Woodland Sai Kung vs. Sai Kung International Pre School

[mpalser]

Hi,
Does anyone have any experience/thoughts on the above preschools? We are moving to Hong Kong in July and plan to live in the Sai Kung area. We have been offered a place for our little guy at the new Woodland Sai Kung Pre School, but have also had SKIP recommended to us. Any thoughts?

[carang]

woodlands is a chain of international kindies/preschools around hk. they all seem to have very good reputations.

as it's only kindergarten, either would be ok.

something to think about though...
i have 3 & 5 yr old kids. we've decided to send them to a local kindie in sai kung (sai kung lok yuk kindergarten). the medium of instruction is cantonese, but the teachers all speak english. they are very caring towards the kids as well. (my son was sick for most of march and didn't go to school at all... the teacher called every week to make sure he was ok and to let us know what they were doing at school!)
it's a church affiliated school, so there is a little religious component, but it is NOT overwhelming.

they have quite a few expat kids as well as mixed kids, so they are used to dealing with expats and notices are sent home in english, too!

there is a small outdoor space that the kids play in every day as well.

my son LOVES going to school. my daughter will be starting there in september.

i HIGHLY recommend it! once you have your HKID, you can apply to the gov't for the pre-primary education voucher. once you have that the fees for hte school are nominal. half-day, this year, is $60/month!!!! yes, $60! NOT $600 or $6000!!!!

full-day, including lunch (drop-off between 8-8:45, pick-up between 4-5:30) is $999/month.

[carang]

forgot to say, bloominginhk's daughter also goes to this school and is also happy with it...they are american. my kids are mixed: canadian(my half) & local chinese.

[sunrays]

SKIP is only 3 times a week whereas woodlands is every day. Places at SKIP are very limited so it is hard to get in and priority is given to those who attended the pre-kindergarten sessions. Think you will find woodlands is also more expensive.

[MaiYe]

Hi Carang,

which primary/secondary school are you planning to send your 2 little ones to in a few yrs time?

woodlands is a chain of international kindies/preschools around hk. they all seem to have very good reputations.

as it's only kindergarten, either would be ok.

something to think about though...
i have 3 & 5 yr old kids. we've decided to send them to a local kindie in sai kung (sai kung lok yuk kindergarten). the medium of instruction is cantonese, but the teachers all speak english. they are very caring towards the kids as well. (my son was sick for most of march and didn't go to school at all... the teacher called every week to make sure he was ok and to let us know what they were doing at school!)
it's a church affiliated school, so there is a little religious component, but it is NOT overwhelming.

they have quite a few expat kids as well as mixed kids, so they are used to dealing with expats and notices are sent home in english, too!

there is a small outdoor space that the kids play in every day as well.

my son LOVES going to school. my daughter will be starting there in september.

i HIGHLY recommend it! once you have your HKID, you can apply to the gov't for the pre-primary education voucher. once you have that the fees for hte school are nominal. half-day, this year, is $60/month!!!! yes, $60! NOT $600 or $6000!!!!

full-day, including lunch (drop-off between 8-8:45, pick-up between 4-5:30) is $999/month.

[carang]

maiye,
we have decided that if we want our kids to be truly bilingual, then they will have to attend local primary (at least for a few years). as such, we will send them to Lei Siu Yum primary school in sai kung (it's near the swimming pool). from what we've heard, 1/3 of their P1 class is western or mixed, too!

[Aava.Wong]

they have quite a few expat kids as well as mixed kids, so they are used to dealing with expats and notices are sent home in english, too!

there is a small outdoor space that the kids play in every day as well.

my son LOVES going to school. my daughter will be starting there in september.

i HIGHLY recommend it! once you have your HKID, you can apply to the gov't for the pre-primary education voucher. once you have that the fees for hte school are nominal. half-day, this year, is $60/month!!!! yes, $60! NOT $600 or $6000!!!!

full-day, including lunch (drop-off between 8-8:45, pick-up between 4-5:30) is $999/month.

any school like this on hk island? :missingto

[carang]

you just have to find a school that is eligible for the gov't subsidy. there are a couple of things the school must do to meet the criteria:
1) not charge more than $XXXXX/year in fees
2) follow the local curriculum
and...(can't remember the last one)

ANYONE with a valid HKID card (you DO NOT need to be PR here) can apply for the "pre-primary education voucher". it's very simple to fill out and post back. we got our daughter's back within 2 weeks (and easter holidays were in there, too!)

then you approach the various kindergartens you are interested in and ask if they participate in the scheme.

every kindergarten that does, will have different charges, depending on what their fees are. it just works out that once my son's school's fees are calculated and the gov't subsidy considered, there is not much left over, so the fees are REALLY low.

my son's kindergarten is church affiliated, which may explain the lower fees. yes, they want to make money, but their main concern is educating the children. i find that other kindergartens are in it more for the money.

personally, i think $5100/month for a 1/2 day at ESF is completely impossible for us finacially. that would mean next year between my son going to primary (if he attended ESF0 and my daughter's kindergarten, we'd be paying over $10K/month. that is not only unrealistic but completely impossible.

we are VERY happy with our decision as we are trying to save pennies to hopefully, eventually return to canada. one of the other reasons i want my kids fluent in cantonese before we go.