The ESF and the IBO

It seems clear that the ESF has already decided to become part of the IBO system. It started with Sha Tin College offering the IB Diploma about 5 years ago, and all ESF secondary schools will follow suit from the 2007/8 school year. Now Sha Tin Junior School is leading the way with the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and all primary schools look set to follow.

Renaissance College is the most IB-centric of all - the principal (Peter Kenny) joined direct from the IBO, the Head of the Primary School (Max Muller) has strong IBO connections, and many staff have experience with PYP, the Middle Years Programme (MYP) or the IB Diploma.

This is quite a big change for the ESF, given that for many years it has followed the English National Curriculum leading to GCSE and A-level examinations.

I think there are two main reasons for the switch. The first is that the ESF is rightly trying to be more international, and the second is that A-levels are somewhat discredited.

Back when I took my A-levels the pass rate was fixed at 70% and only 10% got grade A. Now the pass rate is over 95% and and around 23% of candidates get grade A. This has created problems for universities, who have difficulty distinguishing between the best candidates when so many get the top grade (see this from The Independent).

Criticism of the IB Diploma seems mainly be based on the fact that it is more challenging, and that it is not possible to specialise in the same way that you can with A-levels. In fact, the IBO website says that the Diploma programme ensures "breadth of experience in languages, social studies, the experimental sciences and mathematics" and clearly it is meant to be more challenging.

A third concern is whether the IB Diploma is accepted by universities. My understanding is that it is now widely accepted, and it was recently announced that from 2008 it will be part of the offical UCAS Tariff for UK universities. In fact, some universities have expressed a preference for the IB Diploma over A-levels, and there has been talking about the UK adopting something similar to the IB Diploma (I found this story about a UK state school that has dropped A-levels and switched to the IB Diploma)

I cannot comment on any consultation regarding the IB Diploma, but I can say that Sha Tin Junior seems to have done a very thorough job regarding the PYP. Parents, the PTA and the School Council have all been informed about the plan, and there has been some informed debate about the advantages and disadvantages and possible alternatives. In the end, there was strong consensus that this was a good thing, and now the school seems on course to become accredited very quickly.

Of course the switch to the IB Diploma is more complex, because it means dropping A-levels, and some children could lose out as a result of this change. Whilst I don't think anyone would dispute that the IB Diploma is a good choice for the most capable students, it could be a problem for the less able. We also have to remember that (unlike many of the independent schools in the UK that have adopted the IB Diploma) the ESF has no entrance exam and prides itself on being non-selective and catering for all levels of ability. However, having said that, ESF schools do achieve good results and presumably some less academic students leave at 16, so there is a strong argument for challenging the students in years 12 & 13.

Comment: Everything I have read and heard about the IBO makes me believe that the ESF is right to make this change, but clearly not everyone agrees.

Has the ESF got its priorities right?

Today the SCMP has published an opinion piece that I wrote about "The Way Forward", Business gets in way of focus on teaching:

In recent months, the English Schools Foundation (ESF) seems to have decided that it is a "business". It was therefore no surprise that it should produce a business plan ("The Way Forward") that talks about "business opportunities" in Hong Kong and beyond.

The South China Morning Post reported that during the first of the meetings about "The Way Forward" concerns were raised with the ESF about the emphasis on business in the document. I attended the second meeting (at Renaissance College) and raised a similar question. The response from Heather du Quesnay was to ignore the substance of the question and explain that the ESF needed to be more professional.

I think all parents and teachers would agree that the ESF needs to be more professional and would hope that the ESF management can continue to focus on that. However, there is a big difference between running the ESF professionally and operating as a business.

Commercial organisations need to have business plans. Their owners or shareholders want to know how the company will increase profits, and companies often decide the only way forward is to expand geographically or into new business areas. These ventures are inevitably risky and take up a lot of management time and attention, with the strong possibility that the core business will suffer while everyone is focused on e-business or whatever else seemed attractive at the time. Sometimes the problems are so great the company closes down or is acquired by a rival.

The English Schools Foundation has no shareholders. Instead, it has stakeholders, principally the pupils, their parents, teaching and support staff, and (arguably) the government.

