any technics for ESF interview?

C

corawong

New member
I got an interview letter by ESF but it marks "parent presentation" during coming interview, who know how it is going on? For children, ESF requires a group interview, who know how it is as well? Thanks.
 
I'm not sure I understand your question. Is your ESF interview letter for ESF Kindergarten or is it for ESF Primary. From what I've heard, the "interview" for ESF kindergarten is merely pro-forma and is mainly to establish that your child is a native Eng speaker and does not have any learning disabilities that the school may be unable to cope with. On the other hand, an ESF Primary 1 interview will involve more "interviewing" (ie. questions directed at the child etc.)

While both interviews are done in a group format, parents are allowed to accompany the child for the kindergarten interview but for the P-1, I believe the children have to go at it alone.

Hope this helps.
 
if its for ESF kinder, then kids and parents will go into a classroom where the teachers will assess the children's english capabilities and observe them in a classroom environment. Altho no mandatory to go alone, there is a part where the parents are invited to tour the school and the kids have to stay in the classroom - in some cases both parents went out and the kid is alone, in some cases one parent remains with the child. Because they stress that ESF teaches in English, I note that kids who don't speak English well may not be able to get in. But rest assured its all very informal and relaxed.
 
Even the Primary 1 interview is also just to establish that the child has sufficient English to cope with an ESF school and no special needs that the school cannot handle, so definitely not going to be a problem if you are a native English speaker. At the parents' info session that I went to regarding the Primary 1 interviews, the school said not to coach your child, not to bribe your child (eg if you do well, I'll buy you XXX) and not to dress them up in a suit.
 
Portia said:
Even the Primary 1 interview is also just to establish that the child has sufficient English to cope with an ESF school and no special needs that the school cannot handle, so definitely not going to be a problem if you are a native English speaker. At the parents' info session that I went to regarding the Primary 1 interviews, the school said not to coach your child, not to bribe your child (eg if you do well, I'll buy you XXX) and not to dress them up in a suit.
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You went to Glenealy? I had never heard of those information evenings. My daughter's school doesn't do them, but my friend told me about hers this week!

ESF is fairly informal (checking level of English and social skills) however, with the huge waiting lists at these moments, they can be slightly more picky. But on the other hand, ESF does cater for a wide range of individual and special needs and the mix is usually very good. They're not looking specifically for children who can already read and write, etc.
 
How do they establish in kindergarten interview that the child has good English? Some children aren't incredibly chatty, even when asked a question they are shy and reluctant to answer.
 
Yes, the parent's info session for Glenealy was on Tues night. The whole process is very transparent and they even showed a slide show of what would happen in a typical interview.

They told us they are basically looking at receptive and expressive English skills and readiness to start Primary 1. But even those who are not ready to start are usually reconsidered in the next year, so it's not usually an outright rejection because they recognise that some children (they said especially boys, first-born and born in Nov/Dec) need more time to mature. They also explained the lengths they will go to to get a language sample (usually a visit to the kindie to see the child in his/her usual setting) because some children won't say a single word at the interview.
 
Geomum- I think it would actual come down to just understanding what is said rather than speaking it if the child is not very verbal at that stage. We had an interview just before Christmas for ESF kindy as we are away for the original interview date. The interview was just the teacher aid playing and interacting with my daughter and making sure she could comprehend what she was being asked to do. ie can you please give me a animal etc.
 
I agree that for ESF kindies, it's not always easy to establish their expressive English abilities but even if the child is shy, their level of English comprehension should be apparent after a certain amount of observation time. Given that they will be in the room for some 45 minutes, I don't think it will be a problem for the teachers to assess.

Actually we have an interview for ESF kindie next week and my son is quite shy (and probably not as verbally advanced as some of his playmates, esp the girls) but given that I will be with him in the play session, I expect this should help draw him out a bit more.

Geomum: from your other post, I gather you also applied for ESF kindie. Did you get an interview slot yet? If you like, I can let you know how we got on after our interview next week.
 
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Thanks everyone, especially peainpod for your offer. My daughter didn't get a call unfortunately, keeping fingers crossed that they have a second round of interviews and she is invited. I would definitely like to know how the interview goes for your children so if you can share your experiences it would be great.
 
