New ESF website

I see that the ESF has redesigned its website. It looks much better (it could hardly have looked any worse!) but it seems rather light on content - though maybe that will change.

There is an informative page on governance, but no sign of the forums returning.

More on the IB

In this week's Education Post, editor Katherine Forestier uses her "What We Say" column to write about the International Baccalaureate (IB challenge for local curriculum) :

Interest in the International Baccalaureate is bound to increase now that the first established elite local school has registered its intent to offer the diploma (IB diploma plan 'will stem the brain drain'), and English Schools Foundation schools take their final steps in becoming IB schools.

The IB is already highly regarded within international education circles as well as university admission offices, including in Hong Kong.

The diploma, which involves students studying a mix of native and foreign languages, maths, science, humanities and arts, spiced with theory of knowledge, research and creativity, action and service, has also been helping to set the pace for curriculum reform in many countries, including Hong Kong.

The diploma is bound to be popular in Diocesesan Boys' School, as it will be in other direct subsidy scheme schools that plan to offer it. However, the principal of this school, which is one of the most competitive to get into in Hong Kong, thinks it will suit only a minority of motivated boys.

This contrasts with the confidence of the ESF centre, that the vast majority of its intake, who are not selected by academic ability, will manage, as they have done in Sha Tin College, the first in the ESF to make the move

The problem, of course, is that not all children can cope with the IB Diploma (see earlier post and the comments from concerned parents) and some prefer A-levels for various reasons.

Also from this week's Education Post - International Baccalaureate inspectors descend on four ESF schools:

Authorisation visits from the International Baccalaureate Organisation are under way for four English Schools Foundation secondary schools, which they must pass before being able to offer the IB diploma programme from the next academic year.

The regional director of the IBO, Judith Guy, said: "We have standards that schools must meet regarding their philosophy, how they plan to deliver the curriculum, whether staff have been appropriately trained, whether the school has the facilities and ... structures in place to support the programme."

The visits to Island, West Island, South Island and King George V schools last up to three days.

IBO officials gave South Island School positive feedback about its preparations for introducing the IB programme when they visited the school this week, principal John Wray said. He said an IBO official, who had authorised 60 schools across the world, said South Island was one of the best-prepared schools he had seen.

I understand that the IB visit to Sha Tin Junior at the end of last term (in relation to the PYP) was also successful. Which makes sense, because the ESF and the IBO seem to have similar philosophies.

More on laptops

Last week, Education Post had a follow-up to the story about Renaissance College and laptops (School rules that laptops must stay in class).

As English Schools Foundation schools launch plans to require students to buy and use their own laptops, a school that gave students computers has reversed its decision after several were damaged.

Kiangsu-Chekiang College's international section in North Point gave each secondary student a laptop - funded by school fees - when the school opened five years ago.

The computers remained the property of the school but parents had to agree that they would be responsible for repairing any damage.

While no computers were stolen, headteacher Jane Daniel said a few children damaged their computers by dropping them, including one student who broke the screen three times.

Ms Daniel said this contributed to the school's decision to keep the laptops at school and have students bring their work to school on memory sticks.

"There were one or two people saying: `Technology has moved on, is there any need for them to be taking their laptops home every night?'" she said.

Most parents surveyed by the school said they would prefer to buy their child a memory stick rather than be responsible for a laptop.

This week, they published a letter questioning the usefulness of memory sticks (Complex endeavours can't be done on a stick):

I am curious to know the professions of the parents referred to in "School rules that laptops must stay in class" (Education Post, October 14), who suggest that taking a memory stick to school would be as effective in creating authentic, student-based learning as having a laptop for each child.

All the professionals I know who are engaged in intellectual pursuits such as engineering, architecture, teaching, graphic design, etc use specialist software for the sort of complex tasks that they work on each day. To suggest that they can simply carry a flash disk with them and use a shared computer from a bank of workstations would be considered insulting and would show a lack of appreciation for the needs of creative professionals carrying out intellectual tasks.

If you think that schools do not have equally complex and specialist software or that children are not capable of learning complex software then I invite parents to ask their child to show them how they use a drawing package or other complex software that adults take expensive courses and invest lots of time in yet children seem to master very quickly.

Comment: Personally, I have found it possible to work on multiple computers and transport files on a USB drive, though I agree that it has some disadvantages.

Lack of places in Kowloon and the New Territories

There's a letter in today's SCMP about a perennial problem (Closed catchment area creates discrimination):

We live in the catchment area of King George V School which has, due to overcapacity, been closed to new applicants for two years and will stay that way indefinitely. With all the new developments going up in West Kowloon and Cheung Kwan O in recent years, plus more primary schools becoming part of the English Schools Foundation, it is not difficult to see why KGV has today's bottleneck problem.

