I love ESF Hillside! The principal, Chris Duncan, is great and so are all the teachers. My…read moredaughter attended K1 and K2 there. Every day, she is excited to go to school and loves her classmates and teachers. As part of the IB program, the students here learn in units of inquiries and they get exposed to a lot of topics such as the nature and social responsibility. If you want Chinese program, this is not the place for you. Mandarin is taught only once a week, and about 20 minutes each. The primary language is English. The teachers do an excellent job preparing the kids for Primary. They learn a lot of basic skills and are all confident young individuals when they graduate. I have only great things to say about ESF Hillside!

The English School Foundation (ESF) was formed in 1967 to cater for children of local expatriates,…read morepredominantly English and a lot of them were civil servants working out here at the time. They have developed since then, growing to some 20 -odd schools at all levels at this moment. I was lucky enough to have attended Shatin College for some time and I would say that the ESF is an education body that really does care for its students. Without getting all teary eyed, my school years were filled with opportunities that could not be had if the school was a local one. The ESF invests heavily on extra curriculum activities and it affords its student many different facilities that would simply out of the question if it had not been for the immense resources of the education body (the ESF had been funded by the government during all these years; being withdrawn gradually now). Every year there seems to be more facilities being made available to students and given the British curriculum (as well as the IB now being introduced) being taught, it gives students more time and flexibility to develop their interests and I truly believe that it does provide children with a more dynamic childhood. The fees are being raise every year as government funding is being cut back and understandably there will be heavier burden on parents to chip in where the government had paid the bill before. I believe though (and I'm not the only one given the rumoured 3 year waiting list); that for your child this is still worth it.

I graduated in 2003 and i have alot of fond memories for the 6 years i spent here. The teacher here…read moreactually care about the students. During my 5th grade and 6 grade, the school assigned 潘偉強 as my homeroom teacher along with Ms Ng as my english teacher and Lili Ng as my Math teacher. My grades went from middle of class to top of the class. When they were meeting my parent to discussing plan for apply to secondary school, all of these teachers gave my parent sincere, heartfelt advice. Thank you

Gigamind English Primary School was established in 2001. It is a private whole-day school located…read morein Tin Shui Wai, nearby Kingswood Villa, Maywood Court. Gigamind is the very first whole-day English private school in Tin Shui Wai. Gigamind is a bi-lingual (English/Mandarin) Christian school with child-centred interactive programs. Gigamind also has a Christian based kindergarten and the location is right next to the Primary school. I have all 3 children going to Gigamind as we don't want them to travel to Kowloon to get quality English/Mandarin education aiming to stimulate the development of children's "Multiple Intelligences" through pedagogically sound teaching methods. There is not any international primary school in this area of New Territories. You need to travel to Shatin for EFS or Gold Coast and pay $5M debenture for Harrow International. For those who don't want to send your kids to local schools. Gigamind is a good alternative in the local community. The tuition fee (Primary 1 to 6) is HK$57,310 per annum for 2012-2013 academic year, payable in 11 installments of HK$5,210 each. Miscellaneous charges (for library services and other utilities) are HK$1,800 per term, to be paid in September and February. Additional fees for school bus service, lunch orders, uniforms and field trip expense will be charged where applicable.

I believe this is one of the best English learning institutes in Hong Kong. As a matter of that, I…read moredid work there few years ago and I hope I do not sound biased. Learning a foreign language is not easy. It takes so much effort and determination. Though as locals, we start learning English since Kindergarten, for some it still poses a huge challenge for most people here in Hong Kong. Places like this give you a second chance and to remind you that it is never too late to learn. Local schools here rely heavily on teaching the terminologies and grammar items like Gerunds and Infinitives, it seems to have missed the most crucial part - communication. One may be very good at writing and reading in English and yet they cannot utter an English sentence without stuttering. However, what impresses me the most is that the approach this place takes focuses heavily on listening and speaking. Instead of giving you a text to read, it first shows you a clip so that you have to rely on your listening skills; later on learning how to read the new vocabularies; and then you can finally see how the word looks like. It also has quite a few activities (social clubs they call) for you to enjoy yourself while practicing English with your friends and teachers. It strives to create a relaxing and care-free environment so that you can feel free to speak in English with confidence instead of embarrassment. Even though I now no longer work there, I have to say that their pedagogy and ideology are very well-thought. Together with your motivation and determination, mastering English is not really that difficult.

