ISF Academy

[Lambo]

Hi ISF parents, we are seriously looking into ISF Academy for our children. We are moving back to HK from China, where our children have been attending an IB international school for the past 4 years. They grew up speaking Mandarin and English and are "native" in both. My husband and I both love the IB philosophy and program and Chinese language is something that we feel important for the future of our children.

Given our requirement, ISFA sounds like the ideal school for us. Our children will be applying for G2 and G3 respectively. We would love to hear from current ISFA parents about your views about the Academy. Thanks!

 

[Seb's Dad]

hi lambo
i am not a isf parent, but a few of our friends are.

my question for you is: do you and or your husband speak mandarin? all my friends who have kids at the school have at least one mandarin speaking parent who is able to put in the homework time with the child.

we have "english only" speaking friends whose children were accepted for isf and then ultimately chose canadian international, because they felt the intensity of the mandarin program would be too much for their kids, even if they had an after school tutor for them.

as i said previously, i am not an isf parent, but i do know that it has a great reputation, super facililities and many satisfied pupils/parents. i am sure they will start responding soon.

 

[Lambo]

Hi Dimsum Mum, thanks for your quick reply. Yes, both my husband and I speak Mandarin and Cantonese. At home, we speak primarily Mandarin. Our kids are fluent in both Mandarin and English, but we are a bit worried about thier losing their Mandarin after we return to HK.

Canadian Int'l School is our other top choice. Do you have children at that school? What do you think of the school and its Chinese program? Thanks!

 

[Seb's Dad]

hi again
although we are both canadian, our kids are at esf.
many of our friends have children at canadian international. the campus is absolutely fantastic and like isf, the teaching staff is very highly regarded.
i am not the best person to ask, but from what i have heard, the mandarin program at isf is superior, although both are very good.
sorry i am not more help!

 

[cha-cha]

ISF is still a candidate school for IB, it's not a full IB school yet.

we have been on their school tour and attended their fundraising arts festival. we are really impressed with the kids and the overall attitude of the teachers/ kids/ principal and parents that we met. we will definitely apply for our daughter when she reaches their school age.

 

[Lambo]

Thanks dim sum mum and cha-cha, it was great to hear both of your feedback, I appreciate your help.

 

[MaiYe]

ISF vs Victoria SHJ Academy

any comment between these 2 schools? ISF is an IB candidate school and Victoria has already been an IB qualified school and both claimed their Putonghua & English skills are great, thanks!

 

[gentlemanhk]

any comment between these 2 schools? ISF is an IB candidate school and Victoria has already been an IB qualified school and both claimed their Putonghua & English skills are great, thanks!

My understanding is that ISF is no longer pursuing IB for PYP (not sure of the reasons ) but is still a candidate for the MYP. I am more convinced about Victory since they have already been IB certified and is one of the only two through-train IB schools in HK (the other one is Renaissance College at Ma On Shan). In terms of bilingual teaching, Victoria is having dual class masters for one class, i.e. one native English teacher plus one native Mandarin teacher. The facilities of the new Victoria?s campus are impressive despite its site is smaller than ISF?s. Victoria has an indoor swimming pool but there is no swimming pool at ISF (heard that they are looking to build one). Other than these, ISF may have some strengths over Victoria which details I am not aware of or have not paid attention to since the general comments about ISF are pretty positive.

If you are looking to an ?international school?, the key weakness of Victoria in my opinion is that, despite its international perspective, it has almost 100% of its students being local. It is mainly due to the large population of its kindergarten graduates (mostly local), around 680 so it is not accepting outsiders. Now even its kindergarten students will also need to go through the selection process.

Both my girls are studying at Victoria kindergarten and I am quite happy with their teaching methods. So I am quite confident about Victoria Primary.

 

[emom]

As far as I am aware, ISF has never wanted to be accredited for PYP due to its Mandarin immersion program.
A major difference between ISF and Victoria would be the class size and language program. ISF is around 15 per class and Victoria over 20+. ISF is 70%-50% mandarin immersion in the primary school whereas Victoria is bilingual but not immersion.

 

[Lambo]

I have the same understanding of the ISF curriculum as emom. ISF designed their own immersion program based on the IB approaches. I think Victoria would be similar to Canadian Int. School as they both follow the IBPYP program except that one being an international school and the other one being an independent school.