It is almost that time of the year, applying for school for Aug 2011. We will be moving from the U.S. to H.K. in Jan. I am planning to apply P1 at ESF Quarry Bay and Kiangsu & Chekiang - International section for my oldest son. Although I speak Cantonese but my two sons don't, part to my fault. I would like my kids pick up the language during the few years that we are staying in H.K. My 4 years old son now has been attending U.S. preschool for 2 years where has a more relaxed enviroment and the school embraces creativity. The teachers are always hugging the students and my kids have a lot of fun at school. Therefore, I don't think a school has extremely high displinary practice will work on my child. I don't know much about these two schools so I would like to hear your opinion on these schools. Academic is important for us since my husband and would like our kids not to be behind when we return to the states. Any input will be appreciated!
ESF vs. Kiangsu & Chekiang P1
- Thread starter wegetable
- Start date
KCIS is an international school - as is ESF - and is administered differently from the original KCS. At KCIS, classes are 70% English and 30% Mandarin, whereas KCS teaches all its subjects in Mandarin except for the English class. As we're an English-speaking household (I'm American, too), we thought it would be good opportunity for the children to learn Chinese as a language as opposed to a subject. It'll be much easier if he eventually wants to move to an English-only school when he gets older as opposed to the other way around.
My elder son is 5 and is attending the K3 at KCS (the equivalent of KCIS P1). The same Chinese teacher has been with this cohort for 3 years. In fact, my son finds the class quite "loud" (his words) as the children are all very comfortable and familiar with the teacher. Each class has a Chinese and an English teacher. His class has 26 students. The student body is increasingly international - with quite a few students in each class that are either of mixed race or non-Chinese. In fact, their Mandarin skills would put mine to shame.
I agree that it's culturally very Chinese, but I quite like it for that reason. The teachers are very loyal and dedicated - many having taught there their entire teaching careers. There is a very strong alumni association. It's unapologetically family-oriented, does not tolerate bullying, enforces good manners and strong civic-mindedness. Academically, it's very strong and yet, no one is teased for being a "nerd". As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no alcohol, tobacco or drug abuse in the upper levels or premature introduction to violence and sex. OK, I know it's not what one may want to think about at the P1 level, but I've taught Sunday school to pre-teens and teens in HK who attend local as well as international schools and the difference in striking.
Neither ESF or KCS/KCIS administers the US curriculum, so you may just want to have the US homeschooling materials as a reference if you're worried about them falling behind when they return to the States. There's a small group of us that plan to supplement our children's education with US homeschooling materials. That being said, I think the international curriculum is generally ahead in most respects, except for American history.
My elder son is 5 and is attending the K3 at KCS (the equivalent of KCIS P1). The same Chinese teacher has been with this cohort for 3 years. In fact, my son finds the class quite "loud" (his words) as the children are all very comfortable and familiar with the teacher. Each class has a Chinese and an English teacher. His class has 26 students. The student body is increasingly international - with quite a few students in each class that are either of mixed race or non-Chinese. In fact, their Mandarin skills would put mine to shame.
I agree that it's culturally very Chinese, but I quite like it for that reason. The teachers are very loyal and dedicated - many having taught there their entire teaching careers. There is a very strong alumni association. It's unapologetically family-oriented, does not tolerate bullying, enforces good manners and strong civic-mindedness. Academically, it's very strong and yet, no one is teased for being a "nerd". As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no alcohol, tobacco or drug abuse in the upper levels or premature introduction to violence and sex. OK, I know it's not what one may want to think about at the P1 level, but I've taught Sunday school to pre-teens and teens in HK who attend local as well as international schools and the difference in striking.
Neither ESF or KCS/KCIS administers the US curriculum, so you may just want to have the US homeschooling materials as a reference if you're worried about them falling behind when they return to the States. There's a small group of us that plan to supplement our children's education with US homeschooling materials. That being said, I think the international curriculum is generally ahead in most respects, except for American history.
Yonge, you are absolutely right about supplementing. I purchased some US curriculum material myself and planning to do just so after moving to H.K. next year. As I was going through the material and thinking something our kids are not going to learn in H.K. such U.S. currencies and states, I don't want the kids fall behind when we return home so I definitely have to supplement. Maybe we should start a contact list at some point so we can share with each other on the information.
@1stimemum, you're absolutely right. That's me. My elder son attended SIS last year and we gave up our place there when my husband changed jobs and we relocated overseas. However, three weeks after we gave up the place at SIS, we learned that we needed to come back! By then, we didn't have a place at SIS anymore and were placed on a waiting list. We were told to look elsewhere and we did - and found KCS. The irony is that we were told two months later that there was a place for us at SIS, but after moving twice in three months and expecting a third child, we thought we had enough "changes" this year, so we opted to keep him at KCS, where he has been offered a place in the primary school next year.
SIS and KCS are both great places in terms of what we were looking for from a school - a safe, nurturing environment where children can learn from their teachers and peers to become curious, independent and self-motivated life-long learners. However, the main difference is the medium of instruction. Over time, SIS will be primarily an English medium school where all subjects will be taught in English except for Chinese. The written language is simplified Chinese, the same one as the one used in China. Students will also be graduating with the International Baccalaureate. The campus is new and well-maintained. Security is excellent - no one can get in without being checked through and issued a pass. I was also very impressed with my son's class, many of whom clearly have parents that care about what their children at this age watched/listened. You can tell, because they don't use the bad language that you hear so often from other children their age on the street. Culturally, the school is very Chinese, with 30% Singaporean, 20% Chinese and about 50% Hong Kong as defined by the school, but there are a handful of children of mixed race in every class.
