CIS parents, please advise...

I own an education consultancy that works with many students from HK's top local and secondary schools - including students from CIS. Although I cannot speak for all CIS students, I have been impressed with the majority of students I have met so far. As for "spoiled" students, although there are inevitably a few in every international school and top local school, CIS is definitely not near the top of the list for having rich spoiled students (at least not by reputation). Additionally, CIS has a great reputation for developing well-rounded students. I definitely think the concern is unnecessary.

My daughter has been attending CIS since reception. She is in year 2 now. As you said, there are quite a number of children from wealthy families. But the majority of the children are from average families. I have not experienced anything out of the norm. Will be happy to share my experience with you. Just dropped you a line in your mailbox with my phone number.

We work with students primarily in the areas of English writing and SAT preparation. In the areas of English writing I have not seen a school with such consistent achievement than GSIS. Their students have continually impressed me with their English commmunication ability - both oral and written. As for HKIS, their average writing is above average compared to many schools, but there is a lot of variation within their students. If I were to do a comparison side by side of the three schools, I would say that GSIS would stand out pretty well among these three, and HKIS and CIS are relatively comparable. However, we are a small school so we do not work with a large enough number to warrant any type of statistical accuracy, so take my information with some precaution. Regards.

Hi Captone, What about students from GSIS and HKIS ? Have you worked with them before ? How are their gradudates compared to CIS ?

Thanks Capstone. I've always heard that GSIS among the best international school in HK, if not the best. But I also heard that it's very hard to get in. Any parents have any experience with the school interview, particularly at Kindergarten level ? What do they do and how do they assess ? Thanks.

Capstone, What about French International School (FIS), base on your experience, how does the students you met from FIS compare with CIS and GSIS? Thanks Tc

Is it very difficult to get into CIS? I heard that your chances are better if you pay a large debenture. How do they decide on whether to accept a child (say aged 5 years old) into the school?

Hi Cheu01 I think FIS is a great school. I taught two students from there. I was very impressed with their English (considering that htey could also speak French fluently). Very smart children. Of course they could be exceptions but I also have heard great comments about them. I think in terms of International schools, the names mentioned in this forum are all great choices. To compare FIS with CIS and GSIS is difficult. I think its like trying to ask which school is better among Harvard Yale and Princeton. Not to say that the three int'l schools are of comparable stature of the three Ivy league universities (some call them the "Holy Trinity"), but I think they are similar in the area of the similarities in overall strength. Hi Janey, With reference to your question. CIS is somewhat difficult to get into. I currently have students from St. Paul's Coed and DBS who were not accepted to CIS. They have competitive admissions, and so, students must really take the entrance exams seriously. As for debentures, I am not sure how it works. Of course paying a debenture does mean guaranteeing a space, but not all schools allow sales of debentures so openly. Some are restricted to corporates, and some other schools limit the total number. Hope that helps.

adachan My daughter attended an interview for K2 AT gsis (int'l stream) in June this year. There were about 10 children and they all went in to a room together with several teachers/assessors for 1 hr. They were observed as they played, interacted etc.. and asked their name, age and my daughter told me she wrote her name. I can't tell you exactly what happened because we weren't allowed in the room and received no actual feedback. I believe they look for a certain competency in English language and age appropriate social skills. Anyway my daughter was accepted but we declined.

Hi amcn, Is your daughter a native english speaker ? Is she attending any preschool ? May I know what is the reason for declining the school ? Which school have you selected instead of GSIS? Ada

Capstone, could you tell us what you think of Canadian International School and Australian International School?

Hi Turtlehead (nice alias), I generally hear good comments about the students coming out of CDNIS so I would think they are of similar stature to the other top IS. As for Australian IS, to be perfectly honest, I never realized there was an Aus IS here in HK. Definitely, don't let that comment be any form of opinion to the strength of the program there. We are a very small center (less than 100 students) that work with students in English writing and US university admissions, so I would imagine not many Aus IS students (when compared to their HKIS, CDNIS counterparts) would not be as inclined to apply to the US undergrad programs :) I wish I could be of more help here, but I rather just be upfront and let you know that I really don't know in this case. Hi Great Find, I never heard of HKA. But a full disclaimer to all parents reading and asking for my comments. The bulk of our students (in the English writing courses at least) are in P5 and up. So what we see is, in some way, an abbreviated view of the English program at their schools. However, there are a countless number of schools in Hong Kong so we only have had a sprinkling of students from various schools. My personal opinion is that you want to choose a primary school which has direct access to a top secondary school. In Hong Kong, the education system is very connected. Although you can always jump in at any stage of the admissions process to a "top tier" school. It is best to start at a top pre-k "feeder" that

Hi Ada GSIS is a nice school, just was not the right choice for our daughter, yes she is native english speaking. She attends Woodlands, primary section Wan Chai at the moment and enjoys it. You need to visit schools yourself to get a feel of the place and decide what will suit your child best.

