Canadian International School

Hi,


I just wanted to find out if anyone has any good or bad experiences with the Canadian International School that they can share with me, considering it for my 4 year old nephew.


Thanks!

Ravi

CDNIS is on of the best internationals schools in HK, it is fantastic school if you are looking for a school that has a great balance of academic, arts, music, sport, and second language. I cannot say eough good things about them. My children currently go there and I can not possibly be happier. My kids are excited to go to school every day so that says alot in itself. The staff there makes you truly feel like you are part of their school and are welcoming every time you are there, the atmosphere is very warming.


However it all depends on what type of education you are looking for for your nephew. Also chances are, if you don't have him enrolled by now for next fall, you probably won't get in as the school is full and there are people on the waiting list. I do recommend you call the school and go take a tour and see for yourself.


If you have any questions let me know. I visited many school in HK for my two children and at the end I felt that Canadian was the best fit for my children.


Now I am there at least once a week sometimes 2 to 3 times a week so do prepare to be involved.

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qvong, thanks so much for your comments! The school seems great, we just would like to hear comments as it is such an important decision.


Thanks,

Ravi

RNB, the facilities are fantastic, the children could not be more enthusiastic about going to school, Alan Dick - the primary head (I don't know the others) is an inspiration! It is still the only school in HK to have the IB PYP, middle years and Diploma programmes running, although the others are catching up. Only thing is that there is still quite a bit of teacher training to fully integrate IB into the syllabus.


As mentioned above, it depends on the type of education that you want for your children. At the senior level, they feed into mostly north American universities. This is by student choice rather than lack of offers, but if your children are aiming at, say English unis, it may be worth comparing it to GSIS, ESF etc.


For us, the Mandarin programme is perfect. Neither of us speak a word of Chinese, to our shame, so the CIS approach was a step too far for us. We want to able to support our children's education, so a bilingual system in which we cannot participate in one language would not work for us. If you are after a fully bilingual education though, CDNIS may not be for you.


As gvong mentions, there is an excellent parents committe, which is taken very seriously by the heads and teachers. Teachers take a great interest in extra curricular activities of children too. I cannot speak about the academics at a more senior level, as our children are very young.


Some of our Canadian friends were turned off the school by the emphasis on Mandarin at the expense of French. It only comes into play when the children are much older - so that may be a consideration for you. Even though they try to accommodate siblings, they do not guarantee them a place if they do not meet the academic standards, again that is a problem for some parents. Personally, I think that the school days for reception children are too short. That is not because we like to park our children in school for babysitting purposes, but I think most 4 year olds are keen to spend more than 2 hours and 50 minutes a day in school. The traffic on Nam Long Shan Road in the morning is a real killer too, so you might want to look into the school bus (which is being actively encouraged by the students' environmental society for obvious reasons).


Try to visit as many schools as possible and weigh up your needs. If you have any major concerns or questions, the Admissions Office is very open to speaking to parents. Good luck.