I am not aware of any pressure from any of these stakeholders for the ESF to pursue the "business opportunities" that the management has identified, or for the ESF to become a "bigger player in Asia". Indeed, I suspect that quite the opposite is true. At last week's meeting at Renaissance College to discuss "The Way Forward", most parents were concerned about more mundane issues such as the move to the primary, middle and diploma programmes of the International Baccalaureate, and the teaching of Chinese.

The subvention was also mentioned and this is a major concern for parents. This issue is confused because the ESF has already opened new classes that are not covered by the subvention and now it has a new private independent school that receives no subvention (with another one on the way). There is a new ordinance that will change the way that the ESF is run. The new IB curriculum and Chinese teaching are also significant challenges. So I believe the ESF has plenty to do without worrying about "business opportunities".

The Way Forward - meeting the stakeholders

I attended the meeting at Renaissance College on Monday to discuss "The Way Forward". This was the 2nd of 3 meetings organized by the ESF (the first one is mentioned below) .

The meeting was chaired by Chris Forse (Head of Parent and Student Services), and started with a short introduction by Heather du Quesnay (Chief Executive). We also heard from Kendy Wong (Finance Director), Graham Ranger (Education Development Director) and Peter Kenny (Principal of Renaissance College). Then questions were invited from the audience.

[My original intention was to write a neutral account of the meeting and then offer my comments, but I concluded that this would make it rather disjointed. So I'm afraid you'll have to make do with my opinionated account.]

Comment: I found the meeting interesting, but if the objective really was to consult with the "stakeholders" I don't think that it was successful. Very few ordinary teachers attended, and I suppose that the members of the school management teams (Assistant Principals, Deputy Principals and Principals) felt obliged to attend but unable to challenge their ESF bosses. There were some parents, but mostly from Renaissance College - parents at Sha Tin Junior School appear not to have been told about the meeting, which might explain why so few turned up.

Unsurprisingly, the meeting was used as an opportunity to raise questions and concerns about day-to-day matters, mainly related to Renaissance College. Peter Kenny fielded these well, as you would expect, but they should really have been raised in another meeting. The teaching of Chinese also came up (as it always does), but it seems that Wang Xiao-ping (the ESF's Putonghua adviser) has not yet finalised the plan he is working on - though two schools (presumably Sha Tin Junior is one) will be starting a trial of the new curriculum in January.

Even for those who had come to talk about "The Way Forward" and managed to read the document in advance of the meeting, there was a whole lot of background information that was missing. Heather du Quesnay did spare us from "death by Powerpoint" but it might have been helpful to explain more about issues such as the constraints placed on the ESF by the government, the history of Canadian International, Phoenix & Renaissance, and the relationship between ESF Educational Services Ltd (which runs Renaissance College) and the ESF, and between ESF Centre and the schools.

Instead Kendy Wong struggled to explain the way that the ESF in investing in Renaissance College (rather than property), leaving Renaissance parents concerned that their school fees were being used to give the ESF a return on its investment and other ESF parents to wonder why the money from their school fees had been used to invest in the new school.

Heather du Quesnay's answers were clearer, but not always related to the questions that had been asked. When challenged as to why the ESF had a "business plan" and was looking for "business opportunities" she explained that the ESF needed to become more professional (which is not quite the same thing).

There was some discussion about the IBO. It was clear that there is a strong momentum towards adoption of the PYP, MYP and Diploma programs, but Renaissance is the only ESF school that is fully committed to all three and decisions are being left up to the individual schools (though all secondary schools will offer the IB Diploma from next year).

The issue of the subvention was also raised. Heather du Quesnay said that she felt that the chances of retaining it had improved since she had joined the ESF but that it was still not clear what would happen. Her view is that the ESF must make plans for the future without waiting for this decision to be made, and she also pointed out that the go-ahead for Renaissance College was given before she joined the ESF.

As I said at the beginning, what I found most disappointing was that it didn't seem that this was really about consulting the stakeholders. Although there was plenty of time for questions, the speakers avoided dealing with some of the more difficult issues and never once did they ask whether the questioner was happy with the answer or invite supplementary questions.

