We explore why it’s important for your chosen preschool to have a robust STEM program. Our guest is Jacqueline McNalty, Principal of Malvern College Preschool HK.

So, why is science important for preschoolers? Science is all about understanding our world – about being an inquisitive and imaginative explorer. And really, that's what preschool should be about.

Jacqueline shares her insight and invites us all to participate in Malvern's "Be a little scientist" e-classes, together with the Big Bang Academy HK.

malvernpreschool.hk/be-a-little-scientist

facebook.com/BigBangAcademyHK

Learn about more Hong Kong schools at expatliving.hk

This episode is all about school interviews. Here in Hong Kong, school interviews are very common, in fact, as you’ll hear from our expert, some schools are interviewing one year olds! It may sound odd, but it’s happening.

Ruth Benny is the founder of Top Schools. She is a famous school consultant in Asia and the go-to expert for expats looking to secure a school place. Ruth shares insight into:

• Preschool interviews – what to expect, the format of interviews and what preschools are looking for in students

• Primary school entry interviews – group interviews, whether the ability to read and write is essential, and the most appealing traits for Year 1 kids

• Late primary entry - what age written testing is introduced and how interviews evolve for older primary students

• High school interviews – standardised testing for teens, relevant school reports, confidential reporting from previous schools and taster days

• Learning support - the reality around students requiring learning support and how this is handled for admissions

If you’d like to learn more about schooling in Hong Kong you can scroll through our episode feed or head to expatliving.hk . You can also reach Ruth via topschools.com.hk

In this episode, we catch up with Dr Robin Lister, Headmaster at Malvern College Hong Kong.

He explains how flipped learning, student-led wellbeing and resilience are playing starring roles at Malvern during online learning. Hong Kong schools have been closed for over a month and all international schools are operating via online learning.

Dr Lister shares some details about how the College's online learning programmes are being tailored to students of all ages - from early Primary through to senior high school students. 

For more information about Hong Kong's international schools, head to expatliving.hk

For more information about Malvern College Hong Kong, visit malverncollege.org.hk

This episode explores why a school's wellbeing programme matters.

While kids might talk big about hating school, the reality is, the routine of school makes kids feel safe. When that routine is routinely interrupted, the impact can be significant.

In our uncertain school year, the question begs, what initiatives are schools putting in place to help our kids? Carla Nagel, the orchestrator of Hong Kong Academy’s (HKA) wellbeing programme, provides an insight into this important issue.

For more information about schools in Hong Kong, head to expatliving.hk

For more information about Hong Kong Academy, head to hkacademy.edu.hk

Listen to this episode and learn how to nail the Extended Essay - one of the IB Diploma's infamous elements. 

Alethea Bleyburg is an IB Examiner and an IB graduate. Hear her insight from both sides of the fence - discussing what it feels like to struggle as a student and what it takes to achieve a good grade. 

We discuss six detailed tips on how to create a successful extended essay - topic choice, the guidance and rules, creating the essay, and the all-important reflection.

Find more expert insight on schooling in Hong Kong, and living in Hong Kong, at expatliving.hk

Connect with Alethea via the-learning-curve-hk.com

Learn some practical tips on how to set up an effective home learning environment and manage school work day-to-day. 

Get ready for some home learning this Spring term! Hong Kong's Education Bureau announced that all schools will extend their CNY holidays and resume on 17 February, 2020. This is to safeguard students' health in view of the Novel Coronavirus. 

Thanks to Jerome Barty-Taylor for his expert advice. 

expatliving.hk

In this episode, we’re skipping school again. It's not by choice this time.  For many students and parents, Tuesday 19 November 2019 marks a week of school closures in our city due to the Hong Kong protests.

We’re all hoping for a peaceful resolution and to be back at school tomorrow but if we aren’t, it’s time to get serious about home learning.

So, we turned to an expert for some practical tips about managing school work at home in this very unique situation.

The voice you are about to hear is Jerome Barty-Taylor who you probably recognise if you read Expat Living. Jerome and his team at Barty Education and Development work with all sorts of students across Hong Kong to support their learning goals. The last time we caught up with him was with his student Cloe Cheung who gave us some tips on what it takes to achieve a perfect 45 in the IB.

For more expert guidance on education and living in Hong Kong, visit https://expatliving.hk/

*Expat Living acknowledges the teaching community in Hong Kong who have been amazing this past week. They’re helping parents and students maintain momentum by setting up virtual classrooms, sending daily learning content, and consistently communicating with students and parents. It’s a huge job in uncertain times and ever-changing information – so thank you on behalf of the city’s parents and our kids. We hope to see you back at school soon!

Today, we’re skipping school to spend time with an expat mum who chose the local Hong Kong system for her two kids.

Anne works in the medical field and her husband works in Aviation. They relocated to Hong Kong from Perth in Australia and she’s graciously shared her story – about why they deciding to go local, the experience of kindergarten, the transition to primary, the practicalities of homework in Cantonese, and the transition back to international school.

An important note: this discussion represents the individual experience of one expat family. We’ll meet more as our series progresses because experiences vary, but for now let’s listen to Anne’s story.

https://expatliving.hk/

This episode is all about the littlest of students - preschoolers - that’s 3 to 5 year olds. This school phase is also referred to as Kindergarten or Early Years in Hong Kong. This episode explores what preschool looks like in Hong Kong and what parents should be looking for in a good preschool. 

To find out what makes a great preschool, we turned to Zoe Heggie, an experienced early childhood educator who has worked as a senior preschool teacher and administrator in The UK, Australia, Africa, The Philippines and of course here in Hong Kong. She’s currently the Vice Principal of primary at the Canadian International School of Hong Kong. Zoe's team has recently redesigned their early years' facilities, updating it with current research insights. It’s interesting to hear what is now considered best practice in preschools, you might be surprised! 

Useful links:

https://expatliving.hk/

https://www.cdnis.edu.hk/

Zoe refers to a book "The Importance of Being Little: What Preschoolers Really Need from Grownups." By Erika Christakis.

This episode will shed some light on the British Curriculum. If you’re still in the research phase, you might see it referred to online as the English National Curriculum or the UK curriculum.

If your kids are in high school, this is the curriculum schools are using if they refer to GCSE exams and A-Levels for graduation. Our expert will explain what these mean and what their benefits are.

We have sought some expert advice from Ben Keeling, who is the Principal at Shrewsbury International School here in Hong Kong. Shrewsbury is a British school with over 400 years of history teaching young English minds. So, we thought Ben was the perfect person to turn to when learning about this option.

Links

https://expatliving.hk/

https://expatliving.hk/living-in-hong-kong-1/schools/

https://www.shrewsbury.edu.hk/

Shrewsbury offers a downloadable PDF about its curriculum which has a handy grid that will tell you which school year is correct for your child in the British system (worked out from their birthdate).

See that guide here:

https://www.shrewsbury.edu.hk/uploaded/SHK/Download_Documents/Curriculum/Curriculum_Guide_2019_-FINAL_(Read_Version).pdf