DBIS & ESF kindy tung chung

[alibali]

Hi, I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping someone can help with:

1) At the Discovery Bay Int'l School, are the nursery and reception classes half day or full day classes?

2) Does anyone know how long the bus ride is between Discovery Bay and the ESF kindergarten in Tsing Yi?

Thanks!

[0ze_Kid]

I had the same problem and ended up at DMK - best choice we made.

The cut off changed with DBIS and they were too stubborn to accept our child even though she was old enough (legally) to start, and has a high IQ for her age and she is a tall child. So the couple of months younger than she would have been for the new cut off would not have been noticed by others.

Anyhoo - I know you haven't asked about recommendations (loved ESF by the way and they would have been our first choice but for the lack of transport at the time).

So to answer your question. Unless DBIS has changed in the past 18 months - nursery is about 3 hours a day and reception (that is for the 4 year olds isn't is?) was changing over to a full day.

Bus ride is about 45 minutes to ESF in Tsing Yi.

Please update me if I am wrong as this info is 18 months old when I was trying to get DD into school.

[jools]

The children in the Nursery at DBIS start at 8.55 and finish at 12.00pm. The children in Reception have just worked up to 'full time', they start at 8.55 and finish at 2.30pm. We have two children at DBIS now and they are having a fantastic time.

DBIS are now running the UK system and academic years run from September to September, not the January to January as in alot of Hong Kong schools. This worked in our favour as it meant that our son was placed in the class behind the one he would have been in the Hong Kong system, so he is now in exactly the right class for any return we might make to the UK. It also means he is one of the oldest in the class (instead of one of the youngest) and as a teacher myself I know what an advantage that can be. He is a very bright, articulate boy and just loves his experience at DBIS as does our clever little girl.

[carang]

i didn't know any schools, except the australian one, that run jan-jan academic year...i do know that most of them have age cut-offs in january though...

[alibali]

Jools,
I think you've touched on an issue that my husband and I are having with the schools here. They start the kids at such a young age, that I think my daughter would be too far ahead of the kids back in her home country- yet to be decided, but would be US, UK or Netherlands. I'd like for her to go to ESF, but they are asking her to start Kindergarten (half days) next September when she will only be 2 yrs, 8 mths old. I think the DBIS system is the best age match to overseas schools. It seems that ESF and the Lantau International School will have my daughter starting about 1.5-2 yrs earlier than her counterparts overseas. I'm trying to get my head around all the different systems here and overseas so I can compare like for like. Thanks for your answers.

[jools]

Alibali,
We had the same problem, I just didn't feel right sending him to school at an age that I felt was too early, that's why we jumped at DBIS when they changed to the UK system.
Carang,
When I said January to January, what I meant was the age cut off, rather than academic year. I found it so confusing when we arrived and I'm a primary school teacher. So it was great to find a school that ran a system with regard to ages that my poor little brain could understand.

[carang]

that's what i thought...

although, even where i'm from in canada usually has the cut off date for ages as Dec 31... but there is a little leeway. i have two sets of twin cousins. one set was born jan 3 and the other set jan 4 (about 6 years apart though)... they were given the choice of going to school earlier or waiting a year. i believe one set went earlier, the other went later.

[Pekkie]

Hi, just to share since my little girl is in ESF Tsing Yi Kindergarten.

The bus ride takes about 30-45mins depending on which part of DB you stay. The bus basically fetches kids from the Marina part of DB then goes all the way down to Chianti, so if you stay in Chianti, the bus rides is about 30 mins.

My girl is also about 2 yrs 9 mth when she started kindie this month. I have to say the school really helps the kids feel settled before they are left alone with their teachers. Furthermore, the class has 3 teachers to about 22 students, a good teacher:student ratio. The teaching syllabus revolves around play, so going to kindergarten is really isn't like going to school. The kids learn through play so the environment really is like a big play area where they teach creativity, learn through songs and various activities.

OK, don't want to sound too much of selling this school but hope the info helps.