Furious on my son's 1st Local KG Interview

Woodland do not conduct interviews to get in preschool, and is not unpopular at all, considering the numbers of schools there are around the island, and that it's also a gate to enter ESF.
If schools were accepting all kids on a "first come" basis, it would just point out the fact there are not enough schools in HK...

You'll get my signature !
 
don't be dosheartened , there are plenty of schools out there who are not like that. however, I do come to terms with the fact that there are local kindies out there who do not have the resources to cope with children who do not speak Cantonese,and when I look at the teacher student ratio I can understand why. Seriously, my experience with local kindies is that they soemtimes have a pretty clear and defined picture of what type of student they want, and it can be pretty narrow. Thats one of the problems with local education, because they are in a way, less accepting of differences.

my son speaks pre-dominantly English and we have some similar experiences with some truly local kindies, so maybe that one is just not the one for you.
 
I dont think your petition will work as most local mothers already get used to the interview system and accept it as part of the education system. Dont be disheartened.... other local kinddies are not that bad, just avoid the chain ones and too commercial ones. I am sure you can find one suitable for your child.
 
There's practically no governance of Kindys. If we all chipped in, we could open one up!

I know many kindys whos 'bosses' are simply businessmen/women!!
 
listen ladies... i have wanted to set up a kindergarten for years... i have the experience and the know how... i just don't have the $$$... but don't be fooled, it takes MILLIONS to be able to do it!
 
really ? well - 15 of us could put in 100k, would that work ? i'm very keen on this idea and have PM'd Babington ....keep me in the loop ! i'd start a new forum if i could figure out how to do it !!
 
thanks, flo... that would be great, but it would take MILLIONS to get it going. no jokes! just for my small playgroup centre, i've probably invested over $100,000 on TOYS, another $50-60,000 on books, $15,000 on furnishings/electronics etc. that doesn't even begin to look at rent/deposits etc.

i bought all of the "interior" paint and my hubby and i painted the whole place and added stickers (that i drew and cut out) to "finish" it off...i think it looks pretty good!

Home

or.... do you mean each of 15 of you put in $100k? that would give $1.5M... i could work with that and probably get a fairly nice place going! it would take a while, though, to go through the EDB in order to get all of the necessary approvals etc.
 
Checked out your website, I think it looks pretty good too.

I'd be in, as I think there's money to be made if it's done right but 15 equal partners trying to agree...eek!
 
Personally, I think you are better off working small and being more boutique in Hong Kong. There are far too many overheads otherwise and high staff turnover can really break a centre too. If you wanted the centre to offer English as the main medium then you would really need some highly qualified and experienced English teachers in there from word go and they don't come cheap especially if they are EDB qualified. I know from experience that parents prefer qualified to non-qualified teachers. Boutique offers a more personal experience.
 
i don't want to be boutique. i want to make a decent english/western-style education available to most (personally, i cannot fathom paying the ESF kindergarten fees!)

i have contacts in the college of education at the university that i attended (a few professors that i know), so i would most likely be able to hire qualified BEd teachers.

the problem is as jvn rightly pointed out... getting 15 people to agree... i would need basically carte blanche in developping the place. i would want to be the final decision... i do have 15 years worth of experience teaching in hk and experience over the past few years running my own place.

like i said, i know what i want to do. i know how i want to do it. i even have ideas on location... i just don't have the necessary $ to back me up. my hubby and i are both self-employed, so our income (especially his, mine is fairly steady) is very sporadic.

as for staff turnover- i treat my employees how i would want to be treated. i pay WELL above the going hourly rate for a centre, i listen to suggestions and ideas from staff. before i make any major changes to schedules etc, i run them past staff to see what they think BEFORE it happens. (and it's not done in a "if you don't like it, you can lump it" kind of way...) i REALLY want my teachers/staff to be happy, to enjoy the job and to enjoy working for me. so far, so good.


all it takes to give a more "personal" experience to students and parents are owners/staff who actually care about the well-being of the child and put monetary considerations second.

(is that what you tell someone who is thinking about investing? putting $ considerations second???LOL!)
 
Sounds like you have really thought this through.... I wish you well! I personally like what you have :)
 
thanks, bumps... like i said, i've been thinking about it for a long time now.

don't get me wrong, i like what i have now, too... i'm very proud of it and of my staff who all do such a great job! however, i know i could do more, with the right resources & support.

ahhhh, well... back to dreaming.... for the time-being....
 
Konradsmom said:
Seriously, my experience with local kindies is that they soemtimes have a pretty clear and defined picture of what type of student they want, and it can be pretty narrow. Thats one of the problems with local education, because they are in a way, less accepting of differences.
Click to expand...

Yep. The school system in general in HK prefers cookie-cutter kids. Differences are not encouraged in the system here because from kindergarten on, your child is just a number. It gets worse as the child gets older. Secondary school here is downright depressing for that reason.
 
I do not really have a problem with the childen being interviewed, I just think that it is done all wrong here.

Firstly I really don't believe that you should be charged for it and secondly I think that it should be more observation of how they interact with other children and how they play rather than questioning as many children are shy at that age and may fear strangers.

When we went for an "interview" for my son's kindergarten it was just an infomal meeting with the principal who asked my son his name and how old he was. He was then sent outside to play with children from the school and he was just observed for a few minutes.

The principal told us that she receives application forms with children's CVs attached documenting other languages, extra curricular activities etc. Crazy in my opinion.
 
LOL! i WILL do it, ladies... it's just a matter of when. i have to make sure the staff situation is all up to snuff at my playgroup before i consider starting something else.

yesterday, i had a lady, who already owns a playgroup & tutorial centre on hk island, tell me that she can't seem to get it going. she offered me 51% to get it off the ground properly!

it never rains, but it pours....too bad that doesn't hold true with $$$....
 
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