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French International (international stream ) or Chinese Internatinal - which is more inclusive and diverse for non Chinese expat family ?

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  1. #1

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    French International (international stream ) or Chinese Internatinal - which is more inclusive and diverse for non Chinese expat family ?

    Hi we have a kid with offer of space in both schools in early secondary school . We like both schools but are concerned about fit ?
    - our kid is gifted and top of the class in academics and strong in Mandarin (we are not native chinese) , not sporty and finds it harder to be social with lots of kids .
    We believe he will do well in academics no matter what the school .
    Our concern with CIS is the feedback that we have from various quarters about it being snooty with very rich kids (that does not sound great), highly academically oriented (which is fine ) but often with way too much homework and rigidity .

    We would like a relaxed environmnet as we have the confidence our kid will do well academically anyway and we like IGSE ( CIS has MYP which is good too , but at this stage IGCSE makes more sense for us) but we do not know enough about FIS - is it simply 'chilled out' with no academic rigour or is there some rigour ?
    what is the discipline like - we heard some rumours of vulgarity and poor behaviour, bullying

    what is a good fit between these two after you read about our kid's profile ? any feedback welcome


  2. #2

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    CIS is indeed a billionaire training school - but its academics are excellent, faculty is strong and kids are taken care of.

    Now, having said that, it is a billionaire class school - look at their board, quite intimidating for many parents. Are they approachable?

    But, there are dozens of normal kids there...

    The issue often is ... will you as a parent fit in? Kids will figure themselves out ...

    If you're looking at a strong British curriculum school, then consider Kellett (our son is in the senior school) and Harrow. Both are excellent and many of the kids go from Kellett Prep to CIS and other schools, many stay on.

    French International - I have reservations about that school. Years ago when we were looking around they did not have a strong academic reputation and then there was an issue with a lot of kids smoking etc ... (urban legend and confirmed by a couple of parents...). Their attitudes were a bit more liberal than say GSIS. This was about a 4-5 years ago, things may have changed, I have little current info about that school.


  3. #3

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    Have a look at this old thread on GeoBaby ( 2012 ).

    Urgent! Got an offer from French international School. - Hong Kong GeoBaby


  4. #4

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    I have written about it before, send your kid to a skool that does not churn out arrogant brats.
    That's one of my key criteria, so be warned: intelligence and perceived status can eat up all good virtues.

    Nep and Elegiaque like this.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Morrison:
    intelligence and perceived status can eat up all good virtues.
    But that doesn't mean intelligence shouldn't be fostered.
    shri likes this.

  6. #6

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    Original Post Deleted
    You are a naive greenhorn. Go and read a few good books, especially about peer groups.
    Then you will realise what you wrote are just phrases, Britney

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Morrison:
    You are a naive greenhorn. Go and read a few good books, especially about peer groups.
    Then you will realise what you wrote are just phrases, Britney
    The arrogant kids from posh schools I have met usually have arrogant parents. The nice kids usually have nice parents. I would put it (totally unscientifically before anyone asks for references) at 90% parents, 10% school and friends. All my kids are wonderful naturally
    TheBrit, shri and jmbf like this.

  8. #8

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    Why don't you send your son to one of the top local/dss schools here? He won't have any issues with keeping up academically, there is little to zero focus on being social and such, plus you can keep the money in your pocket and use it to send him to Harvard.

    z754103 likes this.