ESF-Sheung Wang Kindergarten versus Victoria Kindergarten

M

MamaShirley

Registered User
Hello, everyone!
My family just moved to Hk a yr ago, and my baby girl who just turned to 2-yr old just got accepted by both Victoria Kindergarten-Lower Kornhill & ESF-Sheung Wang for the K1 class next year. Now I don't know which one to choose! We live in the Sai Wan Ho area, so Victoria is definitely a lot closer. But in terms of teaching quality and facility, which one is better? Is it true that Victoria is more local and ESF is more international? But what's actually the difference in terms of teaching style? We all speak English at home, and I want my girl to build a good fondation in Chinese/Putonghua. Any advice is welcome, I am so very torn between the 2 schools!!! Txs all for your time!
 
Wow, your daughter is very smart! I have been considering these two schools too. Yes, Victoria is very local, and ESF is less local. Do you think it is possible to attend both or try both, e.g. AM for one school, PM for the other, or will that be too intense? I heard some moms try out several schools simultaneously, and decide after.
 
I'm not sure trying both schools at same time before dropping one is a solution...

ESF is taught in English only with a small amount of Putonghua (not sure how much at K1).

Depending on what stream your daughter was accepted, Victoria teaches in English & Putonghua and (if trilingual stream) in Cantonese too, which I guess makes it more 'local'.

Not sure at K1 if there is a huge difference in teaching 'style' but language exposure might be your biggest consideration (and difference) at this point between the schools (and then the commute time!!).
 
Wow, finally some feedback, tx you guys! No, I don't think it's a good idea either to try out both schools. I think it's too much to let a 3-yr old to go to school both AM&PM! I guess my main concern is the prospects of primary schools once my baby "graduates" from the kindergarten. I know kids from ESF KG can go on good (and mainly) ESF primaries, but what about kids from Victoria, do they usually get accepted at good primaries too? Also, does anyone know if there is any teaching philosophy difference between the 2 KGs? In terms of language, we all speak English at home, so I really want my baby to have a good foundation in Chinese. Also how about the quality of children admitted to ESF and Victoria, which KG has a better student pool? Tx ya all!
 
I am pretty sure that the students at Victoria Kornhill will be pretty local, and they usually end up going to local primaries, which from the chart provided, do not always seem to be the “top” local primaries, and though overall quite good.

How was the interview at Victoria? It was the interview for pre-nursery right? Did your child attend playgroups at Victoria beforehand?
 
noc said:
I am pretty sure that the students at Victoria Kornhill will be pretty local, and they usually end up going to local primaries, which from the chart provided, do not always seem to be the ?top? local primaries, and though overall quite good.

So what are the high-ranking primaries here in HK, especially on the HK Island-side? Is there a book/website that I can reference to see a list?

How was the interview at Victoria? It was the interview for pre-nursery right? Did your child attend playgroups at Victoria beforehand?
Click to expand...

My girl attended Baby Buddies Tin Hau for 6 mth, and it was a great experience for her. I also liked it very much. No, she went to the interview for the K1 class next year. The interview at Vic was very good and fair I have to say. Because it's not one-on-one, come to think of it, how do you expect a 2-yr old to behave "normally" in a strange room in front of strange people? So on the interview day, they grouped every 8 kids with one adult accompanying each going into a classroom. Then there were 4 teachers, 2 were leading the activities, and 2 were observing. The whole thing lasted about 30 min. I think this is a good way of assessing the kids. So on this regard, I wonder if Victoria has a better student pool than ESL, which does admission solely based on the application, which can't tell you much...
 
My daughter goes to ESF Sheung Wan and is very happy. There are 23 or so children in her class, with one teacher and two teacher aides. They teach in english, but also have a Potunghua teacher and the kids learn the language through songs, cultural events and stories once a week. There are lots of different play activities, and the teachers are very attentive. There are a lot of ESL kids in my daughters class, however they all speak english and only english in the school. Those who struggle with their english are directed to extra curriculum courses as I believe spoken english and comprehension are major requirements for ESF Primary schools. We are an expat family, so our daughter is already strong in english.

In so far as the school bus goes, our daughter travels on a school bus to the school every day about 45 minutes each way. She loves traveling on the bus and gets very excited when it heads down our road towards us. Each child has their own seatbelt (purchased through the school) that the bus mother ensures is fastened. The bus mother is always the same lady on our route, and knows all the kids by name. She walks them into the school, as well as out of the school onto the bus. They will not open the bus door to strangers so there is no risk of my daughter being given to a stranger or walking off alone. If the bus hits bad traffic and is going to run significantly late, I get a phone call to put me at ease. I have been nothing but impressed with the service of the bus company. I will admit I was very apprehensive about letting my 'little girl' on a bus in Hong Kong traffic with someone else taking responsibility for her, but the bus company have been fantastic, and my daughter just loves the independence.

I don't know much about Victoria so I can't really compare it for you, but I think both schools would have their merits, and ultimately you need to decide which school will enrich your child the most.

Good luck with your decision.
 
Hi MamaShirley

Thanks for your PM.
I think MOST of us are obsessive about our child's education.
It's an individual decision based on the needs of each family or the outcome each parent desires.
To address your queries in the PM... sorry I can't send a message from my inbox right now so am writing it on the main forum thread.

(1) The funding a school receives from fees or otherwise is not indicative how well qualified the teachers in that school are. It's not about what the school can afford. I believe that the greater accountability a school has, the greater the chance of encountering better teachers. ESF is partially government funded hence, has greater accountability.

(2) English used at home is different from English used in school despite being native speakers. E.g. I need him to know the difference between an isosceles triangle and an equilateral triangle. I would never sit around at home talking about Maths. We have no intention of making HK our permanent home as such Putonghua/Cantonese is not an essential. Neither one of us is Chinese so it's of no great concern. Beneficial - yes, Primary importance - No. We don't believe in picking up English from watching TV - a lot of programmes are Americanised. I need my child to speak, read and write British/Australian English - not North American English.

(3) IB programme - Prefer IB programme to be taught in an English as a first language setting rather than ESL setting. ESL kids are ESF are encouraged to bridge their gaps by attending extra-curricular English classes. And, the issue of American English versus British English comes up. Given the great pool of teachers/resources, I have more faith in ESF than any other institution - strength in numbers I say when setting something new up.

(4) Pool of students - at 2.5 years old, what can you actually learn from an 'interview' apart from which child has been coached by a parent perhaps? We are very happy with ESF's criteria - Category 1 - Native English speakers (essentially) or other non-English speaking families (Cantonese excluded) and Category 2 - Cantonese speaking children who may or may not speak good English. We are very much a learning through play kinda folks - we aren't fussed if there's something he cannot do. I don't want him to be in a competitive environment at this age.

(5) Travel - Despite living only 20 minutes away from Tsing Yi, my child has to travel 40 minutes too because of the stop and go nature of the school bus system.

(6) Good local primaries in HK - Just the top of my head (mostly DSS)
- Marymount
- La Salle
- DBS
- DGS
- St Paul's
- Ying Wa
- St. Marg's Co-ed

:gl: with your final decision!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top