Posted by
Mazere
18 yrs ago
I am French and will be moving to HK with my son who is suppose to be in Year 1 or CP in French school system. I am interested in putting my son through the local school system but would like him to continue to have French in his curriculum, can anyone please advise if any of the local primary schools in Hong Kong offer such an option?
Thank you for your advice and help.
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It depends what you mean by "local" primary school. You will not be able to send your child to the local HK primary schools. This leaves you with the choice of the international schools (of which there is a French International School which has both English and French streams) or the ESF (English Schools Foundation) schools in which case your child has to be fluent in English to get a place. The main second language taught in international schools is obviously Mandarin.
The main piece of advice I can give you is that school places at any of the International Schools are very hard to get with most having long waiting lists (you will get preferential treatment at the French International School). The ESF schools are easier to get into so long as your son has good english skills but these are zoned and the school you go to is determined by where you live - your choice of apartment may be determined by school.
Hope this helps.
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mrsl
18 yrs ago
Mazere, even if you were to find a local school that offered French, it would be as a very minor part of the curriculum and way below the standard that your son probably speaks with you at home. The only place that he will get a real immersion is in the French or bilingual streams of FIS. If you are keen on the local school option (where he will obviously learn Cantonese) you could back it up by finding a French tutor at home.
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Thank you for your comments. My son does speak English fluently. But I am interested to know more about ESF schools, do they offer French as a extra language option? Thank you for your advice on the residential locality, we are probably looking at living near the Happy Valley area. Which ESF school is closest to this area? Thank you again (Merci boucoup vraiment).
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Thank you mrsl - my concern is the writing in French which is often not catered for in extra home-study. But will definitely consider this as well. Thank you for your advice.
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Dear Mazere,
Looks like your best option would be the "filière bilingue" of the French school -- and it's conveniently located for Happy Valley.
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Thanks I am afraid its the best choice. The reason I was looking for a local school or something like that was because I wanted to my son to socialize with HK locals as oppose to yet again socializing with French only at school. Appreciate all your comments. Thank you
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Dear Mazere,
You'll find that the international schools, including the French school, have a mix of local students and international. The international (English medium) stream of the French school probably has a majority of local Hong Kong students (or if not a majority, then at least a very large number).
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The website for the ESF schools is www.esf.edu.hk. This site includes the zoning for the various schools. I think Happy Valley may be zoned to Quarry Bay primary school but I am not sure of this. ESF schools will be taking applications for Sept 2007 in July/Aug - information about this on the website.
Website for the French International School is www.lfis.edu.hk
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Happy Valley is in the catchment area for Bradbury Primary Scool (ESF).
The school has over 40 nationalities among its pupils and the majority of kids are ethnic Chinese, both local residents and from overseas. The main entry requirement is English language.
ESF schools do not offer French language at primary level.
Your options for a true 'local' school are very limited if your child does not read and write Chinese fluently - even in the 'local' schools where English is the medium of instruction.
ESF applications for primary schools are centralized through the ESF Centre at the moment and you should follow up quickly if you are looking for a place in August.
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