International Pre Nursery and K1 near Gold coast

L

llafolie

Registered User
Hi
We will move early Dec to Gold coast with our son 2 yrs old. We used to leave in Sai kung where my son used to go to playgroup at Greenfield in Hang Hau

I am now looking at pre nursery and K1, I will send few application forms,

For K1, in ESF Tsing Yi, in Hong Lok yuen school and in Learning Habitat, any expereince with those schools? we are french, my son spends his day with our maid as I am working so he understands english but he doesn't know anything about cantonese.

I would think it is better for him to be in an international environment as it may be difficult to adjust if he is the only non chinese...

For Pre Nursey I will apply at Parkview rhine garden but they told me he will be the only western, I will also apply to baby buddies and may be Jing jing as it looks popular.

We will have to use school buses as we are both working in TST so I don't think we can manage to bring him ourselves to school.

Any advice comments would be highly appreciated as we have to send all application files before end of this month I think

Thanks in advance
Lucie
 
Sunkids has just opened. From what I hear from two parents who have their kids there, it's great value for money. Also, the facilities there are brand new. The fees are also extremely reasonable and value for money. The environment is extremely caring. No personal experience though... but I think it has/will become Jing Jing's competitor. The student ratio is greater than Jing Jing but suitable for preparation into ESF... bigger classroom size. I hear there's 3 teachers present though currently for just 10 kids. There is also the advantage of the Mandarin emersion programme if you are interested in Discovery College which places an equal emphasis on Mandarin.

Jing Jing has a great teacher-student ratio. They had a great nursery teacher... this year's nursery teacher is a far cry of the standard set last year... She's not as toddler friendly. The teacher from the previous year had a special touch... She could speak toddler language, NEVER EVER talks down and was always gentle. The ratio of 7 native English speakers to 1 non-native English speaker is no longer adhered to in the nursery class. The class size is still 8 max. The Mandarin programme seems effective coz my son's picked up quite a bit from even though it's just 2 days a week. He seems to speak/utter more Cantonese or Mandarin sounds these days despite the fact that we use English to converse in all public domains. It's really bizarre!

There is also New Generation. I know of two parents who are happy with their kids there. The classroom is bigger... 20 for pre-nursery but if you are planning for ESF Tsing Yi, it may work to your advantage. Again, no personal experience, only from hearsay.

Baby Buddies... Love them! Claire is just wonderful! She's one of the best nursery teacher's I've ever encountered. Firm with helpers who are there with the kids... about making sure that they do their own work so the child doesn't produce picture perfect work. And, she's great with the kids... NEVER talks down to the kids. We would not have left BB if not for the fact that ours wouldn't sit still!

There's also Glitterbugs at the Gold Coast three mornings a week. It's a creative and convenient programme if you live at the GC. I don't know who runs it now but if it's Carla, she's just the bees knees... absolutely wonderful! She also runs Music Together. She speaks to the toddlers always NEVER down to them.
 
My husband and I went to look at all the above mentioned schools when we were looking for our child. They really are all completely different. So you really need to go and look at all of them. Then you will know what is the right place for your child. We ended up choosing Jing Jing and are extremely happy. In particular with the lovely relaxed and welcoming environment as well as the quality of teaching.
Also another thing to consider is the curriculum of the Primary school you will be sending your child to. We are hoping to send ours to ESF and thought that Jing Jing was the best match as a kindergarten.
 
Our daughter attends Jing Jing and we have been very happy with the quality of care and teaching at the kindergarten. The class size of eight is fantastic as all the children seem to receive a huge amount of attention and care. You need to look at all the kindergartens in the area and make a choice that you and your child will be happy with!
 
tully said:
Also another thing to consider is the curriculum of the Primary school you will be sending your child to. We are hoping to send ours to ESF and thought that Jing Jing was the best match as a kindergarten.
Click to expand...