Thanks for the information. My chlid will attend an interview next week, is it just simple to test children's understanding? any special testing like drawing, playing blocks, etc.... For the parents part, I am not sure the teacher will ask us some questions formally? Anythings else I need to prepare for the interview, please advise, thank you.
 
Hi Guys,

I know I am picking up on an old thread but this was such a relevant one...

My child got an interview call from ESF Hillside for Kindergarten. She will be attending in Jan'14. My main concern is that she still has a separation anxiety and cries terribly whenever she is in a new environment. The last time we took her for an interview to another school here, she cried a lot (as soon as she entered the premises) and couldn't join the other playmates slotted in the same group as hers. The teacher there was very kind and said she would just assess her individually and they did finally send a confirmation for her to join.

Since I've heard so much about the long waiting lists for ESF and given this anxiety my child currently has, are the chances really low that she will get selected? Worth mentioning here is also the fact that she otherwise has an excellent English for her age; talks long sentences, makes up stories of her own and is overall a very happy child.... but of course, all this will be invisible if her fear of new places and crowds takes over.

I hope, having interviewed hundreds of thousands of toddlers over the years, the team there will be understanding of the fact that some toddlers do have this temporary phase of anxiety which will subside once she starts preschool (she just turned 2 and doesn't go to a playgroup yet) and I hope they will not count this against her.

Any thoughts / insights / tips / personal experience will really really be helpful.
 
victoryu19 said:
We applied for ESF Abacus but still haven't heard from them. It looks like an interview won't be granted for our kid.
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I know that ESF Hillside had been sending out letters till recently. You might want to call Abacus and check with them as well. You may even ask them re your particular case by giving them the application reference no. I haven't tried it myself but would definitely have if I were in your position.

All the best!
 
rapid_jap said:
Hi Guys,

I know I am picking up on an old thread but this was such a relevant one...

My child got an interview call from ESF Hillside for Kindergarten. She will be attending in Jan'14. My main concern is that she still has a separation anxiety and cries terribly whenever she is in a new environment. The last time we took her for an interview to another school here, she cried a lot (as soon as she entered the premises) and couldn't join the other playmates slotted in the same group as hers. The teacher there was very kind and said she would just assess her individually and they did finally send a confirmation for her to join.

Since I've heard so much about the long waiting lists for ESF and given this anxiety my child currently has, are the chances really low that she will get selected? Worth mentioning here is also the fact that she otherwise has an excellent English for her age; talks long sentences, makes up stories of her own and is overall a very happy child.... but of course, all this will be invisible if her fear of new places and crowds takes over.

I hope, having interviewed hundreds of thousands of toddlers over the years, the team there will be understanding of the fact that some toddlers do have this temporary phase of anxiety which will subside once she starts preschool (she just turned 2 and doesn't go to a playgroup yet) and I hope they will not count this against her.

Any thoughts / insights / tips / personal experience will really really be helpful.
Click to expand...

My child is similar. He was on the younger end of the age scale when the ESF kindy (we applied to Abacus) interview happened and he clung to me. The good thing about the ESF 'interview' is that the parents can be with the kids and it's like a playroom set-up with lots to amuse them. There's also loads of time for the kids to get warmed up and forget that they are in a strange place. I really appreciated that it was thoughtfully done keeping in mind that the kids are so young.

Nevertheless, my son froze up every time the teachers came up to speak to him and they do come up. I guess that's why he was waitlisted...but from what we understood there was a very good chance he would get in, as he was high up on the waitlist. We dropped out of the list eventually because he got into another kindy closer to home.

But anyway, my experience was that the ESF process is friendly to shy kids, however, a child that doesn't speak up probably fares less well in their assessment. I think your child probably has a fairer chance in ESF than in other places because they do seem to understand that kids are not automatons, the problem is that there are so many applicants so definitely hedge your bets.
 
Great... thanks for sharing your xeprience there, charade.

Yes, as you said, I am definitely playing it safe and enrolling her into other places as well. I have also enrolled her for the Busy Bees language playgroup session at Hillside... just to get her used to the place before the interview.

The issue is, she not only freezes but cries terribly and tries her best that I get her out of that 'strange / new' place :)))

Let's see what happens... fingers crossed!
 
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