Esf

[zhumgg]

Dear all,

I am from the US and plan to enroll my kid to ESF for P1 for 2012. We are now still in the US and will return in June next year. I heard that there is a central application which they allocate the kids to school according to where you live. As we havent decided where to live yet, may I ask the following:

1. Which ESF is the best in HK??
2. Anyone can give some comment on Quarry Bay school and Beacon Hill school??
3. How difficult is the written test and its normal content??
4. Anyone can share anything about interview process?? How long is it??
5. I am not sure if a certain school will be more competitive (more difficult/easy to get in) than the others within ESF system. Any comment??
6. Any sharing or advice on how to maximise the chance of getting into ESF??
7. Does either parent MUST have HKID to enroll the kid to ESF as this is government subsidised??

Thanks so much in advance for any info.

 

[carang]

to answer some of your questions:

1) they are all more or less the same. there is no "best" esf school. they are ALL VERY VERY VERY oversubscribed. it will not be a matter of YOU choosing the school... it's more a matter of which school has space.
2) see above
3) if your child is a native english speaker, there shouldn't be any problems
4)
5)see above
6) no, there is no way to "maximise" your chances. i've heard that some of the schools are so full they are even having a difficult time accepting all of the siblings that want to go to the same school
7) EVERYONE who lives in hk for more than 180 days MUST apply for a HKID, so that is a moot point, really. once you are here, you MUST apply within 30 days for your HKID, so it should be one of the first things you do after you get off the plane.

 

[0ze_Kid]

To add onto to carang's comments. Places are very hard to get into this year - it is best to apply to maybe 4+ schools especially for P1 places.

For ESF, you can look at buying a corporate surety which means you do not have to have chosen where you live just indicate where - see below info and link. This has to be submitted by the company that is bringing you over but it puts you on the list now instead of having to wait until you arrive.

The interview was not as hard as some schools I have heard about where they have to sit a written test. They just read a book with the child and discussed it - it takes about half an hour. At least that was the case 12 months ago.

Good luck.

http://www.esf.edu.hk/admission
ESF introduced a new Corporate Surety scheme in 2007 to enable companies to secure school places for expatriate employees before their arrival in Hong Kong over the summer months. The scheme runs from 1 January to 30 June of each year. There are limited surety places. The surety scheme will be open in January 2011 for application for August 2011 admissions. The surety scheme is currently not applicable for the ESF private Independent Schools or Kindergartens. Please click HERE for the application form. For queries, please email [email protected].

 

[Obiwan]

Any legacy priority for esf if either of the parent is an alumni?

 

[Neha]

Obiwan yes as far as I know thru some friends

 

[rani]

Any legacy priority for esf if either of the parent is an alumni?

Yes, the esf application includes a section for you to add older siblings info if they are in esf and parents info if the are ex students.

 

[Obiwan]

Thank you!!

 

[TheQuasimother]

You need a proof of address to apply to allocate catchment school. Are you aware of this? AND, you will need to submit your HKID copy of at least one parent.

Apply to all under the ESF umbrella:
- one ESF application (centralised)
- Discovery College (Private Independent School under the ESF umbrella, the difference is in funding therefore fees)
- Renaissance College (See note above)

So you need to submit 3 applications. Your child HAS to be here for interviews. ESF will not allocate a place for P1 without passing an interview. Unlike other schools, for ESF, you stand virtually no chance if you aren't here!

 

[zhumgg]

Thanks TheQuasimother. I plan to submit the centralise application in Sept. I called my targeted ESF and they told me I just need to put the area I intend to live in the application. And if I get the interview in Jan, I will need to have an exact address by then and need to provide address prove. I plan to fly back for the interview. My difficulty is to have an exact address by Jan before I move back in June. Does that means I have to pay rent for several months without living there???.....any other choice??....

I was trying to read as much information/comment as I can on different ESF and then choose to live in the region which feed to my preferred ESF. This is what I meant my choice of school.

I have a HKID as I was born in HK. When I called different ESF schools to get information. Seems like they gave me different information. One of the preferred ESF said they dont need either parent to have HKID, they just need a visa. Another one said either one of the parents must have a HKID. Actually, this make more sense to me as ESF is subsidized by the HK govt and they shouldnt only subsidise PR (HKID with 3 stars), not any other just a HKID after staying in HK for a short period of time.

I didnt read much about the private indepent school under ESF as I thought they are much more expensive?? Is that really compared with other private interantional school outside of ESF?? I have to start thinking what other 2 international school I have to apply as a forth back. Any idea of a good international school which is not too expensive.....?? I came back to HK in May this year and toured several international schools. American international school is definitely NOT my cup of tea. I like Canadian international school but they are very expensive. Corporate debenture is not our option...sigh....What heard something good and bad about Yew Chung. Is that really they have a lot of mainland chinese in the school which lower the student quality?? Heard from a friend whose kids studying there and their mainland classmates and parents are very rude....not sure if I want my kid study with people in this behaviour. Not sure if any of you have any comment on Yew Chung though....


Any more comment and advice is much appreciated...

 

[carang]

No, they ONLY need a visa. the problem is your use of the term "HKID"... EVERYONE has that. they must have it by law.... what you are referring to is a PERMANENT HKID, as in the holder is a permanent resident of hk.

in order to apply for school, parents must have a HKID but not a PERMANENT HKID.