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Regret from Bradbury, How do I try in other ESF schools?

  1. #11

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    Nov 2011
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    8

    All your friend are at CAT 1 without priority ?!?


  2. #12

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    Nov 2011
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    Btw : what happened to your friends ? Which school did they end up with ?!?


  3. #13

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    Feb 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by zndrla
    Btw : what happened to your friends ? Which school did they end up with ?!?
    HKIS, Harbour School, P1 programs at kindies (but no guarantees for Y2 either), etc. Also Delia is a common place to wait as well. One child in my kids' school eventually got into Bradbury but other than that only the ones with siblings made it, both QBS and Bradbury.

    All native English speakers, without priority.

  4. #14

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    Sep 2011
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    Kowloon Tong
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    61

    I have the same fear. My 4 year old is at ESF wu kai sha started K2 in Sept.
    I applied her for mainstream and learning support at ESF Beacon Hill School. So far her SEN advisor said she could go for mainstream.

    My son is on wait list for learning support, too at ESF BHS. And my son no school as of now that would accept him for what he is for resources reason which I understand. But they both go to Watchdog for speech and occupational therapies plus group therapies.

    I just put my son in a play group and reading group at Brilliant Kids. I also visited ABC Pathways I am sure they are good too but they do not understand developmental delays nor should day if they deal with normal average kids. And at Brilliant Kids at least the principal know where I am coming from and what my concerns are with my son. I am always very blunt. If I am not, eventually if you are a teacher who knows about general global developmental delays, you will know that the child has some quirks.

    I am waiting for the letter ... fingers crossed!

    I am going to apply both to as many primary schools as I can that has some kind of support for them. All the other LS schools that I have applied they are on wait list. sigh.


  5. #15

    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    22

    Have you looked into Victoria Shanghai Academy? They have also implemented the ib/pyp curriculum like ESF and are doing a fantastic job and even better than some ESF schools. They have a new Principal and they have also recruited ESF teachers. Plus your child will learn Mandarin. At ESF kids only receive 30-40 mins of Mandarin/day.


    http://www.vsa.edu.hk/

    Last edited by rani; 20-11-2011 at 10:07 PM.

  6. #16

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    Apr 2010
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    Ap Lei Chau
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    Quote Originally Posted by MommyTo3
    Yes, that's the problem then. She's considered a regular Cat 1 child without any priorities. Call the school to find out where you are on the list. I am honest, none of my friends made it in last year, they were all in the bottom of the wait list. So it's really vital to find out where you are.
    My daughter has been through K1 & K2 here in HK. Does that mean she is not Cat 1? Or did I get it wrong?

  7. #17

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    Oct 2011
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    Quote Originally Posted by nike439
    My daughter has been through K1 & K2 here in HK. Does that mean she is not Cat 1? Or did I get it wrong?
    I think she meant K1 and K2 at an ESF Kindergarten.
    Last edited by rani; 22-11-2011 at 01:05 PM.

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by nike439
    My daughter has been through K1 & K2 here in HK. Does that mean she is not Cat 1? Or did I get it wrong?
    That's unrelated. ESF has basically 4 categories (in order of priority):
    - Cat 1 (non-Cantonese speakers) with priority (there are several priorities within this category which are ranked as well)
    - Cat 1 without priority
    - Cat 2 with priority (same as above)
    - Cat 2 without priority

    In order to get priority solely based on ESF Kindy you need to at least attend K1 (1 term if sufficient) and K2. So if your child only attends ESF Kindy in K2, you'll be a Cat 1 (or Cat 2) without priority, depending on whether the child speaks Cantonese yes or no.

    My oldest, Cat 1 without priority; went to non-ESF Kindy. Other kids, Cat 1 with priority based on sibling priority.

    Whether your child is Cat 1 or Cat 2 depends on Cantonese language skills, assuming English is spoken.

    Hope that makes sense.

  9. #19

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    Feb 2008
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    HK Island
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    Quote Originally Posted by rani
    I think she meant K1 and K2 at an ESF Kindergarten.
    Indeed, thanks! With regards to the original question, in this pp's case, the child is still Cat 1, just without priority based on the fact she didn't attend an ESF Kindy long enough (only K2, not K1). Problem is that there are so many children in Cat 1 with priority (mostly siblings and ESF Kindy children) that there only very few Cat 1 spaces left, let alone Cat 2.

  10. #20

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    Apr 2010
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    Ap Lei Chau
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    Thank you all for clarifying. This is very helpful...


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