HK School confusion. Need HELP!!!

[mib7]

We'd be moving to HK from London in June. I have two children, one in year 2 and the other in Reception at the moment. From the forums it seems it is a nightmare getting the children at any school. Can anyone please tell which schools are good choosing between Glenealy, Bradbury and Peak from the ESF schools. would like to know so we can choose a place in the catchment area. also if the ESF schools have assessments and interview? i also quite like GSIS and FIS. i think GSIS would be at the top of my list from what i have heard but do not know what curriculum they follow?? i have heard GSIS has an assessment and interview. would anyone know what r the chances of getting into gsis?? or FIS??
also what kind of a school is Harbour school in comparison to GSIS and FIS?? have read good things about it.

 

[MommyTo3]

We'd be moving to HK from London in June. I have two children, one in year 2 and the other in Reception at the moment. From the forums it seems it is a nightmare getting the children at any school. Can anyone please tell which schools are good choosing between Glenealy, Bradbury and Peak from the ESF schools. would like to know so we can choose a place in the catchment area. also if the ESF schools have assessments and interview? i also quite like GSIS and FIS. i think GSIS would be at the top of my list from what i have heard but do not know what curriculum they follow?? i have heard GSIS has an assessment and interview. would anyone know what r the chances of getting into gsis?? or FIS??
also what kind of a school is Harbour school in comparison to GSIS and FIS?? have read good things about it.

My children are currently at ESF, at QBS. It all depends on where you are going to live. You need an address to apply. The current CSS is no longer applicable (instead they now have the $500k debenture, only 150 spots though for all schools including primary and secondary). I got kids in Year 2 and they are 2006 born. They'll be starting Year 3 in August. ESF goes by birth year, so 2008 will be starting Year 1 in August. Lower school places are extremely hard to get, especially when you apply late. I know plenty of people who waited 1-2 years. They will do assessments and interviews, depending on the year level. E.g. for a Y3 entry they would check on reading, writing, maths, etc. Just basic assessments they do at the school as well. Y1 interview is more about social skills and English language (no reading / writing required). Glenealy and Peak are both 2-form only, so only 60 places per year level, so limited space as it is. Bradbury is bigger, but I know people who had waiting list numbers 100+ ... Some have higher turnover, some have longer lists, it's hard to tell. Again, lower primary is definitely harder than upper primary. Once you have one in, the second one gets sibling priority, but the first one may take some time.

I know 2 people who had kids at Harbour School, both not impressed (very expensive, and not happy with what they were getting), but I've read many very positive comments as well. It caters for a wide range of abilities, including main stream and has small class sizes (at a price though). Little to no facilities at this moment.

I don't think it's really about what you want at this moment, it's about where you can get a spot, which means you'll have to include schools like KIS, Harbour School, Delia School of Canada, possibly some schools in the NT (like JIS, NIS, AIS, HLYIS), etc. or you may end up empty handed as it's quite late in the game already, plus you're looking at schools that are very very popular. Any debentures?

 

[penguinsix]

My son is currently on the waitlist to be interviewed for a P1 spot at ESF Peak (no, we don't hold out much hope). I think I heard of the 60 spots over 40 went to siblings and staff children this year, or some number like that.

I mention this to sort of give you an idea of the chaos you are entering, late. Application season is over for most school and now they have already moved to admissions and wait lists for those who applied last September. There are some schools, like HKIS, that have a secondary admissions process for people moving over but the deadline for overseas admissions is April 1. But you already too late at many of the more popular schools like ESF, GSIS and FIS.

Realistically, absent a debenture to get you on top of the waiting list, you should be looking at any school that will take you. This could mean heading out to the New Territories for Japan International or Norwegian International or other schools scattered about the city. Any port in a storm. Next year, when you have the time to apply as part of the normal process, you can try at some of the schools you prefer / closer to your home.

There are expats who opt for Singapore instead of Hong Kong because they cannot get schools.
There are expats who split the family with parent one coming to HK and parent two back in the UK with the kids while they await a place in a school.
There are expats who turn down the opportunity to come to HK because of the lack of schools.

It can be that rough. With some time and patience, you can eventually get a place somewhere, but it can really be a battle.

Here are some other internationals you might consider.

http://hongkong.geoschools.com/arti...es-to-esf-schools-that-you-may-not-know-about

 

[mib7]

Thank you MommyTo3 for your time. i will look into Harbour school, Delia and KIS definitely. maybe try to get kids in one of these schools while a place in esf schools comes up. We definitely want to live on HK island so the schools in New Territories will be too far.
No, unfortunately we do not have a debenture. "The current CSS is no longer applicable (instead they now have the $500k debenture, only 150 spots though for all schools including primary and secondary)." Sorry but i do not understand what css is?

 

[mib7]

Thank you penguinsix. How long did you have to wait before a place became available at the esf school? is the competition to get in esf school tough apart from the waiting list? Yes i understand the schools are a nightmare but we do not have any other option! i will look into the other schools that you have posted.