Agree with Tully... it all depends on what your plans are for your child's primary education. Jing Jing also has close ties with JIS (English section) so that is another advantage of Jing Jing. There is a pick-up from the GC too.

I forgot to mention that HLY has a nursery section which picks up from the GC too but at mid-afternoon. Applications need to be submitted early as it has become quite a popular option leading into one of the most creative kindies around (based on hearsay).
 
Thanks a lot for all those answers, it helps!
To be honest I don't have any plan for future and it is a bit frightening to think that the Pre Nursery & K1 you choose will have impact on the future studies of my 2 yrs old son.
I know it is true in HKG, coming form France it sounds really bizarre!
My plan would be anyway to be back to Europe within three years, so I think I have to go for international school or french (but the FIS is just too far away...)
Anyway I will try to go & visit Jing Jing and HLY for K1 option, I think ; you are right I need to go there and visit the place. Only thing is that we need to send all those application forms now and I am working full full time and travelling in the region for work as well so it is a bit challenging. Having received all those advices will already help me to shortlist the schools we want to check/try.
Thanks again
Lucie
 
It is in Tuen Mun on castle peak road. 15 mins by taxi from Gold Coast. They also have a school bus.Or on the K51 takes 25 mins, 53 takes 15 mins. website jingjing.edu.hk/eng gives more information and directions
 
Just to add to all this, Sunkids used to be quite popular when it first started, but there has been a lot of problems in the last year or so. The number of teachers keep changing which is not good for the children and there has also been a lot of complaints about the principal and school from ex-teachers. It seems to be a more 'money-orientated' school now than focusing more on their curriculum, staff and children. Really not recommended.
 
I totally agree with this last comment. I have had some experience with Sunkids in the past school year and would not recommend this school to anyone. It is an extremely unstable environment as there have been so many staff changes in such a short period of time. In addition, I agree that it is more of a money making business and the principal makes decisions based on this, not on the best interests of the children and staff.
 
My children is studying in Sunkids and was studied in Jing Jing in the past as well. I think it’s important to listen some comments got a real experienced to.

I don't agree with those comments on the Sunkids totally.
It's true that they did go through the period of changing teachers in the last academic year. I agreed with teacher come and go sounds terrible for the young kids and create a bad impression to us as parents.

However, I would say the school and the teachers was surprisingly doing an excellent job to minimized the effect to our kids. They are still learning happily with good results.

The ratio in class is a merit too. 3 teachers to 19 students. One native speaking english teacher, one cantonese teacher and one mandarin teacher. The teachers are experienced, well-qualified in pre-nursery and early education. They are caring, patiently, and very attentive.

Sunkids has a very good curriculum named SFA from a University in USA where is one of the reason i pick it. They have a well balance in academically and moral values that i concern about as well. I am happy to see my child can speak and read some chinese that i wish if we stay in a chinese majority community. More happily is i see my child go to brush the teeth without asked before bed and clean up after used.

About the money-orientated is totally a make-up. $3700 monthly for full day with a good curriculum and full of fun. For me it is worth and happy to pay. Can you imagine those are paying over $8000 monthly for a kindergaten education? What will be their expectation from the school to the kids!!

I am not trying to talk bad about any schools here. However, I did had a terrible experience with
Jing Jing and ened up with the help of the Eduation Bureau to settle. With the small size class is nice but imagine we are talking about 12000 sq feet in Sunkids and 5000sq feet in Jing Jing. I think by the Fire Safety Regulations Jing Jing could not take more than certain no. of students in an education premise.

Choices for the family living in Gold Coast or nearby esp those who don’t speak chinese or local system is out of the consideration at all is a hard one. More importantly, it’s hard for us to see our little one travel a long way to school every morning and afternoon. Tuen Mun has a very limited
choice. Seems that Jing Jing is one of the good option or compromise.
However, to be fair, with my experience in Sunkids is not bad at all, the principle is nice with great passion in early education!!
 
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