SJC vs. Anfield

happyhealthymin

SJC: 20-27 students per class
        about 15 minutes Chinese daily
        straight through to primary

Anfield: 14 per class
                30 min Chinese daily
               no gaurantee to primary

點選好? 請問。

minirat

I thought Anfield kindergarten students have direct entry to Anfield Primary, no?

I have both offers too.  I have chosen Anfield, simply becoz it's near to home and small class size.  Apparently both are very different.  One prepares you for IS while the other is LS.  I think both are inadequate in terms of exposure to Chinese, but I am not so concerned about that at this stage.

happyhealthymin

Exposure to English is my priority too. that is why i apply for these two school.

I went to Anfield open day last Nov. Their classrooms are tidy and colorful. Teachers are elegant.   SJC has outdoor playground but the building is a bit old given its history. Teachers are nice, according to other parents.

Apart from English environment, I want my child to develop reading habits and interest.

minirat, in regard of reading habit, which school do you think is better? or could you share more about your impression of Anfield? thx a lot.

lui

To be honest, reading habit is developed at home and only school.

happyhealthymin

sure. home and school are both essential

minirat

happyhealthymin 發表於 13-4-30 14:31
Exposure to English is my priority too. that is why i apply for these two school.

I went to Anfiel ...

Yes, I can see that, coz English is the strength of both schools.  I have big concern on good English exposure too.

When you mentioned Anfield, I bet you are referring to the Kowloon Tong campus, right?  My son will be attending the other campus at Whampoa, but I understand that Kowloon Tong is actually better in terms of teacher quality and school environment.  I attended the playgroup classes at Whampoa campus previously and to be honest I do not find the classrooms very tidy and clean.  In fact, I think there is a bad smell in the dancing room.  Having said that, I am not too concerned about this.  Personally I always believe that kids should adapt to any type of environment.  Apart from genuine English environment and close proximity to home, another reason that I like Anfield is the small class size.  My boy is a quiet boy when in a crowd, so I am worried that he might inevitably be neglected if the class size is too big.  27 students vs 14 students, a big deal to me.  

On the other hand, I really like SJC.  After the interview session, I have really good impression of the teachers there, experienced and caring.  However I am reluctant to let my boy travel to school at such young age, unless I don't have other nearer choices.  And the school fees of both are not too far off.  If one can afford SJC, Anfield is not a problem for sure.

I share your views that developing good reading habit since young is important.  Honestly I don't know which school excels better in terms of that.  Like Lui said, I think encouraging reading at home might be more workable, and school just help to reinforce it.  In order to encourage my boy to read more, I don't watch TV until he is asleep, and try to restrain myself from playing with my phone whenever possible (coz he tends to imitate what we do).  I will grab a book to read or read to him instead.

happyhealthymin

minirat, thx very much for your sharing. in order to create a reading environment at home, i am doing similar things as you. hope it really helps.

btw, i am referring to Anfield at Whampoa. our sons may be classmates then. but i have not make up my mind yet.

minirat

原帖由 happyhealthymin 於 13-04-30 發表
minirat, thx very much for your sharing. in order to create a reading environment at home, i am doin ...

Oh great!  Let me know when you have made up your mind.  My boy will be in am class.  We can share more along the way.

happyhealthymin

minirat, since your son has been to Anfield playgroup, could you share more about their teachers? are they patient and lively towards the children?

minirat

happyhealthymin 發表於 13-5-2 19:48
minirat, since your son has been to Anfield playgroup, could you share more about their teachers? ar ...

To be honest, we did not attend many classes, due to personal activities.  From the few lessons we attended, my feeling towards the teacher was quite neutral, neither good nor bad.  To be fair to her, she probably does not know my boy well too since we did not attend many of her classes.  The playgroup contents were pretty similar to the playgroup we attended at Nottingham before.  Having said that, there were 2 teachers next door who left good impressions.  We met them at common play area within the school.  Both of them, on separate occasions, were very friendly and took initiative to interact with my boy even though they were not the teachers of our class.  I know it is luck when it comes to teacher quality, sometimes not completely about the school.  Hopefully we can meet a truly good teacher in our coming PN classes.

happyhealthymin

your comments are very objective, thanks. I agree with you that LUCK plays an important role in life.

pppwong

原帖由 happyhealthymin 於 13-04-30 發表
SJC: 20-27 students per class
        about 15 minutes Chinese daily
        straight through to pri ...

I'm really sorry, what is SJC? I did some research on anfield and I really like it

happyhealthymin

SJC= st. johannes college. also use English as the main teaching medium.

so what do you like about Anfield. could you share with us?