Has anyone been rejected by ESF? & ...

[Babyface]

Has anyone's LO been rejected by the ESF for Primary? If so, do you know why?


Also is anyone else concerned about the recent report that non-resident Expats to be are now going to be able to pre-book ESF places before they arrive? Do you think it will effect the number of places available to local already resident applicants?

Thankyou

 

[bekyboo44]

Hi,

There are several reasons why a child may not get into an ESF primary,

1). Their English is not good enough...it doesn't have to be fluent but they do have to be able to converse with whoever they meet with before getting entry. It is not an intelligence/aptitude test.

2). The school applied for does not have enough space and other children have a greater priority,

Priority goes to,
- Children who do not speak Cantonese and who can not attend school in the local system (they have the highest priority)
-Children who have siblings in ESF already
-Children whose parents went to ESF
-Children who attend an ESF kindergarten (however this does not give you great priority....for example: a child who does not speak Cantonese who did not go to an ESF kindergarten has priority over a child who does speak Cantonese and who attended an ESF kindergarten)

If the school you want your child to go to is oversubscribed then ESF may find a place for your child in another undersuscribed or less busy school.

 

[bekyboo44]

Personally I think that if your child does not speak Cantonese and can not go to school in the local system it does not matter if non resident expats will have reserved spaces, you will still have very high priority.

The ESF was started so that children who could not go to local schools could still go to school! Reserving places then for those children coming from overseas seems like a good idea. And shouldn't take places from already resident children who can not attend schools in the local system.

 

[shaz]

if it makes you feel better, my euarsian son couldnt get into esf either and he is a fluent english speaker and at the time had basic cantonese and wouldnt have been able to attend a local school, so he now goes to a DSS school. i dont really understand the logic at all of that esf for admitting kids when i no that a friend's kid got into their school and he was a local kid with average english. so.....

 

[Millerwhisk]

A friend of mines son failed interview twice before on the third time getting into an ESF school. He is not English and had to read to a significantly higher standard than my son (who is English).

 

[shaz]

my son wasnt even invited for an interview, just put on the witing list anyhow he's at a good school now so we r pleased.

 

[Babyface]

Shaz, I have PM'ed you.

 

[shaz]

Shaz, I have PM'ed you.

pm'd you back.

 

[sophwillsmum]

I am currently in Australia but we are moving up to HK next month with our two children. We just received a notice today saying that we may be able to reserve a place at an ESF school if we pay our fees up front before we arrive. This is a huge relief to us as we obviously have to pull our daughter out of school here, and up until now we weren't sure that we'd be able to get her in to a school once we arrived. We are therefore very happy with the changes.

 

[Seb's Dad]

our son was.

my husband and i (i am writing from his account) are both native english speakers and our son was originally refused a place at an esf school. his kindergarten said he was ready for P1, and they wrote letters on his behalf saying that he indeed was. our son did not do well at the interview, apparently.

we decided to hold him back a year and do not regret this decision.