If you are new to HK, or even an old hand, you may want to learn a bit of Chinese. Whether it is…read moreMandarin or Cantonese, I would thoroughly recommend that you call Sasha O, quite frankly the best Chinese teacher in HK, in my humble opinion! What makes Sasha great, is not that she is a better Chinese person than anybody else (she is however very lovely and good natured, and learning with her is easy and stress free), but it is because she teaches you what you need, and want, to know. Sure, teaching kids is very structured, and there are prescribed syllabus requirements, all of which Sasha can teach. However, when it comes to adults, do I really need to know how to say, "This is my friend Richard, he likes to skateboard in the park."? The last time I went skateboarding, the bottom of my trousers were much wider than the tops (OK, only oldies like me will get that!). What is great about classes with Sasha, is that you are flexible to learn what is useful to you. For Mrs L, it's about learning a new language from scratch (and being able to ask for the vegetarian menu). For my friend C, it's about learning business lingo in Mando for trips to the mainland. For me, it is all about going "street" and improving my tones and pronunciation, as I am already a Canto speaker - but just a bit ropey. Sasha specialises in 1-to-1 classes, or small groups (i.e. couples, families). This ensures that her teaching is effective and personalised. Also, as a freelance "gun for hire", her charge out rate is very affordable. As she is based in Lamma, Sasha will travel to your location for classes. I currently learn at work in the IFC. You've come all the way to HK, why not learn a bit of the lingo. You should at least try to learn enough to say "Oi, mate, don't take Garden Road, we'll be here all bleeding day!".

my daughter, 13, is taking lessons from Sasha. She loves her. Sasha is very creative. She is…read moreteaching her both Mandarin and Cantonese. We feel fortunate that we found her.

My dear dear Alma Mater!!!!…read more I have to say I am who I am today largely because of it. I spent all 7 years in KGV and most friends I have now in Hong Kong, I have either met then, or through people I met there. When I was studying, I really took it for granted, but looking back, it's a great school. Arguably one of the best in Hong Kong I think. I mean, come on! we have a big ass field, basketball courts, tennis courts, pool. Our facilities are one of the top and without the huge price tag or stress. (I'm not sure how DBS boys study so hard AND have time for extra curricular to make use of the facilities?) There were many fun activities throughout the year including dance shows, music competitions, battle of the bands, spring fair, etc. But I think KGV really teaches you (and not just the teachers, but the students) to be humble and well-rounded. We're well off but we're not snooty and know the value of money, even the super rich ones! Also many students come out in all disciplinarians. Many in finance, doctors, law, art, fashion, music, teaching. It's really a wide variety and many didn't get it through connections either =p. Students graduate going to top universities whether it's in UK, US, Oz, Canada, HK, etc. I believe KGV also has a very high average IB score now too! I've had many good and bad times in KGV, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Although once I have kids, I would probably just pick the school most convenient to us, but I will try my very best to put them in an ESF school. The teachers are great too. Many of us are still facebook friends, although I don't really see them anymore. Speaking of which, I should really plan a visit back to school =) *** Tips: Just send your kids here Favourities: Facilities, people, teachers, heritage/traditions Meh: None I can think of right now! When I got scolded I guess? Last words: I would go back if I could!

We had a great time visiting Baumhaus while visiting family in Hong Kong!…read more If you've got a toddler in a big city, you know it can be a tough and overwhelming environment. We were so grateful for the oasis provided by Baumhaus - it's truly so wonderful to have somewhere to go where your little one can just be themselves in a safe and enriching environment. All of the staff were incredibly kind and sweet with my daughter and our drinks & food at the cafe were delicious. I wish were local so that we could visit more often. 10/10!

I've seen ads for this playgroup around town for a couple months and I finally have attended their…read moreclasses. I wish I had sooner! This center for young children ages 0 - 7, is one of the best musical playgroup centers that I have attended with my son. First, Using the Kindermusick Method, the children are learning complex musical ideas in a easy going way. But, Secondly, what makes them different from other musical centers is that their instructors can REALLY sing, REALLY well. I see that my son and his classmates are more tuned in when they have an instructor that has a beautiful voice. The children are that much more engaged and I myself, as a parent, really appreciate the class. Thirdly, the play area is very nice and well thought out. The jungle-gym reminds me of the Waldorf educational method which promotes an environment with an emphasis on natural materials. This would mean that the gym would lack bright colors like most other playgrounds, but the unique structure is still aesthetically pleasing, very safe, challenging but achievable, and my son loves to play in and out of it. Fourth, they have a cafe area where you can order a cup of coffee and snacks while your child plays or has class. GREAT IDEA. Do they have wifi for your computer? I'm not sure, but I did see some mom's with their laptops out. Secondly, we celebrated my son's birthday with his friends at Baumhaus. We ended up paying about 4400 HKD for 2 hours of time - 1hour was a kindermusick class. (Again, the class: so fun!) We also had 900$ credit to use at the cafe. You are free to bring your own food as well. We brought cakes, cookies, and 2 other small main dishes. I believe that our 2 hours became more like 2.5 hours but I appreciate that they were really patient with us as we wrapped up. I would definitely celebrate here again.

Happy school.I graduated from this school,the teachers are pretty nice.Happy I made memories from…read morethere.