Any Primary 1 place anywhere?

[bighead_cat]

I know we are very late for primary 1 application. We only found out that we are going to be relocated to HK a couple of month ago. I started to look for a school place for my 5 years old. I can't find any. Apparantly people started to apply in Sept 2009. Does anybody have similar experience? Do you know of any international school that still have P1 place for this Aug/Sept? My son doesn't speak a word of Chinese ... otherwise I would try local schools.

I've heard the international school places are very limited in HK, but I didn't know it was so bad. Most schools came back to me saying that they have 80 - 200 on their waiting lists. It's almost not worth putting his name down. Does this wiating list number mean anything. Or do people put their children name down many schools? Any advice?

Thanks in advance!

[MommyTo3]

Always put your name down if you like the school. It really depends on where you live. And during the summer a lot of people leave, people always tend to keep spaces for the last minute, since nobody never seems to know here! My daughter is 5, was born in 2004, so is already in Year 1 in ESF, and will be going to Year 2 in August (assume your child is born in 2005, if not you should start looking at ESF Year 2, not that that makes it a lot easier, but could be).

Do you know where you will be living. Do you have any nationality that could give you a priority in certain schools (e.g. being German, French, etc. can give you a priority in certain streams of certain schools). Also Woodlands has some P1 and P2 classes at certain location (e.g. Aberdeen) which may be easier to get into.

[carang]

esf differs from many intn'l schools with starting age. example: my son, born feb 2005, would start esf P1 in sept 2010. while many int'l schools he wouldn't start P1 until sept 2011 (same with the local system). (if i remember correctly... in the end we decided to go for a local primary, at least to start with...)

[Frenchy]

You can try a Woodland school, they do primary and it can be a solution before to find something more specific. It's international and they'll make their best to get you a place.

[0ze_Kid]

You could also look at K3 programs at kindy's such as Sunshine House, DMK (in Discovery Bay) and so on. Many run them as a stop gab for kids that should be in Primary 1 but can not get into school.

We have done this while waiting for a Primary 1 place. It means we have another year (which is now running out!) to find a school.

Also call the education department. They have some kind of system that tells them if a school has places (yes, international schools too), and can make suggestions on the schools to approach. Phone, 2832 7700.

[bighead_cat]

We originally planned to live in Discovery Bay, but the two schools are extremely full. There is no chance to get in.
Now we are looking at Clear Water Bay area. But ultimately we have to see where we can find a school place first.

My son was born in Feb 2005. He is due to start P1 in UK. I can see that different schools have different system in HK. I don't mind whether it's P1 or K3.

I contacted Woodland in Sai Kung. They might open a P1 equivalent class in Aug/Sept depending on the demand.
But I am still worried about the next year ... is it easier to get in P2 next year?

it's good to hear that lots of people leave in summer. We won't be in HK until June, hope it's not too late.

[carang]

if you are looking for a school in sai kung, i can HIGHLY recommend SAI KUNG LOK YUK KINDERGARTEN. it is a local school, the medium of instruction is cantonese, BUT there are LOTS of expat kids that go there. my son is a mixed kid, in his class there are at least 4-5 western kids, 3-4 mixed kids and the rest are chinese. they have K3, too!

once you have hkid cards, you can apply for the gov't voucher for pre-primary education. if you do this, then a 1/2 day is only about $60/month!!! YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT!

we put our son into full day (he can go between 8-8:45 adn we pick him up between 4-5:30), including lunch we pay $999/month.

it's a great school and all of the kids that i know that go there LOVE it!

[bighead_cat]

Thanks for your reply 0ze_kid! I think you also replied my other post about schools in discovery bay. Hope your daughter will find a school place soon.

We got a reply from Discovery College (the less popular one among the two), they have over 150 children born in 2005 on their waiting list!

We gave up on Discovery Bay :(