Applying is cheap, only $150 ... I wasn't talking about school fees.
Fees are indeed $63k for next year, not a lot of extra's, would say no more than $65k in total excluding camps in certain year groups.
Desperately need your help re schools...
- Thread starter cmabs
- Start date
Applying is cheap, only $150 ... I wasn't talking about school fees.
Fees are indeed $63k for next year, not a lot of extra's, would say no more than $65k in total excluding camps in certain year groups.
Try living in Sheung Shui and apply to the Choi Po Kindergarten. My son went there and he became fluent in the language within three months, enabling him to use the (free) Pentecostal Yu leung fat primary School when he reached primary age. No interview or debenture is required. There is also another kindergarten here called Greenfield, which a friend of mine uses, which has more English, but still teaches both Cantonese and Mandarin. His daughter is now able to converse in both. With such young children I would highly recommend this route for two primary reasons: 1. Your children will be equipped to function fully in HK society without the need for an interpreter at times. Most international schools neglect this. 2. You'll be free from the burden of ever-increasing school fees, and possibly having to give up your life here should they become too much. If your children start in the expensive fee-paying international system, they (and you) may be locked into it for their entire school career because of those schools' neglect of essential Cantonese language skills.
Louiseamanda
Registered User
Agree with whoever said your children are quite young. Also depends on your budget and how long you intend to be in HK (if you know)
Friends of mine have used Bradbury (I have not heard of many problems getting in there to be honest) and been quite happy with it. Good head teacher I'm told.
Also Hong Kong Academy seems to make parents quite content.
Other international schools - various criticisms, I've heard, ranging from too business-orientated (Kellett), too academic, not academic enough! etc etc
One thing IU've noticed is that 'waiting lists' are not so daunting as they seem - you might be suddenly called, when you thought you were no.25 on the list - etc etc so get your name down!
Expats come and go - mid-term places open up/also people 'go on lists' in HK it seems to be a hobby ! (flights/schools/classes etc) but that does not necessarily mean that they will be available to take their place when offered (so waiting list numbers jump around)
Lastly, some schools have a test to pass and go on the test (not on how rich you are).
I think at 4 you must be able to write your own name
and count to 20 or something. You can ask around about the tests Good luck, welcome.
Friends of mine have used Bradbury (I have not heard of many problems getting in there to be honest) and been quite happy with it. Good head teacher I'm told.
Also Hong Kong Academy seems to make parents quite content.
Other international schools - various criticisms, I've heard, ranging from too business-orientated (Kellett), too academic, not academic enough! etc etc
One thing IU've noticed is that 'waiting lists' are not so daunting as they seem - you might be suddenly called, when you thought you were no.25 on the list - etc etc so get your name down!
Expats come and go - mid-term places open up/also people 'go on lists' in HK it seems to be a hobby ! (flights/schools/classes etc) but that does not necessarily mean that they will be available to take their place when offered (so waiting list numbers jump around)
Lastly, some schools have a test to pass and go on the test (not on how rich you are).
I think at 4 you must be able to write your own name
and count to 20 or something. You can ask around about the tests Good luck, welcome.I wouldn't say Bradbury is easy to get into. Yes, in terms of interview, etc. They're (ESF in general) not extremely picky and cater for a range of abilities as long as English and social skills are sufficient, however the school is very very oversubscribed, like most ESF Primaries. In March 2011, there were more than 5000 children on ESF Primary wait lists. Of course, this includes many double counts, etc. but demand is way higher than supply. Which goes for most international schools, especially on HK Island. In case of ESF you won't be able to apply until September the year before entry (is August). I would say, put your name down at multiple schools and consider less "popular" schools or schools in other areas in HK, or research into local schools.
I really think the waiting lists these days are quite bad, and next year is expected to get worse. So prepare yourself and look into multiple options, depending on your budget, child, location, future plans, etc.
I really think the waiting lists these days are quite bad, and next year is expected to get worse. So prepare yourself and look into multiple options, depending on your budget, child, location, future plans, etc.
DB is not that bad...
DB is not that bad and a number of children "commute" to other parts of Hong Kong for school - CDNIS, HKIS, GSIS, FIS, Singapore, ESF, etc, while Bradbury, LIS and RCHK have buses direct from DB to their schools.
We turned down at spot at DBIS and LIS and enrolled our daughter at CDNIS instead knowing full well it means her travelling on a ferry and school bus 5-times a week. While we liked DBIS, they could not guarantee our daughter a place in the secondary since they reduce class size in the older years and she would have to leave sooner or later since they don't go all the way to Grade 12. CDNIS goes right to Grade 12 and also does Mandarin 5-7 times a week, where at DBIS they just "expose" the students to the language. The facilities at CDNIS are also exceptional and compared to DC, the class size is 20:1 where DC is 30:1. We also were impressed with CDNIS' IB results and how friendly the head of school was during our school tour with the students.
That being said, our daughter has many friends in DB, takes part in numerous extra-curricular activities in DB and we love that there is more open space for her to ride her bike/scooter and run around. We love the community feel of DB and the open space it provides. It's perfect for our family. Who knows, when our kids are older and don't need the outdoor space, HK Island will probably be our "new" home.
DB is not that bad and a number of children "commute" to other parts of Hong Kong for school - CDNIS, HKIS, GSIS, FIS, Singapore, ESF, etc, while Bradbury, LIS and RCHK have buses direct from DB to their schools.
We turned down at spot at DBIS and LIS and enrolled our daughter at CDNIS instead knowing full well it means her travelling on a ferry and school bus 5-times a week. While we liked DBIS, they could not guarantee our daughter a place in the secondary since they reduce class size in the older years and she would have to leave sooner or later since they don't go all the way to Grade 12. CDNIS goes right to Grade 12 and also does Mandarin 5-7 times a week, where at DBIS they just "expose" the students to the language. The facilities at CDNIS are also exceptional and compared to DC, the class size is 20:1 where DC is 30:1. We also were impressed with CDNIS' IB results and how friendly the head of school was during our school tour with the students.
That being said, our daughter has many friends in DB, takes part in numerous extra-curricular activities in DB and we love that there is more open space for her to ride her bike/scooter and run around. We love the community feel of DB and the open space it provides. It's perfect for our family. Who knows, when our kids are older and don't need the outdoor space, HK Island will probably be our "new" home.
howardcoombs
Registered User
You and few more may consider to be acceptable, but I dont find anything good about putting a child thru 2+h of commuting every single day. 10+h per week.
No amount of outdoor space will give back 10h of wasted time.
You've picked a fine school; why stick with such a far away location when you could be just 10-15 mins away instead of being 1+h away.