Opportunity to move to HK - 4 children

[busymumof4]

We are currently considering an opportunity in HK with my husbands company. It sounds exciting but we have 4 children and I am very concerned about the school situation.
We are currently expats in Europe and all four are in an International school on the IB program. The kids are currently preschool, Kindergarten, Grade 3 and Grade 4. We have mooted the idea that my husband moves first and we follow if and when accommodation and school places are sorted. So we could be looking at school year 2014/15 entry if required. Further info is that my grade 3 child is dyslexic and it's suggested by the school here that my kindergarten child would benefit from repeating the year here; he has fine motor skills issues for which he is about to start therapy.

Realistically what are the prospects of gaining school places? I must admit from what I have read it feels like we wouldn't stand a chance. Can someone offer any positive thoughts, advice or reassurance? Is there any hope?
Thanks in advance.

 

[rani]

As you're looking for a place for the 2014-2015 school year, I would say your chances are good if you apply early and to a number of schools. IB is fairly popular in HK and a many schools have switched to it. Once you have accommodation sorted you can apply to ESF, and they have schools across Hong Kong. The application deadline for ESF is August for Kindergarten and September for Primary. Here's a list of other schools to look at

13 Alternatives to ESF Schools That You May Not Know About

Good luck!

 

[nutmegger]

If your budget allows, try Hong Kong Academy. They will be able to accommodate a dyslexic student and their admissions are rolling.

Harbour School is also a possibility but they lack a permanent site and don't have the facilities that other schools offer for the price. Worth a look though as they hope to relocate soon.

Having older kids in 3rd and 4th will help as those grades can be easier to place and will often give sibling priority to your younger two, depending on the school.

Finding placement by 2014/2015 is realistic. You may even find something before then.

 

[penguinsix]

2014-15 is realistic for some of the kids, but getting all four in the same school that year might be a stretch. You could get one or two in and then push for sibling priority, but it might take awhile.

Is there any chance of a debenture for at least one kid? The company would get one kid into a school and then the others could follow based on sibling preference. Might be workable.

 

[rani]

Is there any chance of a debenture for at least one kid? The company would get one kid into a school and then the others could follow based on sibling preference. Might be workable.

Not sure if this will work at all schools. I read somewhere that with sibling priority the 2nd and other children also require a debenture. I think a couple of corporations were abusing this and buying multiple debentures and giving 1 to each family.

 

[Editor1]

This is from our resident school expert, Anne Murphy of ITS Educational Services Ltd:

Planning now for 2014 Academic Year is a very sensible decision.

Schools welcome siblings and offer sibling priority. Hong Kong Academy for instance puts high priority on siblings and tries extremely hard to ensure all children in a family can be offered a place. However, as mentioned there is a debenture of HKD450,000 (refundable) and this only exempts one child from the payment of their annual levy which is HKD15,000. You will have to pay this for all your other children. Kellett School also gives priority to siblings and can offer learning support – but the curriculum is the English national curriculum. Island Christian Academy offers priority and learning support – but not IB program, it delivers the IPC (International Primary Curriculum).

A new school opens on Kowloon side in August 2014 (Nord Anglia Group of Schools). Applications will most probably start opening in the Autumn. Nord Anglia operates The British International School in Shanghai and Beijing.

ESF Schools would also welcome siblings but you do need to show proof of address in Hong Kong. However, clients of ours have applied in the past and not shown proof of address for a few months and their children were still offered interviews but only places once proof was shown. They offer learning support at some of their schools: Quarry Bay, Glenealy and Beacon Hill.

If you start now and file some applications then you’ll feel more relaxed about it and not be in a panic. It’s good to apply to at least 5-6 schools.

 

[busymumof4]

Thank you for all your replies. Great information, and very reassuring to hear that there is hope for finding school places.

 

[ims]

Besides the above list, for the sake of completeness, you should also consider the following:

French International School (FIS)
German Swiss International School (GSIS)
The International Montessori School (IMS)
Korean International School (KIS)

Good luck!

 

[Roger]

Contact the EDB for information. Local primary schools are free and the education level is good. Pentecostal Gin Mao Sheng Primary School in Fanling is very good with foreign kids.

 

[Roger]

Your dyslexic child might be dyslexic in alphabetic languages, but probably won't be in Chinese. Choose a local kindergarten for the younger children so that they learn sufficient Cantonese in order to be able to start Primary school more easily