Bilingual Schools on HK side - St Stephen's?

[Twin Mummy]

Hello All

I have a dilemma as I think I am looking for a primary school that may not exist! Basically, we are British Chinese and I am looking for a school that teaches both good English and Chinese and which does not give too much homework to the kiddies. Kind of like an international approach to studying but without the stress of having to do hours of homework, which I cannot accept for my 6 year old twins. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be really grateful. I don't mind whether the school is international or local. We live on HK side by the way. I have heard that St Stephen's school in Stanley is good. Does anyone have any views? Thanks!

 

[momwboys]

Have you looked at International Montessori School?

http://www.montessori.com.hk/

My children will be attending this fall. It may be a good match for your family as well. Every classroom has a full-time English and Mandarian teacher.

Homework expecations are reading 30 minutes to 1 hour daily in English and Mandarian practice.

 

[va va voom]

Main stream local schools in HK are really tough, especially if your children did not go to kindy in HK, because by P1 (6 years old), they are expected to be able to read basic Chinese and English plus able to add and subtract up to 2 digits numbers.
Though, the entrance level do vary from school to school it's still a little more advance than most European countries as I understand. So, I would think you should consider international schools or English Foundation Schools because they are using IB system and that will merge more simlessly with what your children have already learned in UK.

 

[val23]

Try ISF

My son is now attending ISF Academy located in Cyberport. They teach in Putonghua and English. My son loves it. English is taught by Native English Speakers. My son has a male Canadian teacher which is really great and a Chinese teacher from China who is very nice but firm on the students thus enabling them to learn a lot. I am pretty sure that their Putonghua is probably one of the best in Hong Kong. Homework wise, we dont really have much but surprisingly my son now knows so many Tang Poetry by heart, recognizes many Chinese words and can write some. As for the English part, I've heard that other English schools may be better but for me that isn't a problem since English is our language at home which I presume is yours too. They also nurture good reading habits having the kids borrow books from the library weekly.
ISF is considered a local school but has an international community. The school has open days where you can visit and see what the kids are doing.
Good Luck.

 

[Buckeroo]

I've heard good things about ISF, too, but I didn't realize that ISF is actually considered a local school... esp. since their tuition is comparative to international schools'.

 

[Twin Mummy]

Thanks for your views, everyone! Yes, I heard that ISF has a very good curriculum but its too expensive for me - I have twins and that means everything costs twice as much! We interviewed at St. Stephen's a while ago and are now waiting for the results. This is also meant to be an EMI school with a lot of emphasis on Eng and PTH. This school is more known to the local community - I don't think it attracts many expats.

 

[loupou]

St. Stephens is a very well known local EMI school and therefore not that easy to get into. Good luck!

 

[Twin Mummy]

oh dear, I stand corrected then...fingers crossed then! Incidentally, the results of the interview are not published until Jan 30. Anyone know why it takes 3.5 months for them to decide? Anything to do with the Central Allocation process (ie decide who is going for the CA system, and thus not bother giving them a place)?

 

[HKfornow]

Agree with Loupou that St. Stephen is well regarded in HK. They were on our shortlist of schools to consider, because of their putonghua/english curriculum and most of my husband's local co-workers highly recommend St. Stephen to us as being very good.

Unfortunately the commute would have been too much for our son so we opted to apply to Victoria primary in Shum Wan.

Another school that seems highly regarded would be Kiangsu Chekiang in North Point, they offer international and local stream.
http://www.kcs.edu.hk/

Good luck.

 

[MeowMeow]

Hi Twin Mummy,

Just a question regarding St. Stephen's. Did your twins get accepted? If yes, how do you and the kids like the school?

Thanks for your help.