Any info about ICS kindie???

Ruby1219

Dear  luluonthemoon,

Thank you for your sharing. I do hear from many mummies that ICS is a good school, and this pose quite dilemma to me, it's not an easy choice to go straight to Phoenix. But, I do have a feeling that the construction of ICS's primary and secondary schools campus is not in full speed now, Mrs Lee told me that they are still in the fund-raising stage. I.e. the land is granted to them but they still haven't got the fund to complete the construction. So, this is part of my concern. The other concern is their weak Chinese. Other than these, the syllabus thing is not a major reason for me to choose Phoenix, as Phoenix has not yet successfully acquired IB, and maybe later ICS will go for IB too as this is the trend. I also like ICS for it's Christian school as I'm a Catholic. I do like my son to learn more about bible and study in a school with strong loving and caring environment. I heard that the culture and discipline of ICS are very good.

Seems you already have a very good plan for your daughter ! That's great. Wish you a happy life in HK !

Ruby

WYmom

For those who like to see more about Phoenix's new premises, please go to:

http://pis.esf.edu.hk/introduction.htm

betty456789

I've just become another ICS mom last Friday.  My girl is in the pm class this coming August.  ICS moms, please join our chat here.  

Personally I think the most difficult part for kids under 3 is to sort different colour bears and then queue them up.  You have to have this kind of training to be able to do it.  This seems to be early motor and mathematical skills combo.  

betty456789

I've just become another ICS mom last Friday.  My girl will be in the afternoon R1 class this August.  ICS mom, come and chat.  

betty456789

I've jsut become another ICS mom last Friday.  My girl is in the afternoon class this august.

luluonthemoon

Hello, everyone.  
My computer has goofed up for some reasons over the weekend.... It's good to be back here now.

hangkeelong, so you're going for the interview in a few days. I do wish your son a good luck!! Hope we'll see at school later this year. By the way, one of my niece is also attending Cannon in Kowloon Tong. I haven't heard about how they're running the school there from her mom (my sis-in-law), but if you don't feel comfortable, it may not click with you and better look for others. As long as kids and mommies are happy, that's what schooling is all about!

CherylMum, yes! It's really nice meeting you all here... Have you come to BoxHill yet? I hope you and your little one will like it. For the level of English in BoxHill, I must say, it's not really going hard on the kids to pick up English, but more like a fun-to-be-there type of approach. Through the songs and physical plays, they feel fun to use more English. But, in your case, your older child attends Shatin Junior, right? (what a brainy one!   )  Does she or anyone else speak English to your younger child? In which case, I don't think you need to worry that much. With a good reinforcement from the family, the time spent in BoxHill will work for your little one. Of couse, this can be true as well if she goes to other kindies, though. Let me know what you find in BoxHill!

Ruby1219, what's happened to you can absolutely relate to many other moms around me... My sisters-in-law also have been swinging back and forth between English-focus and Chinese-focus. And I understand your concern of ICS facility. Especially for primary school kids, it's important to provide them with a safe and comfortable environment for their emotional and physical development.
I am not very familiar with the culture of ESF schools. Does Phoenix also embrace a caring environment? Or is this kinda unique to Christian schools? Anyway, wish your son all the best on the interview again....

betty456789, hello, nice to see you here. Although our children stays in a different time slot, we can still exchange a lot here.    Is your daughter going to take a school bus?

Ruby1219

I'm not sure about the culture of Phoenix. I heard that the behavior of some ESF students, esp. secondary can be quite bad, like the other int'l school.

What I can feel from Phoenix is their principal is a very nice guy, intellectual and humble, yet passionate to education. And overall the school seems not as snobbish as the other ESF schools.

Thank you for your blessings.

Ruby

Vrindavan

>> My sisters-in-law also have been swinging back and forth between English-focus and Chinese-focus.

What are the advantages of English-focus ?

betty456789

testing

hangkeelong

Hello!! My son had the interview today. He performed pretty good. He had a interview with a Korean girl. The teacher and the principal are very nice. My son likes them too. I hope I would have a good news as soon as possible. If they accept my son, he will be in PM R1.