The situation, coupled with the current ESF admission policy, unfortunately has Kowloon's applicants downgraded to second class when they knock on the doors of another ESF school. My child is one such victim because a lower status was accorded to her in other catchment areas. She applied early but she still missed out.

She is a category one applicant (high priority), confirmed by the ESF. However, even category two applicants (low priority) were admitted instead of her. So, saying that they treated my child as second class is already an understatement. In effect, they put her under a new category. That is, category three. The population is not going to age overnight. The ESF will for decades continue to effectively discriminate against Kowloon applicants unless it changes its admission policy - treating applicants from school-closed areas equally or rezoning.

Given the subvention, the ESF should realise that I do not pay less tax than those living on Hong Kong Island or in the New Territories. Why should my child be discriminated against?

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

There is undoubtedly a problem with Year 7 places in Kowloon and the New Territories (i.e. KGV & Sha Tin College). The government refused ESF requests to build a new school in the New Territories, and now there is excess demand at both primary and secondary schools. It's more acute in the secondary schools, and as a temporary measure an extra class was added at Sha Tin College. In the longer term, the number of places in years 4, 5 & 6 of the Junior Schools will have to be managed to reduce the demand for Year 7 places.

As so few students drop out, even being on the waiting list is no guarantee that a place will become available, so it is inevitable that there will be arguments about who should get priority.

There has been some limited re-zoning, but the fundamental problem is a shortage of places in ESF schools, and the only way that will be solved is if the government allows expansion of the system - but realistically if it is to happen it will be through the Private Independent School scheme (without any subvention).

Spoiling the environment?

I know this has nothing to do with the ESF, but I noticed this article in the SCMP today (Principals disappointed over housing site):

Principals are disappointed that a public housing estate is being built a stone's throw from a new schools complex, creating construction noise and spoiling the environment.

A four-block estate is being built in Shek Mun, adjacent to newly-opened Baptist University Affiliated Wong Kam Fai Secondary and Primary School, and International Christian School's new campus, due to open next September. Both are fee-paying.

Lilian Chan Lui Ling-yee, head of Baptist's direct subsidy scheme school, said she was disappointed public housing was being built so close to the primary school. "Public housing doesn't match the schools being built here," she said

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the these two schools got the land from the government without having to pay.

Laptops

From Saturday's Education Post - Laptop plans sparks concern from parents:

Plans for two English Schools Foundation schools to have students bring their own laptops to classes have sparked concerns among parents over whether children should be responsible of carrying such expensive machines every day.

Renaissance College plans to have each secondary student bring a laptop to school within the academic year and South Island School is considering introducing a similar programme next year.

But some parents were worried that students, especially those in the lower years, might not be able to look after a laptop, said the chair of the Joint Council of Parent Teacher Associations, Sarah Rigby.

"Is it reasonable for the children to have that pressure to look after the computers? I think the school has to really prove to parents that it's necessary for them to have them," she said, adding that computers could be accidentally left in places such as school buses.

Ms Rigby said families with two or three children in secondary school would have to spend a significant amount of money.

"On top of that parents will have that lingering doubt of what happens if one of them drops it in the first week." she said.

South Island School parent Mary Mason said she worried children might lose their laptops and be targets for theft, particularly when they attended after-school activities with students from other schools.

She suggested students carry computer files on data storage devices, such as flash disks.

Comment: I think I would agree with the concerns raised. and the last point seems worth considering - you can carry around all the files you need (and even the Operating System) on a USB drive and plug it into a PC as required.

The other interesting issue is whether or not it is a good idea to ask students to use laptops in lessons. My initial thoughts were that it could be a very bad idea, but now I'm not so sure.

I have been in plenty of meetings and some training sessions where most of the participants have laptops, and my observation is that they can really distract people. Answering emails, sending messages, and reading websites can be much more attractive than listening to whoever is speaking.

However, I realize that things do change with enquiry-based learning, and perhaps the teacher becomes more of a facilitator, helping the children to discover things for themselves. I'd be interested to know whether that really works or not.

However, I wonder whether Peter Kenny is getting a bit carried away:

Having their own laptops would let students take advantage of podcasting and record lessons to help them review their work, he said. "Students don't have to be next to each other to collaborate on assignments or be in the classrooms to access teachers," he said.

I doubt that would work, because if you are sitting at the back of the class the microphone would pick up so much background noise that the recording would be useless. The obvious solution here is that the school records the lesson and makes it available for download as an MP3 file. This would also mean that laptops could be switched off so that the students could concentrate on what they are being taught.

As a parent, I'd like to know a lot more about how laptops would be used, and what can be done to ensure that they really are useful.