Australian International School

DisneyFairy

They have Mandarin lesson both in Reception & Preparatory.   Actually, starting from Preparatory, they will have 1 hour Mandarin lesson every day, same as English & Maths.     My son is studying in the Prep now and I think he enjoys his school life very much.

OKMa

Dear sswlo

Sorry I do not have information for the year 2007.  Why don't you telephone them up and check?  

mtot

Hi OKMa and DisneyFairy,

May I know,
1. when did you submit the applicatin form?
2. then when will they proceed the interview?
3. and then when will they confirm the offer?
4. if so, after they send out the offer, do we need to confirm the acceptance immediately (ie. pay the capital levy, fees, etc.)
5. How do you compare AIS to ESF given that the school fees of AIS are more expensive?
6. as we are also thinking to apply for ESF, if so, we could only either choose AIS or ESF due to the difference in time of admission?  Am I correct?

Many Many thanks for your sharing and information!
  

Sandrine

Wonder how it works. The Australian term starts in Jan but other schools finish in June and so what do the children do between Jun & Jan?

DisneyFairy

Hi mtot

1.  I submitted the application when my son was still studying in the kindergarten (english speaking one) in Jan / Feb.   Then he got a chance to go for an interview and everythings went well.   He then got admitted and started school in their second term - April.

2.  As soon as he got admitted, you have to pay for the school fee & capital levy to secure his place.   

3.  It's difficult to compare AISHK & ESF but I think both of them are good schools.    One of the point that make me consider AISHK is that they got mandarin class each day and they emphasis the importance of mandarin which I believe is good for us Chinese.

4.  As far as I know, AISHK got a very long waiting list and it's very difficult to get in provided you study there from Reception onwards.

Hope this info helps.  

OKMa

Dear Sandrine

In between Jun to next Jan, why don't you keep going in the present school for half term in order not to waste time?

OKMa

Dear DisneyFairy
When your son joined AIS, did he start from reception class or prep class?

DisneyFairy

Hi OKMa

My son joined in Reception.   

OKMa

Dear Disney Fairy

Thanks for your information, your son should be very smart that you were not requested to wait for long long time from application to confirmation for the place in reception.

By the way, since your son started from reception, would you please let me know the followings.
1.my son will be starting the prep next year, if he begins from prep, will he be able to catch up the phonics?  How far will he be taught in phonics after the first year in reception?  (my son up till now, he has learnt a to z, plus th, sh, etc. only)
2. how about mandarin?  how far would he be able to talk in mandarin in the first year?  (because I need to prepare my son during these five months to catch up the prep class in the coming year.)
3. what else should I have to prepare firstly beforehand in order to catch up with the existing class?
Thanks for sharing the experience.

DisneyFairy

Dear OKMa

To answer your questions:-

1)   If your son was being admitted by AISHK, that means he must have a certain standard of speaking English as I understand that even if the children are the Australian passport holders, if their English are not up to the standard, they will not be admitted.   So no worry about the phonics, he will be able to catch up when he goes to Prep and if your son got any problem, the teacher will definitely let you know.

2)   As for Mandarin, again, I think you do not need to deliberately brush it up with your son in the upcoming 5 months as in the Reception year, they are just introducing a very basic Chinese / Mandarin concept to the children.    Whereas for the Prep, right now my son is learning some simple sentence in Mandarin.      

3)   I think there's nothing particular you need to prepare for your son before the new school year in Jan.    Children are very easy to get along with others and the school life in Prep is very relaxing.   Nonetheless, you will be glad to see that your child is really learning and improving every day.    They have lots to tell you about their school life which is interesting.

No need to worry.   Have confidence in your son.  He will be OK.   

Hope this helps.

mtot

So, are all the teachers from Australia?

Do you worry that students will learn English with strong Australian accent?  

Thanks.

DisneyFairy

I have no idea if all the teachers are from Australia.    But so far, I did not find my son speaks with strong Australian accent.   I have also talked to his various teachers and some other students studying in higher grade before and to me, their English did not have any Australian accent, no difficulties in understanding what they said.   

BoBoCute

Do they teach simplified Chinese or the complicated one as used in HK at AIS?

DisneyFairy

They teach simplified Chinese like ESF & other international schools.

OKMa

Dear DisneyFairy
Thanks for your sharing of the experience.