Ruby1219

hangkeelong,

That's good ! I think your son should be ok then. Are you happy with the school ? Are you going to take the place if offered ?

Ruby

hangkeelong

Dear Ruby,
Yes, of course. I hope my son could be one of the ICS students. Their ratio of teacher and student is low. My child is a highly sensitive child. He needs a lot of encourgement and support. He is a shy and a "easy sad, unhappy person". I hope he can be more positive after go to this school.
How old is your son? He is going to primary school? In fact, I planned to let my son study in international kindie, then back to local school. I have not enough money to afford international school fee for my two sons. I hope he could learn to speak well in English in his early age.

Ruby1219

Hangkeelong,

My son is just 5 years old now. He's born in March. So, in ICS's case, he's going to Pre-Grade 1, but if we pick Phoenix, he's going to P.1.

It's definitely helpful to let your son learn English in the int'l school environment.  But if you have the plan of going back to local school for him, then I think you need to upkeep his Chinese, esp. ICS does not offer much Chinese education. Also, he might be difficult for your son to adapt the local school style after few years in int'l school.

Just my two cents.

Ruby

hangkeelong

Hello!!
My son is accepted in PM R1 in this August. Thanks god. I like the PM class since I'm living in Tusen Wan and have to take the school bus.

Ruby,
Yes, I have struggled for a long time. I don't like the Hong Kong education. I am the production of this system. Hong kong children need to spend lots of time to study. But their English and Chinese level are low. However, I also want my children not only know how to write chinese, but their own culture and own history. Am I greedy? I know there are some private Primary school offer English native teachers and Mandarin speaking teachers to teach all subjects. For example, Victoria Primary school, 蔡繼有 Primary school, 培橋小學. I think if he really can't adapt the envirnoment, I may consider Phoenix school or CAIS. I think I can afford the school fee. But it is very harsh to my family.

Luluonthemoon,
As I remember your child will study in AM class, I think my son can not meet your child. Thank you for your sharing.

luluonthemoon

hangkeelong,

Congulaturations!!!    
So now our kids are going to be school mates.  
Anyway, this was your decision to make and the outcome of your son's performance. You should be proud of him.
Inspite of different time slots, we may have a chance to see at school some time. Thanks a lot to you as well and let's hope for the best!

Rikachandoll

hi there,
i'd like to know more about the ICS. my daughter is about to start K1 this september. after seeking much sharing with BBK moms and others, i've chosen ESF Tsing Yi. as this is an ESF kinder, most of the pupils there will go to ESF primaries. as we live in shatin, then our daughter's primary will be Shatin Jr. i've heard many good comments about the SJS. however, i'm also interested in ICS. i heard the dicipline at the ICS is good and people are caring. how about the academic results? is ICS better than SJS? or is it difficult to compare as ICS is american system and SJS is IB? does ICS have a lot of good after school activities? i read in the ICS homepage that they have musical performances? is it true? (my daughter loves singing and dancing, so having a musical lesson will be a big factor!)

how about the chinese? i heard ESF will have daily putonhua lesson. is the level of putonghua at the ics not as good as SJS?

i feel this is a kind of consideration that i should have taken into account when i applied for a kinder... but anyhow, i'd like to think about primaries as early as now so that i'll be able to make the best choice!

please share your comments. thanks!

ray

ahk019

Does any mum know about the progress of the new ICS secondary campus in Shatin?  I don't see any solid and new update on the web site.

CherylMum

Re: Any info about ICS kindie???

[ 本帖最後由 CherylMum 於 09-11-13 15:04 編輯 ]

225333

ahk019,

Here is the latest message posted on June 28.

It stated "...On June 24, the ICS Building Project was officially upgraded to Category A by the HK Legislative Council. This means that they have approved the EMB's construction grant to ICS, totalling HK$100.3m, which will allow us to break ground in mid-September. We can now move ahead with the construction and our next step is to call tenders for the piling work...."

Cheers!

Sandrine

225333,

May I know where you got the info please?  Thanks.