HK - what to expect at school assessments for children aged 9,7,5

[Frostedwindowpanes]

Dear Mumsnet, I realise this topic has been covered in some depth, but please bear with me. I have some questions about moving to HK, I will be most grateful for some guidance. My DH will be joining a bank in HK by March 2018. I will be joining with our three children when school admissions are sorted. My children are 9, 7 and 5years old and they currently attend a top prep school in North London. From having read previous threads, I understand that international school admissions in HK are completely mental even with things like debentures thrown in. If you have moved to HK with children similarly aged, what are school assessments like? Will the 9 and 7 year old do written exams in Maths and English? What are they looking for? What about the 5year old? I will be applying for Kellet, GSIS, French International and EFS school

Many thanks for your advice, it will be most helpful.

we are in hk
not at the schools you mentioned.tho
have you made contact with them?

Hi, I’m in HK.

My experience of assessment has been that international schools are pretty laid back compared to London schools. Our kids were in very good preps in SW London and getting school places in HK was not hard at all. No debentures were required, but of course it varies per school.

Of the schools you list:

• GSIS is the most academic (from what I hear. No direct experience). I heard they pressure some families into tutoring, but don’t know if that’s true or common.

• Kellett is not academic; they have assessments but they are not difficult. Yes 9 YO would have to do a maths and English paper, but they are pretty basic. I don’t know about lower years, but I think waiting lists are long. Lots of friends’ kids go there and most of them rave about it.

• EFS are not selective, they are catchment-based.

• I’m not aware that the French school is highly selective. But there are long waiting lists on the English stream. They told us there was no point applying as they had over 300 on waiting list. I was grateful not to waste the registration fee.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

@Comeymemo thank you for the details per school, that was very helpful to read and to note that the exam might not be that hard after all. From the sounds of it, GSIS is what I think might be best suited. Both DS are doing well at school and I would consider acads to be their strength from the exam results they've had this year. They are fast learners and I do worry they might regress if we move to HK and they are at schools where they are 'chilling out'. Esp if we were to consider coming back to UK at some point in the next few years and apply to the top London schools here, the assessments and exam standards here are crazy!

Someone I know had her 2 DC at GSIS for two years, and when they came back to the UK they got into a highly selective, top-rated school in SW London.

You may also consider Harrow, the lower school isn’t very academic but the upper school (which starts in yr 6, so not far off for your oldest) is great.

How long are you planning to be in HK?

Sorry, my post is a bit misleading - the two kids who were at GSIS had already started education in London at a highly selective school before they went to GSIS. And their mum is the most driven woman I know, so I’m sure she made sure they were fighting fit when they were assessed before they returned to England 🙂.

I wouldn’t want you to think that GSIS is a passport to St Paul’s/ NLCS.

@Comeymemo that makes sense. Thankyou for your replies, most helpful to hear from you. I am only too aware of the rigorous exam methods at St Pauls/Westminster/City of London schools/NLCS/Habs and the rest of them. These would have been places we aimed towards if we continued in UK and went down the 11+ route. How long we are planning to be in the UK...we don't have a set plan yet. All depends on how DH work situation blossoms I guess. I have heard lovely things about HK, it will be a massive change for us but we are looking forward to the adventure. And hopefully will be glad about escaping brexit related chaos back here

Yes, the 11+ is a source of constant worry for British expats. I’m hoping we’ll stay in HK for long enough that we can bypass it altogether! My kids are similar ages to yours (8 and 6). .
We left the UK in summer 2016 and have been very glad to watch Brexit chaos from afar. 🙈
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

There was an article written by an expat journalist last year, for one of the expat magazines. His kids were at an esf primary.
They decided to take the kids back to the UK for secondary education. The childrens scores in the UK 11+ were too low and the parents were horrified.

We avoided esf. Some kids thrive in the big and busy environment but we had big and busy in the UK local primary. I certainly wasn't going to pay for that.

I've met lovely kids from Gsis and kellett.
Tutoring here is very common. Even to top-up with private education.

Good luck.