schools for two girls

Hi, I am moving to H.K to be with my partner at the end of the year from Australia. I have two girls one in grade 3 other in grade 6. I have been looking at the schools on the internet The Austalian International school looks ok. Is this the case? Does any body know of waiting times for placements and any other schools that are good? I think we will be living around Clearwater Bay but that is not decided upon yet.


Any info would be great we are coming to Hong Kong at the end of July for a couple of weeks so would like to be a little organised .


Tanks Charron

I have 4 children at AISHK, the facilities are excellent, and pretty much all of the teachers are excellent as well. There is a good community spirit there.


You need to visit the schools to see how you feel about them. Vacancies are rare at AISHK with a long waiting list - but new people to HK are given some sort of priority. Call them and talk to them.


Other schools you may want to look at are Clearwater Bay and KGV (Secondary) however these follow the British curriculum. Depends on how long you will be in HK.


When you come in July if you are keen on any one school you need to put your money down then - don't wait.

hi, we moved from Aust in Feb this year with a 4 year old and 2 year old. I looked at the Aust school and the facilities are very nice but if you have not seen HK yet you will be surprised by the lack of open space that the schools have. It is in a very built up area. For my daughter (4 years old) we were told there would probably be a two year wait for a place even though as Australians we get first priority for any places. Hence I agree with dimac4 - if you like it and are going to live Kowloon side then put your kids name down ASAP. It is the only school on the Aust school year timetable (big hoiday at CHristmas time so can go home to Oz in summertime). The ESF schools are another option - these are zoned according to where you live and are British system. Alot of the popular international schools are on HK island which can be a long bus ride from Kowloon side for the kids (although alot do this). We just looked at the Canadian International which is a brand new facility in Aberdeen - very nice to look at, but on a more USA type system although they are introducing the IB program. If you decide to live on HK island the commute for the kids to the Aust school is very long. I would decide re school first, then find a place to live?

As you are coming in the summer holidays for most schools I would get in touch before you arrive in July to make appt for tours as they only have a skeleton staff in many cases.

The bottomline is there are long waiting lists for virtually all the schools so the sooner you get your kids down the better. If the Aust school can't get them in you may want to put their names down at a few places including the ESF schools (unfortunately there is usually a cost to go on a waiting list.)

If you want to talk more over the phone/email sned me your details.

Hey thank you so much. I have forwarded this info onto my partner. There is a lot of thinking and talking to do,in a very short time. Again thanks so much for the response.

My email is kismett72@yahoo.com.au.

Regards

Charron

Sorry about that cara! I reread my post and realised it could have been taken as a negative. We are actually sending our daughter to the Canadian school as we were very impressed. I meant the school is more like USA cf. the British system. Sorry!

reporter - Kowloon Tong is not very far away from Clearwater bay - you must live next door to where you work or go to school. Many children who live in CWB attend the AISHK - some even live further away - like in Sai Kung Country Park and the gold Coast. It is at most a 30 minute easy drive - 40 minutes by school bus or public transport.

Thank you so much for all your information and support. It is a daunting time ahead and I am way way out of my depth so again thanks so much.

Come in July and have a look around 0 look at housing, schools and shops.


Clearwater Bay is a nice area- you may also want to look at Sai Kung, Hong Lok Yuen, Shatin (Fo Tan), Kowloon Tong, and Yau Yat Chuen (?) and Kadoorie Ave. All are close to different schools and shopping centres.

Kismett, when you say "partner", note that you can't usually get a dependant's visa in HK unless you are legally married.



There are other options to live here long term eg. a "prolonged visitor's visa"; but this can be difficult. Also, some people get away with just popping in and out as a "tourist" every 3 months; but don't count on that working indefinitely.

MissP,



Fyi, Prolonged Visitor Visa guidelines from emigra.com.hk:



"Considerable emphasis is placed on the prior existence of the defacto relationship and a great deal of documentary proof of a lengthy previous co-habitation is called for by the Immigration Department in all Prolonged Visitor Visa applications. Letters, photographs, joint bank statements, official communications to both parties at the same address and myriad other forms of proof all work to support the requirements of Prolonged Visitor visa applications. There is no definitive set of documentary evidence in these cases: the challenge is to show that the relationship is both bona fide and pre-existing. The notion is that people in genuine, long-standing relationships generate evidence of their relationships through the actions of their daily life when interacting with other parties and official agencies. Needless to say 'new' defacto relationships will struggle to satisfy the requirements of the Immigration Department in Prolonged Visitor visa applications."