will local kindy affect chance of int'l primary
- 07-03-2007, 09:48 AM #1Registered User
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will local kindy affect chance of int'l primary
My husband and I are still debating whether to send our son to local or int'l school.
I feel he needs to know some Cantonese but since this is our third language we are not fluent enough to teach him confidently. We are thinking of putting him into a local kindergarten so he can get some good grounding in it, but then transfer to ESF/Int'l primary.
Will his place in ESF/Int'l be jeopardised if we place him in a local kindergarten? (since it will prove he can integrate into the local system despite English being our first language and not being able to read/write chinese).
Any comments would be appreciated.
- 07-03-2007, 12:54 PM #2
no it won't. they judge english skills for int'l primary schools. but have you considered the fact that unless your child has consistant schooling in cantonese that most of what he has learned will be forgotten very quickly once he transfers to int'l school?
- 07-03-2007, 01:16 PM #3Registered User
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As far as I understand it, if your child shows signs that he/she is able to cope in the local school system, ESF would not prioritise your child especially is one of you is Chinese speaking... which Chinese language, I'm unsure of. This is because ESF places priority on kids who are from English speaking households who do not stand a fair chance in the local system.
Why the need for Cantonese? If you are planning to stay in HK, then there would be a need. But if neither of you are from here and don't plan to make HK your permanent home, isn't it just better to focus on developing the two languages that you use at home? I am presuming that they are both non-Chinese languages.
- 07-03-2007, 11:04 PM #4Registered User
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Thanks for your comments.
Actually, my husband and I are both chinese but born/raised/educated/worked in the UK. English is our first language, followed by Hakka (a dying dialect of little use!) and we picked up Cantonese during our time in HK.
Would we automatically be given lower priority than "true" expats?
My fear is that our son might not get into any ESF/Int'l schools and there is no way that we want him to suffer through the local system.
- 07-04-2007, 10:15 AM #5
BBC Mom,
Kiwi mom had a similar experience
http://www.geobaby.com/forum/thread101336.htmlFounded GeoBaby in 2002
- 07-04-2007, 10:18 AM #6Registered User
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It's hard to say as both of you are BBC. In our case, I think it's pretty clear cut. My hubby is German and I'm Australian. We get priority at the GSIS, AIS and even ESF as we've been told given our circumstance... both non-natives of HK and our child stands no chance of surviving the local system as English and German are his lingua-franca.
I think the worry would be ESF but I really doubt that you'd have problems getting into the other international schools especially those originally established for "returnees".
- 07-05-2007, 09:16 AM #7Registered User
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sending your child to local kindy may bring you suffering, honestly. they have quite a few chinese writing homework & you oughta doubt if you can help him out.
sending him to local kindy will NOT lower his chance of getting accepted in the int'l system, as other posters have mentioned. it's the other way around. sending your child to int'l kindy may jeopardise a child's chance at local primary.
- 01-03-2008, 05:08 PM #8Registered User
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Hey, so what decision did you take in the end?
I too am BBC and now in a similar situation with my daughter wh is 10months old and I'm trying to plan her path for study.
Drop me a note if you see this.
Cheers,
M
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