 

[penguinsix]

Thank you penguinsix. How long did you have to wait before a place became available at the esf school? is the competition to get in esf school tough apart from the waiting list? Yes i understand the schools are a nightmare but we do not have any other option! i will look into the other schools that you have posted.

We applied last September for my younger son. We were told we are on waiting list for an interview (i.e. not a waiting list for a spot, just for an interview) back in November or so. We have not had the interview, nor will we likely get one this year at all. We would have to try again next year for a spot for P2. (I should note my son has sibling preference at another school so we'll being going there instead of ESF next year).

At many schools the assessments are not for academic ranking of the children but merely "pass/fail" tests of English and socialization skills. If you pass, you then go into a pool of eligible kids, with preference being given to debenture holders, siblings, children of staff, date of first admission, passport, etc (it varies from school to school).

It can be really rough. One other thing is that private kindergartens like Woodlands and Tutor Time sometimes have classes for 5 year olds. Basically for kids on waiting lists at schools to attend until they get their name called at another school. Might be a plan B option to consider.

 

[MommyTo3]

Thank you MommyTo3 for your time. i will look into Harbour school, Delia and KIS definitely. maybe try to get kids in one of these schools while a place in esf schools comes up. We definitely want to live on HK island so the schools in New Territories will be too far.
No, unfortunately we do not have a debenture. "The current CSS is no longer applicable (instead they now have the $500k debenture, only 150 spots though for all schools including primary and secondary)." Sorry but i do not understand what css is?

ESF used to have a Corporate Surety Scheme for those applying late from overseas, but they no longer have. The only thing they have now is a $500k debenture (limited amounts only). ESF has a very open policy so it's just a matter of being high on the wait list, not about competing with other children. You just need to get to that top spot and the majority of children without any serious learning needs and/or English language issues should be fine. Definitely look into KIS and Delia, apart from Harbour. Or Rosary Hill School (public) but English medium ...?!

 

[Mimi2]

Hi mib7,

We moved here from London 6 months ago and, like you, I was in a total panic about schools. Whilst schools are a headache, I do believe that things work out once you get here. Call all of the international schools now and get on their lists. Also consider the Woodlands group as a stop gap as several of the schools go up to P1/P2 - I was really impressed with all of their schools.

You also might want to consider Discovery Bay as an area - not on the island but nice for kids and there is a new primary school there called DMPS that might have space. There is also a private ESF school called Discovery College and an international school called DBIS.

We did the ESF year 1 application in September and got spaces in Bradbury. I also know someone who moved here with a 6 year old a year ago and got offered a spot at Bradbury within the year. Another friend also just got the AIS within a year of application for a Y2 spot.Places do come up so dont be disheartened!

Good luck with the move. Feel free to PM me if you want to ask anything.

 

[Sun Queen]

Hi mib7, I can share my experiences re. kid school in Hkg. We moved to Hkg from Germany around 3 years ago, in spring 2010. Our daughter was around 2,5 years old at that time and she could just talk very little as she was still very confused with three languages that she had to learn in our family.
We put her in PIPS (Park View Int'l Pre-School) immediately and soon she had an assesment at GSIS int'l stream but she didn't pass the assesment. Despite we had priority as a German family and we had debentures from the company reserved for our daughter but GSIS said she's not mature enough yet for her age. As a German family we could have put her right in to GSIS German stream but we prefered that she took int'l stream.

So my daughter stayed at PIPS and we're very satisfied with the school. The curriculum is excellent, the teachers are great, the school is quite big and has very complete facilities and a big outdoor playground. Our daughter has developed herself so much in that school.

Unfortunately as PIPS is only a pre-school, we thought we soon had to register her in a primary school. Beginning of last year we registered her in CDNIS eventhough we have no priority at all; no debentures, no sibling, also not citizen but we like the curriculum and the school is very beautiful. Soon she had the assesment and passed but she still had to be on waiting list, no idea for how long. Not like most parents in Hkg, we're never so worried about school at all. We heard some kids of our friends have been on waiting list for a few years and never got any space. The waiting list is getting longer and longer.

Surprisingly at the end of last year we got a call from CDNIS informing us that our daughter is accepted in reception class and could start immediately in January this year. We almost couldn't believe it! Looking back that we had to compete with almost 500 kids for 40 spaces.

When we came to CDNIS to complete all administrative stuffs they told us that our daughter gor very good results in the assesments that's why they accepted her. I heard information that most int'l schools accepted top 20 best assesment results then below that according to the rank. so it's true that the most important thing to get a space in a school is to get the best results of the assesment. We never experienced any interview for parents in this case. No wonder some parents in Hkg, especially the local Hkg parents, send their small kids to interview class, etc. to get ready for the assesment. But I don't agree with this. Kids should grow up and learn things naturally.

Anyway hope this helps and good luck for your relocation as well as in finding schools for your kids.

 

[giginium]

I have a 4 month old.

When he was 2 months old, I started all the applications. I went to the open house for gsis and they td me that, on average, they get 1000+ applications per year. The majority of those are applying for a kindy spot.

I was looking at the international stream.