Posted by
doanni
14 yrs ago
We came to HK around a year and a half ago. We applied for one of the international schools for our son. We are going to apply for an ESF school in Sept, when it is application time for the following year. In the first school, we are on a wait list to be called for an interview. It is already mid April and I have very little hope that that is going to happen before next school year when he would be supposed to start (in that particular school, the kids start a year earlier than in others).
Even if we had applied for one more (or more) schools, we could find ourselves in the same situation now: long wait lists to be called for interviews.
What happens if school time arrives and your kids don't have a place in any school? Will we have to move to another country because HK does not have enough school places for all kids?
Please support our advertisers:
I believe that most people go down the home schooling route supported by private tutors.
Please support our advertisers:
Well, he is now 3 years and 3 months old, so he would start this coming Sept in some schools and Sept 2012 in others, but as I said we are on a wait list for this coming Sept, so I guess it is not going to happen, and we will apply for an ESF school in Sept to start in Sept 2012, but if he does not get a place, we are scr....ed.
I do not know about local schools in HK Island. I will have to do some searching.
Please support our advertisers:
I'm not fully up on this, but I have heard that some of the international Kindergartens have another 'year' for children which is equivalent to Yr 1. I think the Montessori on Cain Road may be one.
Please support our advertisers:
Woodland Harbourside does indeed have an extra year equivalent to year 1.
Please support our advertisers:
Thanks for your replies.
I knew about this extra year in some schools. In fact, the school where my son is going now has that extra year, but my worry is what happens if he does not get a place for the following year.
I was thinking that if they do not call him for the first year of the normal school, when they have all the places available (like two classes of 25 kids, so 50 places) it is going to be less likely that they call him for the second year when there would be, if any, only a few places available (people leaving HK, going to other schools...).
Any other suggestions for HK island? other than the more known intl schools?
Thanks again!!
Please support our advertisers:
hmm
14 yrs ago
Not sure which International schools you are going to be interviewing at eventually, but try to be sure that whatever Kindergarten (or other school) placement you will have for your child will prepare them adequately. It's not just a matter of finding a place "somewhere." Some of the schools mentioned do not have the level of English or academic input (say in Y1) to allow the child to pass the entrance tests at International schools for subsequent years. With ESF this should not be an issue though...
A tough issue for all parents these days in HK... the problem is that many schools (if you can call them that) are simply 'hanging out their shingle', and purporting to be something they are not.
Please support our advertisers:
cara - which school in sai kung if I may ask?
Please support our advertisers:
HI CARA, can you also pls ping me the name of the school in sai kung, i may be facing the same dilemma in trying to get my 3 year old somewhere appropriate for when we arrive in the summer, the ESF folk have already advised that they are full and that we would have to go on a waitlist..bar humberg indeed. x
Please support our advertisers:
If you apply on time to the ESF and your kid is a native speaker, you should be OK- the main problem is at Bradbury School as ESF primaries now have to give priority to ESF kindergarten kids, and since one kindy is next to Bradbury and another takes DB kids, who also go to Bradbury, they're swallowing a lot of the places. Nice planning, ESF!
Please support our advertisers:
Agreed with cara. It is an ESF wide problem. Lots of native English speakers coming in due to a big influx of expats.
Definitely don't count on getting into ESF. It used to be a sure thing but that is no longer the case.
Please support our advertisers:
You must be logged in to be able to reply.
Login now
Copy Link
Facebook
Gmail
Mail