We are going thru a similar process in deciding on a suitable school for our eurasian 5 yr old. We are tring to find a bi-lingual (English and mandarin) who don't follow the traditional Chinese curriculm - and struggling to find a suitable school. The current favourites are Victoria Primary and HKUGA...any other suggestions (on HK side)?

Having a corporate debenture does not guarantee a place in CIS. I have friends whose children didn't get in even though they all had corporate debentures. There are a lot of factors the school considers. I am sure if the child is non-Asian or Eurasian, it is a lot easier to get in. Whether it is CIS or GSIS or others, they are all good, it is a matter of what you want to get out of. For me, I want good Chinese teaching, then there is no other choice but CIS.

Hello Capstone, I often find that you have great comments about GSIS and FIS in Hong Kong. I wonder how these schools compare to the very top private primary and secondary schools in the US. The reason is we could go either way - send them back home to private school or attend international schools in HK. Appreciate your comments.

dear Capstone, can you please give me your contact details. i noticed that you mentioned that you own an educational consultancy business. i need some advice regarding schools and preparation for my teenage daughter. thanks.

Hi everyone, I was reading the "CIS Parents..." posting and must say that I have heard the same about the school. Someone I know of (but not well) says they removed their kids from CIS because the families are very wealthy with OTT parties and the kids there are just too materialistic. Also the school fund raises every month or so and if you don't contribute, the admin staff actually give you a ring and ask you if you would like to change your mind??!!! Can anyone agree with this or tell me that it is an absolute lie. I have applied for the CIS and am still waiting to hear, but if you have to contribute large sums of money then we won't be the right kind of family for the school- maybe I should ask the school if we actually get offered a space! Thanks

unicron, As mentioned in one of the above threads, there are always some very rich families in any school that throw expensive kids' b-day parties. I have to say at least in my daughter's year and the people I know (CIS) are not like that. Even the rich ones are quite low key. Yes, CIS does do a lot in terms of fund raising, in particular charity related stuff. Many of us think it is too much. A few times, I didn't participate. I actually do not agree with some of the stuff. It hasn't affected anything. The bottom line is that no school is perfect. Totally depends on what you want to get out of. I wanted true Mandarin teaching and have to say that CIS teaches better than anyone.

HI Unicorn, Truthly I have not donated at all (charity exluded) during my 3 years there (I am not rich either) and I have not received any calls from anyone at the school. As for charity, there are plenty of them such as "read to feed" or just pure food donation. Some of them are for good causes but some I really don't know. I remember one example where St. James settlement sent a letter to CIS which CIS attached to their letter (other schools might have done this too). This St. James newsletter gave the example of this pregnant woman who was very mal-nutritioned because she couldn't afford food and couldn't feed her other 2 children. So long story short, we were ask to donate food to St. James in order to feed people like her (her case was also highlighted in the South China Morning post). I did gave food to my daughter to take to school as everyone else was doing it. However I find this example to be quite disturbing. What are we teaching our children? Should they get pregnant and rely on society to support them? The woman should have known better to get pregnant when she couldn't even feed her other children. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that CIS does try hard. However, no one that I know has ever been put under pressure.

Hi MC, Thanks for the reassurance. However, do you really experience the admin staff calling you up if you don't donate 'much' or frequently? We also applied to CIS for the true Mandarin teaching, but not being very rich does make me wonder whether we should actually send our kid to the school? I don't think anyone can knock the school academically, it seems to be the best around for good Chinese and English. Anyway, maybe I should worry when we get accepted anyhow, after all, chances seem slim ;) Thanks.

Thanks MC, I finally worked out how to read the email you sent me!

Unicorn, sent you an e-mail.

Hi MC, Thanks for taking the time to explain. I guess CIS are trying to teach kids to be thoughtful and considerate towards others who are less fortunate. However, I agree with your point, after all kids have to be taught to be responsible for their actions and that giving to charity has to be thought about carefully - can't give to all those who ask. If my son gets a space, then we are most definitely going to take it. Just out of interest, do you mind me asking if you family are of Asian origin? We are but have recently come over from UK, so scramble for a school place has been 'rushed' to say the least. So, who knows, we may meet on a fund raiser!!! Thanks.

If you want to get more materials that related to this topic, you can visit: http://teacherinterviewquestions.info/chinese-teacher-interview-questions Best regards.

Hi, Thanks very much for this comment. It help me to think about my ideals. Tks again and pls keep posting.

If you can get into CIS then grasp it and don't let go. its really hard to get a place there nowadays