Happy Valley Woodland

Irian

In HV Woodland, only a few teachers are western, one of the class teachers is Filipino. All the assistants are Chinese (some of them speak very local English). And they keep raising the tuition fees! I think Repulse Bay 98 is better.

Chole

Hi,

Irian,

Oh!  I intend to enrol my kid for the summer course in HV since it is close to my home and is cheaper too.  Could you elaborate more on the teachers please?  I think Woodland is an international kinde and assume that all teachers are native English speaking foreigners.

Many thanks.

Chole

Irian

To be honest, if you want to plan some summer activities for your kid, I think HV woodland is ok. The main reason is close to your home. But don't expect him/her can learn anything.

Woodland group....at least the medium of language is English and very relax for kids, as well as closer to my home, I keep my kid in HV. Otherwise Repulse Bay 98 is much better. There is one teacher called Ms Beverley, she is really good and very experience.

Talking about staff in HV. As far as I know, they have 5 westerners, 1 Filipino, 4 Chinese.

1 of the westerners is the supervior, she don't teach at all, only do the admin job.
1 of the them do the curriculum planning, I don't know which class she is teaching.
1 of them with one very local chinese lady teach pre-school (older kids) class.
1 of them  teaching playgroup and with a Chinese lady(better English) teach stepping stones class.
1 of them is an old western lady, don't know what she do. Only seen her to help the child to leave school. Maybe pm class teacher??
1 Filipino with another very local Chinese lady teach pre-school (younger kids) class.
1 Chinese lady for cleaning

Nevertheless, I think they will also send some teachers from different schools for the summer activities. If you really want westerners to teach your child, you can ask the supervior who is going to teach that course.

Irian

To be honest, if you want to plan some summer activities for your kid, I think HV woodland is ok. The main reason is close to your home. But don't expect him/her can learn anything.

Woodland group....at least the medium of language is English and very relax for kids, as well as closer to my home, I keep my kid in HV. Otherwise Repulse Bay 98 is much better. There is one teacher called Ms Beverley, she is really good and very experience.

Talking about staff in HV. As far as I know, they have 5 westerners, 1 Filipino, 4 Chinese.

1 of the westerners is the supervior, she don't teach at all, only do the admin job.
1 of the them do the curriculum planning, I don't know which class she is teaching.
1 of them with one very local chinese lady teach pre-school (older kids) class.
1 of them  teaching playgroup and with a Chinese lady(better English) teach stepping stones class.
1 of them is an old western lady, don't know what she do. Only seen her to help the child to leave school. Maybe pm class teacher??
1 Filipino with another very local Chinese lady teach pre-school (younger kids) class.
1 Chinese lady for cleaning

Nevertheless, I think they will also send some teachers from different schools for the summer activities. If you really want westerners to teach your child, you can ask the supervior who is going to teach that course.

Chole

Irian,

Many thanks for your elaboration.  I have not made up my mind yet since my kid will just turn 3 by then and he's slow to adapt to new environment.

Anyway, I will see if there are other alternatives too.

Thank you again!

Chole

Irian

Have you sent your kid to school? Which school is he attending?

Chole

He's now in a Cantonese speaking nursery and therefore I want to brush up his English during summer.

chillyrose

My son was attending the wriggler class since he was 1 year old in HV Woodland. All the teachers must be native English speaking as far as i know. The school is very big but the teachers and even the supervisor love kids a lot. My son now moved to Woodland in Tai Tam though as it's closer to our place and it uses Montessori method there.

Sychand

Hi chillyrose,

I plan to send my son (who is now 1 year old ) to HV woodland wriggler class, but did you visit
the Wai Chai woodland before? which place do you think better?
What kids do during the course and what they can be learnt from the class?
Is it a big different if the class not using a montessori method.
Look forward you reply, thank you very much

Sychand

Irian,

Did your kids attend the wriggler course in HV woodland?
Do you recommend my son to join the wriggler course?
Do you think the enviroment is good(or effective) for kids to learn English?
Sorry for so many questions.

chillyrose

Hi Sychand,

Kids mainly "play" in the class. They play with various toys, sing with some simple motions, doing some arts. They more or less will pick up the English comprehension as the medium is purely English.

I never went to the Wanchai school so I can't give any further comment.

Honestly I don't feel big difference between the two teaching methods. I think the differences will be more obvious when they get to 3 years old.

hermoine

This is just my personal opinion. I think if you compare HV and Wanchai teaching methods, HV is better because there is more interaction with the teacher and other kids. Montesorri teaching methods in Wanchai kind of lessen the interaction as the kids is supposed to play their "toys" by themselves. Each of them are supposed to choose a tray of toys and learn to play that in his own time. When he is finished with that tray, he changes another tray...etc. Wanchai campus has a big indoor auditorium, but I can't recall any outdoor faciities. You should take a school tour before making any decisions. I am sure some parents will prefer Wanchai one, though I prefer the HV one.

tumtum

I visited the HV Woodland recently and saw at least 3 Filipino teachers there, and they all spoke with an accent.  Is that also your experience?  

That's why I am having reservation in sending my kid there.  I am thinking about the Woodland Mid-Levels as well which adopts the Montessori teaching method.  But HV is closer to where we live so a very tough decision for me.      

Clare

My girl goes to HV woodland since she's 14 months.  she's just turned 3 and speaks fluent English.  We have absolutely no problem with their non-Caucasian teachers  and are very happy with the school.

Sychand

I plan to let my son to join the wriggler course and playground in HV woodland, but I want to change back to the local kindergarden when he is 3 years old, is it different for a kid to adapt the different learning style between the international school and the local kindergarden?
Anyone have such experience and want to share?

Clare

Sychand, please check PM.