I wonder whether the lack of debate on the key issues made the meeting a success or failure in the eyes of the ESF management.

SCMP article on The Way Forward

Today's SCMP has more on "The Way Forward" and the meetings organized by the ESF to talk about this strategy. In an article entitled ESF gets down to business as it sets out plan for the future, Katherine Forestier writes about the document and the first meeting:

In a draft "business plan" released to staff and parents earlier this month, foundation chief executive Heather Du Quesnay put forward the leadership's ideas for the future. These embrace everything from the ESF's place in Hong Kong and its values, to its curriculum, special needs and Putonghua provision, the need for students to have a greater voice and to make professional development for its teachers a priority.

"Excellence in learning, through team-work and commitment to students," are the lofty words it spells out for its aim.

It also details opportunities to be had from running a new profit-making company, opening more kindergartens and, in the long term, expanding beyond Hong Kong.

So far this document has not stirred the emotions released a year ago when Ms Du Quesnay launched the consultation for a 10 per cent cut in teachers' pay and benefits. Only a handful of parents and teachers turned up to the first open meeting to discuss "The Way Forward" with the ESF's big guns from Stubbs Road headquarters, held at King George V School earlier this month.

Parent Dennis Ng Chi-chum reflected some unease about the business tone, including guidelines for fees placing the ESF up to the "mid-point" across international schools and plans for the profit-making company. He also touched on the big question mark hanging over the ESF - whether it would retain its subvention which now accounts for about a quarter of its income.

The future, he suggested, could not be planned until the battle for the subvention had been fought and won. "If you have the subvention the government can impose some kind of obligation," he said. "Without it the ESF can do what it likes."

Ms Du Quesnay defended the more business-like direction and the need to make plans now. In the document she states that the ESF would argue for retaining the subvention but should plan to ensure it can survive if it is withdrawn. "Organisations need to develop. Either they are aspiring and moving forward or they stagnate and decline."

I wonder which managment book that comes from. Ill-considered expansion can be just as bad for an organization as stagnation.

The document suggests the new company could in future extend its business overseas. But Mr Ng urged Ms Du Quesnay to concentrate on the needs of students in Hong Kong which were not yet being met.

The blueprint envisages the ESF curriculum being both more international - with moves to International Baccalaureate programmes - and more local, with greater emphasis on the Chinese language.

But the complex issues surrounding how and which form of Chinese should be taught are controversial. Mr Ng and his British wife Sarah Rigby are wondering how their Eurasian children - and the many more like them in ESF schools - will fare, not in the mainland but where they live, but in Hong Kong which demands knowledge of Cantonese and complex Chinese characters.

Wang Xiao-ping, the ESF's Putonghua adviser, called for parents to be open-minded and "not prejudiced" over the Putonghua curriculum which was being enhanced and differentiated for different children's needs.

The issue of teaching Chinese is certainly a complex one for the ESF. The majority of children attending ESF schools have Cantonese as their "mother tongue", and yet this is neither used nor taught in the schools. All the focus is on Putonghua and on learning Simplified Chinese characters.

Parents for ESF & School Fees

Nothing about the ESF in this week's Education Post, so I'll return to last week's edition. Alex Chiu of 'Parents for ESF' tells me that he was phoned by the SCMP and Oriental Daily to comment on the ESF business plan "The Way Forward", mainly related to the comments in there on school fees. He was quoted in the SCMP article ESF spells out that fees will increase:

Fees across the international sector range from $47,000 to $133,500 a year at primary and between $70,000 and $152,800 at secondary. ESF fees are $51,500 at primary and $82,600 at secondary.

"A modest increase in fees is inevitable if we are to guarantee the standards and quality of education," the document says.

However, Ms Du Quesnay denied there were plans for immediate or dramatic increases that a mid-point figure could suggest.

At secondary level, fees were already similar to competing schools, such as French international.

The document says the foundation will "argue vigorously" to retain the subvention. "However, we shall also take steps to ensure that ESF can weather the removal of the subvention if that is forced upon us," Ms Du Quesnay wrote.

Alex Chiu Chi-suen, member of the action group Parents for ESF, said fees should not be compared with other international schools, because the ESF had to cater for the less well-off needing English education.