KCS' medium of instruction is Mandarin and so, it's the other way around - where every subject is taught in Mandarin except for English. The written language is traditional Chinese, which is mainly used by people in Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas Chinese. The traditional Chinese characters are also the ones used in Korean and Japanese classical writing as well. As we're an English-speaking household, we find it harder to offer an environment to support learning Mandarin at home than learning English, so we think KCS is better for us. As a local, but independent school, KCS students will graduate with the HK high school diploma, taking the equivalent of the British O and A levels when the time comes. My husband took these exams as well and had no difficulty getting into American universities, which is where we met. If our children are interested in attending our alma mater or anywhere else in the States, they'll just have to take the SAT1 and SAT2 examinations. They can also sit for the AP exams if they wish. The campus at KCS is undeniably old-fashioned, a real throwback in time, but is well-maintained and obviously well loved. Security is very good. Although people can enter the building, they cannot pick up a child unless they have been given a card with the child's photograph that is issued by the school. The children in my son's current class are definitely rowdier than his class at SIS, but that surprised as well as pleased me, as my concern was that a Chinese school would be overly regimented and not allow room for freedom of expression. The families in general at SIS are obviously more well-to-do as the school fees are much higher, but the downside was that I found it harder to meet other families, because most of the children went to school by bus or were brought their by maids. At KCS, quite a number do take the bus - which is ironically more expensive than the busing we paid for SIS, but many more are brought their by not just maids, but grandparents, mothers and even fathers on a daily basis. Also, there are more children from mixed race families as well as families that do not have a Chinese parent attending KCS than SIS. The school does not break out statistics on the "origin" of the students, which I actually think is a good thing. We're all currently Hong Kong residents and that's all that matters!
@wegetable Happy to keep in touch. We can PM each other with what we find helpful. Let's get together when you're here. We're also going back to the States over Chinese New Year, so I can help to get more stuff to bring back then.
We have introduced to our eldest son a jigsaw puzzle of the American states, which he loves. My husband and I continue to read the New York Times on-line, along with other international titles, such as the Financial Times and the Economist as well as regional ones, too. Our family discusses US current events as well as issues of interest comparing across other countries regularly with our 5 year old. It boggles the mind how much they actually can understand at this age!
SIS and KCS are both great places in terms of what we were looking for from a school - a safe, nurturing environment where children can learn from their teachers and peers to become curious, independent and self-motivated life-long learners. However, the main difference is the medium of instruction. Over time, SIS will be primarily an English medium school where all subjects will be taught in English except for Chinese. The written language is simplified Chinese, the same one as the one used in China. Students will also be graduating with the International Baccalaureate. The campus is new and well-maintained. Security is excellent - no one can get in without being checked through and issued a pass. I was also very impressed with my son's class, many of whom clearly have parents that care about what their children at this age watched/listened. You can tell, because they don't use the bad language that you hear so often from other children their age on the street. Culturally, the school is very Chinese, with 30% Singaporean, 20% Chinese and about 50% Hong Kong as defined by the school, but there are a handful of children of mixed race in every class.
KCS' medium of instruction is Mandarin and so, it's the other way around - where every subject is taught in Mandarin except for English. The written language is traditional Chinese, which is mainly used by people in Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas Chinese. The traditional Chinese characters are also the ones used in Korean and Japanese classical writing as well. As we're an English-speaking household, we find it harder to offer an environment to support learning Mandarin at home than learning English, so we think KCS is better for us. As a local, but independent school, KCS students will graduate with the HK high school diploma, taking the equivalent of the British O and A levels when the time comes. My husband took these exams as well and had no difficulty getting into American universities, which is where we met. If our children are interested in attending our alma mater or anywhere else in the States, they'll just have to take the SAT1 and SAT2 examinations. They can also sit for the AP exams if they wish. The campus at KCS is undeniably old-fashioned, a real throwback in time, but is well-maintained and obviously well loved. Security is very good. Although people can enter the building, they cannot pick up a child unless they have been given a card with the child's photograph that is issued by the school. The children in my son's current class are definitely rowdier than his class at SIS, but that surprised as well as pleased me, as my concern was that a Chinese school would be overly regimented and not allow room for freedom of expression. The families in general at SIS are obviously more well-to-do as the school fees are much higher, but the downside was that I found it harder to meet other families, because most of the children went to school by bus or were brought their by maids. At KCS, quite a number do take the bus - which is ironically more expensive than the busing we paid for SIS, but many more are brought their by not just maids, but grandparents, mothers and even fathers on a daily basis. Also, there are more children from mixed race families as well as families that do not have a Chinese parent attending KCS than SIS. The school does not break out statistics on the "origin" of the students, which I actually think is a good thing. We're all currently Hong Kong residents and that's all that matters!
@wegetable Happy to keep in touch. We can PM each other with what we find helpful. Let's get together when you're here. We're also going back to the States over Chinese New Year, so I can help to get more stuff to bring back then.
We have introduced to our eldest son a jigsaw puzzle of the American states, which he loves. My husband and I continue to read the New York Times on-line, along with other international titles, such as the Financial Times and the Economist as well as regional ones, too. Our family discusses US current events as well as issues of interest comparing across other countries regularly with our 5 year old. It boggles the mind how much they actually can understand at this age!