Urgent! Got an offer from French international School.

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prelei

New member
My child received an offer for primary one. Could anyone share how is quality of teaching staff, amount of homework and examinations, discipline etc?

Is there anything you don't like about FIS. Any info is highly appreciated!!
 
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I've seen this kind of thing before and find it quite odd : someone gets a place in a specific school and after they receive the offer they ask questions about it. Do people generally not ask/investigate the school *BEFORE* they put applications in? Weird....

FIS is a fine school. It doesnt have the newest equipment and its not one of the top schools (academic nor facilities wise) but its a well respected school with decent teachers. I would not consider it for my kids as their Mandarin programme is not known to be particularly strong.
 
Hi howardcooms,

I sent a private message to you. Please check. Thank you.




howardcoombs said:
I've seen this kind of thing before and find it quite odd : someone gets a place in a specific school and after they receive the offer they ask questions about it. Do people generally not ask/investigate the school *BEFORE* they put applications in? Weird....

FIS is a fine school. It doesnt have the newest equipment and its not one of the top schools (academic nor facilities wise) but its a well respected school with decent teachers. I would not consider it for my kids as their Mandarin programme is not known to be particularly strong.
Click to expand...
 
Hi,

I'd like to be honest. French international school isn't the best. The kids in the upper grades aren't the best, they are known to be quite badly taught. However, the school itself is quite hardworking and ends at the later hours compared to most schools. I know for certain as I was once going to apply, my friends had told me all about the 'truth' of FIS. It's not the best, I can reassure you, if you are planning to have your child stay all the way through. The teachers are quite harsh as I've heard, but they teach well if you're extremely hard working. It can demotivate your child due to the people around him/her. If i were you, I'd pick Chinese Intl. or HKIS. But definitely not FIS in my perspective and many others too.
 
a couple of questions:
1) how do you judge which is "the best"? doesn't that depend on the child and what is best for the child?
2) what do you mean the "kids aren't the best"? and that they are badly taught? do you mean that they misbehave? or that they don't score high in exams?
3) many schools in hk finish "at later hours"... my son goes to school from 7:55am-4:30pm most days.
4) you "knowing for certain"? you mean you heard from friends who told you what they'd heard or experienced? that's hearsay. you haven't experienced it yourself. the problem with this: what one person finds to be a weakness, another may find to be a strength.
5) the teachers are harsh? do you mean they are demanding? is that a bad thing?
6) in the first few lines you say that the kids are badly taught, then at the end you say that the teachers "teach well"... how can that be? are you talking about different grades? and if so, how do you distinguish which are well taught and which are not?
7) how can your child be "demotivate"d? what is wrong with the people around him/her? isn't motivation something that should be encouraged in the home?
8) what about CIS or HKIS, in your opinion, is "better"?

i'm not saying you are wrong, i'm only asking questions to find out why you believe what you do. i've been in the education field for a long time and i've never heard the complaints that you have about FIS, so i'm curious.
 
not defensive at all.. i have nothing to do with the school...i just had a lot of questions about redanae's post. i have no problem with people not liking the school, but i think more information is needed.

didn't mean to sound negative or defensive.... please see the last lines.

i have been in the education field for a long time and have never heard the complaints said poster expressed. as i said, i am not saying she's wrong... i don't know.... i was curious to know more... hence the questions. i have parents ask me about schools all the time, so i would like more information.
 
My friend:s child is attending FIS. She was transferred from a local school. We have noticed that the child has become more "sociable" and talkative, all in a good way. They dont have too much homework, and the teachers are good. However, the mom tells me that the upper graders, especially children in the french stream are more " undisciplined" and sometimes "vulgar". Since the englsih stream and french stream students are sharing the classrooms and I think they have gym class together, ann also lunch, children might be influenced in the long term. But in general, schools like this are very hard to get into, so if you dont have any other choices, I would say you take up the offer! good luck.
 
There are quite a few French Canadians in my workplace with kids in FIS and I've heard from some of them that the upper grades have rather serious issues with drugs and alcohol. Not sure if that's the case across all international schools or not, and/or if it's particularly bad at FIS. However I do know of one work colleague who pulled his teenage daughter out of FIS and moved her to CDNIS because of this, and he seems happier with her there.
 
Quite a few International secondary schools had drug issues this year, and kids were expelled.
 
I have always heard very good feedback about the international stream of the Primary School. We have friends who have kids there and are delighted with it. In contrast to some of the other posters comments I think it has a reputation for being strong on academics. It is one of our two top choices for our kids, but that is also to do with the fact that it teaches the UK national curriculum not IB and so is suitable for our return to the UK. I agree with one of the other posters about Mandarin and if that is a key priority it's probably not the right place. I have been on two school tours there and met the headmaster on both occasions. I thought he was an impressive character. In terms of secondary, that could be an issue if you want a through train school but the primary and secondary campuses are totally separate. I also like the fact that the kids come from many, many different countries so it has a really international feel to it. It is hard to get into - they only have two classes of 25 kids at reception level so well done to your kid for getting in!
 
I do not know anything about the primary.

However, I agree with other posters that the academic standards in the high school are low. Not just lower than other international schools, but, in my opinion, low for a mid-rate government school with a liberal curriculum. I speak fro experience of teaching students who were or had been students at FIS. It seems to me that their teaching approach is weak: fundamental building blocks of core subjects skated over; a very laisez-faire approach to assessment and grading, and an arrogance in a lack of desire to improve.

As to the drug thing - it goes in cycles. Every International school has a drug scandal at some point. And it's as much about student personality, friendship group, parental/family issues as it is the school.
 
FIS is considered in the top tier of HK international schools, along with GSIS, HKIS, CIS etc etc. I think an offer from any of these schools is gold.
 
Believe me, within that 'top tier' of international schools, FIS is not even considered.

I would take the place, keep on the other waiting list and hope to transfer (and possibly have to spend some money on tutors to catch your child up).
 
My colleague has one of his children going to the FIS primary. He says they are fine with that for the moment, but they have seen lots of behaviour at the secondary level that gives him pause to consider whether his daughter will continue at the FIS when she reaches that age.
 
I'm just saying, Carang, but my sister and brother both go there and I'm pretty damn sure they know what's going on in there. You may have been experienced in the education field for a long time, but sometimes people don't really say what really happens. It's just in-school drama. Kids smoke lots there, outside the gates and they're known to be quite bad. I know a majority who go out drinking, and I Know many other international kids do this too but it's just leading back to FIS that they're the 'source' of it. Of course there are many successful kids, but when you ask an international school kid what goes on in FIS, how the people are like (they're quite chilled, some care about their work but those who go out etc don't), rumors and what had happened...drama, then I'm pretty sure they're gonna say the same as me. Don't take it the wrong way that this school is COMPLETELY bad. Their education may be good in some aspects but perhaps you should take it from someone whose family, friends and siblings are studying in that school/international schools. You may have a general view of that, and I'm not saying I'm any god or anything with this, but maybe it's better to take it from an international school kid's view...

Anyway, I don't want to debate because that's what I've said and maybe you should use your knowledge of FIS and express here yourself. I'd appreciate it if you'd just read it and leave it. If prelei has any more questions, maybe your questions too, you can contact my siblings and ask them yourself. Or even my parents, if you're really that concerned. Or maybe, you could ask my French tutor who teaches there and tells me all about it:).
 
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