world class education around the world), we share the same thought that a real knowledge can only be acquired through intense interest in the subject and interest cannot really be forced out. Therefore it is indeed misfortune to have kid in HK since most of them have to be forced into kindergartens emphasizing too much on boosting their academic side and are deprived from otherwise very happy childhood (I surely do not want my kid sitting at a corner of the classroom and concentrate on reading alone for entire morning in the class without any interaction ---- which I did see in some school visit!)

Incredible

Newton,

The Montessori school you mentioned is the one next to Pacific Place 3 called International Montessori school.  I am considering placing my girl  there for coming sept.  

thank you

Newton

No....it is the one in Caine Road, opposite to Catholic headquarter.

I did not visit International Montessori but I guess it is another Montessori school which follows close to the Montessori method because my friend's kid went there before.

You must have gotten their offer already coz as far as I know, their places for coming Sept are all filled.