"I am not convinced rises in fees are inevitable because there were large increases in September and cost savings as a result of the pay cut for teachers," he said

Alex was also contacted by the Oriental Daily News, and that article was published last Tuesday (I don't have a copy and I'm afraid that anyway I can't read Chinese). Alex goes on to say that:

My voice is that ESF should not raise school again at least in near future. I think parents should voice out clearly to ESF against fee rise again.

Comment: My impression is that Alex and the rest of his group are doing a lot more than the ESF itself to defend the subvention. So far it seems that their lobbying is quite effective and that the ESF enjoys a good level of support in Legco. Further, the Education & Manpower Bureau (EMB) appear to have backed away from their previous position that it was inevitable that the subvention would be abolished, but it's not clear what will happen next.

Fees to increase?

Also from today's SCMP: ESF spells out that fees will increase:

Increases in fees for English Schools Foundation schools are inevitable, according to a document released by the foundation yesterday.

Currently, ESF fees are among the cheapest in the international sector. But in the consultation for a business plan, The Way Forward, sent to staff and parents yesterday, chief executive Heather Du Quesnay said fees "should not rise above the mid-point range of international schools" to remain affordable to middle class parents. They could stay at a lower level if the ESF retained its government subvention.

Fees across the international sector range from $47,000 to $133,500 a year at primary and between $70,000 and $152,800 at secondary. ESF fees are $51,500 a primary and $82,600 at secondary.

"A modest increase in fees is inevitable if we are to guarantee the standards and quality of education," the document says.

The document is available here.

Comment: I understand that this document was only released to the SCMP at the very last minute, which probably explains why the article only talks about one aspect (increased fees), when the document is about much more than that. You'd have thought that the ESF might have taken a bit more care about how they released the document.

Is this the future?

From today's SCMP: Renaissance College puts fresh face on the ESF:

Renaissance College, the new face of the English Schools Foundation, was the first of a number of new schools to open for the academic year.

The school, in Ma On Shan, welcomed about 900 primary and secondary students on Monday, far exceeding expectations for enrolment in its first year, according to its principal, Peter Kenny. About 340 had transferred from the former Phoenix International School run by the ESF and some were travelling from as far away as Hong Kong Island.

Renaissance, which cost HK$297 million to build and received a HK$199 million government grant, is the first private independent school to be operated by the ESF and has been on the drawing board since 1999. A second is being built in Discovery Bay.

Unlike other ESF schools, it receives no recurrent public funding, meaning Renaissance charges HK$62,500 a year at primary against HK$51,500 at other ESF schools.

Is this the future of the ESF? No subvention, lower benefits for teachers, and higher fees?

The Way Forward

Seems they have been doing some thinking over at ESF Centre:

31 August 2006

TO : All Principals, Head, Teaching and Support Staff, School Councillors and Parents of of all ESF schools and Kindergartens

Dear Colleague or Friend,

The Way Forward for the English Schools Foundation

Over recent weeks my colleagues in the Senior Management Team and I have been in discussion with the Executive Committee and Principals about a development strategy for ESF. The beginning of a new school year seems to be a good time to share the outcomes of those discussions more widely. The paper we have produced is quite a long one and we have published it on our website in order to avoid clogging your email system. The link is http://www.esf.edu.hk/news/060831-ESF-The-Way-Forward.pdf

I attach a very brief summary of some of the key issues.

If you would like the opportunity to ask questions about or comment on the paper, you are welcome to attend any one of the meetings we have organised on :

1) Wednesday, 6 September 2006, at 6:30 pm
at King George V School, 2 Tin Kwong Road, Homantin, Kowloon;

2) Monday, 11 September 2006, at 6:30 pm
at Renaissance College, 5 Hang Ming Street, Ma On Shan, Kowloon; and

3) Monday, 18 September 2006 at 6:30 pm
at West Island School, 250 Victoria Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.

Alternatively, I shall be very pleased to receive comments by email, fax or post.

I do hope that you find the paper useful and illuminating. I look forward to hearing your views.

Yours sincerely,


Heather Du Quesnay
Chief Executive

My first question is this - when did the English Schools Foundation become a business?