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Aug-Sep15
EDUCATION
#2 Priorities
If you are fortunate enough to have some sort of priority
to enter a particular school, understand that it’s just a
priority and not a guarantee. You can’t afford to relax and
rely on your child getting into that school. Priorities are,
in fact, getting weaker.
Common priorities are:
• alumni
• sibling
• debenture holder
• existing student
It’s important to understand the strength of your priority
as it will vary greatly from school to school and even year
to year.
Generally, we’ve noticed a weakening of priorities as
schools become more and more selective; certain schools
in particular. Specifically, the weakening of the sibling
priority has resulted in many families with children in two,
or even three, schools.
The existing student priority applies to students enrolled
in a lower section of the school and hoping to move up.
This priority ranges from extremely strong to extremely
weak.
And a common misnomer is that it’s almost impossible
for children without a foreign passport to enter international
school. This simply isn’t the case.
In summary, it’s risky to rely on priorities, and always
wise to have a Plan B, C and D.
#3 Cut-offs & redshirting
Even just a few years ago, we had a fairly even split
between schools that accepted children born 1 September
to 31 August and those that accepted children born 1
January to 31 December. Today, the vast majority are
using a 31 August cut-off. (Carefully consider scheduling
C-sections in the last week of August or December; your
OBGYN isn’t thinking about school applications!)
We are often asked if it’s possible to hold a child back
or, less frequently, if it’s possible to push a child ahead.
It is almost never possible to do the latter. To hold a child
back may be seen to be beneficial – just Google the
term “redshirting” to get an idea of the controversy this is
causing, particularly in the US.
In Hong Kong, we don’t recommend raising this topic
with any school you are interested in applying to. The
general principal is this: apply on time, according to your
child’s date of birth. If your child is particularly young in the
year group (i.e., end of August or end of December), the
same three outcomes of an interview apply, plus one. A
fourth possible outcome is that the school suggests you reapply
for the same grade the following year. This means that the school
feels your family to be a good fit and that your child just isn’t
ready. This is a gift since it will usually result in an acceptance
the following year.
If you fail to apply on time, you may only apply the following year
for the appropriate year group, based on your child’s date of birth.
And it goes without saying that you should check and recheck
the application deadlines and not miss them as they do change
from time to time.
Top Schools’ team of independent experts works with
companies and families seeking places in Hong Kong’s top
pre-, primary and secondary schools.
topschools.hk